Most likely, they've not been sold at all. This used to be pretty common for companies to do. For those that don't remember, Commodore did this back in the 70's so they could pay lower taxes. They incorporated in the Bahamas I think. One advantage is that when the company goes bust, the top executives can't be touched. It happened in C='s case and if it can happen with that company (massive debt and serious problems with management decisions), it could easily happen with KaZaA...
And another one with John Levon (OProfile) where he discusses the patch. (at the end of the interview)
For me, these 2 interviews offer more insight than the interview in the article. Especially the comment from Levon that this patch is really just a "band-aid"...and that the real problem lies in fixing the kernel.
Exactly...I can't find one 10000RPM Firewire drive on pricewatch. These look like they are comprable to E-IDE drives. Until any of these newer formats get 10000+ RPM drives, SCSI will still be the fastest standard.
Besides, Firewire is one of many new standards that eat CPU cycles for lunch. This is a disturbing trend in new hardware. It started with SoftModems and Integrated Sound. It seems that as our CPU speeds increase, the new hardware standards become more reliant on those "extra" CPU cycles.
I recently upgraded to a 60GB Quantum Fireball. I bought the Maxtor Ultra/100 PCI card (made by Promise). What I found was that the integrated controllers on most motherboards are using the CPU more and more for their operations...The processor hit in reverting to the integrated IDE controller is signifigant enough to notice even on a 1GHz system. I don't have benchmarks, but you might try one of these controllers before you switch to Firewire.
BTW, I am to be corrected. It was done in 1988, but it only mentions accidents that happened up to 1985...maybe because anything that might have happened later would have still been classified???
This is an excerpt from a book by James Oberg titled "Uncovering Soviet Disasters"...about half way down the page is and interesting list of accidents that happened before 1973.
No mention of the MIR on this page (I think it's because this seems to have been done in 1985), but I thought that since everyone that mentions Cosmonauts that have died in space doesn't have the proof to back it up...well, this at least lends some validity to their complaints.
The strangest incident mentioned is this one
"On February 4, 1961, a mystery Soviet satellite was heard to be transmitting heartbeats, which soon stopped (some reports even described it as a two-man capsule, and several "missing cosmonauts" were listed as Belokonev, Kachur, and Grachev)."
That would be fine if I were talking about laptops, but I was refering to handhelds...and handhelds don't use Active Matrix...Handheld LCDs are pretty much a step up from your watch (same technology)...one of the reasons for the slow refresh rate on handhelds is power consumption...higher refresh rates require more power...
I know that this chip consumes too much power to be considered a candidate for Handheld 3D use...
That out of the way, I've had a few discussions regarding this and the general consensus is that it will most likely happen...lets take a look at what the requirements would be...
320x320 max resolution (this is 2x the resolution of the current Palm...this allows for advances in LCD technology)
Low Framerate requirements (LCD screens have low framerates compared to monitors)
Integrated Chip...Just like all of the other handheld chips, this chip needs to provide the function of display, sound, and CPU.
Low Power Consumption...probably the most difficult requirement to meet...you need to keep power consumption low enough to allow for 8 hours continuous on...
Now, why do I say that there is a need for this in the market???
3D games - Now, this is not the only reason for 3D on a handheld device, but this is simply an evolution of the technology. 3D Graphics Artists - This is a market that has not been tapped yet. Imagine being able to do 3D modeling on the Palm...even the ability to create 3D presentations using the palm...which brings us to... Business/Science Applications - this is a market that might seem small on the desktop...but I belive that 3D Apps would have a huge market in the handheld industry...Data Analysis (graphs, charts, scientific results), Astronomy, Medical Reference, Mathematical Analysis, Maps
I'm sure there are many other uses that I've not thought about, does anyone else agree with me or am I just FOS???
Just my $.02 worth.
Re:A better place to get Slashdot info...
on
Kuro5hin Update
·
· Score: 1
Didn't you read the comment???
I am NOT associated with AlterSlash, I have only found it useful. As for your implicaction that this is "Ripping Off" their content,/. itself used to list quite a few pages that "Rip Off" its content on the FAQ page. Many of these are aimed at providing more readable content for handheld devices.
If they got mad at this guy, they'ld have to get mad at everyone else that displays their headlines...
A better place to get Slashdot info...
on
Kuro5hin Update
·
· Score: 1
Try AlterSlash, this site shows the top 5 posters to each story along with a Noise rating.
This is a great site to sync your Palm with. It all fits on 1 page and there is no overuse of images.
BTW, I am in no way affiliated with this site, I have just found it to be a good alternative interface for/.
The popularity of the Palm and similar devices could very well be the platform to resurect the Text Adventure genre.
There's already a Z-Code interpreter for the Palm called Palm Frotz. There are a few others avaiable too, but Frotz is the most advanced. The popular Kyle's Quest Levels are little more than text adventures with a Square-Like interface.
As a matter of fact, Dreadling is about the only playable FPS like game for the Palm.
I argue that games like Elite, Zak McCracken, and Ultima were the reason Text Adventure games disappeared. They aren't dead, they have merely changed their face.
This is evident by games like Zork Zero. The most recent change that this genre has been undergoing is in the online world. We now have games like Ultima Online and Everquest.
My point is, don't think that the text adventure is dead simply because you can't buy a new Zork at EB.
Visor Central has a review of it. I couldn't even find the story on EETimes...it looks like they have a database problem...(SlashDotted?)
The transfer speeds for the MiniJam (that's its name) seem to be its major problem. If you wanted to fill only half of the 32MB module it wouls take somewhere around 7:30 to complete.
I'm not saying that this is a bad piece of hardware. As a matter of fact, I belive that the handheld market will be pushing technology further and further in the future. But, most ppl won't be willing to wait that long. Think of it this way...
* 1MB MP3 ~ 1 minute of CD quality music.
* So, that means that the 64MB unit comes to right about the same size as 1 CD.
* It takes ~ 15 minutes to burn a CD on my $130 4X4X24
* This thing costs $259 and at the reported transfer rate, it takes about the same time to fill it up with MP3s as it does to burn a CD.
Now, I got a pretty good deal on my CD-RW...I have seen similar units in the $179 range. Now, if we do a little math...that is a difference of $80. Now, if we buy our CDs in bulk, we get somewhere around $.50 a piece. That makes 160 CDs. Do we see where I'm going now. Now, many people talk about the anti-skip features of a solid-state player...ok, so go buy one of the cheaper stand-alone units out there. There's no reason I would buy this unit...however, a better solution might be to make a cable+software combo that would let you transfer MP3s on one of the 320MB (or even the 1GB) MicroDrives to one of the portable MP3 players.
For those who don't know what Greenbank is, also the home of other telescopes...these include
- 140 foot radio telescope (closed last July)
- GBI (Green Bank Interferometer)...a set of 85-foot telescopes
- OVLBI...a huge satelite tracking station.
Greenbank is one of 9 (If I remember correctly) tracking stations able to conmmunicate with the Hubble Space Telescope and is going to be one of the 2 or 3 major tracking stations for Arise - the next generation of space telescope.
Around the area is a military enforced "Quiet Zone". It is true that Green Bank is located in the "backwoods" of WV, but this is the reason for its existance. Belive it or not, this location is right up there with Arecibo in its usefulness to the astronomical community (maybe more so).
This technology could be useful...
on
Techno Jacket
·
· Score: 4
If used in less "obtrusive" ways. The kid's jacket seems like it might be going in the right direction...but how about a jacket for climbers, skiers, or sailors with one of those GPS locators built-in.
The jacket could monitor movement and conditions. If the wearer doesn't move in a few hours or pulls on a strap (some sort of manual activation)...it would send out a signal. It would be a great idea to find skiers burried after an avalanche, or locating sailors lost at sea.
I could also see a sort of built-in weather radio (much like NOAA in the US uses) that would inform the wearer when severe weather conditions were expected. It should be relatively simple, but it could save alot of lives...
...you will realize that M17 is the feature complete release. No attempt has been made to make it any more stable than the ability to complete a build without warnings. I am sure that PR2 is even less stable, as Netscape has added their own little "hacks". Anyone who has followed the project knows that the aim of everything after this date is stability, performance, and "polish".
I have seen people saying stuff like "Don't give me any of the Pre-Release garbage"...but this is exactly what this is about. I suggest trying some of the nightly builds from Tuesday evenings. These seem to be the most stable builds, because again, if you have been following Mozilla, you know that Tuesday is BugDay.
If you have never participated in a BugDay, I suggest that you do. But, before you do, download a M18 nightly...it seems to already be faster and more stable.
All I'm saying is, don't complain about Mozilla/Netscape not producting something and then complain when they do. It's not good form.
I am sure that since this does not seem to be a popular opinion, I will probably get modded down as a troll or flamebait or something like that, but I feal that I should still offer my feedback, as the guys working on the Mozilla project seem to be "unsung heros" right now. A good majority of the fixes are comming from Netscape Developers now. This is because they have begun work on Netscape 6 again (this was happening at the end of M17).
There has been some discussion here about how to fix this problem, and I don't think some of the people here "get it".
Mozilla has already implimented some of these features (at least for rejecting cookies) and being open sourced, Mozilla should be easy enough to change to allow for an exclution list for images, etc.
My guess is that, once Mozilla arrives at an initial final release (read complete and stable), one of the many anti-spam groups (like JunkBuster) will release a version of Mozilla (or even an add-on) focused toward ad filtering. A few options are ALREADY available, most in the form of proxies that can be installed locally or by an ISP.
Forget the fact that if the one who submitted this article actually read it, they would realize that at least 1 web site has been created to deal with the topic.
The real question here is why has it now become popular to complain about Mozilla???
Here is my theory...everyone who is complaining either knows what is really going on or doesn't. Those that Don't are not seeing much because they probably don't keep track of the project...they are the ppl that say "me too".
The rest of those complaining know exactly what is going on and waht to take some of the fame for themselves...why???
Check out this link...here is where the builds and descriptions of bug fixes get placed. Anyone who has been watching tinderbox knows that there has been alot of bug fixes in the past few weeks...plus, the tree in now closed for M17.
This means a new Milestone release is pending...now, why are they complaining that Netscape hasn't done anything???
Well, there you have it. M17 is overdue, the page mentions that it is unlikely that M17 will be released within 2 weeks of 6/28. Now the question is why is there so much fuss about Netscape PRODUCING SOMETHING??? Could it be because the next step is a push to Beta2 for Netscape???
That's right. Within a month of the release of M17, Netscape 6 Beta2 will be released.
Now, read of this what you may, but it sounds to me like a few people want to take the limelight for Netscape releasing Beta2...
The site name was registered on June 7th, 2000... So the question...is this really a valid domain or a case where some guy put up a site with a total of 5 pages on it!!! Corinthians.com does not even resolve to the www site...and he's being hosted by a company. http://www.vermontel.net/~rhs/ is the real address for the damned site!!! This kind of stuff makes me pissed!!! This guy shouldn't even have a domain name, this domain should not be granted to either one of them... Just my $.02 worth
Umh, when will M$ learn that Linux can't be killed. It is a FREE OS, as long as SOMEONE cares, it will continue, and personally, I think that there are too many ppl that want an alternative OS (I was forced from the Amiga to the PeeCee).
I think what scares M$ is that, while they have to wait a year or more to get out a new OS, Linux can be updated within a month.
The only hope for M$ to compete(sp) with Linux will be to release their own version.
BTW, anyone out there know of a M$-DOS -completion (file names) program?
Yea, I posted thhe origonal "M$ Linux" as anon from one of my school's dumb terminals...anyhow.
Lets take another look at it this way. M$ sees that they are losing some servers to OSes like RedHat and Slackware, and even face the possibility that some ppl might not continue on the NT bandwagon for security/overhead/etc.
They are already looking at getting rid of the shell in their newer OSes (I hear this one is being passed over for Windoze 2000).
They need a server OS that is fast, solid, and has a shell.
So...they go for Linux, custom make their installers, even make Wine-32 that's compatible with the "M$ OS Flavor of the Day" (M$ Linux only of course...it can be done, it just usually isn't). They get a kernel that is constantly being updated/changed/etc and a whole bunch of media publicity to boot.
They gain back the server systems and a few "power users" in the process...
Every company that is now running a UNIX flavor or Linux suddenly moves to M$ Linux.
If you don't think this would happen, you don't know how businesses run. They would rather stick with M$ OSes throughout their system. Sure, it wouldn't happen overnight, but it would happen. Especially if M$ started some sort of a support deal for companies switching from another UNIX flavor.
My point was, that it's actually really dificult to compare any 2 CPUs. When you jump arcatectures i.e. P2 -> P3, you can't compare MHz. MIPS seems to be the best that I've seen, of course, what we really need is a standard Turing test to calculate minutes to complete specific tests.
Slashdot Mirror
Most likely, they've not been sold at all. This used to be pretty common for companies to do. For those that don't remember, Commodore did this back in the 70's so they could pay lower taxes. They incorporated in the Bahamas I think. One advantage is that when the company goes bust, the top executives can't be touched. It happened in C='s case and if it can happen with that company (massive debt and serious problems with management decisions), it could easily happen with KaZaA...
With Robert Love at KernelTrap
And another one with John Levon (OProfile) where he discusses the patch. (at the end of the interview)
For me, these 2 interviews offer more insight than the interview in the article. Especially the comment from Levon that this patch is really just a "band-aid"...and that the real problem lies in fixing the kernel.
Eric W. Schwartz... The extremely talented animator.
:)
Exactly...I can't find one 10000RPM Firewire drive on pricewatch. These look like they are comprable to E-IDE drives. Until any of these newer formats get 10000+ RPM drives, SCSI will still be the fastest standard.
Besides, Firewire is one of many new standards that eat CPU cycles for lunch. This is a disturbing trend in new hardware. It started with SoftModems and Integrated Sound. It seems that as our CPU speeds increase, the new hardware standards become more reliant on those "extra" CPU cycles.
I recently upgraded to a 60GB Quantum Fireball. I bought the Maxtor Ultra/100 PCI card (made by Promise). What I found was that the integrated controllers on most motherboards are using the CPU more and more for their operations...The processor hit in reverting to the integrated IDE controller is signifigant enough to notice even on a 1GHz system. I don't have benchmarks, but you might try one of these controllers before you switch to Firewire.
BTW, I am to be corrected. It was done in 1988, but it only mentions accidents that happened up to 1985...maybe because anything that might have happened later would have still been classified???
After the mention of cosmonauts that have died in space, I did some searching and found the following link...
Russian Aerospace Guide - Cosmonauts
This is an excerpt from a book by James Oberg titled "Uncovering Soviet Disasters"...about half way down the page is and interesting list of accidents that happened before 1973.
No mention of the MIR on this page (I think it's because this seems to have been done in 1985), but I thought that since everyone that mentions Cosmonauts that have died in space doesn't have the proof to back it up...well, this at least lends some validity to their complaints.
The strangest incident mentioned is this one "On February 4, 1961, a mystery Soviet satellite was heard to be transmitting heartbeats, which soon stopped (some reports even described it as a two-man capsule, and several "missing cosmonauts" were listed as Belokonev, Kachur, and Grachev)."
There is also a newly updated RoadMap that includes possible dates for V1.0 before this Summer.
That would be fine if I were talking about laptops, but I was refering to handhelds...and handhelds don't use Active Matrix...Handheld LCDs are pretty much a step up from your watch (same technology)...one of the reasons for the slow refresh rate on handhelds is power consumption...higher refresh rates require more power...
I know that this chip consumes too much power to be considered a candidate for Handheld 3D use...
That out of the way, I've had a few discussions regarding this and the general consensus is that it will most likely happen...lets take a look at what the requirements would be...
320x320 max resolution (this is 2x the resolution of the current Palm...this allows for advances in LCD technology)
Low Framerate requirements (LCD screens have low framerates compared to monitors)
Integrated Chip...Just like all of the other handheld chips, this chip needs to provide the function of display, sound, and CPU.
Low Power Consumption...probably the most difficult requirement to meet...you need to keep power consumption low enough to allow for 8 hours continuous on...
Now, why do I say that there is a need for this in the market???
3D games - Now, this is not the only reason for 3D on a handheld device, but this is simply an evolution of the technology.
3D Graphics Artists - This is a market that has not been tapped yet. Imagine being able to do 3D modeling on the Palm...even the ability to create 3D presentations using the palm...which brings us to...
Business/Science Applications - this is a market that might seem small on the desktop...but I belive that 3D Apps would have a huge market in the handheld industry...Data Analysis (graphs, charts, scientific results), Astronomy, Medical Reference, Mathematical Analysis, Maps
I'm sure there are many other uses that I've not thought about, does anyone else agree with me or am I just FOS???
Just my $.02 worth.
Didn't you read the comment???
/. itself used to list quite a few pages that "Rip Off" its content on the FAQ page. Many of these are aimed at providing more readable content for handheld devices.
I am NOT associated with AlterSlash, I have only found it useful. As for your implicaction that this is "Ripping Off" their content,
If they got mad at this guy, they'ld have to get mad at everyone else that displays their headlines...
Try AlterSlash, this site shows the top 5 posters to each story along with a Noise rating.
/.
This is a great site to sync your Palm with. It all fits on 1 page and there is no overuse of images.
BTW, I am in no way affiliated with this site, I have just found it to be a good alternative interface for
The popularity of the Palm and similar devices could very well be the platform to resurect the Text Adventure genre.
There's already a Z-Code interpreter for the Palm called Palm Frotz. There are a few others avaiable too, but Frotz is the most advanced. The popular Kyle's Quest Levels are little more than text adventures with a Square-Like interface.
As a matter of fact, Dreadling is about the only playable FPS like game for the Palm.
I argue that games like Elite, Zak McCracken, and Ultima were the reason Text Adventure games disappeared. They aren't dead, they have merely changed their face.
This is evident by games like Zork Zero. The most recent change that this genre has been undergoing is in the online world. We now have games like Ultima Online and Everquest.
My point is, don't think that the text adventure is dead simply because you can't buy a new Zork at EB.
Umh, only if you're willing to hold your visors perfectly still for like 5 minutes or something...it's a good idea, because IR is VERY slow.
The only way to transfer files between them at any reasonable transfer rate might be with some sort of hacked hotsync cable.
Visor Central has a review of it. I couldn't even find the story on EETimes...it looks like they have a database problem...(SlashDotted?)
The transfer speeds for the MiniJam (that's its name) seem to be its major problem. If you wanted to fill only half of the 32MB module it wouls take somewhere around 7:30 to complete.
I'm not saying that this is a bad piece of hardware. As a matter of fact, I belive that the handheld market will be pushing technology further and further in the future. But, most ppl won't be willing to wait that long. Think of it this way...
* 1MB MP3 ~ 1 minute of CD quality music.
* So, that means that the 64MB unit comes to right about the same size as 1 CD.
* It takes ~ 15 minutes to burn a CD on my $130 4X4X24
* This thing costs $259 and at the reported transfer rate, it takes about the same time to fill it up with MP3s as it does to burn a CD.
Now, I got a pretty good deal on my CD-RW...I have seen similar units in the $179 range. Now, if we do a little math...that is a difference of $80. Now, if we buy our CDs in bulk, we get somewhere around $.50 a piece. That makes 160 CDs. Do we see where I'm going now. Now, many people talk about the anti-skip features of a solid-state player...ok, so go buy one of the cheaper stand-alone units out there. There's no reason I would buy this unit...however, a better solution might be to make a cable+software combo that would let you transfer MP3s on one of the 320MB (or even the 1GB) MicroDrives to one of the portable MP3 players.
For those who don't know what Greenbank is, also the home of other telescopes...these include
- 140 foot radio telescope (closed last July)
- GBI (Green Bank Interferometer)...a set of 85-foot telescopes
- OVLBI...a huge satelite tracking station.
Greenbank is one of 9 (If I remember correctly) tracking stations able to conmmunicate with the Hubble Space Telescope and is going to be one of the 2 or 3 major tracking stations for Arise - the next generation of space telescope.
Around the area is a military enforced "Quiet Zone". It is true that Green Bank is located in the "backwoods" of WV, but this is the reason for its existance. Belive it or not, this location is right up there with Arecibo in its usefulness to the astronomical community (maybe more so).
If used in less "obtrusive" ways. The kid's jacket seems like it might be going in the right direction...but how about a jacket for climbers, skiers, or sailors with one of those GPS locators built-in.
The jacket could monitor movement and conditions. If the wearer doesn't move in a few hours or pulls on a strap (some sort of manual activation)...it would send out a signal. It would be a great idea to find skiers burried after an avalanche, or locating sailors lost at sea.
I could also see a sort of built-in weather radio (much like NOAA in the US uses) that would inform the wearer when severe weather conditions were expected. It should be relatively simple, but it could save alot of lives...
Some ppl STILL don't seem to "get it". If you look at the following link...
...you will realize that M17 is the feature complete release. No attempt has been made to make it any more stable than the ability to complete a build without warnings. I am sure that PR2 is even less stable, as Netscape has added their own little "hacks". Anyone who has followed the project knows that the aim of everything after this date is stability, performance, and "polish".
Mozilla Milestones
I have seen people saying stuff like "Don't give me any of the Pre-Release garbage"...but this is exactly what this is about. I suggest trying some of the nightly builds from Tuesday evenings. These seem to be the most stable builds, because again, if you have been following Mozilla, you know that Tuesday is BugDay.
If you have never participated in a BugDay, I suggest that you do. But, before you do, download a M18 nightly...it seems to already be faster and more stable.
All I'm saying is, don't complain about Mozilla/Netscape not producting something and then complain when they do. It's not good form.
I am sure that since this does not seem to be a popular opinion, I will probably get modded down as a troll or flamebait or something like that, but I feal that I should still offer my feedback, as the guys working on the Mozilla project seem to be "unsung heros" right now. A good majority of the fixes are comming from Netscape Developers now. This is because they have begun work on Netscape 6 again (this was happening at the end of M17).
There has been some discussion here about how to fix this problem, and I don't think some of the people here "get it".
Mozilla has already implimented some of these features (at least for rejecting cookies) and being open sourced, Mozilla should be easy enough to change to allow for an exclution list for images, etc.
My guess is that, once Mozilla arrives at an initial final release (read complete and stable), one of the many anti-spam groups (like JunkBuster) will release a version of Mozilla (or even an add-on) focused toward ad filtering. A few options are ALREADY available, most in the form of proxies that can be installed locally or by an ISP.
But, until then, here's the link to JunkBusters.
JunkBuster Proxy - GPLed Ad Filtering Proxy
Just my $.02 worth, I could be wrong.
Forget the fact that if the one who submitted this article actually read it, they would realize that at least 1 web site has been created to deal with the topic.
The real question here is why has it now become popular to complain about Mozilla???
Here is my theory...everyone who is complaining either knows what is really going on or doesn't. Those that Don't are not seeing much because they probably don't keep track of the project...they are the ppl that say "me too".
The rest of those complaining know exactly what is going on and waht to take some of the fame for themselves...why???
Mozilla Tinderbox
Check out this link...here is where the builds and descriptions of bug fixes get placed. Anyone who has been watching tinderbox knows that there has been alot of bug fixes in the past few weeks...plus, the tree in now closed for M17.
This means a new Milestone release is pending...now, why are they complaining that Netscape hasn't done anything???
Mozilla Milestones
Well, there you have it. M17 is overdue, the page mentions that it is unlikely that M17 will be released within 2 weeks of 6/28. Now the question is why is there so much fuss about Netscape PRODUCING SOMETHING??? Could it be because the next step is a push to Beta2 for Netscape???
That's right. Within a month of the release of M17, Netscape 6 Beta2 will be released.
Now, read of this what you may, but it sounds to me like a few people want to take the limelight for Netscape releasing Beta2...
Just my $.02 worth, I could be wrong.
The site name was registered on June 7th, 2000... So the question...is this really a valid domain or a case where some guy put up a site with a total of 5 pages on it!!! Corinthians.com does not even resolve to the www site...and he's being hosted by a company. http://www.vermontel.net/~rhs/ is the real address for the damned site!!! This kind of stuff makes me pissed!!! This guy shouldn't even have a domain name, this domain should not be granted to either one of them... Just my $.02 worth
Umh, when will M$ learn that Linux can't be killed. It is a FREE OS, as long as SOMEONE cares, it will continue, and personally, I think that there are too many ppl that want an alternative OS (I was forced from the Amiga to the PeeCee).
I think what scares M$ is that, while they have to wait a year or more to get out a new OS, Linux can be updated within a month.
The only hope for M$ to compete(sp) with Linux will be to release their own version.
BTW, anyone out there know of a M$-DOS -completion (file names) program?
Yea, I posted thhe origonal "M$ Linux" as anon from one of my school's dumb terminals...anyhow.
Lets take another look at it this way. M$ sees that they are losing some servers to OSes like RedHat and Slackware, and even face the possibility that some ppl might not continue on the NT bandwagon for security/overhead/etc.
They are already looking at getting rid of the shell in their newer OSes (I hear this one is being passed over for Windoze 2000).
They need a server OS that is fast, solid, and has a shell.
So...they go for Linux, custom make their installers, even make Wine-32 that's compatible with the "M$ OS Flavor of the Day" (M$ Linux only of course...it can be done, it just usually isn't). They get a kernel that is constantly being updated/changed/etc and a whole bunch of media publicity to boot.
They gain back the server systems and a few "power users" in the process...
Every company that is now running a UNIX flavor or Linux suddenly moves to M$ Linux.
If you don't think this would happen, you don't know how businesses run. They would rather stick with M$ OSes throughout their system. Sure, it wouldn't happen overnight, but it would happen. Especially if M$ started some sort of a support deal for companies switching from another UNIX flavor.
Umh, who is TC? I submitted this information (not the same wording) a few days ago...
My point was, that it's actually really dificult to compare any 2 CPUs. When you jump arcatectures i.e. P2 -> P3, you can't compare MHz. MIPS seems to be the best that I've seen, of course, what we really need is a standard Turing test to calculate minutes to complete specific tests.