Why in the world...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| softwarejanitor Dec 06, 2007 1:32 PM EDT |
Would anyone buy a PC with a dead-end OS that will be discontinued and unsupported soon? With no upgrade path? Linux is a much better choice for a niche market like this. |
| moopst Dec 06, 2007 5:38 PM EDT |
The software giant will publish design guidelines next year that will make it possible for manufacturers of low-cost mobile devices to build hardware that provides optimal compatibility with Microsoft's legacy operating system.
======== Can you say "Vaporware legacy operating system"? It's an antique that doesn't exist yet! |
| tracyanne Dec 06, 2007 7:02 PM EDT |
Quoting:...that will make it possible for manufacturers of low-cost mobile devices to build hardware that provides optimal compatibility with.... You will note that Microsoft is specifying how the hardware manufacturers should make their hardware compatible, not how Microsoft will make their software compatible. Where as Linux is usually made to wotk with the hardware as it stands. |
| theboomboomcars Dec 07, 2007 5:55 AM EDT |
I am not sure how the HW manufacturers will respond to having to change their hard ware to be compatible with windows, because the low cost linux machines seem to keep selling out. |
| Bob_Robertson Dec 07, 2007 6:17 AM EDT |
Oh man, it's _got_ to be cheaper to recompile for existing hardware, than to re-tool and re-design the hardware for proposed software. Sadly, marketing and management are not commonly dominated by engineers. When they are, you get things like the old HP which, against every other manufacturer and marketing trend in the world, made expensive and capable RPN calculators that lasted for decades. I'm sure some company will do the Windows thing, and have their engineering staff shaking their heads in wonder and shame at what they are being paid to do. |
| tracyanne Dec 07, 2007 1:12 PM EDT |
Quoting:Sadly, marketing and management are not commonly dominated by engineers. No they are dominated by accountants. hopefully even they will see the financial sense of Quoting:because the low cost linux machines seem to keep selling out. |
| moopst Dec 07, 2007 6:27 PM EDT |
Bob: My HP 15c has been going strong since 1983, and I wouldn't sell it for anything! |
| Bob_Robertson Dec 08, 2007 7:26 AM EDT |
> My HP 15c has been going strong since 1983... Mine too! I wish there was a software 15C. I'd even pay for it. I've seen some supposed RPN calculator programs, but none that get anywhere near the simplicity and ease of use. |
| Abe Dec 08, 2007 4:15 PM EDT |
Quoting:You will note that Microsoft is specifying how the hardware manufacturers should make their hardware compatible, not how Microsoft will make their software compatible. MS are no dummies, they see danger in the trend of miniaturizing PC hardware. The danger is inherited from Windows architecture being bloated and couldn't be shrunk enough to run on such PC with little hardware resources. They already encountered this issue with OLPC. They are trying to set a minimum hardware resource level so hardware vendors wouldn't go below that threshold. I believe they are trying to circumvent hardware vendors from doing that. They will not succeed because the trend has already started and there is a big market for such computers. Windows being the big blob that is, lacks flexibility in adopting to hardware variations. How many different hardware platforms does Windows run on? Not many. How many does Linux run on? Too many. Linux high modularity is one of its biggest strengths, Windows is very complex with many inter-dependencies that makes it very hard to remove a module/feature without breaking many others. The original Vista internal test release was so bloated it wouldn't run for long if at all. No wonder they had to drop some of the features that they promised to deliver. Even after removing those new features, it is still so bloated and having tough time getting adopted even with higher hardware resources. So, one can't blame MS for trying to subvert this big trend of PC miniaturizing before it is too late. |
| pogson Dec 09, 2007 5:37 AM EDT |
I regularly use thin clients with resources even less than OLPC/eee PC. GNU/Linux is flexible and modular to fit in the small cracks where M$ cannot go. When the Ice Age returns the dinosaur will die off and the furry little mammals will survive. Unfortunately, the desktop/laptop market is still growing so the dinosaur can coast a bit longer. Vista is a wake-up call. M$ cannot release often enough with something that works to compete with GNU/Linux. In my small community, I have converted about half the existing PCs to GNU/Linux already. The home user cannot keep Vista/XP running. They have been discarding machines after a year or two and buying new ones, but now that they have seen that GNU/Linux keeps on ticking, they will not have to do that any more. |
| hkwint Dec 09, 2007 3:03 PM EDT |
Frankly, I was quite 'shocked' if I saw the diskless $99 Zonbu desktop with software-updates and online storage for $15, that is, if I was Microsoft. Not to speak about Nigerian children eventually using Mandrake, lots of French students also using Mandrake, lots of poor children learning Fedora (OLPC) and a lot of casual users trying Linux on the EeePC. I saw also signs that cheap desktops in China also come pre-installed with Linux. Microsoft is trying to do what the Linux-community did for years: writing drivers for hardware they don't know (case of the OLPC). Since they have no experience in this area (anymore), it will cost them a lot of time - and probably it will end up being too little too late (Microsoft reverse engineering hardware, huhuh!). The only thing left for them to do is bribe governments, like they tried (but failed) with the Nigerian deal (though not proved, only suggested), and how they did with the governmental standard bodies. Now, I'm not old, but as far as I know, if a company can't survive without bribing, it won't last long (makes me think of Enron!) |
| Sander_Marechal Dec 09, 2007 3:09 PM EDT |
Quoting:I saw also signs that cheap desktops in China also come pre-installed with Linux. You can thank Microsoft for that :-) PCs used to be sold without OS in China. MS did not like that (they're all pirating Windows! Blah!) so they convinced the Chineese government to outlaw OS-less PCs. Now they all come installed with Linux or FreeDOS. Unsurprisingly, MS still claims that all those Linuxes get wiped for a pirated Windows... |
| jdixon Dec 09, 2007 3:11 PM EDT |
pogson: Please see Sander's thread at http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/26442/ He's asking for help with a thin client solution, and it sounds like you experience could be beneficial. |
| mmelchert Dec 10, 2007 4:17 AM EDT |
>I've seen some supposed RPN calculator programs, but none >that get anywhere near the simplicity and ease of use. Bob, I am using rpCalc which is done in Python using the PyQt wrappers: http://www.bellz.org/rpcalc/index.html |
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