Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft's Athens PC
OneLeg noted that the Seattle Times has a story on Microsoft deciding to partner up with HP and
work on new PCs with a simpler, more controlled architecture. Including things like integrated telephony into the PCs, and in general, being a bit more Maclike and locking Linux out of the desktop market.
OMG, you're kidding me. Isn't this what people usually blast Apple about? Trying to control both hardware *and* software?
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
All your bus are belong to us?
being a bit more Maclike and locking Linux out of the desktop market.
...Since when can't you run Linux on your Mac? Further, since when has Apple been worried about such a thing?!
Linux can obviously still run on other PC's, and other architectures in general.
What's stopping somebody from "partnering" with a manufacturer, producing a PC that won't boot DOS/Windows, but will boot Linux? Obviously on such a board, MS could always add support for it, but wouldn't.
Anyone want to start a pool on when a port of Linux to this will be ready?
Self Serving Sig: Hosting Comparison
The XBOX will now come with a monitor, an HP label, and Windows XP. Yay!
Oh wait, this is a bad thing... I think.
Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
I do't think we have anything to worry about. Media Center Edition was a complete failure because they only allowed OEMs to carry it. Now they are going to have your OS come with the hardware and nothing else? The point is to get your software into the hands of as many people as possible, not tie it to hardware. Apple succeeded because they did this from the get go....Microsoft can't do this now.
Microsoft has made hardware standards for quite some time. They still haven't gotten in the hardware business (other than peripherals.) And why on earth is it so awful that MS is trying to make Windows better? We (the /. crowd) always bitch about how much it sucks, why don't we applaud MS when they do something to try to fix it? Setting up a standard for PC hardware that they think will integrate better with Windows is fine IMO - if it helps make "the" consumer OS better for the consumer, more power to them. I don't blindly support monopoly abuse, but I really don't think that's what's happening here. I think that MS is taking steps to make the PC better (by integrating telephony and other "cool" features). The system they've set up has some real innovation and isn't merely copying the work of others. I think we should at least see it before mindlessly bashing it (as some of the other comments have already done.)
This is yet another attempt at total desktop control, something Microsoft can't wait to have.
Micahel Robertson said it best:
Microsoft wants to move to a world where THEY decide what software a computer runs because that will allow them to extract the most money from consumers. They'll position this product with a comforting sounding name like "trustworthy" computing and tout the benefits, but it's really about shifting power over an individual's PC from the buyer to Microsoft. Microsoft will put up a permission gate before any software can be installed which will have a fee associated with it. It will ultimately give Microsoft control over a user's computer.
This is the first step in something like this becoming a reality. Control the hardware before you control the software.
Remember that story where microsoft wants to implement "classes" of pcs? Like "This game will only run on Class A or better machines"? This is a start, if only halfway.
This scares the hell out of me, and think long and hard about what the implications of such an act can cause if this becomes "mainstream".
"The Athens PC has a built-in telephone linked to Microsoft's productivity applications. When the hardware receives an incoming call, the software automatically pulls up the caller's contact information and photo if the data are stored on the system."
Awesome, and 6 months later and a few installs of various packages, your phone rings and you see this:
A system error has occurred:
ODBC-OLE error 864: Can't connect to object. Please contact your vendor
Call rejected.
You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.
Microsoft is treading on shaky ground here. What is to stop Dell from suing Microsoft for collaborating w/ HP on Athens? Who owns the rights to the manufacturing concepts behind this PC - HP, or MS? If its HP, then this partnership puts other PC manufacturers at a serious disadvantage, as they wouldn't have access to the IP to build a similar or identical PC... not that I'm against companies suing MS over this sort of thing, but you'd think that w/ MS' past legal troubles, they'd stay out of manufacturing or collarborating w/ manufacturers unilaterally.
Louis Kim acknowledged the similarities [of Apple's recent hardware lineup], noting, "Apple is on a similar track in that they're designing with the end-user in mind and they're integrating hardware and software."
Apple is on a similar track??? A similar track? They built the f*cking track 10 years ago and Microsoft and the other PC vendors are on a hand-cart like laurrel and hardy trying to catch up. Similar track my arse! Apple are so far down the track it's not funny, MS will be coming up with a new online music distribution service next.
1990s MS: "We are not a monopoly."
2000s MS: "We can't compete fairly, lock out the competition."
2010s MS: "Would you like Fries with that?"
Trolling is a art,
When the hardware receives an incoming call, the software automatically pulls up the caller's contact information and photo if the data are stored on the system.
Well, time to get to work today...
No, too fat... Hm, no picture? No support... Yikes! Fugly, no help for you... Whoa, hold on a minute! Yes, Tech Support is ready to hump- er help you!
This is going to be interesting. If i recall correctly, the dutch personal privacy laws don't allow the automatic retrieval of caller information. (although is it allowed when you manually copy the number from one program to another, don't ask me why) Again, microsoft is doing something illegal. I wonder if they would disable the feature on the computers sold in the Netherlands, or try to change the law...
was locking linux out of the "desktop market", considering linux has no product to compete with this.
by that I mean a tightly integrated and easy to use dekstop. call me a troll if you like, but either this is not an area in which "we" want to expand, or we just aren't doing it.
I don't care personally, because I won't buy one whatever OS it runs, because I am a programmer, and this product is not for me.
You mean the way Microsoft and HP/Compaq locked everyone out of making PocketPC's, TabletPC's and MediaCenter PC's? Microsoft has used Compaq/HP as their testbed/reference designer for new hardware platforms for years. They haven't locked anyone else out yet, what makes you think they're going to start doing so now?
Gates also plans to demonstrate a new scroll wheel and set of buttons for navigating Windows-powered devices with one hand.
Uh-huh...
Microsoft partnering with HP (aka Compaq, aka Digital Research...) in order to make some new proprietary PCs.
:
This means the following
if IBM doesn't buy Sunbefore HP (who's also mentioned), then the PC market will be dead because Microsft will reverse IBM's PC specs opening which led us to the OEM world.
Meanwhile, it would be a good idea to buy Apple stocks, because they'll be the only ones who will sell anyway.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Or can it?
I'm sure no matter what MS puts in this "new" hardware, the hackers will find a way to make Linux run on it no problem. They'll probably do some crap with signing the software, like on the XBox. The big questions are, will hacking it void your warrantee, will hacking it violate the DMCA, etc. Obviously no legitimate business is going to violate the law in order to get Linux to run on an MS computing appliance.
Anyway I doubt if it's really going to be THAT different from current PC hardware. In fact the core architecture probably won't be ANY different. What we're seeing here is probably a group of bundled proprietary officially supported USB devices or something with extra special attention paid to the drivers courtesy of MS. Basicly it's just an appliance computer, which like the iOpeners aren't really any different hardware-wise from real computers.
So in that case there's not much stopping any other industry group from getting together and setting other open standards for this type of operation. Sorry MS, but using caller ID to pull up a person's picture when they call is NOT revolutionary. The important thing here is that it's an integrated appliance system. It's not a tough system to implement, and I'm sure we could see decent OSS solutions pretty quickly.
I just wonder how proprietary the hardware and software components of this system are really going to be... I guess that remains to be seen.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
No, I'm not saying this is the end of it right here and now. But this kind of think is going to be more and more prevalent. General purpose computers, as Linux proved, can in the end be made to do anything, and are not going to be big money makers for equipment manufacturers anymore. With the upgrade treadmill slowing down big time (who, aside from the hardest of the hardcore gamers, actually NEEDS a 3 Ghz P4, or an Athlon XP 3000 in their home? Not too many people. Who aside from mass copyright actually needs a 120GB+ hard drive? Not a lot of people) they're realizing that they just aren't going to keep making money this way, because computers are appliances now. I don't think they'll go completely away, though they may be 99% laptops soon enough. What they're starting to realize is that devices are the way to go, because you can get an insane profit margin, and they appeal like crazy to most people, because people tend to be gadget maniacs. I don't know many people who don't have at least a single electronic gadget that they use regularly.
It's starting to happen. PDAs are finally starting to get good. Smartphones are starting to do relatively well in the States. The iPod. The Tablet PC. The Xbox, as gaming consoles have proved the viability of this type of model for over a decade. This is just the next step.
... to help computer makers develop a new generation of PCs and reinvigorate the stagnant industry.
Uhh... Last time I checked, the "stagnant" industry was getting a nice kick in the ass from the beautiful hardware coming from Apple.
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." - Jack Nicholson
Ok, the first thing that comes to mind is those network PC's I haven't heard bugger about since the big dotcom dive in corporate spending. If they were a good idea (well, maybe this isn't a well thought out argument, feel free to disagree) they'd be on a lot of desktops by now. Think how much it would save the PHB in tech support.
The comparison to Apple is a natural. But, IMHO, Apple survives because they have a loyal following and many of their innovations are just that, innovations, not copied like *cough* *cough* Microsoft does (Embrace and extend ... this always reminds me of the phrase 'share and enjoy'...)
Apple, as far as I can say doesn't try to lock users into their hardware/environment, mostly just happens, but similar software exists on MS Windows and Linus so users are free to leave if they choose. Athens appears a clear ploy to further lock owners not only into
Microsoft Brand Windows Operating System, but Microsoft software products as well, i.e. This product only available for Brand A computer, 'cause all the patents belong to us. Buy these things and you limit your options. Ideal for the manager who
wants to have absolute control, but like IBM's PS/2 systems, a real mess if you want to upgrade or change anything.
While the current PC is a pretty sordid mess, an open standard would be infinitely preferable, for system makers as well as customers.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
MS Marketing Guy : Our new plan is to create a proprietry hardware platform and lock the Linux rebels out of the desktop! This "Athens" PC will be the ultimate power in the universe!
Darth Gates : Do not be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to monopolize a desktop is insignificant, next to the power of the Source. (breathes heavily)
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
Oh the sky is falling!
yawn.
Microsoft encourages new standards all the time and its no big deal. Previous deals with them produced both USB and cd-roms and every computer. It has benefited us. They do this because Sun and Apple have the benefit of controlling their own machines and setting standards. MS wants more security and an answer to bluetooth which is standard on all new macs.
In 1998 slashdotters critized Microsoft for supporting USB as a way to kill Linux. Today its greatly supported and any usb keyboard or mouse will be reconignzed by it.
If you are right and this shit happens then you can buy a mac.
However customers will not put up with that crap from WMA if apple ports itunes to Windows with more liberal licensing. Competition is strong.
I am sick of all this anti ms fud(even though I hate them) here. I found none of it in the actual story.
http://saveie6.com/
One of the big misconceptions is that HP does not support Linux. We actually do, it's just that we don't market that fact well. HP does have a desktop offerings with Linux installed. I'm assuming that HP will play both sides of the fence with separate offerings...
Microsoft (and Intel, and now HP, give them their credit as well) have been pushing and prodding the hardware guys into progress for more than a decade. The problem is that most hardware companies have no vision, no desire to innovate, no sense of design.
I've been to every WinHEC for the last few years and every year Microsoft is urging the hardware vendors to drop the legacy stuff. ISA slots suck and make Plug-and-Play a miserable experience, but we're only now seeing their complete and total death in new products. Microsoft and Intel pushed the standards to get rid of them.
Most PCs are built from standard components with standard dimensions and standard interfaces. Everything is interchangable. That decoupling has made the PC industry great and driven prices way down, but the Apple counterexample shows what tight integration and some design sense can buy you in both hardware and software. Both Microsoft and Intel would like to see a bit more innovation going on, and WinHEC is one place that they try to make their case.
locking Linux out of the desktop market
Ah, the usual Slashdot-spin tagline. Gotta love 'em.
PCs have become messes, and it's a worthy goal to try to deal with that. Kudos to Apple for taking some steps in the right direction, such as eliminating floppy drives and switching to LCD monitors for home models. That's just the beginning. PCs are still based around what's essentially become pointless upgrading, something that is now completely ignored by everyone except a certain set of gamers and hardware fanboys. (If you aren't shooting for bleeding edge games, any video card made since 2000 and any sound card made since 1995--including motherboard sound--is just grand.)
Linux, for me, is only worthwhile if it improves the overall computing experience. It does that well, for some things, but for others it has become a retro object d'art. Perhaps the most damning thing about Linux is the hugely conservative community surrounding it. Cries of "If you want change then _you_ do it" and endless arguments about sticking with Emacs and the X11 standard are all so inbred and meaningless. I will make fun of Microsoft along with everyone else as long as Bill Gates & company are stagnant and producing poor products. But as much as I hate to say it, they're moving forward with some interesting ideas. Sure, those ideas aren't original (what is?) but the key is that they have a direction and purpose.
Like a rich uncle sending a check when the cupboards are bare
yeah, more like a rich uncle who has some goons beat the shit out of the grocery delivery man, then straps you to a table and feeds you cold oatmeal with cat urine and roaches in it.
While calling your mother and telling her that you've gone on a health-food kick.
PC moderators can suck my White pierced, tattooed dick. If you think pride == hate, s/dick/Aryan meat mallet/g.
This was bound to happen sooner or later. Microsoft, Intel and AMD are ALL anti-OpenSource, yet x86 has been the primary architecture for Linux and other OpenSource programs. How did you really think it would be before those three companies were going to lock us out? It's their hardware, they were going to control it totally, it was just a matter of time.
What the OpenSource community needs to do is rally behind another architecture to ensure its survival. This can either be Sparc, plain-vanilla PowerPC systems, or both. Linux's dependence on the x86 architecture will spell its doom otherwise, and for any semblence of competition for consumer OS's besides Mac. Fortunately, all programs written for Linux will work on all Linux-supported architectures, and if they don't, they can always compiled on these architectures.
Personally, I'm ready to give up dual-booting into Windows, games, etc, if it means that I don't have to pay the Microsoft tax, or having Ashcroft/FBI/CIA monitoring every single keystroke I make on my PC. I'm also ready to give up the funky multimedia stuff and even new digital content if I can simply access the internet, write, compile and run my own or OpenSource programs. I'd rather have liberty than new toys.
Hopefully, Michael Robertson and LindowsOS will see this comming and make a deal with a generic PowerPC motherboard manfacturer and start porting Lindows to that architecture and quickly. It's the only hope left for free (as in speech) personal computing.
This space left intentionally blank.
What makes me sick about this article is not Microsoft's intentions to lock down the PC architecture to its own specifications, it's that a supposedly independent journalist has written a piece which is little more than a press release for the company.
I mean: "Like a rich uncle sending a check when the cupboards are bare, Microsoft today is unveiling an ambitious plan to help computer makers develop a new generation of PCs and reinvigorate the stagnant industry." Anyone would think MS is the new Santa Claus, driven not by desire for profit and market domination, but pure hearted generosity and compassion for all the poor, poor computer manufacturers.
... a computer that is a computer? I had a crappy all-in-one Acer PC with the monitor embedded in it, and I couldn't update it for beans. Why do I want it to have a phone, glowing panels, and further enroachment into my workspace?
Do I really want my monitor shell to pulse when I get an email? Are you out of your mind? How is that supposed to make me more productive?
Do I really want Athens throwing a Borg arm out to the rest of my deskspace?
How do I fix this thing if it breaks?
How hard is it to enter a user name and password over a fingerprint?
Just let a device be a device. Let it alone already.
T.
This space for rent.
But isn't it against Microsofts settlement with the courts that it can't manuafacture its own line of computers that will run only its software??
Having to add a bios upgrade is going to really hurt the chances that the average person will go to the trouble to install something non-MS on his computer. And it'll eliminate the change that a corporation will do it. No IT department is going to modify a desktop machine's BIOS to get it to run Linux, IT departments are very conservative.
Here's my favourite quote from the article:
It may also help the company fend off competition from Apple and freely shared software.
Poor little Microsoft, trying to eke out a living on the fringes of the computer industry, threatened by the monopoly held by Apple and their free software buddies!
Seriously, though, there is something to be made of all this. Long-term, Microsoft is legitimately threatened by free software. This is why they are getting more and more into hardware, like XBox and services, like HotMail. They are moving their software away from a purchase model to a rental model.
Things could get very interesting when a critical mass of Microsoft's customer start realizing that something like MySQL is actually superior to SQL Server, and look Ma, no price tag! If we think Microsoft acts loutish now, wait until they are legitimately threatened!
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
They give their OSes out for free, I believe, after they release the next version anyway. Microsoft won't even let DOS 2 into the public domain.
Yes, Apple does make some prior versions of Mac OS freely available, but it's still not "public domain" for several decades.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I think the biggest reason why the industry is slumping is that most of the people who want a computer at home have one. It does what they need it to and they do not have a compelling reason to blow $1,000 every year or two to keep up with technology. Year before the year before lasts computer is fast enough and reliable enough for what they need. I don't think HP cloning Apple with M$ software embedded in it is going to make them change their mind.
For the geeks, however, the extra horsepower is used probably as much as it is desired. These same people, however, are the least likely to want to be bundled to M$. I think M$ would be better served to make what they have work without the requisite ripping out of hair every few days.
Another $.02 into poverty...
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
The PC would have gotten exactly nowhere without an OS (crappy as Win3x was) to take along for the ride. A few 'killer apps' like Lotus 1-2-3, Word, Excel, PageMaker and Corel DRAW! helped as well.
That's the biggest irony in open source 'advocacy'. According to people like ESR, Microsoft set the computing world back at least a decade. So that means I must've missed Graphical Linux 1.0 when I was busy making Windows 3.0 work on top of DR DOS.
Alternatives are such a nice thing.
Or whatever you want on it. You can easily take any recent mac and install Linux on it. Why don't most people? Probably cause the default OS is better.
x86 wouldn't cease to exist, but without Microsoft producing windows for it the market will shrink.
What's the difference between a X-Box and a PC? Custom bootloaders, strange BIOS?
Main HD, spin up.
It's you!
How are you Gentleman. All your kernel are belong to us.
Compile you say?
You have no chance to link, make your time.
Ha Ha Ha.
(Incidently, it's set up us, not set us up)
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
I'm suprised no one noticed the new strategy being implemented.
Nothing was called "Open Source" on the webpage for Linux. It's all called "freely shared", as in illegal music files.
It might be my paranoid side talking, but that was the scariest part of the article, not trying to lock out Linux, but making it sound like "freely shared" is a BAD thing (It's illegal to "freely share" MS Office, or Windows, or MP3's).
This sort of 'appliance' is the future of computing for the masses.
Most people don't want a big confusing monster on their desk, they want it as simple as a toaster and as disposable as a Bic lighter.
Not that *I* like this future for my home, but we are heading towards it, step by step.. We are already there in some businesses ( aka: terminal server/winterms ), but home world will take some time to catch up ( or is that : to come 'full circle' back to the days where computing was done in the backroom, and you just had your little display window to view it.. the way it should be really in a business environment ).
It only makes business sense for them to push in this direction. Nothing sinister implied in their actions, just market control and maximizing profits. its what a business does.. ( or if it don't, its not a business much longer )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Making a PC more "Mac-like" would create a computer that undermines the reason for the success of a PC: commodity.
While Apple's boxes aren't particularly special or different from PCs in basic parts (RAM, power supply, hard drives), the three core differences: processor, motherboard, and bootware, define what that box is and how it interacts.
Now, a PC bought today can still, in all likelihood, run MS-DOS 6.2, 3.3, Windows 3.1, or Windows 95. That is because the PC architecture hasn't really changed to the extent that operating systems and hardware are markedly different, speed improvements and interface additions notwithstanding. A PC has always been extensible, but such a new box may find it hard to get third-parties to make their hardware work.
If Microsoft were to build a Mac-like PC, they would need to make or use a smarter boot firmware. Bye-bye to the typical BIOS we know and love. That action alone would require various Linux distros to rewrite themselves for the new firmware. OK--not a biggie. Linux users did that for the Mac version of Linux. Next, the motherboard would need changes to make it smarter and work with the firmware. That's a lot of OS changes I presume, although IANAP.
Plug and play devices are still a laugh, and it would be the one thing I hope a plan would fix. Microsoft tried to dictate hardware changes during Windows 95's intro, and most of it was for the best. But even today, Windows takes several minutes to determine what the hell you have in your box. A Mac never goes through this process--at least not in a way that you are aware of. Plug and play on a Mac just works.
I don't know. I get it, but it seems that they are fighting a larger animal--the inertia of the marketplace and a desire to stay and do what they are doing. New stuff is shunned unless it looks like a gold mine. And this isn't golden, IMO.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
the government does it all the time, it's called "stroke of the (bribed) pen, law of the land". When is the last time you could buy a new scanner that got cell phone freqs? You used to be able to buy one legally, now you have to jump through smuggling hoops or be a leet modder. Heck, they even mandated some TV specs so you couldn't tune in to some freqs. They "passed a law". When was the last time you could legally put a no BS carb that actually worked efficiently on your car? You can't now legally, although you can get "off road" carbs, if you are caught with one installed and driving on the road it's a serious fine and/or your vehicle gets seized. I have an example right now with my jeep, the stock legal carb just sucks large donkey nuts, it never works correctly, I KNOW from networking with 4 wheeler guys an off road carb works better and makes less pollution because it will stay inside specs-but it's "illegal" to install one. So, I haven't, don't want to take a chance on having my vehicle impounded. How about the classic watching a DVD legally on your linux box? You can't do it legally.
They pass laws affecting hardware all the time, it's a constant with bribed "government". They could EASILY pass a law stating no such and such styled MOBOs can be produced or imported into the US unless they had these "security features" installed that would restrict you and identify you in various ways. They could also go so far as to restrict any non complint hardware from accessing the internet, enforce it at the ISP and telco level, making your older tech obsolete, forcing upgrades, or making you take a risk of a label of being a criminal, subject to..whatever. They are just getting rolling with busting the P2P swappers, think they are going to just stop now?
It's all doable. That's what all these new super DMCA styled laws are all about, applying it to exact hardware specs is the next logical step for "them", them being the monopolists and the opposite side of the demon siamese twin 'government". And they got the buckets of coin and people with bad attidues with guns to make it happen, and you don't got the buckets of coin and personal armies to make it *not* happen, complain as you might, in most cases anyway. You might "get away with it" for some time as a scofflaw and flaunter, similar thinking has lead to over 2 million people in prison today,the vast majority of whom thought they were "leet" enough to "get away with" various drug possession and transfer. Stupid laws, yes. Enforceable? yes, to any level the government chooses to enforce them. If there's a buck in it for someone,and especially a cartel of someones with stealth monopoly on their minds, they will pass and 'enforce" whatever they want to, constitution be danged with those people. It's a joke to them, and every one knows it.
The goons have a way of making things happen in their favor, it seems to work for them. They use the carrot and the stick approach, and unless your carrots are much bigger and juicier and your stick much harder and faster, you will lose,and they will win in the long run.
Xbox? That previous story was right. Xbox was just an experiment in Microsoft propietary systems. Now they are making the aggressive move. Well, we'll see if people like not having choices. My major problem with this is: Why should people upgrade to 2ghz propietary machine if they just want to use the internet/word process. Heck, people are STILL ok just using a 700mhz machine. 700mhz is perfectly adequate (I still have one in my living room, word processing, internet, even the sims!) I'd be really surprised if people were willing to part with their cash for 1.5 second speed increase when they open internet explorer...
When IBM released the PS/2 and OS/2 at the same time in a bid to lock out clone makers and Microsoft from the desktop?
The parallel here is so close that its amazing, particularly since Microsoft has now become the huge monolithic company instead of the plucky upstart that wants an open standard.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
This 'relentless march' has to be driven by something. Mainly sales (i.e., money and the incentive to make it). That driving force was Windows 3x, whether you like it or not.
Otherwise the PC would have been confined to businesses and used either like a typewriter or a small mainframe. Certainly the consumer market for PCs wouldn't have existed. What we'd had ended up with is more expensive and proprietary Macs that would have captured 1/4th (at most) of the overall potential market.
Windows was not the best OS of its time (heck, even GEO was better), but it helped bring PCs to the masses. Again, whether you think that's 'bullshit' or not.
Linux made its way into the Xbox, and can easily make it into any system that is based on x86. Should Microsoft move to a non-x86 architecture it will be the best thing that ever happened to Linux, Apple and Sun. Microsoft will never shift from x86, and Linux can always be made to boot in face of any mod chips and drm technologies..
If nothing else, a win32 version of loadlin could be made that will replace everything in the memory with a linux kernel and boot it. All the while people would stick to their clone PCs trying out Linux once in a while. I think Microsoft execs have been smoking some Redmond grass and need to see the only leverage they have in the market is the huge pile of x86 code that wont execute anywhere else. Theres really no other reason for people not to move to Linux.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
Heck, they couldn't lock Linux out of their game-console, what makes them think they can lock it out of a desktop PC?!
Thank you for saying the thing which Slashdot seems to be trying to avoid.
Microsoft has taken a few good turns recently.
Microsoft working closer with hardware vendors to get faster implemented USB 2.1 support or even a radical simplification of the PC specification is a great thing. Combine this with the previously announced reduction in the number of API calls from 79k to 8k, and the drastically needed updating of the file system, and you have the makings of a Monopoly realizing that what it sells is garbage and it was time that was fixed.
Quite frankly, it is far less insulting to be enslaved to an evil monopoly with a *good* product.
I do, however, wish they didn't start this initiative with HP, the company built by the lowest bidder. I guess I'll have to wait for the next revision for them to get it right.
The ______ Agenda