I like how one MS employee put it: They advertise for Internet Explorer's team..... they want the best 4.0 level talent on that team. Problem: Once that talent arrives only three out of ten will actually get the 4.0. The rest will get a mediocre 3.0 which makes them feel unappreciated. And the bottom two will be shown the door, even if they truly are top talent. (Probably headed off to google and chrome development.)
Sadly, Google's own "calibration" system is basically a carbon copy of Microsoft's. I'd suggest some other destination.
Linux was slowed down in the desktop space mainly because of Microsoft's illegal monopoly control of OEM preinstalls. However notice that a number of the players that Microsoft was able to cow into dropping their advertised preinstalls are once against shipping with Linux preinstalled. When Microsoft's grip loosens just a little more the numbers will go exponential. Because there's no Microsoft tax, lowering the price of a typical desktop by 10%. Meanwhile, Microsoft never had a ghost of a chance to block Linux on phones and tablets once Google weighed in. Which helps a lot with Linux pentration on desktops: 1) customers get used to alternate interfaces 2) it's Linux 3) it weakens Microsoft 4) it's Linux. Next baby step is Android on desktops, after that most probably QT based gui on Android on desktops.
Warning you now though - you're running a touch OS with a mouse.
Nothing whatsoever prevents touch and mouse from working well together, just as mouse and keyboard do. Never mind that Google is a little slow at getting the details right principly because Googlers are not as smart as they think they are. It works passably well now and it will work much better in the future after we work Google over with a cluebat.
Speaking of Bluetooth, I got a new car, a Mazda 3, and my t-mobile G2 just worked. Setup is via voice control through the 3's stereo. A call comes in, I can pick up the call the steering wheel buttons, it routes throught the stereo, and I can also voice call out. How cool is that? No more hiding my phone below the dash.
The point is, my particular Android phone was probably never tested by Mazda. It just worked because it's all standards-based.
Think of it as a huge block of jello through which all massive objects move.
Bad way to think of it. The Higgs field is not fixed in position in any way, which would violate special relativity not to mention Newtonian mechanics.
There is indeed a way to cancel out gravity. You just put a massive object on the other side. Alternatively, if you only want to cancel the effects of gravity rather than gravity itself then simply putting something under your object will do. A table for example.
Some people browse the web on iPads now. This is approximately the only piece of evidence I've seen that the PC is "dying".
Look around in the airplane next time you travel and compare the number of tabs vs the number of laptops. Laptops still have it, but not by much. It's easy to draw a line through that curve and see where it goes.
I wouldn't call a 10" screen "comfortable", but otherwise I agree with you... even more so with an Android device, which has a lot bigger selection of tools you actually need to be productive.
Tablets may be great to consume media and apps on, but I don't know what he thinks we're going to use to write this stuff with, and I mean either multimedia authoring or programming. Can any of you really see running a programming IDE in a Metro based environment while referring to some documentation at the same time? I didn't think so.
No, but I can see doing it with Linux. All I need is KDE on my Xoom. I can almost do it as it is with Android, and Android could be fixed to support more of the functionality of KDE. After all, QT for Android is not far away. With my bluetooth keyboard I can hit my normal 90 WPM and bluetooth mouse works just fine. Now the limiting factor is not the keyboard, mouse, processor, storage, memory or peripherals... it's just the crippled GUI library and the 10" screen.
Now this. Good riddance. Let the windows and its market dominance and its subsidizing the computing platform go chasing the tablets or whatever.
I suddenly realized that Microsoft actually has a useful purpose: they keep PC hardware cheap so I can install Linux on it. Maybe we need them just a little while longer.
People who try to view tablets as "desktop replacements" are consistently missing the fact that tablets are not PCs, are not intended to be PCs, and aren't going to replace PCs
Says you. I already use my Xoom as a desktop replacement for nearly all of what I do when I go on the road. The hardware is already completely there, and only some stupid restrictions in Android prevent me from just leaving the laptop at home. Those won't last long.
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I like how one MS employee put it: They advertise for Internet Explorer's team..... they want the best 4.0 level talent on that team. Problem: Once that talent arrives only three out of ten will actually get the 4.0. The rest will get a mediocre 3.0 which makes them feel unappreciated. And the bottom two will be shown the door, even if they truly are top talent. (Probably headed off to google and chrome development.)
Sadly, Google's own "calibration" system is basically a carbon copy of Microsoft's. I'd suggest some other destination.
What does that tell me? That they are planning on selling more copies making a smaller amount per copy?
The way Windows 8 is shaping up it seems more likely to be, fewer copies making a smaller amount per copy.
they are still a very wealthy and profitable company, and will probably remain so for decades more
I believe Microsoft is perfectly capable of collapsing as fast as Nokia did, as do a lot of investors judging from Microsoft's moribund P/E.
Linux was slowed down in the desktop space mainly because of Microsoft's illegal monopoly control of OEM preinstalls. However notice that a number of the players that Microsoft was able to cow into dropping their advertised preinstalls are once against shipping with Linux preinstalled. When Microsoft's grip loosens just a little more the numbers will go exponential. Because there's no Microsoft tax, lowering the price of a typical desktop by 10%. Meanwhile, Microsoft never had a ghost of a chance to block Linux on phones and tablets once Google weighed in. Which helps a lot with Linux pentration on desktops: 1) customers get used to alternate interfaces 2) it's Linux 3) it weakens Microsoft 4) it's Linux. Next baby step is Android on desktops, after that most probably QT based gui on Android on desktops.
Or IBM, remember when they used to be a going concern? Oh wait, they still are. Companies can adapt...
Microsoft can't because it is the vanity plaything of Gates and Ballmer. And yes, I believe Gates still calls the shots. Usually wildly wrong.
Monkeyboy.
Warning you now though - you're running a touch OS with a mouse.
Nothing whatsoever prevents touch and mouse from working well together, just as mouse and keyboard do. Never mind that Google is a little slow at getting the details right principly because Googlers are not as smart as they think they are. It works passably well now and it will work much better in the future after we work Google over with a cluebat.
Speaking of Bluetooth, I got a new car, a Mazda 3, and my t-mobile G2 just worked. Setup is via voice control through the 3's stereo. A call comes in, I can pick up the call the steering wheel buttons, it routes throught the stereo, and I can also voice call out. How cool is that? No more hiding my phone below the dash.
The point is, my particular Android phone was probably never tested by Mazda. It just worked because it's all standards-based.
So I go and check my "About Tablet" and I see... 4.04! What blather are you spouting?
rolls eyes
Think of it as a huge block of jello through which all massive objects move.
Bad way to think of it. The Higgs field is not fixed in position in any way, which would violate special relativity not to mention Newtonian mechanics.
You mean the Hutchison Hoax?
There is indeed a way to cancel out gravity. You just put a massive object on the other side. Alternatively, if you only want to cancel the effects of gravity rather than gravity itself then simply putting something under your object will do. A table for example.
Utter rubbish. The Higgs mass is determined to be roughly 111 times that of the proton. The particle is indeed very massive.
Does somebody mind to explain why a particle that gives mass is... that heavy?
See, this particle likes to give away mass but it has to keep some for itself.
With Metro, they have come full circle with their efforts to make their phone interface the same as their desktop interface.
Microsoft is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying desperately to find a way to stay relevant.
Some people browse the web on iPads now. This is approximately the only piece of evidence I've seen that the PC is "dying".
Look around in the airplane next time you travel and compare the number of tabs vs the number of laptops. Laptops still have it, but not by much. It's easy to draw a line through that curve and see where it goes.
I wouldn't call a 10" screen "comfortable", but otherwise I agree with you... even more so with an Android device, which has a lot bigger selection of tools you actually need to be productive.
Sure, you can attach a bluetooth keyboard and mouse ... as long as the batteries hold out.
My keyboard and mouse batteries last months each, maybe you better source a new battery supplier. Rechageable of course.
The premise that Metro is a forgone conclusion for the way a tablet/phone experience succeeds is a poor one. The market has not shown that to be true.
It has pretty much shown the opposite but ssshhh don't tell Microsoft, they're having fun.
Tablets may be great to consume media and apps on, but I don't know what he thinks we're going to use to write this stuff with, and I mean either multimedia authoring or programming. Can any of you really see running a programming IDE in a Metro based environment while referring to some documentation at the same time? I didn't think so.
No, but I can see doing it with Linux. All I need is KDE on my Xoom. I can almost do it as it is with Android, and Android could be fixed to support more of the functionality of KDE. After all, QT for Android is not far away. With my bluetooth keyboard I can hit my normal 90 WPM and bluetooth mouse works just fine. Now the limiting factor is not the keyboard, mouse, processor, storage, memory or peripherals... it's just the crippled GUI library and the 10" screen.
Now this. Good riddance. Let the windows and its market dominance and its subsidizing the computing platform go chasing the tablets or whatever.
I suddenly realized that Microsoft actually has a useful purpose: they keep PC hardware cheap so I can install Linux on it. Maybe we need them just a little while longer.
This may not be the year of Linux, but it could be the year it backed MS into a corner.
How could this not be the year of Linux with a million Linux phones hitting the streets a day?
Gates isn't saying that we'll all be using tablets, but that for the vast majority of users, convergent devices are more convenient and suitable.
Bill Gates' predictions have an illustrious history of nearly perfect negative correlation with actual trends since the mid nineties.
People who try to view tablets as "desktop replacements" are consistently missing the fact that tablets are not PCs, are not intended to be PCs, and aren't going to replace PCs
Says you. I already use my Xoom as a desktop replacement for nearly all of what I do when I go on the road. The hardware is already completely there, and only some stupid restrictions in Android prevent me from just leaving the laptop at home. Those won't last long.