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Windows Server 8 Is A Radical Departure From Previous Releases
Julie188 writes "While the world is distracted with the Window 8 client, Microsoft is simultaneously working on Windows Server 8. At BUILD, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation server OS under heavy secrecy to a room full of analysts and product testers. WS8 is radically different than its predecessors. There's an argument to make that it's not actually Windows. The code they saw was pre-beta and an obvious attempt to put an arrow in the heart of former-softie-turned-VMware-CEO Paul Maritz. Windows 8 Server editions are to be run in Server Core format (the GUI will be optional). PowerShell has gotten an overhaul and its command list will exceed 2,300 native commandlets in Windows Server 8. Hyper-V has also been revamped and will become massively scalable in the number of VMs supported and in the size of each VM."
In related news, it appears that Java now runs on Microsoft's Azure platform.
I just don't understand why Microsoft can't just make a good BASH variant for Windows, so us folks who administrate heterogeneous networks can create a common stock of admin scripts, and a common scripting language to do them in. Microsoft still can't get over the fact that it isn't the only boy in town in the server world, and making proper integration tools, as opposed to trying to force itself on us at every turn, should take precedence.
Yes, I know there's Cygwin, but it's huge and a major pain in the ass and I consider the ugliest of hacks.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Worse than that: They're copying OS/2, which they helped write. (OS/2 could boot to a non-GUI text console for servers and ATMs.)
Heck, they're copying one of their own SAFE MODE boots.
Or maybe, They're copying DOS.
Depends on the library. Most libraries I use are open source, reading documentation is reading code and comments. It's really fast to navigate code for about 550 languages that my tools are aware of (VIM with ctags, cscope, clang etc). But if I don't have the source, then reading documentation can also be done quite fast inside the shell, together with editor. I never understood people who hit . or -> in their IDE and then scroll through the list and choose what method they think they want to call. How are you ever going to learn like that. I'm not saying that good tools like VIM/emacs don't have the ability to complete code, by syntax (parse trees for some languages) or by textual analysis on other cases, but this is TYPING aid, not code writing aid.
If you can't open a notepad and write a simple program (let's say a dialog with a panel, a few text boxes and buttons) without an IDE in a language of your choice, then how good a programmer are you?
Get rid of mental clutches and start using your brain is my advice. You'd be surprised how much you can learn if your tool doesn't stifle you.
But this is just the first step. Learning more advanced things, how to search effectively, bend and transform code or text in general to your will, create mini reports of things you are interested in (some of the most basic things like class outline, or call hierarchy are dedicated views in most IDEs, but there are other things you might be interested in that are not) and are all learning aids. And the best thing is this knowledge and tools are applicable and transferable to any kind of programming task, whereas most IDE users would not even consider learning or programming a language their IDE does not support.
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
Coz if they did MS would sue, sue and sue again.
Pure FUD. The PowerShell specification was released under the Community Promise specifically so it could be implemented on other platforms.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
Power shell can be good but..
I used PS scripts to build an 8 node cluster on 2008R2 Datacenter core for a HyperV project. It was interesting and the MS stuff was not hard to figure out and replicate. The problem was getting the other required vendor software and drivers properly installed and configured on the servers. We have HP servers connected to EMC SANs. The HP NIC teaming tools, Navisphere, Powerpath, our monitoring software etc.. was NOT as easy to get on there and configure without a GUI. Some just flat out had problems with no easy workaround. Vendors were not as "core server" aware as they should be. I've done a few more similar setups since and vendor support is getting better but don't be surprised if a few issues pop up with no immediate fix. Hopefully they are not show stoppers. On a side note, we have built more similar 8 node HyperV clusters and we did not use server core. In my opinion, this is the best of both worlds, you can still use your PS scripts for automation for the bulk of the setup and then use the GUI for the problem 3rd party support. Our HyperV clusters are not pushed to the limit so we don't notice any performance difference between core and the full GUI install.