get lost, Wall Street...

Story: Can Windows 10 save the PC?Total Replies: 8
Author Content
750

May 18, 2015
9:00 AM EDT
The PC don't need to be "rescued".

It is a mature product segment, and as such will bounce around within certain limits.

The only ones that worry about this are those that have come accustomed to see the numbers go up up up each quarter, and now they no longer do.

Nothing existing within a closed energy system can grow forever.
seatex

May 18, 2015
9:23 AM EDT
Linux (and BSD) IS the rescue. Open source is the only protection we have in finding and dealing with security threats, like NSA backdoors.

A lot of people stop using their Windows desktops simply because of all the malware and viruses attacking it daily.

If more people discovered the benefits of using Linux on the desktop, and more OEMs began catering to open source operating systems, this would be about the only things that would increase desktop usage and sales at this point. But, I agree with 750 that the market is now saturated and future growth will be limited.

Q: Are you going to upgrade to Windows 10? A: I already upgraded to Linux.
750

May 18, 2015
10:48 AM EDT
MS and crew may be boiling the frog in that regard by removing the ability to boot into legacy BIOS mode or even non-secure UEFI.

A while back Lenovo shipped some workstations that would check the UEFI id string (A violation of the UEFI spec, but who's going to police them?), and only boot entries labeled either Windows or Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

This was discovered because someone tried to boot Ubuntu on it and found that it would boot fine if they changed said id string to match the Red Hat one.

And Red Hat attempted at one point to get MS signing keys patched into the Linux source code...
seatex

May 18, 2015
11:38 AM EDT
Agreed 750. The great news is that the OEMs are beginning to see the light, and are not as easily manipulated by MS - now that MS sales are waning and other options have emerged, such as Chromebooks.

Also, it's great to see all the open source hardware projects emerging these days. That is where I see the growth opportunities now.
750

May 18, 2015
11:52 AM EDT
Meh, i don't see Chromebooks as any better than Windows 10 at this point. Their whole user/developer delineation is silly to say the least.

Never mind that their CR-94 had a glaring bug where if the battery ran flat it would forget the state of said switch and so lock you out if you were a active developer mode user.

Chromebooks are for web monkeys at this point in time, and will get worse as Android-isms gets added.
seatex

May 18, 2015
12:02 PM EDT
I am also no fan of Chromebooks, or Google for that matter. But it is an alternative (competitor) for MS which is much more visible to the masses than Linux at this point. And, it has helped decrease MS's leverage with OEMs I think.
kikinovak

May 18, 2015
5:26 PM EDT
Can McDonald's save organic food? Can Exxon save biodiversity in the Arctic? Can Monsanto save alternative farming? Can Michael Bay save the cinema?
seatex

May 18, 2015
6:40 PM EDT
My point is, the general public no longer faces simply a Windows or Mac choice now. Let people try Chromebooks and realize they don't need Windows or Mac. Then, if they do start missing native apps and local storage, they will be more likely to look at Linux. I hope anyway.
BernardSwiss

May 18, 2015
10:16 PM EDT
Can Michael Bay save the cinema?

If he plays his cards right, maybe the drive-in...

Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]

Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!