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Microsoft's Rumored CloudBook Could Be Your Next Cheap Computer (venturebeat.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: In a few weeks, at its education-oriented software and hardware event in New York, Microsoft could unveil a sub-premium laptop -- something more robust than a Surface but not as fancy as a Surface Book. And rather than run good old Windows 10, the new product could run something called Windows 10 Cloud, which reportedly will only be able to run apps that you can find in the Windows Store, unless you change a certain preference in Settings. The idea is that this will keep your device more secure. However, that does mean you won't be able to use certain apps that aren't in the Store -- like Steam -- on a Windows 10 Cloud device, such as the rumored CloudBook. Microsoft is going after Google's Chromebooks that are very popular in the education space -- so much so that they are playing an instrumental role in keeping the entire PC shipments up.

123 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Could Be Your Next Cheap Computer"

    "Cheap" would need to be defined as microsoft paying me to use it. Otherwise no.

  2. Brick by design by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >> reportedly will only be able to run apps that you can find in the Windows Store

    So...a brick by design? The only reason to still run Windows is to run stuff that ISN'T in an app store.

    1. Re:Brick by design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > unless you change a certain preference in Settings

      Oh, no! System settings, my greatest weakness!

    2. Re:Brick by design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly. The only thing Windows is good for is running the three decades of old Windows applications that are still hanging around doing useful things. Without that you might as well use Linux. With Wine it can run more old Windows applications than Windows RT or this Cloudbook can.

    3. Re:Brick by design by Junta · · Score: 1

      Lot of uncertainty in reporting here. It would be a totally bizarre move to have an edition that by default locks to windows store but allows user to select otherwise unless it's a broad change across the board (since the editions would be equally capable, but different defaults).

      Of course it could be like 'Windows 8 with bing', where the edition was free just for having a different default browser setting guaranteed (and only through select re-sellers). Trying to lock out direct sales and third party storefronts like Steam and GoG. If it were to succeed, it seems to invite anti-trust scrutiny again.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    4. Re:Brick by design by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

      >> school looking for laptops for your students to use

      Funny you ask - I've actually had this role a few times for local schools.

      Generally, if you want tablets to surf the web and dink around on some learning apps, the only financially responsible choice is Android tablets. They're wipe-able and cheap enough that you can break a few every year and not really care that much. Anything over $50 or so a table starts to quit making fiscal sense when you're handing them to second-graders to surf the web - iOS and Windows were never really in the "tablets for schools" game.

    5. Re:Brick by design by supremebob · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think that Microsoft is longingly looking at Apple's iOS App Store, knowing that they're getting something like a 20% cut of all revenue that's generated from application sales. They probably also want to use this to force independent application developers to put their applications in the Windows Store as well or risk not having access to this new hardware.

      They would probably be willing to sell their branded tablet with a razor thin profit margin if they knew that they would be making that money back on the backend every time they sold an app or processed an in app purchase. The walled garden approach (while annoying) also cuts down on casual piracy and malware installations as well.

      Of course, an obnoxious feature like this would probably end up getting hacked within days of release if for no other reason than developer spite towards Microsoft. They would be better off leaving a "allow third-party applications" checkbox buried in the security settings screen like Android has. That should be enough to keep most end users from accidentally downloading malware, while giving power users the ability to install their "legacy" applications.

    6. Re:Brick by design by Rob+Y. · · Score: 2

      These things are ARM based, so 'select otherwise' isn't likely to be too useful if you're trying to turn them into full-blown Windows laptops that can run X86 stuff. Then again, there are rumors that these will run X86 stuff via an ARM emulator - so maybe they're trying to get WIN32 apps bundled with emulation into the Windows store to make up for the decided lack of 'native' Metro stuff. I wonder whether that would be more or less useful than the Android phone apps you can run on a Chromebook. There are probably more Android apps in active development these days than Win32 or Metro apps - but there's no denying how big (and how robust) the existing WIN32 app base is. C'mon WINE - time to get an ARM version going. Or not - if web and Android apps are the future.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    7. Re:Brick by design by tepples · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The only thing Windows is good for is running the three decades of old Windows applications that are still hanging around doing useful things. Without that you might as well use Linux.

      The other thing Windows is good for is that entry-level laptops warranted to run it are easy to find. Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux used to be easy to find until the end of 2012. System76 and Dell currently don't have anything below 13 inches or below $700. Installing Linux on Bay Trail devices that shipped with Windows, such as the ASUS T100TA and X205TA, has left things like Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, webcam, and suspend broken. And before you bust out "Android is Linux; try a tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard":

      With Wine it can run more old Windows applications

      As I understand it, most Android tablets have ARM CPUs that can't run Wine, which requires a CPU capable of executing i386 instructions. Or were you referring to Wine in an Ubuntu chroot on an Android/x86 device? Or an x86 Chromebook in developer mode, which begs to be erased every time someone turns it on?

    8. Re:Brick by design by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      So...a brick by design? The only reason to still run Windows is to run stuff that ISN'T in an app store.

      The only reason to not run Windows for basic things are licensing costs, and to an extent that no one cares about: security. This is a direct dig at Chromebooks. Given Chromebook's general success, people don't care about brickyness. Given the iPad's general success as educational tools, institutions don't care about brickyness.

      As long as the costs remain low Microsoft would be on a win here ... if it could attract developers to the ghosttown err I mean Windows Store.

    9. Re:Brick by design by goombah99 · · Score: 1

      you mean like a chromebook? Oh sure you can put it in developer mode but that totally rots since now you have to manage it's updates yourself, defeating the entire rationale for having a cloud based notebook.

      --
      Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    10. Re:Brick by design by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      It's competing against Chromebooks, if the write up is anything to go by. While Google has been working on, and released to a small number of ChromeOS users, the ability to run Android apps under ChromeOS, the system is still extremely limited. Given the Android APIs didn't support resizable windows until a year or two ago, something with probably zero adoption so far, it's a limited feature.

      So, from that point of view, a locked down Windows laptop that can run webapps, like ChromeOS, and Windows apps is definitely an improvement on a Chromebook. Similar security, but the ability to run applications with a native look and feel.

      What I hope is that this will push Google into either accelerating the Android integration into ChromeOS, or releasing a version of Android designed for a keyboard and mouse.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    11. Re:Brick by design by chipschap · · Score: 1

      Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux used to be easy to find until the end of 2012. System76 and Dell currently don't have anything below 13 inches or below $700. Installing Linux on Bay Trail devices that shipped with Windows, such as the ASUS T100TA and X205TA, has left things like Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, webcam, and suspend broken. And before you bust out "Android is Linux; try a tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard":

      I have a subnotebook (Acer Aspire One) that "just works" with Linux and has for a long time, but it's predictably slow and the small display is an issue. I now use an Asus Zenbook which runs Linux perfectly. For the type of work I need to get done, I don't really want a subnotebook --- of any kind. That means a tablet is not an acceptable replacement, either. So I don't think it's much of an issue that small Windows devices aren't suitable for Linux.

      And yes, "Android is Linux" but with all the modifications it's very far from an unfettered (and spyware free) productivity oriented Linux distribution.

      Android phones and tablets have their place but not as work/productivity devices.

    12. Re:Brick by design by tepples · · Score: 1

      Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux used to be easy to find until the end of 2012

      I have a subnotebook (Acer Aspire One) that "just works" with Linux and has for a long time

      From Wikipedia's article:

      In January 2013, Acer officially ended production of their Aspire One series due to declining sales as a result of consumers favoring tablets and Ultrabooks over netbooks.

      I guess my user story differs from that of most such "consumers".

      I now use an Asus Zenbook which runs Linux perfectly.

      I have no experience with that make and model, but its official web site looks clunky and pretentious. It opens with an automatically playing video larger than the window, it isn't obvious how to proceed, and the layout doesn't fit in a web browser window that's been snapped to fit half the width of a 1920x1080 pixel monitor. Finally at the top left, "ASUS recommends Windows".

      For the type of work I need to get done, I don't really want a subnotebook

      Then your user story differs from mine. I want a subnotebook because I use commute time on public transit to and from my first job to make additional time to work on my second job, which is from home. And if I'm carrying a laptop everywhere I go, I find it more convenient to carry a smaller one. I currently use a Dell Inspiron mini 1012 and worry about what will be available for me to use once it finally bites the dust.

    13. Re:Brick by design by Lost+Race · · Score: 1

      Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux used to be easy to find until the end of 2012. System76 and Dell currently don't have anything below 13 inches or below $700.

      Litebook?

    14. Re:Brick by design by Junta · · Score: 1

      But is it going to be ARM based? There's unsubstantiated rumors all sorts of ways.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    15. Re:Brick by design by ruir · · Score: 1

      | Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux used to be easy to find until the end of 2012 [slashdot.org]. System76 and Dell currently don't have anything below 13 inches or below $700. Installing Linux on Bay Trail devices that shipped with Windows, such as the ASUS T100TA and X205TA, has left things like Bluetooth, built-in Wi-Fi, webcam, and suspend broken. And before you bust out "Android is Linux; try a tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard":

      I just bought a 14'' Lenovo Ideapad for testing and travelling device for 190 Euros in a promotion with 4GB RAM and a very nice wifi 5GHz/2.4GHz.

      While the Celeron CPU leaves much to desire, you can buy it in the form factor of 11'' or 14'' (and 15''...not sure); running here FreeBSD with everything configured in it (except bluetooth, that in all fairness I have not dedicated time enough to "fix").
      Linux seems equally running well on it, though I am not interested due to security concerns and the system political fiasco.

    16. Re:Brick by design by ruir · · Score: 1

      errata: systemd political fiasco

    17. Re:Brick by design by ruir · · Score: 1

      As I said up above, Lenovo Ideapad seem to work well with FreeBSD and Linux, they are cheap, and have a very attractive form factor. The most noticeable downside is the quality of the screen. I have yet to test OpenBSD on them.

    18. Re:Brick by design by ruir · · Score: 1

      I like the form factor of the ZenBook ; however the system is seriously handicapped in too many ways, starting with the lack of standard connectivity ports, and the price point is too high for what it delivers. I also would not mind having it in a slightly bigger form factor.

    19. Re:Brick by design by tepples · · Score: 1

      Subnotebooks that "just work" with GNU/Linux [...] below 13 inches

      Litebook?

      From the summary: "The new 2.9-pound Litebook uses Intel's Celeron N3150 processor and ships with a 14.1-inch display". Good for some, not for people like me who want a subnotebook.

    20. Re:Brick by design by syntotic · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I just got a n other tablet and IT DOES NOT DO. But it is a very exciting platform. For hard work nothing below a laptop does, and even then I need a PC. I need more USBs, hubs, bigger screen, agile keyboard, ports... The danger is these super uber geniuses from harvard business school and harvard wannabees who follow suit the market trailing each other, ignoring scientists and engineers and threatening to swallow the real products in ubiquitous marketing wars for fringe items preparing us for... the one and UNIQUE Ring of Power...

  3. hope it's better than previous Cloudbook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Bought an Acer Cloudbook (to be honest, to install Xubuntu)). It was a dog with Windows 10, not enough memory to update. Nice with Linux, $137 brand new. Unless MSoft gets W10 completely out of the way, Chromebooks are safe.

  4. Re:You couldn't pay me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You couldn't pay me to use a spybook like this or Chromebooks.

    Good. I really wasn't planning to.

  5. Sure by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    I'm sure all the Windows phone users will buy one.
    Both of them.

    1. Re:Sure by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      There should be three. My friend works at Sprint Store. They have a Windows phone in the back room. No one ever asks for a Windows phone. It's not like my friend and his coworkers have financial incentives to push out Windows phone like they do for Samsung, HTC and LG.

  6. education space and windows store? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    See how there are alot of education apps that will not work under the windows store rules I don't see it working to good. also what about the European Union rules about MS.

    MS trying to lock users to there IE edge and lock out steam will not fly very far there.

    1. Re:education space and windows store? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      You don't see it working to good for education?

    2. Re:education space and windows store? by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Shots fired

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    3. Re:education space and windows store? by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      "See how there are alot of education apps that will not work under the windows store rules"

      Such as? Why?

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    4. Re:education space and windows store? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      any thing that does not fit the MS sandbox.

    5. Re:education space and windows store? by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      Okay, so it's a matter of the devs saying no to the store then.

      That does not explain how they "will not work" under the windows store rules. They can use centennial to port win 32 to store in a few minutes, so...

      I think maybe you need to do more homework on what is isn't possible on UWP.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
  7. Bit late for April fool's day by thesjaakspoiler · · Score: 1

    and I don't get the joke =?

  8. It could be... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    ... but it won't be.

  9. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    We aren't all rich contractors living off the taxpayers dime though.

    If you consider making $50K+ per year as being "rich" in Silicon Valley.

  10. Cheap is the word by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    After all, it is a product by Microsoft - which, by the way, can considered itself middle-fingered, again.

  11. Only if made Mandatory by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    As long as I have a legal right to use something else, that's what I'm going to do

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  12. Laptop = not interested by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    Laptop usually means: small screen, crappy keyboard, awful trackpad, poor durability, and little expandability, but more expensive than an equivalent desktop machine.

    1. Re:Laptop = not interested by tepples · · Score: 1

      Microsoft is going after Google's Chromebooks that are very popular in the education space

      Laptop usually means: small screen, crappy keyboard, awful trackpad, poor durability, and little expandability, but more expensive than an equivalent desktop machine.

      But for this expense, you gain two things:

      1. Ability to get work done while riding transit or in a waiting room, as opposed to just reading a book. This is important for K-12 schoolchildren, who ride a school bus because they are too young to drive.
      2. Not having to buy a separate computer for your work desk and your living room, as you can instead carry it back and forth.

    2. Re:Laptop = not interested by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      1. Why would kids do that? Last minute "oh shit I forgot to do the homework"?
      2. That's related to the "poor durability" bit I had mentioned.

    3. Re:Laptop = not interested by tepples · · Score: 1

      Ability to get work done while riding transit

      Why would kids do that? Last minute "oh shit I forgot to do the homework"?

      Eagerness to complete the assignment during the ride home from school in order to have more play time after school. Or ability to complete the assignment at all if the assignment is assigned today at the end of class and due tomorrow at the start of class and tonight is the family's shopping night.

      Not having to buy a separate computer for your work desk and your living room, as you can instead carry it back and forth.

      That's related to the "poor durability" bit I had mentioned.

      In what way?

    4. Re:Laptop = not interested by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Come on, that's logical: carrying a machine around all the time causes mechanical stress, affecting its weak points, such as hinges and connectors.

      And I really can't imagine many kids acting like that.

    5. Re:Laptop = not interested by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Sounds like an AIO is worst of both worlds: not portable, not expandable, and not cheap.

  13. Re:FUDget about it... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    You should try video game testing. You would be good at it and make a lot of money.

  14. M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for ARM by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    During the Windows RT era, developers of Windows desktop applications wanted to recompile their applications for ARM. Microsoft wouldn't let them, instead requiring them to port the applications to Windows Runtime and distribute them exclusively through Windows Store. Only Microsoft's own applications (File Explorer, Internet Explorer, and Office) could run on the ARM desktop.

  15. But can it run Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But can it run Linux?

    Isn't that what we all want to know?

    I have ZERO interest in buying or approving any hardware that only runs 1 OS.

    Almost any intel chromebook can be wiped and linux can be installed, so the little things, like NFS work.

    Google, oh, google, why did you force me to wipe chromeOS? I'd like to have an OS to show the TSA, while having my full, encrypted, Linux inside the same machine, just on different storage.

    1. Re:But can it run Linux? by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

      Almost any intel chromebook can be wiped and linux can be installed

      Until someone else in the household turns it on and presses Space as prompted then Enter as prompted to initiate a factory reset. Installing GNU/Linux on a Chromebook requires putting it in developer mode, and the firmware of a Chromebook in developer mode begs at every power-on to be switched back to "run the Google Chrome web browser and nothing else" mode.

    2. Re:But can it run Linux? by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      In theory, Microsoft might sell a license upgrade to Windows 10 Pro (perhaps with a requirement of 64GB or more minimum main storage. Hopefully some laptops come with an M.2 slot for either main or additional storage).
      You would then run Suse-on-linux-on-Windows or Ubuntu-on-linux-on-Windows if not cygwin, or even try to install some NFS or sshfs client on Windows proper if that is an option.

      That's not what you were talking about, but it would be a somewhat honorable way to allow to make the hardware more useful.
      Alternatively, the trusted bootloader protection (TPM module) could be disabled ; it's very common that it can be turned off on PC hardware anyway, but perhaps that's wishful thinking here. Alternatively again, you would have to use a signed linux or Windows or BSD installer.
      Well, lots of what if's.

  16. Sounds like a repeat of Windows RT by Streetlight · · Score: 2

    And you might need to be always connected to OneDrive or a new platform, Microsoft Drive, at some monthly fee. The apps could also be had for a monthly subscription fee, a la Office 365. One post suggested these devices should have cellular data capability which at $10 per GigaByte, along with the cloud drive fee and the app fee, might end up costing its owner far more than the initial cost of the device in a few months. This could be like the famous razor blade business plan.

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    1. Re:Sounds like a repeat of Windows RT by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Windows RT failed due to lack of infrastructure. Windows RT had no apps, no office applications, and was released in a world before do-everything-online became the new programming norm.

      Yes it sounds like Windows RT because it effectively is Windows RT, except now it has a name that makes sense out of the box, and exists in a time where people in general are accustomed to online only (Chromebook) or store locked (every tablet OS).

    2. Re:Sounds like a repeat of Windows RT by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      Windows RT was nonsensical : it was like they were ashamed of the tablet software it ran, so they grafted a IE + Office only desktop to make it more useful. So, it sucked both as a tablet and a desktop, and was undesirable if bought without the keyboard. They didn't make a cheaper, tablet-only tablet i.e. an oversized Windows Phone, so Android was free to capture the entirety of the non iOS market. People did buy iOS and Android tablet-only tablets, until moving to 5" and 6" phones mostly. Not sure if anything would have been different if Microsoft had actually attempted to make tablets that people wanted to buy, but they sure failed hard and had a better opportunity in 2012 than now, since people now are locked into Android/iOS-only internet "apps" and weren't so much back then.

      Well, I'm talking about mobile-only networked "apps" and otherwise the "CloudBook" might succeed has a laptop-lite but won't replace the need people have for an Android thing on the side.

    3. Re:Sounds like a repeat of Windows RT by n329619 · · Score: 1

      One reason Windows RT failed is how similar it is to a normal Windows OS, when it is in fact not even close. By adding a few office application, it tricked the consumers in making it feels like it could do more when it couldn't. This is especially bad when salesman would answer "Is this windows?" with a "yes" when it should be "no, it is a different OS". It just Leaves a bad taste on the product as a whole.

    4. Re:Sounds like a repeat of Windows RT by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      When the Surface and Surface Pro had been out for several months, I found that intelligent people didn't know the actual difference between the two. Microsoft's marketing here was amazingly bad.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  17. Re:FUDget about it... by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So you essentially turned your $250 Dell laptop into the $500 Dell laptop you could've bought in the first place.

    Microsoft doesn't want OEM's building cheap full Windows machines - i.e., the kind where the Windows license accounts for 30% of the price of the machine. They will go as far as making Windows Cloud free for OEMs in order to keep from being pressured to make full Windows 10 free for 'real' laptops.

    --
    Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
  18. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    You should try video game testing. You would be good at it and make a lot of money.

    I was a video game tester for six years (1997-2004). My beginning pay rate was $10 per hour and ending pay rate was $16 per hour. After I went back to school to learn computer programming on a $3,000 tax credit that George W. signed into law after 9/11, I got a help desk support job that paid $20 per hour. Do the math.

  19. ZuneBingClippy by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    The worst features of tablets plus the worst of PC's: Microsoft at its "best".

  20. Re:You couldn't pay me by wbr1 · · Score: 1

    You couldn't pay me to use a spybook like this or Chromebooks.

    That is rather tinfoil hatish. Do you use a smartphone? The internet? Then you are being tracked. You can minimize it but not eliminate it. As a 'boycott' your refusal is ineffectual at best as the spying device horse left the barn long ago. The choices now, are ignore it, or do your best to enter the discussion and try to point public policy in the right direction. That task feels a bit sisyphean, but it looks like you just gave up, instead of having something tangible to offer.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  21. Re:FUDget about it... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    I'll bet you were so good at your job you got fired from it too.

  22. Provided your user story doesn't include offline by tepples · · Score: 1

    i think is a version that runs most of the applications in the cloud using something like RemoteApp.

    Which would be useless for people who are often out of range of a usable Wi-Fi signal.

    A device intended for use primarily as a Remote Desktop client might be fine for people who drive and who choose where to eat and shop by the availability of Wi-Fi. But otherwise, good luck using that while riding public transit, or while waiting for your meal in a restaurant that doesn't offer Wi-Fi, or while waiting for your roommate to finish shopping for groceries in a store that doesn't offer Wi-Fi, without paying hundreds of dollars per year for a cellular data plan (or, if you already carry a smartphone with a data plan, for a larger monthly data allowance and a tethering rider).

  23. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    So you essentially turned your $250 Dell laptop into the $500 Dell laptop you could've bought in the first place.

    Not quite. I only spent $100 on the new memory and SSD. The $250 Dell laptop had a keyboard without the numeric keypad because I wanted the keyboard centered with the screen. A $500 Dell laptop would have a keyboard with the numeric keypad that I didn't want.

  24. Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Looking at the initial comments, various posters are hoping that the Cloudbook isn't as restricted as a Chromebook but I think Microsoft has a bigger fundamental issue than that.

    And that is to accept to be successful in this space, you aren't going to sell a PC and the software tools that go into it.

    In evaluating systems to provide to students, our company evaluated Chromebooks (2GByte DDR, 16GByte EMMc/Flash Drive) and low-cost Windows 10 PCs (4GByte DDR, 32GByte EMMc/Flash Drive) - both were manufactured by Acer and had the same Processor/display/Network IO. I should point out that probably nobody on this site would be customers for this type of platform; they're best suited for students and clerks.

    Even though the Chromebooks had half the memory of the PC, they booted in a few seconds and allowed surfing the web, running Chrome Extensions/Apps (including those that provide basic, not complete, Office functionality) as well as accessing network resources (ie printers). Something we didn't realize at the time was that updates are annoying but fairly painless along with this, we didn't realize that updates were more or less automatic and just took a minute or two to work through. There are no ads/demands for virus protection under ChromeOS.

    The WIndows 10 PCs took considerably longer to boot, required loading Chrome because our customers (that are schools) require it for the students (who all have gmail or Google Classroom accounts) and, if we wanted to use "true" Office, that needed a license and is painfully slow and unusable if you have two apps active at the same time. If did provide a familiar way of adding devices and networks (not that ChromeOS is that difficult to use, but I wanted to put something positive about the Win10 machines). What would have been a killer for us is updates; for the two evaluation machines we still have, they require 16GByte or better thumb drives to perform updates about twice a year and these updates take between one and two hours with lots of warnings about not losing power, network connections or forcing a reboot - I would expect if there was a larger hard drive, they would be considerably less painful. Then there is the inclusion of the 30 day trial of Norton which you are always being bugged to buy.

    So, if Microsoft wants to compete against Google and their Chromebooks, I would recommended:
    - Coming up with a small, fast booting version of Win10 that can be updated in less than a minute
    - Develop a set of web accessible Office compatible apps
    - Consciously avoid the desire/need for paid apps.

    I can see Microsoft coming up with an OS that meets the first requirement - the second two so go against the grain that I don't think they'll be able to take that plunge and will create yet another also-ran that will be remembered with the same fondness as the Ford Edsel.

    Microsoft has a number of products that work to customer satisfaction (Windows 10 being a good example - again, it's really not for people on this list, but I know a lot of non-technical users that really like it) that makes them a ton of money. Rather than putting good money down a rat hole of trying to compete in a space that they will have to give value away to make sales, they can either look at improving the products they have and make them more compatible with what's out there (cough - Edge - cough).

    1. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      the second two so go against the grain that I don't think they'll be able to take that plunge

      The last one, maybe. The second on your list, however, a web accessible Office compatible app, has been available for a long time now. It does have a few limitations (rendering of tables in Word seems screwed up for some reason) but it works, and even works on non-Microsoft platforms.

      Yes, they want you to buy Word, but their model is starting to veer towards a freemium (basics for free, extras require a subscription or purchase) away from requiring that you spend money.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Am I missing something? All of the Office 365 applications work inside a browser.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    3. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 1
    4. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 1

      Where can I see a link for an online copy of Office that won't nag me to pay? When I look at the Office website, I keep getting pointed to Office 365 which is free only for the first month.

      I would be interested in seeing what they have that is free and would not hassle my customers asking them to get a subscription.

    5. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 1

      Are the Chromebooks you are purchasing replacing older Windows machines? That's why MS is probably competing in this space, because they have to. If they don't they lose ground that was theirs.

      What's the price difference between the Chromebooks you are looking at and a core i3 laptop with 8 gb DDR, and a non-SSD drive from Dell/HP?

      How big a consideration is lack of MS Office in your decision to go Chromebook?

      No, they are not replacing older Windows machines. New company, new requirement.

      It's hard to find an apples to apples comparison between devices, but if I look at list prices on the manufacturers' websites for i3 processored systems with 4GByte of DDR and 32GByte/64GByte (EMMc) SSD, Windows 10 devices command a 40% premium over Chromebooks.

      The ability to access/create Office documents is important but the update issue and if I were to go with a Windows platform, I have to make sure my customers don't get pop ups asking to sign up/pay for Office and anti-virus (without me paying as a way to eliminate the pop ups) although the real dealbreaker is the time/effort Windows systems need for updates compared to Chromebooks.

    6. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 1

      But can you play without being harassed to pay?

      I've got an outlook.com account as well. If anything, the level of harassment/distraction goes up when you try to use it.

    7. Re:Microsoft's got an uphill climb by avandesande · · Score: 1

      The google stuff isn't free either if you are a company

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    8. Re: Microsoft's got an uphill climb by mykepredko · · Score: 1

      Does Mr. Nadella know you use that type of language?

  25. Too little too late by zerofoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Our school moved away from Mac OS and Windows to Chromebooks and Google Apps for staff and students 3 years ago. Two years later Microsoft had a half-assed approach to cloud computing. Their windows-lite laptops required a windows Live account to login to the laptop and then a completely separate Office 365 login to use Office.

    There was no way to bring my domain to them, there was no way to deploy policies to secure the devices, and the windows-lite endpoints still needed Anti Virus and imaging tools to create some sort of managed, standardized and secure experience for end users. Finally, Microsoft only gave schools the cloud version of Office 365 - no local copies allowed.

    In short - all the drawbacks of running windows with none of the benefits. It was an absolute shit show.

    Three years into Chrome OS and Google Apps, the students and staff are pretty pleased with the ease of use of the entire system. I like that it is ridiculously easy to manage and CHEAP.

    Finally, families like the Chrome OS/Apps system since many decide to buy a cheap Chromebook for home and have the exact same capabilities for the students at home.

    Switching back to Microsoft would have very few if any benefits for us, and I suspect lots of schools are in the same situation.

  26. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I'll bet you were so good at your job you got fired from it too.

    The only job I ever got fired from was when I worked with my father in construction and got into a fistfight with the owner's grandson. Fast forward 40 years, I'm working in tech and the grandson is a drug addict. Sad.

  27. Re:You couldn't pay me by tepples · · Score: 1

    Do you use a smartphone? The internet? Then you are being tracked.

    I don't use a smartphone or the internet.

    That was a joke, right? Slashdot is on the Internet.

  28. Re:hopefully not as slow as Chromebooks by tepples · · Score: 1

    I dont know whether the slow speed is due to the crappy Atom CPUs, slow library wireless, or slow Chrome apps.

    My laptop has an Atom CPU. I've put a CPU meter in the operating system's notification area to help me tell whether slowness is due to slow Internet (rare) or the slow CPU (more common). Often the slow CPU is busting its ass trying to run JavaScript code with layers upon layers of abstraction, as well as ad exchanges' client-side bidding scripts to find which of a dozen ad networks is willing to pay a fraction of a cent more for an impression on a particular pair of article and user viewing history.

  29. Re:FUDget about it... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Thats not what I heard. I heard you got laid off because you were too good at your job.

  30. Oh no settings. No ... No settings by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    There is absolutely no basis for TFA saying that it will work with Windows Store only unless you change the settings. Windows 10 Creators Edition introduced the setting, but that's not what is coming to these devices. Why introduce a separate version of Windows 10 called "Cloud" if you have the intention to give people a choice to not use the cloud?

    The settings won't exist in the Cloud edition I will bet a Mars bar on it.

  31. First hit's free. Oh wait, you stopped lactating by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And what forces poor people to buy baby food that they can't afford, regardless of who's marketing it to them?

    Nestle has been accused of two things. One is failing to label infant formula in local languages. The other is getting mothers "addicted" to formula by providing it without charge to the maternity ward for just long enough that the mother stops producing milk.

  32. Re:Provided your user story doesn't include offlin by tepples · · Score: 1

    Children completing homework assignments while riding in the back seat of mom's car or a yellow school bus are roadwarriors.

  33. Re:FUDget about it... by omnichad · · Score: 1

    You can't buy a $500 Dell laptop that already has SSD. They make you buy a more expensive computer to even have the option, or offer you a "hybrid drive" with only 32GB of flash. And even when your laptop does come with an SSD, you have no idea what the specs are on it or who made it.

  34. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I heard you got laid off because you were too good at your job.

    That was a different situation. My boss at eBay in 2009 had a choice of laying off five people or laying me since I did the work of five people. He found it easier to lay off one person than five people. It didn't do him any good. Not long after I left eBay, my manager had to laid off those five people as well as others.

  35. The new Miscreant-o-soft 'Un-computer' by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

    I keep expecting Microsoft to foist upon us something like an entirely cloud-based computer, that requires a broadband connection just to boot up because there's no OS or even any real local storage device on the thing, everything is on their servers. Then they'd have 100% control and you'd literally have zero control, which seems to be the direction they're going. It's like they want to go back to the Mainframe days, where your local device was just a dumb terminal with zero computing power of it's own, and the Mainframe did everything.

    I of course would never go for any of that, and I'd hope that most people would likewise draw the line well before that point, too.

    1. Re:The new Miscreant-o-soft 'Un-computer' by RotateLeftByte · · Score: 1

      And bang goes your Cellular Data limit. Two reboots and you are into paying $$$ per Megabyte.
      The only upside is that it solves the thorny problem of updating your device. Other than that, this is an attempt at total lock-in by Microsoft.
      Doomed to fail IMHO

      --
      I'd rather be riding my '63 Triumph T120.
  36. Re:FUDget about it... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, businesses always get rid of the awesome productive people first.

  37. Re: You couldn't pay me by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    I love Mars. I only left because it isn't a place where you would want to raise your kids. In fact, it is as cold as hell.

  38. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I wonder how much feedback Dell gets on that. Not enough I guess.

    You mean keyboard versus keyboard with keypad? Or Dell keyboards in general? I've used Dell keyboards for 20+ years, so I'm not a keyboard snob.

  39. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Yeah, businesses always get rid of the awesome productive people first.

    No, bad management. When I was a video game tester, a supervisor got promoted to QA manager and anyone who wasn't willing to swear absolute loyalty to him got forced out. I was the third of a dozen senior testers who left the company. The manager didn't get fired until the company went into bankruptcy.

  40. Re:You couldn't pay me by coastwalker · · Score: 1

    I do not use any kind of "App" currently and never will use one on any screen bigger than a mobile phone if I can help it. No I do not currently have a mobile. It is not just the oversharing of your personal data with corporations monetizing your ass off. The worst problem is that Apps are designed to transition to become services with a renewable rental fee. I remember when telephone exchanges and televisions were rented to their users and the fantastic profits it made for their vendors. I use software that is decades old and only paid once for it, I won't give that up lightly.

    --
    Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
  41. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    i'm sorry - did you say "senior" video game tester?

    Yes.

    is that like "senor" busboy or more like George Forman Sr.?

    Neither.

    because there is no senior title for a job that by definition is junior.

    I was a senior lead video game tester responsible for ten titles when I left the company after six years. A fellow senior lead video game tester built Midway arcade machines in the 1980's. Another senior lead video game tester tested pen-and-paper games in the 1970's.

  42. As Luke Skywalker said to Han Solo.... by lord_mike · · Score: 1

    What a piece of junk! And this thing does NOT go 0.5 past lightspeed....

    If anyone has taken a look into the Windows Store, it's crap... absolute garbage... Practically nothing of note is there, and the few apps that may be useful are poorly written with limited features. Who is Microsoft trying to fool here?

    Of course, I doubt you'd be able to use another browser other than Edge, so you are really limited with this device (that was a big problem with their phones, too). This reminds me of Sun Corporation's obsession with the "NetPC". It's a computer with NO HARD DRIVE!!! Did you hear me? No hard drive! It costs $100 less, and it runs... JAVA!! Ooooh! All it was was an overpriced XServer, and it failed just as badly as Microsoft's dumb idea here. Microsoft needs to start getting smarter. Ideas like that are what put Sun out of business.

  43. Ugh... by XSportSeeker · · Score: 2

    Because RT worked so so well AMIRITE? :P

    Sometimes, I dunno what Microsoft is thinking. RT is still plenty fresh on people's minds, Windows Store is a complete failure both to attract an userbase and to attract developers (despite being shoved down people's throats since Windows 8.0), most of the complaints about Windows 10 right now have exactly to do with privacy, telemetry and the OS basically working as spyware, I think lots of people still remember how Microsoft tried to forcibly scale back and cut down free OneDrive plans, the ad everywhere scandal is still plenty recent, and yet they come up with a new product line that possibly combines ALL of those in one big shitcake.

    It's like someone there just though: Hey guyze, let's pick up all the most notorious and recent complaints about Windows, pack it up in a single product, and see if it sells! Genius product development at work here!

    And they are trying to push this in against a device that had none of those issues in the past. I know plenty of people don't like Chromebooks a whole lot, but if anything, it had humble prototype like starts and has been on a steady development frame that works plenty well for schools and whatnot.

  44. Most decidedly not by gweihir · · Score: 1

    First, all my hardware must run Linux and be able to dual-boot. And second, hardware from Microsoft? Over-priced and not so good? No way.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  45. AIO + UPS + Steam Link by tepples · · Score: 1

    Let me try to follow Stormwatch's logic:

    1. Instead of a laptop, you can buy an AIO and a Steam Link or other thin client. Put the AIO in one room, and put the thin client in the living room and use it to remotely access the AIO over your home LAN. By Stormwatch's logic, an AIO and a thin client would last longer than a laptop before breaking. Thus they'd likely be cheaper than two laptops: one to use now and one to use later after the first breaks.

    2. An AIO and an external UPS might be cheaper than a laptop.

  46. Re: FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    As grand high senior platinum dragon edition tester, I say you are a fat, smelly, dumpy, slob and that's why you get fired repeatedly, leaving you with plentiful time to troll slashdot.

    Most of my jobs keep me busy for one hour out of an eight-hour shift, leaving seven hours available to wait for something to roll downhill from the powers to be. Only Google kept me busy but they were hiring 300+ people per week in 2008.

  47. Re:First hit's free. Oh wait, you stopped lactatin by tepples · · Score: 1

    The other thing Nestle was being blamed for was the unsanitary condition of water in shitholes like Pakistan. Quite right - it's Nestle's fault that third world countries don't know/care about sanitary water and other such standards.

    I'll see your sarcasm and split the difference: It was Nestle's fault for over-promoting formula despite a lack of sanitation that Nestle knew about or reasonably should have known about. This goes hand in hand with the lack of labeling in local languages, particularly a warning that clean water is required to prevent harm to the baby.

    once Sony started outsourcing their manufacturing to China, I lost any reason to prefer them over no-name brands, but then again, I haven't had a TV for 9 years.

    Where would one buy an affordable living-room-sized monitor for composite, analog RGB, and DVI/HDMI sources that isn't "a TV"?

    The most extreme boycott list I have seen has been from RMS, and if one really lives that way, one would pretty much have to live like the Amish. I'm sorry, but I'll pass on that one.

    The philosophy underlying the tech choices of Amish groups actually has a lot in common with Mr. Stallman's philosophy: being free of dependencies controlled by a third party.

  48. Windows RT anyone? by smithcl8 · · Score: 1

    Didn't we go through this already? I had a Surface RT, and while it did everything I wanted at the time, it wasn't anywhere near as useful as a current Chromebook. I love the idea of the Windows Store, but MS needs to get away from it on these things.....it's just way too limiting.

  49. Re:M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for A by DaHat · · Score: 1

    Did you ever wonder *why* this was?

    Like it or not, Windows RT was pretty damn secure (I know a couple folks who only use those devices (and nothing else) for online banking), the fact that only MS signed code code run eliminated the risk of entire classes of malware.

    At the time, the only way to ensure 3rd party was limited with regards to what it could do was to run within the rather limited sandbox of WinRT, now though, out of a bit of desperation I expect of people not wanting to write full fledged native UWP apps for Windows, they pushed their 'bridges'. The Android one seems to have gone away, iOS -> UWP has worked for a while, and one of these months I'll get around to trying 'Project Centennial' which allows the packaging of regular Win32 apps into a form which can be distributed/updated through their store, but also has some of the same safety benefits of Windows RT.

  50. Re: for me by losfromla · · Score: 1

    It's _always_ raining men on the slashdot.

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  51. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    a good way for underachievers to stay off of prozac is to redefine the word achievement. any time someone brings up their achievement is shown to not be an achievement, they provide more detail on the achievement, proving they achieved it.

    Senior lead video game tester is a legitimate title in the video game industry. The problem with most people outside of the video game industry think that testing video games is all fun and games. That is false. Most people can't last six weeks much less six years as a video game tester.

    [...] the person can change and actually achieve something, instead of living in some weird loser dream.

    I'm a senior system administrator responsible for 80,000+ workstations. My coworkers and I have 20+ years of experience in IT. This is not a 'weird loser dream' in the real world.

    [...] a big strong boy. you took a big boy poop.

    Normal poop has the consistency of toothpaste. Mine is quite normal and regular.

  52. I bought my last cheap computer 2 weeks ago by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

    It was a Raspberry Pi Zero. Cost me a whopping $5 and since it was part of a larger order, shipping was essentially free.

    Already have too many keyboards, mice and monitors. And the best thing is that it's not networked, so it can't go tattling back my entire life to OS vendors, app vendors, ISPs or the NSA. But it can play multimedia and run office software.

    Of course, if I'd needed it as an Internet computer, I could pay twice as much and get a Pi Zero W. Or jack in an Ethernet USB, since I've got one of those left from an old tablet.

  53. Re:You couldn't pay me by tigersha · · Score: 1

    It's not that hard. If you do not want to pay to use the system, they are going to have to pay for it it somehow. That is half of the problem. Everyone wants everything free. The money has to come from somewhere.

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  54. Re:You couldn't pay me by tigersha · · Score: 1

    Then he is still using the Internet. Indirectly perhaps, but still.

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  55. Re:M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for A by tigersha · · Score: 1

    Yes, sadly this is why I do not think Apple's walled garden of iOS is all that bad. IT is good to have SOMEONE responsible keep the goddamn hackers at bay. People whine too much about the NSA and the CIA. Sure, they are running a surveillance state but they are really not interested in you, unless you look like some violent towelhead.

    The criminals? The spammers? The phishers? They will f*ck you over twice on a Sunday. They are the real problem. And no-one seems too worry too much about that.

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  56. No. No, it couldn't. by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

    The story is newsworthy, but msmash should have given TFS a different title than TFA. I think VERY few people on Slashdot will rush out to buy one of these things, and probably the majority here are at least a little bit insulted at being implicitly lumped in with Windows Magazine subscribers and other such MS fanbois.

    As for the CloudBook mentioned in the article, I'm guessing it will have all the spying and advertising of Windows 10, PLUS the additional vulnerability and privacy loss associated with all your everything being stored on Microsoft servers. Now that's what I call an enticement - NOT! I won't own one of these at any price - not unless I can entirely eliminate whatever Microsoft OS / software is on it and install Linux, or unless bits and pieces of the hardware turn out to be useful for other projects.

    I guess Microsoft never gets tired of copying other companies' ideas, being late to the party, shouting "me too! me too!", and then writing off losses on also-ran products that fail to gain any worthwhile market share. But who knows - maybe all those uncritical chumps who make shit like Facebook so successful, will give this product their blessing and help ensure that the scourge from Redmond remains profitable and plagues us all for a little while longer.

    --
    'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  57. Re:First hit's free. Oh wait, you stopped lactatin by tigersha · · Score: 1

    I have actually seen RMS give a talk and asked him a question on the podium and frankly, he is a nutcase.

    --
    The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
  58. Re:M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for A by Junta · · Score: 1

    The big problem is that with Android, iOS, and Microsoft, there's no framework for the native app distribution to add trusted parties to the list explicitly. So while it may look good to say 'security', it also just happens to dovetail nicely with 'cut of the revenue goes to the platform owner'.

    Contrast with yum or apt, which is extensible to allow third party sources.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  59. Re:Steam on Bingdows by Junta · · Score: 1

    Correct, Windows with Bing was just a default browser choice, not anything more. It was a way to give their system partners a break on licensing in exchange for a guarantee that their search engine slaps that partners customers in the face (much like internet explorer all over again).

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  60. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    have fun being responsible for 80k+ laptops, "sr systems admin."

    Workstations. A small number of them are $3K laptops that are design to replace desktops.

    [...] the real systems administrator who manages the servers will let you know when he needs adobe acrobat upgraded [...]

    Server owners are responsible for administrating their server and maintaining the application baseline. If they can't do that, their server gets deleted (VMs) or decommissioned (pulled from rack and dropped on their desk).

    [...] they do call you when they spill redbull on their keyboard.

    I would give them the phone number to the help desk hotline.

    i wouldn't lost a day shoveling shit in the sewers.

    Sewers, no. But I did shovel shit as a kid. Nothing worse than a horse sneezing on you and some of the black specks are moving.

    do you make over 200k? do you make over 150?

    Nope. I only need $50K+ to live in Silicon Valley.

    is you're proud of your mediocrity and brag about it.

    Asshats like you lose your shit because of it. If you really believed that I was mediocre and unsuccessful, you wouldn't comment at all.

  61. Re:M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for A by DaHat · · Score: 1

    Isn't that called... side-loading and/or Cydia?

    Just last month I finally gave up on Windows Phone/Mobile, having been on it since it was first available on my carrier at the time and am now carrying an Android device running 7.2.

    I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of access I now have to so many little nooks and crannys of the API set on my phone, as well as how well built apps can work together to keep me & my data safe.

    One of my biggest laments on Windows Phone (aside from it being abandoned long ago) was that despite (eventually) having a good chunk of Win32 under the hood, as a developer I couldn't touch the fun stuff (even for my own side loaded app) without getting some magic pixie dust from Microsoft which they only give to very select partners, while on Android & iOS, there are many more options.

    The disturbing thing to me is that such capabilities also exist through the official app store, where apps can (and do) ask for far more permissions than they need, and each time I hope I click the right side of the screen to not give away too much.

    I would argue that of the three... none have it fully right... but each have pieces. Android gives you all of the power out of the box, but at great risk to the owner. Apple gives you no power without jailbreaking, and private 'trusted' deployment relies only on the Enterprise Developer Program... while Windows Phone has package compatibility with tablets & desktops (now), as well as a freaking camera button.

  62. The Microsoft not.Chromebook © by najajomo · · Score: 1

    Apart from the similarities in name is this CloudBook anything like the Chromebook. A long time ago something similar happened when Microsoft confused the market with its own version of the 'Palm Pilot' the 'Palm-PC'. ref

  63. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    [...] for stable multiyear contracts.

    I'm halfway through a five-year IT support contract that is fully funded. If Congress shuts down the government over the budget, I'll still be at work and getting paid. My contracting agency gave me an extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus for my exceptional work.

    you've never touched a server in your life,

    I built out a data center for Google and managed a wireless server for 300+ laptops at Cisco.

    [...] since you think people install acrobat on those.

    As if a server admin never had to open a PDF file on how to configure his server. Adobe Reader shows up a lot for severs on the NESSUS scan.

    I met a kid once who presented himself as a successful CEO.

    I walked past Mark Zuckerberg when I had an assignment at Facebook in 2011. That would make him 27 at the time. I didn't think he was that short at 5'7" (I'm 5'10").

    He didn't know the wines we were drinking. We said sure, when it came and was 2500 - that's when we laughed at him and my buddy pulled out his amex, I dropped 5 bills for the tip, and a fifty on his table to cover his "premium Heineken beer."

    You're proud of pissing away $3K on wine? I spent $3K in 2013 to fly to Las Vegas, spend a week at the Rio to attend the Las Vegas Star Trek Con, watch David Copperfield and have a $100 steak at Craftsteak in the MGM Grand, and visited Hoover Dam that my parents visited for their honeymoon.

    [...] us "asshats" are making fun of you [...]

    No, I'm laughing at you. Seriously. Your exaggerated dick waving is so funny.

    If we really believed you are a loser we wouldn't make fun of you.

    This is Slashdot. You must be new around here. Turn in your geek cred and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

  64. Re:M$ wouldn't let devs recompile Win32 apps for A by Junta · · Score: 1

    The issue is that it is a boolean situation.

    Either a) you have a fully vetted way for a package repository to give you a validated set of updates from a single place

    Or b) you just install .apk application from whoever and whenever with little security and no update mechanism (apart from whatever home-grown update mechanism the specific app developer has dreamed up, which is usually none).

    If I add a third party apt or yum repository, then I can say 'all packages must be signed by a trusted packager (trusted defined as strictly the only keys that I have accepted)', and further I can add something like chrome's repo and then chrome updates come with the same system update process as everything else, or packagers like rpmfusion can cover a large set of software not quite covered 'first party' but still collected and vetted by *someone*. This is what I feel is missing in the new wave of 'app stores', a total inability to be 'federated' in any significant way.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  65. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    you quote things as if you were responding with a counterpoint, then you respond with just extra random information, and lots of weird irrelevant details.

    That's because I don't take you seriously. I'm too busy laughing my ass off.

    have you ever spent 150 on a night out?

    I spent ~$428 per night in Las Vegas. Otherwise, I live a modest lifestyle. Which means I'm not going to piss away $3,000 on wine and brag about mismanaging my finances.

    my dick is much much bigger, and I enjoy slapping your autistic head with it loser.

    You sound like my older brother. He owns a landscaping design business, a big house, two cars and two trucks, and buys $180 designer jeans. Yeah, he's a rich fuck. Unfortunately, he 60-years-old, can't retire and have to keep on working. The mortgage on his house is underwater (he bought at the height of real estate market), he spends every dime that his business makes, his credit cards are maxed out, and the banks won't loan him any money. His 40-year-old trophy wife will inherit the house and screw over his adult children.

    I've been on this site since late 97 or maybe early 98. it was winter, and I just graduated highschool.

    I've been on Slashdot since 1999. I skipped high school but I know how to write proper English.

  66. Re:FUDget about it... by ruir · · Score: 1

    You are both autistic, and are wasting your time. Just get a micro-ruler, and see which one got a bigger penis, and honestly, please do it off slashdot.

  67. Re: You couldn't pay me by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

    Nah, i have one every day to keep the metaphorical doctor away.

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  68. "The idea is that this will keep your device..." by x_t0ken_407 · · Score: 2

    "...more secure" [by putting everything in the cloud].

    Wat.

  69. Merchantability: goods fit for intended purpose by tepples · · Score: 1

    So any company that's selling things needs to first verify from its customers whether they can properly use it or not, failing which, they should refuse to sell.

    Correct. A merchant can't fulfill the implied warranty of merchantability without understanding its market to some extent.

    I don't. I use my laptop or tablet and watch YouTube live.

    Doing without a living-room-sized monitor might work for the use case of someone who lives alone, doesn't often entertain visiting friends and family, and doesn't play (genuine copies of) retro video games.

  70. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    You are both autistic, and are wasting your time. Just get a micro-ruler, and see which one got a bigger penis, and honestly, please do it off slashdot.

    Slashdot exists to keep me amuse while I wait for a script to finish at work.

  71. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    that was someone else dipshit.

    All asshats are equal in my eyes.

    you realize when you make more you can afford more?

    Conversely, the more you make the more your expenses go up to match. I've seen that a lot.

    you spending your 400 is breaking bank way more than 3k being spent by a 3 people who collectively make 20x your salary.

    I saved up and took a planned vacation that lasted seven days. I didn't spend $400 per night pissing it away on wine. If you understood anything about finances, you spend your money on experiences and not piss.

    a trophy wife is no 40, she's 20.

    His trophy wife was 16 when they started dating. His first wifewas 16 when she got pregnant. If he ever gets a third wife, I'm sure she'll be 16 as well.

    sounds like a guy living beyond his means. Like you, with your 428/night.

    So I'm living beyond my means for taking a planned vacation four years ago?

    My night, adjusted for your salary, cost me 150.

    You squandering that much money on booze? You need help.

    My jeans are probably a hundred or two. Which in your terms is like 40 bucks.

    I pay $20 for my jeans and my last pair was five years ago. Walmart used to have them for $10 years ago.

    you're bragging about accomplishing what to an average person is a step down.

    Slashdot exists to keep me amused while I'm waiting for a script to finish.

  72. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    You are the one mismanaging you finances.

    Yes, I'm guilty of saving up for a planned vacation instead maxing out my credit cards like everyone else. Shoot me.

    The personal details of your life that you for some reason keep volunteering to random strangers on the internet [...]

    I don't have a Facebook account.

    [...] screams ex white trash, mediocre, bland life.

    My family is from Idaho. We're rednecks, no white trailer trash.

    I wonder why you are paid less than half of what the rest of us get paid. Care to tell us a story?

    I work for a nation-wide project where the senior system admins are paid $50K+ per year and computer engineers are paid $80K+ per year (regardless of where you live). We're half-way through a five year contract. Last I heard we had 1,000+ people on the contract.

    Could it be because you have no applicable experience on real servers, you were kicked out of college, and you have that autism thing going on, so no one in their right mind would want you on their team?

    I've been working in Silicon Valley for 20+ years. Half that time in team lead positions.

    What you are called is "PC Support" - usually a branch of level 2 helpdesk.

    Help desk is down the hallway from my office. Users don't bang down my door.

    That would align with your experience as well as your salary.

    The prime contractor low-balled the techs. But five years of guaranteed work and the usual benefit pack with 20 PTO days was too good to past up. Plus my contracting agency gave me extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus.

  73. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    get it through your face moron.

    I'm not the one who has a drinking problem and mismanages personal finances. I live a clean, sober and modest life.

  74. The point is to not use microsoft. by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Using chromebooks, the point is making it a whole lot more secure is by NOT using microsoft products. I noticed that at a security conference recently and said so. The speaker kept telling us about what he did to make his family and company a whole lot safer. I noticed that not one thing was running microsoft. He said precisely.

  75. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    You need to stop. You need to get help. Your drinking and irresponsible spending is ruining your life.

  76. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Read my latest blog post and thanks for the ad revenue!

    My "Complicated" Work History At Google
    https://www.kickingthebitbucket.com/2017/04/18/my-complicated-work-history-at-google/

  77. Re:FUDget about it... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Shitty mediocre life, real ugly and fat, and you "write blogs" hoping someone would read them so you can get a tenth of a penny.

    I'm on track to make an extra $50+ in advertising revenues on Slashdot this money.