Microsoft has a totally obsolete business model and sticks to it, that's the reason they decline. They are plain boring, oldskool and don't drive today's innovation in any way. Their ecosystem is still quite well supported because of the large (and hence lucrative) installed base, but one day the market will IMO relatively quickly decide that it is not sufficient anymore as a platform for the then current IT needs.
They are just no more a driving force in computer technology. That's a very vulnerable position to be in, but they don't seem to care and instead think the right dose of FUD can correct everything. Too bad even that doesn't work out how they expect.
They are not only giving out their specifications for free (not under an NDA like it was with the R200 OSS driver), but according to Michael Larabel from Phoronix they will release complete 2D driver code with the new driver early next week, and a 3D skeleton driver will follow later. From that moment on, the complete Radeon lineup from the 7xxx to the HD 2xxx will be supported out-of-the-box by Linux.
This will put a lot of pressure on Nvidia. They will have to open up too or become the new stepchild of the Linux community.
In other words, someone needs to make a convincing (read: easier than DX) interface to OpenGL+SDL, and put it under a commercial-friendly license, and convince people to use it to build X-platform games. SDL is a compact and less complex than DirectX interface to OpenGL/Direct3D/framebuffer, audio, input devices and event handling. Countless games and top-notch engines are written around it. Plus it is under the (commercial-friendly) LGPL. The people behind all this try very hard to offer an easy yet powerful cross-platform development framework. Yet developers seem to prefer complaining about the cost and complexity of porting games.
I ask what thousands others have asked: Why not use cross-platform technology in the first place? DirectX is limited to XBox and PCs running Windows. Everything else is OpenGL. Things like SDL handle both just fine.
How well supported are those codecs under Linux? Could MS make creating silverlight & moonlight files difficult/impossible under linux? The only supported video codec is Windows Media Video. This should be enough of an answer...
If Google wants to do it right, they need to release a cross-platform source tarball, and nothing less. A binary glob that only runs in version xx.xx of 'distro' xyzzy won't cut it. I smell FUD. As long as the libraries it depends on are installed, the blob will happily run on any OS based on the Linux kernel.
Will a lot of people now realise how much depending on a single source for software is going to cost in the long term, or will they simply accept this as normal? As long as the software can be pirated, they will. Warez, not Microsoft, are the worst enemy of Free software.
Yes, this "can't install software" problem is common among total newbies because they assume the Windows way, and in this case Linux does things totally different. Software you download from a webpage is usually source code (because it would be too much hassle for the maintainer to build a package for every distro). If you want precompiled software, you have to install from the repository.
If you use a *buntu, here is some good general documentation:
Unless, of course, you have autorun enabled and slip a CD with it into the drive, but this can technically be achived with Linux as well, if you insist in buying software instead of simply downloading and using it. Linux doesn't run programs automatically from a CD, which is IMO a good thing security-wise (guess how the Sony rootkit infected countless PC's). However, if the CD contains certain file types, it offers to open the contents with a suitable application.
My advice if a user new to Linux pops in a CD and nothing happens, is to just click on the icon that has been created on the desktop and look for a README file.
BTW, I noticed a funny form of "autorun" in Kubuntu: If you put in the Install/Live CD, it notices there are software packages on it and offers to add them to the package manager.
Linux still isn't as userfriendly as Windows is today, especially when it comes to installing software, or even finding software.. Is it really that hard to open Synaptic, do a search on the name of the software, click on it and hit "apply"? I think you shouldn't be using computers if that is too hard for you.
You are totally and utterly wrong. The really useful and interesting settings can't be found anywhere within Windows' cluttered configuration tools, because they just don't exist.
In Linux: Open the system settings GUI, tweak the system to your likings, done.
I said that the fact that she asked me how to install particular programs instead of how to do something opened my eyes a little. So you had a little harder start than me with a new convert. My girlfriend just asked how to copy a DVD, rip MP3s etc., or she clicked around a little and found out by herself. She is very task-oriented, which made the transition from her constantly b0rked Windows box very easy:-) It was satisfying, but surely not as enlightening as you experience. Keep up the good work!
But without Microsoft in the game, Apple will have to play nice with the hardware and software vendors and open their platform, or they will lose the PC market to Linux.
They could just add a registry entry of "maximum network packets per millisecond when playing multimedia files" or something. I would prefer a decent I/O scheduler.
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I have an additional 5000 fps now in Frozen Bubble, you insensitive clod!
If you don't like the 1337 ASCII version, try Vulture's Eye :-)
Microsoft has a totally obsolete business model and sticks to it, that's the reason they decline. They are plain boring, oldskool and don't drive today's innovation in any way. Their ecosystem is still quite well supported because of the large (and hence lucrative) installed base, but one day the market will IMO relatively quickly decide that it is not sufficient anymore as a platform for the then current IT needs.
They are just no more a driving force in computer technology. That's a very vulnerable position to be in, but they don't seem to care and instead think the right dose of FUD can correct everything. Too bad even that doesn't work out how they expect.
They are not only giving out their specifications for free (not under an NDA like it was with the R200 OSS driver), but according to Michael Larabel from Phoronix they will release complete 2D driver code with the new driver early next week, and a 3D skeleton driver will follow later. From that moment on, the complete Radeon lineup from the 7xxx to the HD 2xxx will be supported out-of-the-box by Linux.
This will put a lot of pressure on Nvidia. They will have to open up too or become the new stepchild of the Linux community.
I ask what thousands others have asked: Why not use cross-platform technology in the first place? DirectX is limited to XBox and PCs running Windows. Everything else is OpenGL. Things like SDL handle both just fine.
I wish you continued fun waiting for 2 hours in a download queue at Fileplanet to get a 50 kb/s download slot.
Redundance != choice!
Does the system allow for a lengthy tag like "morepointlessshitefromtwittererris"? Someone could try that.
Yes, this "can't install software" problem is common among total newbies because they assume the Windows way, and in this case Linux does things totally different. Software you download from a webpage is usually source code (because it would be too much hassle for the maintainer to build a package for every distro). If you want precompiled software, you have to install from the repository.
If you use a *buntu, here is some good general documentation:
https://help.ubuntu.com/
My advice if a user new to Linux pops in a CD and nothing happens, is to just click on the icon that has been created on the desktop and look for a README file.
BTW, I noticed a funny form of "autorun" in Kubuntu: If you put in the Install/Live CD, it notices there are software packages on it and offers to add them to the package manager.
It takes a certain level of intelligence to grasp any modern, feature-laden OS that powers a home computer.
You are totally and utterly wrong. The really useful and interesting settings can't be found anywhere within Windows' cluttered configuration tools, because they just don't exist.
In Linux: Open the system settings GUI, tweak the system to your likings, done.
Thanks, that worked.
The Linux CLI has a GUI. It is called Midnight Commander :-)
I clicked on the 3D window, zoomed into San Francisco Airport and held CTRL-ALT-A for several seconds. It still didn't work on my Linux machine.
What moron modded the troll interesting?
While Steve Ballmer brutally penetrates your ass. You would LOVE that, I know it.
But without Microsoft in the game, Apple will have to play nice with the hardware and software vendors and open their platform, or they will lose the PC market to Linux.