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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.

8 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Server cold war by vux984 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft isn't saying anything about linux, however this is a direct attack against linux and unix in general

    Its real competition, not "an attack". This is a good thing.

  2. BUT THEY ALWAYS SAY THAT! by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Funny

    C'mon, Bill, do you really expect us to fall for that AGAIN?

    (Of course, some will... I'm depressed now...)

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  3. Re:Azure by Nadaka · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Visual Studio is great, but Eclipse is just as good as a platform. For some reason, every time I say this, I get modded down.

  4. Re:Azure by mario_grgic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.
  5. Re:Azure by Rary · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The same is true of any set of tools. Someone who takes the time to learn their IDE of choice will be more productive in it than in other environments. Your tools of choice consist of UNIX shell and the command line. This doesn't mean they're better tools, just that they're better tools for you, because you've learned to be productive in them.

    Software development is mostly thinking with a bit of typing thrown in. Tools can help productivity if you're familiar with them, but ultimately what interface a tool uses (ie. CLI vs GUI) is irrelevant. What's relevant in a tool is functionality. What's relevant in a developer is skill and knowledge of their chosen tools.

    --

    "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein

  6. Objects are shit by mangu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Linux shells still pass data as text, when passing objects would make so much more sense and give a lot more options

    Sorry, but no, passing data as objects sucks.

    Text is the one and only universal interface. Passing data as objects limits you to one system. If you have powershell objects you need a powershell environment to use them.

    When I want to get data from a website into my database text is the only format that both sides understand. Putting it into more general terms, when I want to get data from X to put it into Y text is the only format that both sides understand.

    I can scan and OCR text from old books and newspapers. I can print text. I can edit text in any machine from a PDP-11 to a smart phone. When I'm limited to a slow and/or high latency connection text is the only format that works. I can use vi to edit a data file in a remote Unix system using a 300 bps modem if I need to. I can speak text on a phone for someone else to type it at the other end.

    When I'm managing an important system that *must* keep running under emergency situations only text will do.

    Object oriented system administration is bullshit.

  7. Re:Azure by mcgrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're lucky -- this is the first time in two weeks I don't have mod points. Are you Ballmer's grandson or something? Do you even know what an "object" is? MS's poo-pooing of text is one of the worst things about MS and one reason so many of us stay away. Text is human-readable, binary is not. If you're passing "objects" as text and your code goes kerflooey you can examine what was passed and easily figure out what went wrong. Not so with binary blobs. Mind explaining why you think passing binary makes more sense and gives more options?

    Have you ever used a single program that didn't come from Redmond? Your posts all make it sound like MS is the best thing since sliced bread, when most of us are fond of saying "the day MS makes a product that doesn't suck is the day they start making vaccuum cleaners" (Well, personally I think Excel is the best spreadsheet and MS mice weren't too bad, and I'd take an Xbox over a Sony any day).

    BTW, freeAVG just told me to reboot (I haven't got Linux on this box yet). Ironically, I don't mind rebooting Linux because it comes back exactly like I left it, but I never have to reboot. If I reboot Windows I have to restart every open program, yet I have to reboot every few days because something needed updating. Tell your dad to fix this, OK? And tell him to get rid of that God damned registry!

    MS is easy to use if you don't know what you're doing. Those of us who have been computing for decades find MS products maddeningly annoying -- the "Redmond way or no way" syndrome.

    I don't like Gnome, but IMO KDE is a far superior interface than Windows.

    Now I have to brush my teeth after biting that shilly troll. Ugh!

  8. Re:Azure by vux984 · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Get rid of mental clutches and start using your brain is my advice.

    Because memorizing API's is what makes a good programmer? Spare me.