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Vista Launch Good for Desktop Linux?
Sensible Clod writes "XYZ Computing has an article hypothesizing that the arrival of Windows Vista may be a big opportunity for Linux to make headway on the desktop. Massive feature cutbacks for Vista as well as huge hardware requirements are cited as major factors. From the article: 'As the time gets closer and closer to the public debut of Vista the operating system seems to be constantly losing the luster which was associated with Longhorn...Whether it's the lack of a new file system or the Monad scripting shell, the absence of innovation in this operating system is giving it a black eye'. The article then shows the need for action to be taken to get Linux onto the computers in stores (display models!), and pinpoints a few important improvements Linux distros in general need to make. Very interesting read, and timely."
Unless you mean to say that the lower new feature count will make it easier to clone those features into the Linux GUIs. Or maybe you mean that people who upgrade to new PCs will then have their older PCs available to load Linux on. I'm not sure how the next release of Windows will help Linux in the least.
People buy Microsoft because that's what they expect when they buy a computer. Some people think they want more, so they buy a Mac. Other people are happy with Linux, and they don't even have to spend a dime to get the OS software.
When Microsoft releases their next version, I don't think it will have the massive uptake that Windows 95 did, or even Windows 2000 did. Even Windows XP had a slower takeup than the real quantum leaps in Windows history (Win95, Win2K). People are just satisfied with what they've got.
How are you going to convince satisfied people to run Linux? It doesn't really offer them anything that they don't already have or need. If it were that important to them, they would be running it already.
So why would Windows Vista help Linux?
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
Well, I recently took a good long look at all three desktop operating systems for a personal shootout, and I must say that out of Windows XP, Ubuntu Linux with KDE or Gnome, and OSX Tiger, OSX was the only one that stood out from the crowd as being anywhere near innovative or 'new'. I didnt see anything in Linux that I havent enjoyed using elsewhere for years, although its security strengths are a positive, Windows had the games plus point, but its much of a muchness desktop wise, but OSX takes integration and ease of use to a new level, especially for developers.
What am I trying to say? Well, before you complain about Vista not being 'innovative', take a look at the alternatives first, they arent much different in many aspects.
What desktop am I posting this from? OSX of course!
I completely agree. Vista, which (as Longhorn in its initial announcement stages) looked actually quite good, has now become what is basically XP SP3. Features that would have made it worthwhile, such as WinFS, have all been stripped from the final product: while Linux continues to accelerate ahead in terms of stability, compatibility and features. The fact that it is becoming easier to use, more recognised and therefore attracts more coders, also is a great plus for Linux and means that it is increasing in value exponentially. As well, Vista's crazy system requirements are in stark contrast to those of many Linux distributions, despite the fact that these distributions have most if not all of Vista's featurs (and many more on top. And plus - the price difference.
The majority of people out there still haven't even heard of Linux. The people who just use their computers for email and think that AOL is the internet. Have there ever even been any TV ads for any of the commercial linux distros? What the linux community needs to do is make a real ad campain. I realize it costs money, but with all the people out there that love linux with a furvor, there shouldn't be that much of a problem raising funds.
Technoli
Still, Windows 2000 was a huge step over NT4. And, still, XP improved several APIs, both in kernel and user mode. Auto-growing stacks was introduced (news in the Windows world), which of course can simplify development of recursive stuff in some scenarios. It's not much, and if you want to keep compatible with 2000, it's irrelevant, but they continued tweaking.
Vista can still, from what I know, be a huge enough step to warrant a 6.0 version number. It won't be a "new" product, but (just about) nobody ever said it would. If NT4 => 2000 was an upgrade worth mentioning, I would think that this will be, too.
(And, hey, on a laptop/TFT desktop, Cleartype is enough for me to want XP if I run Windows)
33. Your server has not had to reboot in over a year.
34. When you need to install a major piece of software, be it an office suite, a graphics tool, or a compiler, you do not have to drive to a store and shell out enormous amounts of money. Instead, you simply select the desired package from the package repository and it and its dependencies are installed automatically.35. You are able to read and write a vast array of file systems - not just a handful designed by a single company.
36. You realise that those who still have Windows on their computer "because it came with it" probably have picture frames with pictures of model families who they don't know "because it came with the frame"37. You are tired of hearing Windows users bitch about viruses and spyware as if they had not choice but to be afflicted with them.
Their will be a hack to break the DRM the day after it is implemented. This is windowz wer're talking about here. Heck, even iTunes music store DRM was hacked with Jhymn. Same deal here. There are legal and moral issues associated with DRM. If you paid for a song legally, then you should legally be allowed to listen to it anywhere you want. I know the ToS says otherwise, but that is crap. This is America, and when you buy something for your own use, you are allowed to personally do whatever you want with it.
I have been an MS Windows user for years and have alittle experience with GNU/Linux and Mac OS X. After seeing all the cool things stripped out of Vista (especially the new WinFS) what is left is basically Windows XP SP3. Boring.
Frankly, with the new Intel Macs hitting the street during that time, with its ease of use, long track record, etc., that is the system that can win big, and I think that Apple (especially with its monopolistic policies with hardware and software, such as leveraging Final Cut to get Avid/Adobe to give up on Mac and of course iTunes) may just be the next Microsoft.
A decade ago it was Windows 95 that was going to be a big opportunity for Linux to make headway on the desktop,
... Thats server side and Microsoft as pritty much lost that market. .Net and C# were threats to Linux. There was no way for Linux to Win on that.
Not even close.
Windows 95 was Microsofts big chance to solidify it's hold on the market and brush aside all compeditors.
Linux however was only just then being used on a few low load servers and a few desktops.
When IE came out it was the death of Netscape. Linux didn't even have a TCPIP stack and couldn't actually go on the Internet.
Windows 98 was Windows 98. Linux advocates used it to raise awareness of Linux with much success.
But awareness dose not mean converts.
Windows 2000 was Microsofts big chance to blow Linux off the face of the earth. They failed.
Windows XP was Microsoft ditching the old 9X codebase and going with NT. A win for Microsoft.
DRM is DRM. It pisses people off. It's not anything to do with Linux other than DRM dosen't exist in Linux.
The licens of Ms SQL is a win for other SQL servers.
The flaws in ASP security model
I don't think this is a Win for Linux eather but your trying to say this is a clame that is made every time Microsoft farts. It's actually the first time someone sereous made this sort of clame and Linux advocates make a more limited version of this clame when they make it at all (this being rare).
However that being said we've had more than enough Microsoft and Linux death productions to realise this sort of thing is just hype.
I don't actually exist.
It isn't that thewy will sell out thier freeedom. It is that they will see it as a feaqture and not understand they are giving up thier freedoms.
I recently had a customer who droped her laptop and crashed the hardrive. I was able to recover most of here file but the boot sector and partition sections of the drive was toast. It wil nevfer be bootable again. All her music was protected with the xp media players DRM and we didn't get the DRM licenses before the drive went out totaly. Now we have to crack all these WMA files in order to allow here ot use them again. (they were mostley verbal notes from meetings)
When asked why she used it, she said that windows told her it was the only way to protect them from being stolen. She didn't even Now What DRM was because thew switch said Protect content. This is a normal user and a sticker saying DRM compatable would look like a wanted feature. This is alot like the designed for windows XP sticker making people think they have to upgrade to XP to run the newest version of some program they've ran for 10 years. They just don't know and microsoft (as wel as other companies) play on this.
Recently i had a call from someone who said thier new tech support claimed somthign wouldn't run on a novel server when it was running fine for 5 years. Had him thinking he needed to instal a dell power edge running win 2003 server and a domain for a company with 3 computers plus a file server. Turned out nothign "ran" on the server, it just used a network files share for data. But illistrates that even Somewhat experienced users can be duped into the same things. It is alla planned stunt. caculated to trick a consumer out of the most money possible.