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The Role of the Operating System In the Future
liteswap writes "Linux geeks love Linux and Windows mavens won't quit Microsoft -- but will we really care that much whether a machine is running Linux or Windows in future?
As Sun announces Solaris support for Red Hat Linux applications, the need to specify the OS for a particular application will fade away, and the application and the x86 platform become the critical things -- at least that's what this Techworld feature argues..." Maybe a long time from now this will happen - but I don't see it happening RSN.
Yes, I really think it does matter which operating system is used, and it should matter to everyone: developers, purchasers, and--unless they are very short-sighted--end users.
You are right that the speed of processors has changed things. With fast processors emulating hardware in a reasonably responsive fashion becomes possible. I view emulation, however, to be to platform indpendence as NAT is IPv4 address exhaustion. They both paper over the fundemental problem rather than dealing with it.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I think the role of languages that don't rely on a specific platform will become much more important in the future. I write my software in Python and it works wherever Python works (well, not really thanks to GTK+, but its getting there!). As these languages and toolkits mature, I think we'll start to see less of a dependence on the OS
How is what you are describing not the Java -- bytecode, JVM model?
but the programming world has a serious lack of portability. Programmers refuse to attempt to write portable code, and they cite (with justification) the lack of any libraries which allow them to do so with ease. Microsoft, Apple and Unix have three very different programming APIs, and Microsoft + Apple continue to try to make sure their APIs diverge from each other. MS being the worst...they "invent" a new language all their own and encourage the use of it by mob force.
The nuts and bolts of the world are still in C/C++, and will be for the foreseeable future. C/C++ still lack any standardized support for GUIs and threads. C/C++ are still the most flexible languages (in a non-CS professor approved sort of way).(This is not a "my language is better than yours post")
For a long time we're going to care about our OS because our programs will only run on one certain one, even if we don't really care what OS we use.
They will most likely suffer all from the same (protocol) bugs, be vulnerable for the same attacks and ultimately be virus compatible. Diversity is good. Lets just have two or three major operating systems in the future, probably running the same applications, but not on exactly the same code base on a nice interactivity layer.
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Yeah... I think maybe you're wrong. When an OS uses device drivers, it's essentially creating a Hardware Abstraction Layer... and All software, and programming languages are moving towards more abstraction. The idea that a program will run across multiple platforms is a testament to the abstraction of the hardware, and the generic features of the OS (threading, file system, etc). Maybe the point is the UI of the OS is going to become more important, as we run out of features to abstract. Heaven knows we programmers wouldn't mind some things being simplified... (Asynchronous sockets anyone?) Don't get me wrong, I love c++, but the OS is getting abstracted away, and that's okay.
I just purchased a nice cs101 book for java 5.0.
Why?
Because my computer science department wants to standardize on java in addition to c++. Why standardize on Java? Because its the most sought after language in business.
Don't believe me? Go to www.monsterboard.com or some job site and look at jobs in your area. Java is the most sought after language with c/c++ second, and perl third.
Java is essential for any big ecommerce servlet. Php is not there yet and neither is c#.net in terms of scalability and maturity.
Java is a success.
http://saveie6.com/
The OS matters and MS is making big headway in that front. They are doing it right in the face of all their naysayer's, and the irony is those self-proclaimed geniuses are missing what's happening right in front of their face.
For example, the Apple crew touts being first to market with features like indexed searching as reasons why they will beat MS. All the while MS is quietly getting XP Embedded in ATMs and Cars. MS can ad a search in an update (e.g. Vista), but Apple isn't going to power any BMWs with OSX 10.5, but MS already does with XP Embedded.
MS is diligently working with GE (one of the worlds largest companies, 1st or 2nd place) to advance home automation, and integrate with household appliances. Home automation is the FUTURE of computing, period. MS is working hard to penetrate the Home Media market (media center, Xbox, IPTV, etc.), the phone market, and many other fronts. You can say they won't make it, but they are doing a hell of a job to date. Look at the next generation of television, IPTV. MS is starting to get so far ahead of everyone else it's getting sad. Take some time and watch the demos, they are very impressive. The zealots keep saying it isn't true, but they have been saying this since Windows 95. They were wrong then, and are wrong now. Apple and RedHat don't have any big exclusive deals with Verizon or SBC to power IPTV, but MS does. Those deals are getting fiber brought to everyone's doorstep. IPods are cool, but they are a novelty device and they aren't going to power the home of the future, but at the current rate, MS will.
Phones: Mobile 5 blows the doors off of all business class phones today with the exception of RIM's. With the exchange integration, RIM won't be able to compete... MS phones will support Push with more then a 100,000,000 people overnight. RIM is struggling to top 5,000,000. Linux phones are a nice idea, but they don't offer push, and the ones at present can't hold a candle to Mobile 5. Then there are PDAs. MS has crushed Palm, and Nokia's hail marry is neat, but won't beat Mobile 5.
The bottom line is if you like MS or not, they are growing in many areas that aren't being publicized. The naysayers are a sleep at the wheel. The platform of the future isn't going to come from Google, Sun, and certainly not Apple. MS is getting in at the ground floor of these industries and they have far more money to fight off the others.
The platform matters. I know so many of you are out of your mind pissed at me for writing this. I'm sure some of you will have some wiki-pedia posts to try and make your case, or some blog of an anti-ms zealot. And to you I say; it doesn't matter if you use a Windows computer for surfing the web or not, you aren't going to be escaping MS powered operating systems anytime soon. History will prove me right.
What is wrong with the fifteen yoears old kids in the forum? If they know what they are talking about, their age does not matter. I have helped and have been helped by many 15 years old kids. By the way, I'm 37.
As far as support goes, I guess that you haven't had to call Micro$oft regarding an installation issue. I could not find a telephone number on the Win2k package. I finally found a number in the accompanying booklet. After calling this number (toll call) and waiting about 15 minutes, the only thing I got was a prompt for my credit card number!!! Many distributions of Linux provide better support than that.
Linux handles just about all of the programs that I need in order to do business without all of the seecurity issues. The only program that does not work in WINSAP 2000, but that is because Florida Medicaid will not release the information in order to write a Linux version. As is the case with most U.S. State governments, Florida forces people to run Windows. I guess with wealth comes privileges.
Can you find a Java standard anywhere? A JVM standard?
.NET beats the crap out of Java.
.Net system. (As opposed to a "feel good", minimalist implementation that's mostly incompatible with Microsoft's version.)
Yes indeedy, do. Mr. PsychicX, I would like to introduce you to the Java Community Process, a full up standards committee encompassing pretty much all the major technology companies in the industry. Java and its extensions all go through this process before being considered final.
Whether you as a developer want to acknowledge the JCP or not is irrelevant. It has been acknowledged by pretty much everyone who does matter, making it a true force in the industry.
Even if you don't like MS, you've gotta admit that from a freedom point of view,
I admit no such thing. Microsoft has released only the core of the system into the standards committee, and has made no real promise not to enforce patents that would allow them to crush an actual implementation of the
Under the JCP, ALL APIs in the Java library, ALL bytecode requirements, and ALL Language requirements are published for anyone to implement. The only real power Sun weilds over anyone's head is the ability to deny the use of the "Java" name if they can't live up to the specs.
Sorry dude, but you've been seriously duped.
I think it's pretty damn obvious which runtime system I'm a fan of.
Yes, you're a fan of Microsoft. aka "The Bad Guys". Simply because you fell for a "feel-good" trick of theirs. Nice going.
P.S. Here's the spec for 1.4, the spec for 1.5, and the working group for 1.6. You can join the committee and have your say in the design of 1.6, if you'd like. Now that's a real standard!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
You are confusing easy to use with easy to learn. Windows may be easier to learn (debtable really) but it's not easy to use. Once you learn it linux is supremely easy to use. It never gets in your way unlike windows. In linux I can recurse through a mail directory forwarding every single mail meets any arbitratry criterea to my gmail account with one line of typing. I can't even try to attempt that with windows.
As for support I don't know what age the support people who work at MS are but they sure are some of the most useless people on the planet. Whenever you call MS you spend the first three days trying to convince them that you are actually having a problem with one of their products. The fuckers want to blame everything else except their product. Are you having a problem with access? Oh that's because you installed firefox!.
I have always had fantastic support for my linux apps. In the majority of the cases where I needed help I was able to contact the developers themselves. Frequently my problems get solved by IRC in less time then I would have spent on hold while calling MS.
evil is as evil does
Slashdot is clearly behind the curve on this one.
Point #1: Embedded devices
Do you know what "OS" is running in your digital camera? Your DVD player? Your MP3 player? Your GPS system? In the majority of cases, the answer is no.
Point #2: Web applications
Google search, Google reader, gmail, Flickr, etc. They look the same to me whether I'm running Linux, Unix, OS X, BSD, etc.
Point #3: Cross platform apps
Python coding and development feels the same on Windows, Linux, and OS X. Makes no difference to me. Ditto for editing with vim. Quite a few other languages and applications are identical, too: Inkscape, The Gimp, etc.
This is a pipe dream. The OS will continue to matter as long as there is money to be had by locking customers into a specific platform. As odd as it sounds, many customers WANT to be locked in to a specific vendor.
.NET. Despite the propaganda from Mono, .NET is a Windows-only platform, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Mono is merely the Wine of the .NET world: you'll hear stories about .NET apps that will run on it, but try as you might you can't get any of the ones you need to run under it. What good is a crossplatform backend when the front end GUI is still inextricably tied to one OS?
Platforms will matter because your applications will remain platform specific. The big push in corporations right now is to migrate everything to
If major web sites and applications are still coding for specific browsers, my hopes for a cross-platform world where OS doesn't matter are very very slim.
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