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Windows 7 Sets Direction of Low-Power CPU Market
Vigile writes "News is circulating about Microsoft setting hardware limits for the Windows 7 Starter Edition rather than sticking to a 3-application limit. With just a few simple specifications, Microsoft has set the tech world spinning — not only is Microsoft deciding that a netbook is now defined as having a 10.2-in. or smaller screen, but by setting a 15-watt limit to CPU thermal dissipation they may have inadvertently set the direction of CPU technology for years to come. If Microsoft sticks to that licensing spec, then AMD, Intel, VIA, and maybe even NVIDIA (who might be building an x86 CPU) will no doubt put a new focus on power efficiency in order to cash in on the lucrative netbook market."
...oddly enough, the article didn't explain how they were going to improve the BSOD function that i love so much about winblows.
my bike got stolen yesterday... i'm really sad now
I don't see a whole lot of netbooks selling with the starter edition in the developed markets.
But will it run crysis?
Yeah.
not only is Microsoft deciding that a netbook is now defined as having a 10.2-in. or smaller screen
Does it also mean that a low-cost subnotebook that runs Windows 7 Starter Edition is not allowed to have a VGA output? My cousin has an Acer Aspire one with an 8.9" built-in screen, but I have a 32" Vizio monitor.
... OEMs will not offer Windows 7 options. If netbooks are mostly for email, web, etc., who needs a particular OS? All seem to do those basics well enough (often with the same software ported around to fill the market).
And how do they go about detecting how much power these CPU's use? Why can't I just go and install Starter Edition on my Pentium D?
I don't quite get the big deal here since they are just setting the bar as high as needed to make sure Windows kinda runs on the hardware. Microsoft must be the one to set the bar because if it was anyone else, that bar would probably be too low to have any fun or use running Windows.
15 watts for the CPU is huge compared to what some of the ARM chips are doing while also doing HD video.
If anything, these specs for Windows netbooks is just another way to segment the winbook market to make sure a much higher price can be obtained for notebooks. After all, Microsoft can not have the netbook market grow up and start eating into its profits and people getting the idea that the OS is way too much of the cost of the device.
So, it's really all about marketing and little else. yawn.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
If the 10.2 inch limit refers to the largest diagonal of the viewing area, then screens with round corners might make a come back.
Seriously /., you can't even buy starter edition in the US or most technologically-capable countries. It's for underdeveloped countries. It's been this way for years now, it was like this for Vista also.
Article after article about this is dumb, now you're just taking jabs at MS for the sake of taking jabs at them. We all realize the edition is stupid, you're spreading a lot of FUD about a version of the OS that 90% of the readers here won't even see in stores.
I don't care about screen size so much as resolution. I can always get stronger glasses.
If MS holds to such a spec, it will keep the CPU separate from the chipset and GPU. Dumb, and the best/cheapest notebooks will use Linux.
You can't program for an open system. Writing rules like this is programming, whether they think so or not. The world doesn't execute instructions with the fidelity of computers. It is also much harder to debug.
I long for the day when Microsoft's greed will not be able to set the direction of anything.
If netbooks are mostly for email, web, etc., who needs a particular OS?
You may need a particular operating system if "mostly" does not equal "entirely", or if the tasks that you intend to run on a low-cost subnotebook are highly "etc." You may need a particular operating system if your "web" site uses a particular plug-in that has no complete Free implementation, such as Silverlight or Flash.
bite this! We are doing fine without going back to the land of being dictated to. Adapt the software to meet the hardware, not the other way around.
It would be a better world if the CPU manufacturers required Microsoft to meet certain standards.
Seriously /., you can't even buy starter edition in the US or most technologically-capable countries. It's for underdeveloped countries. It's been this way for years now, it was like this for Vista also.
Was, past tense. Between Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft swapped the roles of Starter Edition and Home Basic. In Windows Vista, Starter Edition was for the third world and Home Basic was for entry-level hardware in the industrialized world. But in Windows 7, Home Basic is for the third world and Starter Edition is for low-cost subnotebook PCs.
So where is the DoJ.
The 800lb gorilla and the wild elephant are tearing up the china shop.
Seriously, this is using your ILLEGAL Monopoly to control other markets and that is ILLEGAL.
Will just to wait and see of our new set of congress-critters are neutered or have some brass one.
Flash has been on Linux for ages now.
On ARM, or only on x86?
Silverlight has Moonlight which is sorta comparable
Moonlight supports Silverlight 1, which by now is only good for showing "Please upgrade to Silverlight 2" messages, just as the Flash Player 7 on Wii Internet Channel is only good for showing "Please upgrade to Flash Player 9" messages. And a lot of sites use Silverlight with non-free video formats whose freely available decoders aren't ported to ARM even if they are ported to Linux.
most of the netbook still have options that use some flavor of linux as OS, so who cares if it runs Windows 7 or not? Personally I don't want my netbook running Windows 7 or even XP because it's not designed for it (consuming too much resource).
I'm a bit puzzled by the notion that this might mean CPU developers would put a new focus on power efficiency. The focus from CPU manufacturers in the netbook space already is on power efficiency. That is the whole point of Intel'a Atom processor line, for example.
In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. -T.S. Eliot
That means my new 2.2 GHz netbook with 128 GB SSD and 10.25 inch screen that dissipates 16 watts is going to run that Linux stuff.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site so they must be US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) or 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches.
That's utter bs. If you bother to check wikipedia, you'll find out that diameter of the boosters are 12.17 ft. That's not us standard gauge by any means. Plus, if you think about it, NASA doesn't have any issues shipping the main fuel tank assembly to florida.
"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
so they must be US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) or 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches.
Track gauge (spacing between the rails) != loading gauge (maximum dimensions of a car on the railway). While there is some relation between track gauge and loading gauge (you can't make the loading gauge too big or the train will be unstable and you can't really make it narrower than the track gauge) loading gauge can vary without track gauge changing. IIRC american and continental european loading gauges are quite a bit bigger than british loading gauge even though the track gauge is the same.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
Product differentiation. If you want the premium netbook with the big screen and the low power chip, your choices are full-fat Vista that limps like a three legged dog, or Linux that flies. Good Jorb, Mr. Ballmer!
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Other than Windows itself, are they specifying what other malware needs to be installed too?
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
why would this be tagged "streisand effect?"
"Plus, if you think about it, NASA doesn't have any issues shipping the main fuel tank assembly to florida."
If I remember correctly, the external tanks go to KSC by barge from the coast of Louisiana. Not so easy to sail a barge from Utah...
I had no idea they intended to port Vista 7 to ARM.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Linux runs on just about anything, these days, and if it doesn't, NetBSD does.
Get an ipod that can run IPodLinux, plug in one of these, and a pair of these, and you'll be ready to dodge bullets. ;-)
With the above, they can sell as many of their crippled, gimped notebooks as they want; you can use that stuff and the hacked ipod to create your own system. If you don't mind the weight, there's still this old trick, too.
Microsoft can do whatever they want. All we need to do is route around them.
Stop being afraid of them; they have no power. We can do whatever we like, and there is nothing they can do about it...for the simple reason that there are so many more of us. Microsoft are only one company.
How many people are going to be limited by Microsoft's decisions? Obviously, the unintelligent and unimaginative. I don't even WANT a netbook - but if I did, and IF I wanted Windows, I would re-format, and install a pirated edition with no restrictions. MS has no right to decide which part of their operating system I am "permitted" to use, and which parts I am not "permitted".
Oh yeah, someone tell me how DISHONEST it is to pay MS 15 bucks for a castrated operating system, then reinstall the same system without limitations. I'll be quick to remind you how dishonest Microsoft is in all of it's dealings, including this underhanded attempt to cut competitors out of the netbook market. Most *nix distros will install full version, without restriction, provided you have minimum disk space and minimum memory to run a full fledged GUI.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
MS realizes that to continue to succeed it will have to charge a different OEM price for "netbooks" and "laptops" otherwise they will be eaten alive based on price.
Because of this, a standard must be set, otherwise you will have a hardware manufacturer attempting to pay the "netbook" price for windows in order to undercut everyone else even though the computer has a 2ghz dual core, etc.
From what admittedly little I've read, so-called netbooks have razor-thin profit margins and the only reason they're selling is because the full-size laptop market is getting closer to being saturated. For people who want an underpowered, smallish laptop for web browsing and email, what's wrong with a 12" PowerBook G4 from eBay? Full-size keyboard, 1024x768 screen, 1 to 1.5 GHz. $250-$300.
As per TFA, this is nothing new - they had specs for XP and Vista, too. It would be nice to see some genuine competition for MS in this emerging market - i.e. Apple.
Spekkio Master of War
It's a sad day when wikipedia is how you 'bother to check' your facts.
way to go there billy boy...
l,
OEM's would be able to preinstall this limited version (thereby bringing down the price) and allowing the consumer to decide if they want/need the upgrade or not.
Quack, quack.
At Microsoft, Tremblay joined the Strategic Software/Silicon Architectures team, nicknamed "SiArch".
Today's news that Microsoft will set a wattage limit on netbooks running the starter edition of Windows 7 clearly shows why Microsoft has an SiArch team and why Microsoft hires "processor" guys and gals. Only a team packed with "processor" experts can do the kinds of studies that are needed to determine what is a reasonable wattage to impose on netbooks.
Why must Microsoft spend several million dollars on a SiArch team to pick a simple wattage? Microsoft is facing severe competition from Linux at the low end.
If Microsoft picked a wattage that is too low, then the netbook manufacturers could not build such a system and would rebel -- right back into the arms of Linux. Microsoft absolutely needed to pick a realistic number.
Until April of 2008, Linux owned the majority of the netbook market. Then, Microsoft submitted its Windows XP to that market and quickly seized 90% of it. Microsoft wants to keep that market share. So, if Microsoft wants to impose hardware restrictions on netbooks, Microsoft will ensure that those hardware restrictions are reasonable.
or does it seem that Microsoft is using bad marketing decisions to get them out of the computer business faster than IBM did?
... a new focus on power efficiency in order to cash in on the lucrative netbook market.
I don't think that word means what the writer thinks it means. In what way is the netbook a "lucrative market"? The profit margins must be almost non-existent. It's a race to the bottom, and I think many companies will regret chasing this market.
... and then they built the supercollider.
.
If Microsoft is successful (through marketing "incentives") in strong-arming hardware OEMs to lower the hardware capabilities of future netbooks, that is nothing less than an enormous win for Microsoft.
I am nothing but amazed that the hardware OEMs do nothing but roll over and say to Microsoft, "please, Sir, may I have another."
an "Operating System."
Both of these words have existing, very clear definitions and Microsoft is trying to change them to make a profit. It's called fraud.
I can't draw up a contract offering to sell someone a "fully operational car" and then put a little asterisk next to those big letters and down at the bottom, in tiny print, put "P.S. my definition of a fully operational car does not include wheels, an engine, or a steering wheel."
Much less if I am the dominant, perhaps even MONOPOLY car company that has been selling cars in my country for decades, which people use continually, and whose existing cars are being crippled for their intended purpose due to being "end of life."
If I'm in THAT position and I send circulars to the nation advertising a "FULLY FUNCTIONAL CAR, GREAT NEW FEATURES, BE SURE TO UPGRADE, YOUR OLD ONE WON'T LONG BE SAFE ON CURRENT ROADS!*" and THEN put in tiny print at the bottom, "New version does not support wheels, engines, or steering wheels, for those you'll need to upgrade!" well... The FTC would be involved pretty quickly.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
I'd rather see HDMI output. Then it's digital, and not only would also be compatible with consumer electronics like HDTVs
I haven't seen a single TV that has HDMI in and no VGA in. But I've seen a lot of TVs with VGA in and no HDMI in, such as any SDTV with a scan converter connected to its S-Video or composite input. And then you have connectors like DVI-I and Apple's mini-DVI that carry both VGA-compatible and HDMI-compatible signals.
If Microsoft cripples their software for netbooks, they *should* be forced to disclose this on the side of the box. The companies who ship Linux-based netbooks should point out on the box that their software has no artificial limitations.
It is amusing to see Microsoft trying to come up with new and unethical ways to manipulate another market. Then again, "unethical" is Microsoft's middle name.
The Apple admen must be salivating over exploiting the Windows 3 app limit.
Microsoft must die. It's that simple.
And cloud computing could make that happen because it should make the client OS irrelevant. We don't have to do anything "to" Microsoft. Just build world-class productivity apps that use open standards and run in the cloud. This forces Microsoft to compete on a more level playing field as it can no longer leverage its OS hegemony because Firefox on Linux works exactly like Firefox on Windows XP/Vista/7.
Google Docs is one potential Microsoft killer. Unfortunately, Google Docs is _still_ in beta (after how many years? -- if we count Writely, and I think we should) and you'd better believe it's "beta" because its still feature poor (which is more an "alpha" characteristic) and buggy (I just lost a document I was working on last night). OK, Windows users will be used to that behvior, but that's not the point. Google, perhaps the most of all the major cloud computing vendors (e.g., Amazon, Yahoo!), has the best chance to finally put Microsoft in its place by making the OS irrelevant.
And, that's how you kill Microsoft.
So, what's the problem, Google? Why aren't you throwing everything you have at making Google Docs a world-class, cloud-based productivity application suite? Or, at least, making it a priority project (which, at present, it obviously is not)? As it currently stands, the Google Docs mini-suite is a good start, but its apps are not yet good enough to get hardcore users of Microsoft productivity apps to switch. Until that happens, Microsoft is going to continue to attempt to control the "cloud threat" using its Windows OS. When netbooks can access powerful applications in the non-Microsoft cloud, it won't matter (for a large portion of the netbook owners/buyers) what OS is running on their cloud client. And, that is Microsoft's worst nightmare.
In closing, I would be remiss to not point out that the cloud already is helping make Microsoft's OS-enforced "app limit" irrelevant. Firefox only counts as one OS application. But, Google Docs is actually three applications (writer, spreadsheet, presentation tool). So the "three app" limit is relatively easy to get around when you're working in the cloud.
When cloud-based apps get good enough and the other cost-reducing advantages (especially to business owners) of cloud computing are considered, there will be no rational reason why Microsoft doesn't become "just another cloud computing vendor."
One "Aw, Shit!" is worth 100 "Ata boys!"
Microsoft needs to die. Who's up for a staged protest in Redmond?
These are pretty much the standards Intel put out to define netbooks for the Atom. They haven't had complete luck getting people to comply either. It's kind of like defining which rules you have to break to make a product that stands out. Vista 7 rules will be the same way. They can't really restrict screen size on a software product for antitrust reasons.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
If netbooks are mostly for email, web, etc., who needs a particular OS?
In each hardware generation, the geek reinvents the web appliance - only to see it crash and burn at WalMart.
He never questions his basic assumptions about the home user.
While Microsoft - which has thirty five years experience in this market - rakes in the chips once again.
The Win 7 netbook with a single core CPU, ION graphics, 1 GB RAM and a 160 HDD has better specs than a first-generation XP desktop.
Plug in a USB Flash ROM. Your USB mini-mouse. Shop the Good Old Games at gog.com. Knock yourself out.
There is nothing lucrative about a razor thin margin sub notebook where the most expensive component is the hobbled Windows dreck staining it's hard drive.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
This is proof that corporations that arise from your beloved "market" can be every bit as evil and draconian as the government.
And don't even give me that B.S. that monopolies wouldn't arise if there was less government intervention in markets, Stadard oil arising when there was NO government intervention in markets ring a bell? In short Ayn Rand fans time to find another paradigm that maps the real world.
A smart person questions BOTH concentrated public and private power which is why I hope OSS wins in the long run as it's inherently decentralized and avoids BOTH public and private monopolies on production that lead to debacles like this on private side and debacles like the "v-chip" on the public side.
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
No amount of self-inflicted sabotage can compensate for the irrational loss aversion that characterises most computer users. They just don't feel they can afford to be without Windows.
There is nothing irrational in choosing a platform that is compatible with everything you have - and everything you want - in proprietary software or free and open source.
The portable video game player runs one app.
The geek who rants on about - the soon to expire - "three app limit" will - when he catches his breath - argue that users in this market really only need three apps.
Both propositions can't be true.
You can't stop the FOSS port to Windows.
That implies that there is no way to build a distinctive identity for Linux in the home and SOHO markets.
WalMart has been struggling with this problem for years.
It doesn't help that the bad news has to be posted like a road hazard sign - big and bold, black on yellow:
YOU CANNOT RUN YOUR WINDOWS PROGRAMS ON THIS COMPUTER.
I find this to be an odd assumption, as I've used a netbook type computer for a while now and it was by FAR the easiest device to lose the M$ OS and apps. On my desktop and laptop I still game and run apps that sadly keep me coming back to M$, but the netbook is running Linux, full time, with no loss of functionality.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
What a pile of horse puckey. I have yet to get w7 to work on it's minimum requirements. Linux and bsd has been working on a multitude of low power devices for years now. Linux and bsd have set the standard and not Microsoft. I can run debian gnu/linux on my Cisco Linksys Nslu2 with much less than 15 watts. I dare W7 to do that. I still run debian linux on my old pentium 1 166 mhz laptop with only 96 megs of ram that uses only twenty watts. I have never been limited to only three applications. I dare MSwindows to run on a Gumstix. Maybe the author of the article should pay a visit to linuxdevices.com to get a clue of how many low power devices that run linux and bsd that MSwindows has or will never run on.
10 inch is already pushing it on netbooks to make them useful for what they're supposed to be, IMO. 12 is just too big.
If netbooks are supposed to be so small as to a pain to use, you're right.
Personally I couldn't give a toss if a company calls a computer a "netbook", a "home computer" or whatever. A claimed 12 of these quaint old units (I haven't bothered to measure) makes my Dell "Mini 12" just as legible as what it may replace, the decade-old Toshiba "Portégé 7200" that usually lives on my desk. (The Dell's CPU is faster and its hard drive's a lot bigger.) And perhaps the decent screen is what encouraged the designer to adopt a keyboard big enough for continuous, nine-finger touchtyping. It's easily light enough for carrying around, and slim and small enough to fit in any of my bags.
To me, the mystery is the relative appeal of the average "netbook". I suppose the smaller screen would consume less juice, but the reduced size makes it trivially easier to carry around and hugely more of a pain to work with.
Still, as MS calls the shots I expect that Dell will obediently discontinue the "Mini 12" and not replace it. Time to order an second one (also with Ubuntu, of course) for the missus.
The CPU specs look to me like a problem for Intel. Because the Atom's core has pretty low performance, the limit of one core under 2GHz means that it'd be easy to pass in performance. It might still win in power, but 15W is high enough for faster solutions than the Atom.
Great. So now MS gets to control what OEM's will sell in a market that they aren't even well suited to thrive in. It sucks cause I bet it will work. OEM's are going to want the cheap windows licenses for netbooks, so they will of course make netbooks that fit MS's definition of what a netbook is. Otherwise, no windows starter edition. That means that even if there could be amazing-new-cpu x that happens to have great-new-capability y is absolutely perfect for a new-generation netbook-like product, but it would have to run at 17watts and 1.3ghz, it will never receive any notice from netbook makers. OEM's will want NOTHING to do with it just because they can't offer windows on it, since regular non-starter edition windows 7 will run terrible on it. That means that another potential advance in technology won't occur. Why can't MS instead let OEM's choose which of their OS's they want to install on which hardware, and not have to worry about future developments in tech as much. Just dumb if you ask me. Even from a windows user point of view, this isn't an ideal situation, but for other OS's it's more grim still. The fact that these specs are out means a couple things. Mainly that MS has probably known it was going to design for these specs in the first place, and tuned OS features and performance SPECIFICALLY for this hardware definition, since they could bet this would become an industry standard once they did release the spec. For other OS's, this means that any os-feature-or-program x that they planned to include in the future once netbooks got a bit more powerful/better or would require slightly higher or even just different specs to run well won't be used on this platform. It essentially gives other OSes a late start, since now they have to rethink what they should develop/how they should develop it for this market in the first place to fit a particular definition of what the platform even is, since they know it will now get no better than that spec anytime soon. Yeah, some OEM could adopt a netbook that isn't windows7 starter compliant, but honestly, even with an amazing amount of effort integrating really impressive features by some other OS community, how successful could you bet on that netbook will being? Probably not very. OEM's know that, and they wouldn't gamble unless a large portion of their customer base told them they wanted something like it. The whole situation sickens me.
Would the OEM's REALLY fall for this? Would not a single asian company smelling a market dare to break out? Asus did it before, what is to stop them doing it again?
Worse, Apple is bound to release a netbook sooner or later. They would be silly not to and they would not pull this kind of crap. Apple netbook, full OSX as they can charge a premium for that product.
So, I think MS might actually be shooting itself in the foot with this. It ain't the same market anymore. The OEM's not only have tasted freedom, there are more of them now. Who would have thought Asus of all companies would lead the netbook market for a while? That the netbooks would take of like this?
Do you really think netbook makers are going to LIMIT their current hardware to these specs and risk another company shipping linux or just a more expensive version of windows getting all the cash? Don't forget that Intel is pushing a linux for netbooks. Sure, acer made a joke of its version by having it extremely limited and yes, lots of people seem to expect windows when they buy linux, MS might well over-estimate how thight their control is over the market.
MS does this thing because it has a problem with its product and its greed. In theory, everyone could have the ultimate supreme deluxe version of Vista/W7 for say 30 dollars and MS would make billions, they want to make even more and have come up with ways to segment its product into artificially different versions. MS had to pay for development of the ultimate version and in fact has to pay for the development of the different versions as well as the cost of support, different advertising, stocking different versions etc etc. But their greed tells them enough will buy the supreme version to make up for it while still having a seemingly cheap windows on offer to keep linux out.
If they would just sell one cheap do it all version, they would kill linux in a second, safe everyone a major support headache and actually be liked for it. Bt that is not the MS way. Bleed the market for all its if worth, high and low.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Isn't the point of Windows 7 Starter Edition for it to be 'Windows for Grandma'? Browser, E-mail, Word Processor? Do you think anyone who has had their hands in the guts of their machine buys Windows XP Home? Vista Home? No? Then what's the big deal? Windows 7 Starter Edition is for those Other People(TM).
I'm still on the fence regarding Windows 7 in general. I'm running the RC on my primary machine, (Previously running Windows XP x64) and so far, I'm still not out of the 'new install' disorientation, when you're still running into things you've forgotten to install, or settings that aren't the way you like them, so I can't really speak to how it compares yet, but I don't immediately dislike it.
Some things I've certainly noticed: There are a lot of features that make the OS feel 'smarter' than it used to. My GPU acceleration in Photoshop CS4 actually WORKS. And h264/AVC video actually seems to play A LOT better now.
The fact of the matter is, my biggest issue at this point is that I can't find any decent themes/visual styles. (I prefer a subdued UI) And I can't even change the color of the overall window. Kinda pisses me off that I can make the Aero title bar any color I want, but the menubar and stuff are still blue. Other than that, and a lack of decent screensavers (And the SS not starting for some reason), I don't have much to complain about.
I have had no driver problems, and a few long-standing issues I was having were resolved by Windows actually automatically finding newer chipset drivers than available on the site of my motherboard mfg. And my Canon EOS 350D is actually recognized by windows now without having to hack together a driver to get the pictures off of it.
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
I just realised. I have no loss aversion. Wow a personal epiphany.
Hmm, did you ever see an actual train? It generally is not as wide as the train tracks it rides on. Not many people would fit in otherwise. For example, trains carry standard size shipping containers, which are 8 feet wide. Exterior width of a typical boxcar is 10 feet 8 inches. Since there has to be some space at both sides, 12 feet is not an unreasonable width for a single-lane train tunnel.
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
It's so artificially crippled that the issues with Linux (i.e. lack of application compatibility) seems insignificant.
Flash on Windows is x86 only as well, and so is Windows itself
Windows Mobile based on Windows CE runs on ARM.
and so is Flash on any OS - so how is this relevant to choice of OS on a netbook. It is relevant only to choosing and ARM based vs x86 netbook.
There isn't a lot of advantage to the median end user[1] beyond the cost of a Windows license in offering Linux on an x86 product, but there is a battery life advantage in switching to ARM. But an OEM first has to choose against a 100% Windows product line, or possibly bring back the Handheld PC running Windows Mobile, before it can consider ARM.
I have never actually come across any site that uses Silverlight
Other people use such sites (like MLB and Netflix), and they will return an ARM netbook that can't run those sites.
It's 2009. Our computers and displays are digital.
Yours might be, but not everyone's are. For some people, a CRT VGA monitor costs $0 because they already own it and it still works, but an LCD monitor costs $200. And a CRT SDTV costs $0 because they already own it and it still works, but an LCD HDTV costs $600. I haven't seen anything to turn HDMI or DVI-D into composite video, S-Video, component video, or analog RGB video for the legacy monitors still in homes and businesses. And I have a feeling this has something to do with HDCP.
Of course, you probably mean an external display connector in general.
That too.
so we can use the analogue signals designed for a CRT to drive a digital display.
But HDTV penetration still hasn't reached 50 percent yet. So more than half the large screens out there, those designed to be seen from more than 1.5 m away, are CRTs.
Then buyers can choose which OS they want, and Microsoft hopes and can reasonably expect that most will chose the free latest version of that old familiar - Windows.
After a while that the three application limit is begging to be broken, but Microsoft doesn't have to charge much for it - say $50. That fee will be collected directly, and even if this is relatively small, it is probably bigger than the OEM's are paying now.
Let's extend it - why not, if you are Microsoft, ship every computer with the free/crippled version, and take the OEM out of the equation entirely?
I wonder how long it's gonna take before OEMs get pushed over the edge by Microsoft and start to tell them to fuck off. Like many abusive relationships, there's a turning point where the victim says "no more". Of course there are plenty who will die at the hands of their partners because they are too scared to say no. I'm guessing it'd take action by a few of the big players to start the ball rolling which is not likely in the near future at least.
Who do Microsoft think they are, setting hardware limits? They're a fucking SOFTWARE company, they have NO say in the hardware OEMs choose to use. If an OEM puts out a low spec PC with Vista on it and it takes an hour to boot up, customers won't buy it and the OEM loses to their competition. I know the concept of competition is hard for Microsoft to understand in terms other than "it's a bug, we must crush it" but it actually exists on some sectors, are they not happy that THEY win from every purchase, since they won't allow OEMs to sell anything other than fucking Windows? When they make hardware they can set all the hardware limits they want on THEIR stuff.
I'd love to see OEMs start to take a stand against Microsoft, or yet another anti-trust investigation into Microsoft for shit like this. They are totally unrepentant in their actions and intentions. I fail to see how anyone can continue to defend them unless they are paid to.
Come again please? The margins in that market are so razor thin, that I wouldn't call it lucrative by any means. There was a huge run on netbooks and it might have been somewhat profitable for a while, but now? And it becomes worse as new players come in.
I would say it is less lucrative than the traditional notebook. But what do I know?
An interesting potential side effect may be to encourage users to run more web applications. My browser now contains my email, calendar, crm, virtual file server. Google docs and zoho are ready for prime time all the time but may not be far.
I was a bit confused after reading this article. I don't understand why this is a bad, or good thing for Microsoft to set or force this standard. I figured reading several Score 5 insightful posts would explain, but I am still left wondering.
Apple's netbook / tablet PC will be out sometime in 2010 and, as usual, it will rewrite the rules and Microsoft will then change these silly specifications in an attempt to try and catch up to Apple. I've seen this movie before.
i wanna know if the java updater, google updater, and the itunes/quicktime updaters, and the acrobat speed launch are going to count because these are on almost every system I see, i can see this becoming really annoying, add google desktop and IM clients to the list and the three app limit will be hit on boot for many users
Gotta call BS. I think I know what you mean but you have to agree they capitulated early-on?
http://users.erols.com/whitaker/wordsos2.htm
WORDS - Version 1.97 for OS/2 (i386)
Ported to OS/2 by Fr. Mike Thompson (mbt@gator.net) The latest version, 1.97, was released on August 30, 2001.
And the FAQ actually says 286 or better... http://www.faqs.org/faqs/Team-OS2-FAQ/
4(a) - History of OS/2
In 1987, IBM and Microsoft released OS/2 version 1.0 as the successor to MS
DOS, the PC operating system shipped with the original IBM PC. OS/2 ran on a
286 or better processor, and required a minimum of 2MB of RAM.
The diameter of the boosters is not the railroad gauge itself, but is tied to the loading gauge of the railroad tunnels in the Rocky Mountains, which is a function of the railroad gauge.
And NASA has no trouble shipping the external tank to Florida because they put it on a barge. There isn't a lot of barge traffic in Utah.
Parent is highly uninformative.
I wonder if this might eventually lead to circumvention by creation of "multipurpose" apps that use multiple threads performing completely disparate purposes, in a logical extension of that multiple-tabs exemption granted to browsers? Perhaps some enterprising coder will even figure out how to write a shell app that can spawn other normal apps to make them appear to the OS as threads rather than distinct apps, and thereby circumventing the three-app limit?
The main reason is: MS-Office.
Let's face it: OO is sadly nowhere close yet to MS-Office.
MS-Office is the most used client productivity suite in the world, and until we have a credible open source alternative, most people will still want to run Windows on their machine.
"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." (Oscar Wilde)
Here comes Silverlight 3. Feel like sisyphus yet?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Au contraire, OpenOffice is at least as capable as MS Office
OpenOffice.org Base is currently not capable of running a commercial off-the-shelf order management package designed to run in Access and written in Visual Basic for Applications. Or has that changed in the latest version?
Crippleware is crippled.
I can see this getting messy. For instance Rainlendar and Winamp both have TWO listings in Task Manager's application list, yet in my current configuration both just have an icon in the system tray, nothing on the taskbar itself. Are these going to count as one, two or zero applications each?
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