I've been a professional programmer for something like 12 years, and in that time I've spent the majority of my time working with Microsoft tools and systems. I still do, in fact. Before that, I was an MSCE engineer for about 3 years. I don't hate for the sake of hating, I just don't like Microsoft because, well, they've proven themselves untrustworthy time and time again. Maybe I'm a hypocrite, but Microsoft have left a bad taste in my mouth and it is going to take something extraordinary before I'll even trust, never mind/like/ them again.
The examples of Microsoft strong arming the industry (and especially Linux) are abundant. The examples of Microsoft making the wrong decisions and then, rather than manning up and admitting they got it wrong, they try and change the market artificially (and often times illegally). I don't like that. This is not conspiracy theory stuff -- most of it came out in the court trials and is part of the public record. Microsoft haven't changed their DNA -- Ballmer is the same as ever, and that affects the whole organisation. I think my problem with Microsoft is that I really don't identify with them at all -- I look at Ballmer and the rest, and I just don't like them all that much. I identify with Google far easier.
Back on topic, I didn't spot the results by Bing thing -- It sort of appears half way down the page for me. I do actually understand why they'd use Bing/Yahoo -- the API is infinitely less restrictive than Google's API, but it still feels a bit odd. I'm glad DuckDuckGo exists, and I'll probably still use it from time to time, but apart from anything else, Bing results (especially for tech related queries) are nowhere near as good as Google results, so if they rely on Bing for general search they've already lost.
I wondered that too. And the funny thing is, if it's the case, it might work -- I didn't know that DuckDuckGo was powered by Bing and, now that I do, it changes the way I feel about them. All of a sudden they aren't the champions of freedom that I thought them to be.
I just went over to their site and searched around. No mention anywhere that they're Bing powered. They must know that if they do have ties to Bing and they try to hide it, it'll hurt their image.
I wonder if it is FUD. There's just one article I found about DuckDuckGo being Bing powered (because of the similar low placement of Libre-Office when you search for Open Source Office on DDG and Bing), but it doesn't have anything concrete, just 'what ifs' and 'maybes'. Does anybody have a more official announcement on the matter? Do we know if DDG get money from Bing for using their results?
I'm not sure it matters how you get the monopoly -- I think the problems start if you abuse the power once you have it. Google will have to be really careful (but they know that, and I'm sure they are doing all they can to play fair), but if they use their dominance in search to (artificially) dominate other markets, it's kind of what Microsoft did with IE and it got them in to trouble. Of course, Microsoft also used some very dirty, very immoral tactics time and time again, so it's hard to compare them with Google.
Good point, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right -- why did they just cut out 9 million potential users? I thought they were still trying to grab gaming market share at any cost, but I guess that only applies to the console space (because they really want to be in your living room).
There's one person here so far trying to say that even at $250 it's good value, but they aren't convincing. Waving your arms at your PC is not the future, especially when you have $25 of components wrapped up in a $250 package.
A very smart guy whom could average a few words a minute jumped at the concept of switching architectures on the suggestion of an industry shill at a conference?
What? You appear to have read the article but completely missed some really important pieces of the puzzle. Here,
Stephen and Gordon met at a conference around 1997. Gordon noted that Stephen was using an AMD machine. Gordon asked Stephen, "Would you like to use an Intel computer moving forward? We'd be happy to build that for you and support it."
The article makes it very clear that the Gordon in that sentence is Gordon Moore. You know, of Moore's law fame. One of the guys who started Intel the first place. Calling Moore an industry Shill is like saying Gates shilled for Microsoft or Jobs shilled for Apple.
The article is just some guy's anecdote. Don't get so worked up.
I love the current Apple keyboards (at least the wired model with the proper cursor keys). I use them on my PCs too. Different horses for different courses.
However, the first thing I do on any computer (Mac or PC) is swap the mouse out for a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical.
I can touch type on an iPad keyboard with pretty good accuracy and adequate speed. There's a website that lets you test yourself against Project Guttenberg texts and measures your speed/accuracy -- I tested myself on the iPad and the results were good. It was a while ago, so I can't remember the exact figures, but I'm certain I was over 30 wpm and 98% accuracy with the onscreen keyboard. The keys are all in the same place as a regular keyboard, so you just need to have faith that your fingers will hit the right spot. And they do. The main downside is that there's no apostrophe on the main keyboard, and that really slows you down -- you need to flip to the character keyboard to get at it. They should fix it in an update, but I bet they won't.
I get about 60wpm at the same accuracy on a real desktop keyboard, so I'm about half as fast on an iPad. I wouldn't use it for any real typing though -- I'd just connect a wireless keyboard.
Not necessarily true, but I don't think they'll make much of a difference. They might affect Apple sales because some people will look at iMac (or, more likely, have one recommended) but then see this and think "hey, it looks similar enough, I don't care about that extra gloss -- I think I'll get this and save $500". Those people would have bought a Mac, but are either a bit too price sensitive or just not that in to Apple to care that it's not the same thing, and they're going to get a poorer experience as a result.
That in itself is fine, but it kind of tarnishes the Apple brand by association. That's why Apple are suing Samsung -- not because of rounded corners and whatnot, but because if you look at it superficially, it appears to be 'a cheaper version of the same thing'. Apple don't want to get lumped in with everyone else, that's way they create individual products and so carefully build and protect their brand.
The LX5 is an excellent camera -- I have one and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who wants to take great photos with a compact camera. It's not as good as a DSLR -- even my 5 year old 350D (Rebel XT) takes better pictures -- but it's 1000x better than a phone's camera and, unlike a DSLR, it's not so bulky that you'll leave it at home most of the time. The LX5 is better than any other point and shoot I've ever used (though I haven't used the new high-end Fuji range-finder style cameras, X100 and X10, I think they're called -- they too look really excellent).
There's also a Leica version of the same camera. It is literally the same camera, but it costs 50% more. The red dot adds a premium, but for the extra money you also get 1 year accidental-damage cover and a free copy of Lightroom. If you need those, it's worth the extra and you get a slightly more stylish/elitist camera in to the bargain;) I got the Lumix, but only because I already have Aperture. A small part of me still wanted to get the Leica anyway...
The only downside to the LX5 is that it's likely approaching the end of its life -- it might get an upgrade sometime this year (which'll almost certainly include the touch screen from the GF2). I just wish they'd add a view finder, even if it's really basic.
Maybe it isn't inferior, I don't actually know*. I think Microsoft's problem right now is that they've become the embarrassing uncle of the tech world. Look at their 'impromptu' dancing in the Windows Stores (search for it on youtube and prepare to die a little). Look at the 'Windows 7 party pack' video they made (just thinking about it makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry), the Seinfeld thing, and there are dozens more examples (including just the other week, four white girls rapping about Windows Phone -- I saw that, and decided right there I'd never get a Windows).
I'm not really an image conscious kind of a guy, but even Microsoft are way too un-cool for me. Imagine what the kids must think:)
It's really weird that I haven't used it -- or even seen a single person using it -- I don't know anybody who does has a Windows Phone, which is surprising given I'm a.Net programmer, and most of my friends are too. I have no intention of buying a £500 Lumia 800 just to try it out. Maybe it's more popular in the states.
I don't think that's true. I try and follow the project as best I can, and I've not seen that claim made once. The first 100 (this batch) are going to be auctioned on ebay, but that was always the plan. They've got another 9,900 boards that are unpopulated, and if testing of the 100 goes well they'll be populated and sold for $25/$35 in Jan.
Why not? It's widely believed that working within limitations can spur creativity.
"For a long time I limited myself to one color – as a form of discipline." -- Pablo Picasso
Twitter can be like painting in one color. It really forces you to think about the words you are using to express yourself and make yourself understood.
No, he's off topic because he's bringing up this god damned near-religious love/hate of gigantic tech corporations that immediately creates a stupid and pointless flame war. With luck, a enough number of us are so sick of these types of comments that they can get squashed before it hijacks the thread -- I'd certainly have moderated him -1, Flamebait if I had mod points.
I used to come here to read the interesting discussion. All I see now is people arguing about how their favourite multi-billion dollar corporation is so righteous/brilliant/good/indestructable versus the evil multi-billion dollar corporation they so detest. It is a total waste of human energy.
I wouldn't mind, I'd just stop reading, but the other tech sites are even worse! Engadget has become a literal joke that other writers use to describe (and mock) the rapid downfall of a site and its readership.
Don't get me wrong, I have my allegiances too. I also used to be young, and I was attached to my favourite computer makers. Had the web been around back then, I'd probably have started flame wars too. Maybe we just need an alternative retirement-home version of slashdot, for people who remember what it was like to load a programme from tape or the entire OS from a single floppy disk.
Ruby on Rails just can't compete with Java, as much as the Rubyists claim it can
Wait, what Rubyists are claiming that?
I'm a Ruby programmer. I'm also a Java programmer and a.NET programmer (and quite a few others besides) so I have a broard perspective. I follow most of the Ruby movers-and-shakers on blogs and Twitter, and I don't think I've ever heard that claim. If anything, Rubyists look to Java as the natural step up from Ruby to meet enterprise needs -- even more so now JRuby is one of the most stable and usable Ruby implementations out there. Twitter built their platform on Ruby and then moved pieces to Java as needed. I don't think their approach is even remotely unique -- I've certainly done the same thing myself.
I think you're repeating sweeping generalisations out of your own (unfounded and biased) opinion and getting it totally wrong.
Gosh, disk cataloguing software brings back memories of software we used to keep track of floppies back in the early '90s. I can't find any examples specifically from the Amiga (I definitely had some PD utility to do just this though), but this Windows shareware from the late 90s is a suitably crummy example: http://equi4.com/catfish/
When it comes to CDs and DVDs, I now rip them and store the originals in the loft. They go in to iTunes and that make it easy to find them again. It stops the children wrecking the actual disks too. When we're low on space I either upgrade the disk or delete stuff they've lost interest in.
I know this is the 'popular' opinion amongst geeks of today, but can you really not see the technical reasons why certain Apple products sell? In particular, the Apple II, the original Mac, the iTunes Music Store and the iPhone were definite leaps forward (versus the competition) and each deserved their succeses on merit.
If you want to guarantee that your secrets can be decrypted, write your own encryption.
Unless you are a genuine cryptography expert, any encryption scheme you come up with will be easily breakable. You could maybe use one time pads that are longer than your messages and swap/synchronise them in a safe way -- that'd be secure -- but it still won't work. If "they" want to know what's going on, they'll just torture you.
As a.Net programmer that occasionally does Java stuff, I can tell you that C# is very much a clone of Java. The class names and namespaces are different, but fundamentally they're incredibly similar. I'll write a Java programme and then sit back and think "Christ, that looks exactly like.net". And it does.
Generic are different, but that's because Java took a different route and got stuck with that legacy. Linq is a big (and original) change, and lambdas too, but they're bolted on to a.Net core that is almost indistinguishable from Java.
Also, as an aside, look at the supporting tools in the.Net world -- NHibernate, NUnit, NAnt, Spring.Net, MVC, Log4net, Nuget etc etc. They're all clones of Java projects. We're basically following Java, and we're about 3 or 4 years behind at this point. If you want to see where.Net will be in 3 years, look at languages like Groovy, JRuby and the dynamic stuff going on in the JVM world. If we're lucky, we'll get NGroovy or some such, but only if Microsoft decide to fund it.
Of course Java's future is at a critical point in its history, with Oracle struggling to keep the enormously important community on-side. Who knows what will happen over the next few years. I don't think it will all blow up, but Java could start to slip.
No it doesn't sound like Xterminal, and you know it doesn't. This is like being sat at your workstation, with the full-fidelity of a regular digital display cable, and zero-latency input/output, but with the workstation sat 10 meters away (maybe in an ideally cooled/sound-proofed room). That appeals to me, and I'm sure there are plenty of use cases that will crop up all over the place. It is nothing like a thin client protocol or video sender.
I think it's fair to say Amazon have a good idea of what each Kindle customer is worth from their existing Kindle data. I know the tablets reach a slightly different audience, but they will surely know approximately how many customers are going to continue past the free trial period for prime, and also how many customers will buy apps, music, video and ebooks. I'm also assuming they've made the task of buying content for the fire even easier than Apple made it one the iPad.
1. Microsoft will most likely sign the code and OEMs will embed Microsoft's public key. The OEMs do have the option of doing the signing, but that option would prevent you (the buyer) from updating/re-installing Windows using non-OEM versions.
2. Microsoft seem to be mandating the trusted boot in order for devices to be certified as Windows compatible, so the OEMs have to go along or be left behind.
While I think the articles on this are inflammatory, I don't think it's as bad as you seem to make out.
As an aside, I've also read convincing arguments that Microsoft don't actually care about Windows on ARM, but just need an option to prevent OEMs installing Android/Linux/A.N.Other OS, much like they did on the Netbooks (hence Windows Starter edition). The theory goes that once Microsoft have an ARM compatible alternative, they're going to insist that OEMs offer ONLY Windows, in exchange for getting/not-losing discounts for Windows-on-desktop licenses. That would give Intel a bit more time to get Atom in to a ready state for tablets, and business as usual would resume. It sounds a bit silly, until you realise that Microsoft have actually done this sort of thing several times before -- it's in their DNA to utterly kill competition using these exact kinds of tactics.
Of course, I'm not actually an expert on any of this, but I have been around long enough to see similar situations play out many times in the past. Leopards and spots etc.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been a professional programmer for something like 12 years, and in that time I've spent the majority of my time working with Microsoft tools and systems. I still do, in fact. Before that, I was an MSCE engineer for about 3 years. I don't hate for the sake of hating, I just don't like Microsoft because, well, they've proven themselves untrustworthy time and time again. Maybe I'm a hypocrite, but Microsoft have left a bad taste in my mouth and it is going to take something extraordinary before I'll even trust, never mind /like/ them again.
The examples of Microsoft strong arming the industry (and especially Linux) are abundant. The examples of Microsoft making the wrong decisions and then, rather than manning up and admitting they got it wrong, they try and change the market artificially (and often times illegally). I don't like that. This is not conspiracy theory stuff -- most of it came out in the court trials and is part of the public record. Microsoft haven't changed their DNA -- Ballmer is the same as ever, and that affects the whole organisation. I think my problem with Microsoft is that I really don't identify with them at all -- I look at Ballmer and the rest, and I just don't like them all that much. I identify with Google far easier.
Back on topic, I didn't spot the results by Bing thing -- It sort of appears half way down the page for me. I do actually understand why they'd use Bing/Yahoo -- the API is infinitely less restrictive than Google's API, but it still feels a bit odd. I'm glad DuckDuckGo exists, and I'll probably still use it from time to time, but apart from anything else, Bing results (especially for tech related queries) are nowhere near as good as Google results, so if they rely on Bing for general search they've already lost.
I wondered that too. And the funny thing is, if it's the case, it might work -- I didn't know that DuckDuckGo was powered by Bing and, now that I do, it changes the way I feel about them. All of a sudden they aren't the champions of freedom that I thought them to be.
I just went over to their site and searched around. No mention anywhere that they're Bing powered. They must know that if they do have ties to Bing and they try to hide it, it'll hurt their image.
I wonder if it is FUD. There's just one article I found about DuckDuckGo being Bing powered (because of the similar low placement of Libre-Office when you search for Open Source Office on DDG and Bing), but it doesn't have anything concrete, just 'what ifs' and 'maybes'. Does anybody have a more official announcement on the matter? Do we know if DDG get money from Bing for using their results?
Or is it....? *wink*.
Oh wait, that wouldn't work. Doh.
I'm not sure it matters how you get the monopoly -- I think the problems start if you abuse the power once you have it. Google will have to be really careful (but they know that, and I'm sure they are doing all they can to play fair), but if they use their dominance in search to (artificially) dominate other markets, it's kind of what Microsoft did with IE and it got them in to trouble. Of course, Microsoft also used some very dirty, very immoral tactics time and time again, so it's hard to compare them with Google.
Good point, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right -- why did they just cut out 9 million potential users? I thought they were still trying to grab gaming market share at any cost, but I guess that only applies to the console space (because they really want to be in your living room).
There's one person here so far trying to say that even at $250 it's good value, but they aren't convincing. Waving your arms at your PC is not the future, especially when you have $25 of components wrapped up in a $250 package.
A very smart guy whom could average a few words a minute jumped at the concept of switching architectures on the suggestion of an industry shill at a conference?
What? You appear to have read the article but completely missed some really important pieces of the puzzle. Here,
Stephen and Gordon met at a conference around 1997. Gordon noted that Stephen was using an AMD machine. Gordon asked Stephen, "Would you like to use an Intel computer moving forward? We'd be happy to build that for you and support it."
The article makes it very clear that the Gordon in that sentence is Gordon Moore. You know, of Moore's law fame. One of the guys who started Intel the first place. Calling Moore an industry Shill is like saying Gates shilled for Microsoft or Jobs shilled for Apple.
The article is just some guy's anecdote. Don't get so worked up.
I love the current Apple keyboards (at least the wired model with the proper cursor keys). I use them on my PCs too. Different horses for different courses.
However, the first thing I do on any computer (Mac or PC) is swap the mouse out for a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical.
I can touch type on an iPad keyboard with pretty good accuracy and adequate speed. There's a website that lets you test yourself against Project Guttenberg texts and measures your speed/accuracy -- I tested myself on the iPad and the results were good. It was a while ago, so I can't remember the exact figures, but I'm certain I was over 30 wpm and 98% accuracy with the onscreen keyboard. The keys are all in the same place as a regular keyboard, so you just need to have faith that your fingers will hit the right spot. And they do. The main downside is that there's no apostrophe on the main keyboard, and that really slows you down -- you need to flip to the character keyboard to get at it. They should fix it in an update, but I bet they won't.
I get about 60wpm at the same accuracy on a real desktop keyboard, so I'm about half as fast on an iPad. I wouldn't use it for any real typing though -- I'd just connect a wireless keyboard.
Not necessarily true, but I don't think they'll make much of a difference. They might affect Apple sales because some people will look at iMac (or, more likely, have one recommended) but then see this and think "hey, it looks similar enough, I don't care about that extra gloss -- I think I'll get this and save $500". Those people would have bought a Mac, but are either a bit too price sensitive or just not that in to Apple to care that it's not the same thing, and they're going to get a poorer experience as a result.
That in itself is fine, but it kind of tarnishes the Apple brand by association. That's why Apple are suing Samsung -- not because of rounded corners and whatnot, but because if you look at it superficially, it appears to be 'a cheaper version of the same thing'. Apple don't want to get lumped in with everyone else, that's way they create individual products and so carefully build and protect their brand.
The LX5 is an excellent camera -- I have one and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who wants to take great photos with a compact camera. It's not as good as a DSLR -- even my 5 year old 350D (Rebel XT) takes better pictures -- but it's 1000x better than a phone's camera and, unlike a DSLR, it's not so bulky that you'll leave it at home most of the time. The LX5 is better than any other point and shoot I've ever used (though I haven't used the new high-end Fuji range-finder style cameras, X100 and X10, I think they're called -- they too look really excellent).
There's also a Leica version of the same camera. It is literally the same camera, but it costs 50% more. The red dot adds a premium, but for the extra money you also get 1 year accidental-damage cover and a free copy of Lightroom. If you need those, it's worth the extra and you get a slightly more stylish/elitist camera in to the bargain ;) I got the Lumix, but only because I already have Aperture. A small part of me still wanted to get the Leica anyway...
The only downside to the LX5 is that it's likely approaching the end of its life -- it might get an upgrade sometime this year (which'll almost certainly include the touch screen from the GF2). I just wish they'd add a view finder, even if it's really basic.
Here's the rap video thing, if you can stomach it: http://www.geekwire.com/2011/windows-phone-rap-sleek-microsoft-inside
Sorry if I messed the link up - I don't usually post URLs.
Maybe it isn't inferior, I don't actually know*. I think Microsoft's problem right now is that they've become the embarrassing uncle of the tech world. Look at their 'impromptu' dancing in the Windows Stores (search for it on youtube and prepare to die a little). Look at the 'Windows 7 party pack' video they made (just thinking about it makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry), the Seinfeld thing, and there are dozens more examples (including just the other week, four white girls rapping about Windows Phone -- I saw that, and decided right there I'd never get a Windows).
I'm not really an image conscious kind of a guy, but even Microsoft are way too un-cool for me. Imagine what the kids must think :)
It's really weird that I haven't used it -- or even seen a single person using it -- I don't know anybody who does has a Windows Phone, which is surprising given I'm a .Net programmer, and most of my friends are too. I have no intention of buying a £500 Lumia 800 just to try it out. Maybe it's more popular in the states.
I don't think that's true. I try and follow the project as best I can, and I've not seen that claim made once. The first 100 (this batch) are going to be auctioned on ebay, but that was always the plan. They've got another 9,900 boards that are unpopulated, and if testing of the 100 goes well they'll be populated and sold for $25/$35 in Jan.
Yeah, because somebody carrying a gun"for the public good" is exactly what is missing here in the UK right now.
Why not? It's widely believed that working within limitations can spur creativity.
"For a long time I limited myself to one color – as a form of discipline." -- Pablo Picasso
Twitter can be like painting in one color. It really forces you to think about the words you are using to express yourself and make yourself understood.
No, he's off topic because he's bringing up this god damned near-religious love/hate of gigantic tech corporations that immediately creates a stupid and pointless flame war. With luck, a enough number of us are so sick of these types of comments that they can get squashed before it hijacks the thread -- I'd certainly have moderated him -1, Flamebait if I had mod points.
I used to come here to read the interesting discussion. All I see now is people arguing about how their favourite multi-billion dollar corporation is so righteous/brilliant/good/indestructable versus the evil multi-billion dollar corporation they so detest. It is a total waste of human energy.
I wouldn't mind, I'd just stop reading, but the other tech sites are even worse! Engadget has become a literal joke that other writers use to describe (and mock) the rapid downfall of a site and its readership.
Don't get me wrong, I have my allegiances too. I also used to be young, and I was attached to my favourite computer makers. Had the web been around back then, I'd probably have started flame wars too. Maybe we just need an alternative retirement-home version of slashdot, for people who remember what it was like to load a programme from tape or the entire OS from a single floppy disk.
Ruby on Rails just can't compete with Java, as much as the Rubyists claim it can
Wait, what Rubyists are claiming that?
I'm a Ruby programmer. I'm also a Java programmer and a .NET programmer (and quite a few others besides) so I have a broard perspective. I follow most of the Ruby movers-and-shakers on blogs and Twitter, and I don't think I've ever heard that claim. If anything, Rubyists look to Java as the natural step up from Ruby to meet enterprise needs -- even more so now JRuby is one of the most stable and usable Ruby implementations out there. Twitter built their platform on Ruby and then moved pieces to Java as needed. I don't think their approach is even remotely unique -- I've certainly done the same thing myself.
I think you're repeating sweeping generalisations out of your own (unfounded and biased) opinion and getting it totally wrong.
Gosh, disk cataloguing software brings back memories of software we used to keep track of floppies back in the early '90s. I can't find any examples specifically from the Amiga (I definitely had some PD utility to do just this though), but this Windows shareware from the late 90s is a suitably crummy example: http://equi4.com/catfish/
When it comes to CDs and DVDs, I now rip them and store the originals in the loft. They go in to iTunes and that make it easy to find them again. It stops the children wrecking the actual disks too. When we're low on space I either upgrade the disk or delete stuff they've lost interest in.
I know this is the 'popular' opinion amongst geeks of today, but can you really not see the technical reasons why certain Apple products sell? In particular, the Apple II, the original Mac, the iTunes Music Store and the iPhone were definite leaps forward (versus the competition) and each deserved their succeses on merit.
If you want to guarantee that your secrets can be decrypted, write your own encryption.
Unless you are a genuine cryptography expert, any encryption scheme you come up with will be easily breakable. You could maybe use one time pads that are longer than your messages and swap/synchronise them in a safe way -- that'd be secure -- but it still won't work. If "they" want to know what's going on, they'll just torture you.
Maybe not everyone wants to carry a full-fledged PC in their pocket? The world isn't made up of people just like you, you know.
As a .Net programmer that occasionally does Java stuff, I can tell you that C# is very much a clone of Java. The class names and namespaces are different, but fundamentally they're incredibly similar. I'll write a Java programme and then sit back and think "Christ, that looks exactly like .net". And it does.
Generic are different, but that's because Java took a different route and got stuck with that legacy. Linq is a big (and original) change, and lambdas too, but they're bolted on to a .Net core that is almost indistinguishable from Java.
Also, as an aside, look at the supporting tools in the .Net world -- NHibernate, NUnit, NAnt, Spring.Net, MVC, Log4net, Nuget etc etc. They're all clones of Java projects. We're basically following Java, and we're about 3 or 4 years behind at this point. If you want to see where .Net will be in 3 years, look at languages like Groovy, JRuby and the dynamic stuff going on in the JVM world. If we're lucky, we'll get NGroovy or some such, but only if Microsoft decide to fund it.
Of course Java's future is at a critical point in its history, with Oracle struggling to keep the enormously important community on-side. Who knows what will happen over the next few years. I don't think it will all blow up, but Java could start to slip.
No it doesn't sound like Xterminal, and you know it doesn't. This is like being sat at your workstation, with the full-fidelity of a regular digital display cable, and zero-latency input/output, but with the workstation sat 10 meters away (maybe in an ideally cooled/sound-proofed room). That appeals to me, and I'm sure there are plenty of use cases that will crop up all over the place. It is nothing like a thin client protocol or video sender.
I think it's fair to say Amazon have a good idea of what each Kindle customer is worth from their existing Kindle data. I know the tablets reach a slightly different audience, but they will surely know approximately how many customers are going to continue past the free trial period for prime, and also how many customers will buy apps, music, video and ebooks. I'm also assuming they've made the task of buying content for the fire even easier than Apple made it one the iPad.
I believe you may be wrong on two counts:
1. Microsoft will most likely sign the code and OEMs will embed Microsoft's public key. The OEMs do have the option of doing the signing, but that option would prevent you (the buyer) from updating/re-installing Windows using non-OEM versions.
2. Microsoft seem to be mandating the trusted boot in order for devices to be certified as Windows compatible, so the OEMs have to go along or be left behind.
While I think the articles on this are inflammatory, I don't think it's as bad as you seem to make out.
As an aside, I've also read convincing arguments that Microsoft don't actually care about Windows on ARM, but just need an option to prevent OEMs installing Android/Linux/A.N.Other OS, much like they did on the Netbooks (hence Windows Starter edition). The theory goes that once Microsoft have an ARM compatible alternative, they're going to insist that OEMs offer ONLY Windows, in exchange for getting/not-losing discounts for Windows-on-desktop licenses. That would give Intel a bit more time to get Atom in to a ready state for tablets, and business as usual would resume. It sounds a bit silly, until you realise that Microsoft have actually done this sort of thing several times before -- it's in their DNA to utterly kill competition using these exact kinds of tactics.
Of course, I'm not actually an expert on any of this, but I have been around long enough to see similar situations play out many times in the past. Leopards and spots etc.