The Incredible Shrinking Operating System

snydeq writes "The center of gravity is shifting away from the traditional, massive operating systems of the past, as even the major OSes are slimming their footprint to make code bases easier to manage and secure, and to increase the variety of devices on which they can run, InfoWorld reports. Microsoft, for one, is cutting down the number of services that run at boot to ensure Windows 7 will run across a spectrum of hardware. Linux distros such as Ubuntu are stripping out functionality, including MySQL, CUPS, and LDAP, to cut footprints in half. And Apple appears headed for a slimmed-down OS X that will enable future iPhones or tablet devices to run the same OS as the Mac. Though these developments don't necessarily mean that the browser will supplant the OS, they do show that OS vendors realize they must adapt as virtualization, cloud computing, netbooks, and power concerns drive business users toward smaller, less costly, more efficient operating environments."

Comments

Re:MySQL & LDAP?

[tbannist]

I don't really think it matters. This is just more evidence that Microsoft doesn't get it, is out of touch with reality, and more concerned with their own profits that what makes them profitable in the first place.

Stop dicking your users around. According to the blog you linked even the limited version of Windows 7 will have all of the components of the top end in the image for it. Frankly, everything after that point about "piracy" is kicking your loyal customers in the nuts to spite the people who never buy your software in the first place.

Seriously, by putting this limitation on "third world OEMs" you're just ensuring that no one in the "third world" uses the legitimate OEM software. Why would they when the cracked version is cheaper and works better?

Re:This is a duh moment

[houghi]

Package Manager? I go to the website and click on what I want to install with openSUSEs one-click-install.

Yes, you can still use YaST.