Okkaaayyy... Why is bandwidth the problem? These guys can fix you up with everything you need at a low cost. Besides, if your ideas were sufficient to warrant VC attention, then you could get money from them for a T1.
How did that turn into a multi million dollar company? Seriously. That original page looks worse than what a 5th grader can program in HTML.
They hired an artist. Seriously.;-)
If there's one thing I've noticed as a programmer, it's that good programmers are rarely good artists. Sure, they know all the GIMP or Photoshop tricks, but they just don't have the sense of style. The result is that everything tends to come out utilitarian.
I wish I would have made *something* and cashed in.
You still can. The trick is that your idea can't be as stupid as the DotCom ideas. VCs realized that a *business plan* might be a good idea. That being said, I hate the funding part. I'd love to hook up with a guy who's good at the "getting the funding" side of things, while I focus on the "producing a product" side of things. Doing both alone is stressful, and often yeilds poor results. No wonder 90% of businesses fail.:-)
The DCMA has a clause that allows copyright holders to force an ISP to remove infringing content. (This letter was directed at the ISP.) All that's required to get the ISP off the hook is for the website owner to write a response saying that he feels he has a right to the materials he is publishing. The DCMA then *requires* that the ISP restore the material, as they are no longer responsible for its trafficing.
I would have thought that the editors would have gotten enough complaints about this being a dupe. Oh well.
What this device really is, is not so much of a fusion generator as it is a neutron source. Nuclear physicists use sources such as these for processes such as starting atomic reactions and changing elements. (e.g. You can make lead into gold with enough radiation. Although plutonium production is a far more useful change.)
A nuclear physicist I know suggested that the Sonofusion concept might be useful for the same reasons. Unfortuntely, we are quickly piling up ways of using fusion as neutron sources, but have yet to come up with a single one to produce energy.:-/
I would like to know what you call it when you have a monolithic kernel running on top of a microkernel, though.
Mac OS X.;-)
Seriously, the Mach at the bottom design is what allows OS X to run OS 9 along side the BSD layer. No, it's not a "true" microkernel, but it is along the lines of that design.
Every complaint you have about Linux is a direct result of your lack of knowelege.
Really? This is going to be entertaining.
Let me guess - you selected the "custom install" option, or picked an advanced distro like Gentoo or Slackware because you thought you were such a computer genius that you'ld have no problems.
Survey says? No.
Then, after drastically misconfiguring pretty much everything, you complain that Linux doesn't work
Nice, unfounded claim there cheif. Let's see if you can keep it up.
I'm not sure how you got your mouse screwed up, I've never had any trouble with any of mine.
Well there you go. That must mean that all mice must be equally well supported. (rolls eyes)
The chances are you selected not to enable a feature that allows USB hotswapping.
Bullshit. No such option is even offered in modern distros. In fact, my temporary solution was to restart the hotswapping service using modprobe. Oh wait. I must be too stupid to know how to do that.
Since you appear to be using a very unique distro (Java Desktop according to your journal)
And the truth comes out! Didn't even notice the five other Linux reviews, did ya? Or the comments that this issue has happened with two different Microsoft Optical Mice? Or that I tracked it down on the kernel lists, and that the issue is well known but being ignored?
I've also never had a flakey video file take out the video subsystem. The worst that's ever happened is it crashed the player, and I've seen Macs amd Windows do that also.
Really? Good for you. I've had to kill X-Windows more times than I can count because of MPlayer.
And I really don't care if DeCSS is "illegal". I don't use it to rip DVD's only watch. If some company or lawmaker has a problem with me watching a legal DVD on my computer because I didn't pay MS or Apple their "tax" then they can bite me!
Which means that users can expect out-of-the-box media support... when again?
If yours don't work it's because you did something stupid like change settings you didn't understand.
Or in this case settings that didn't exist. But go on, you're making a fine job of being an asshole and making a fool of yourself.
I read your journal, and can the only conclusion I can come to is that you are clueless. You tried installing Sun's Java Desktop (far from a "typical" distro), and then made sweeping assumptions about Linux in general. You've shown that "Those who can - Do. Those who can't - pretend they can and write about it."
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Look who just stuck his foot in his mouth! "Making sweaping assumptions?" Might want to look in the mirror bud!
Indeed. I still use OS X 10.2, but the differences in Safari between 10.2 and 10.3 are just astounding. Especially in the areas of CSS and DHTML support. KHTML was always a nice little widget, but Apple seems to have some of the best minds I've ever seen working on this. Not even Microsoft got their act togther this fast! (And they started with Spyglass, a component that was superior to the KHTML one that Apple started with.)
Dude, you need to check that. Despite your claims of your site being "so absurd that it must be a parody", the truth is that it is very easy to confuse with the original. You used a domain name that's nearly the same, you appropriated trademarks (which aren't protected), you used the exact same graphics, etc., etc., etc. A "parody" that's easy to confuse with the original is not protected!
Next time do a *good* job of it as call the site "Dull-Mart" or somesuch, and use a matching domain. Also ajust all the images so that they betray the intent of the site (i.e. a parody). Every last line should say something insightful or funny that it difficult to mix up with the original. Someone else pointed to this site as an example of how it should be done.
It sounds like no reasonable person would confuse this guys work as an actual wal-mart site.
Go to his site and click on the Cease and Desist PDF. After looking at the screenshots they presented, I'd say Walmart has a pretty good case for unfair use of copyrighted material. Not to mention all the trademarks he appropriated in this stunt...
It's not just "not a good parody", it's crossing the line of what is acceptable. People don't seem to understand that Parody protection is not a basic right. It's an interpretation of fair use clauses that makes for very shaky ground. If you're going to parody, you need to make damn sure that you do a good job of it. Using trademarks (not fair use), registering the domain "walmart-foundation" instead of "walmartgoodworks", and creating a site that can easily be confused with the original all add up to laywers making easy money off of you.
If his teacher has any sense, (s)he will sit the boy down and explain the tricky legal issues involved in doing a parody, and how to do it right. (e.g. Start with something *funny* and use it to make a point, maybe?)
I'm well aware of the two different FS extensions. However, at the time I used it, the program didn't have a Joliet checkbox. (At least, that I could find.)
I'm guessing that if this went to court, it would be thrown out as this site is fairly clearly a parody site. This allows considerable freedom in copying images, ideas, logos, and so on.
Did you see the screenshots from the Cease and Desist letter? It's not quite the "parody" the author is making it out to be.
Actually, 3DHX did the same thing. They promoted their GLIDE API to such a degree, that pretty much any 3D accelerated game of the time used it. (Wing Commander Prophecy and Secret Ops are still a PITA to get running, even with added Direct3D support.) 3DFX failed, because they didn't follow up with better performing hardware. Their second release (Banshee) actually performed worse than the first release. Their successive Voodoo 3-5 cards were mostly just minor performance enhancements. The the GeForce 2 came along and 3DFX folded.
3DFX had the market cornered. They just failed to follow up.
You don't understand. OS X doesn't need those features, because it doesn't use the BSD kernel like that. OS X only needs BSD for the usermode stuff. All the low level stuff (e.g. HFS+, hardware support, etc.) is happening at the Mach level.
Awww, isn't that precious? Now go get yourself a lollipop. Us _big people_ have important stuff to discuss. Run along now! And play nice with the other trolls!
Are you really going to claim that is not a flexible enough solution?
Umm... yeah. Spotlight not only searches documents, it searches mail, photo, contacts, and other databases. And it does it *way* faster than the "wait a half hour for your entire drive to be searched" command line method.
Advanced in what fashion? Multimedia handling has been mature for ages. The only thing new in Multimedia handling that I am aware of is a couple more codecs and DRM. Linux supports pretty much all the codecs.
Windows has WMP and OS X has iTunes. Both manage your music effectively, and without issue. Both systems also have good integrated video components. No need to compile a piece of software that's illegal in this country. Both play DVDs without fuss, and both handle shakey multimedia files without crashing the video subsystem. (Although VLC and Xine seem to be much better than MPlayer on this.)
Are you aware of a system that has more reliable plug and play? True, there is no "one true system" but the distributions I have used were extremely effective in this department.
OS X? I just plug devices in, and they work. Period. Under Linux, I'm lucky if my mouse doesn't freeze up. (See my journal for this pet peeve of mine.)
If you meant functional cd/dvd burning being included with the OS, Linux is quite a few steps ahead of the competition.
The last time I used Linux CD burning, I had to run from hell and back just to configure the burner program. I ended up as a very unhappy customer, with several CDs that didn't work right on the XP machine they were intended for. (U was helping my sister with setting up her new XP machine, only to find that OpenOffice, Mozilla, and the other goodies all had 8.3 filenames on the CD.)
Yes. And the last time I used it, it "guessed" wrong at all the correct command line programs to use. Then it created a CD that didn't work right on my sister's XP machine. (All 8.3 filenames.) Let's just say that I wasn't particularly happy with the experience. Granted, it was little less than a year ago now, but I still remember it as a less than satisfactory experience. Sadly, if you check my journal, you'll find that most distros were overall unsatisfactory. (SuSE was the best, IMHO.)
I actually had to Google to figure out what that was. Good catch. Although, without a proper filesystem to support it, Beagle may fall short just like many other indexing engines.
I have no idea what this means, but mplayer can play almost any format in existence.
MPlayer is:
1. Not legal 2. Not bundled 3. Not fully compatible 4. A pain in the posterior to use 5. Not a media management solution
See anything written in perl, python, Java &.NET (Mono). Also, Beagle again, as it is written in Mono:)
Perl is interpreted, Python is either interpreted or compiled, Java is never integrated with the system (or even distributed with the system) like OS X, and the kissing disease is a long way from complete and usable.
XGL
XGL is a X Server plugin, not a desktop environment.
Or are you talking about an interface where everything is 3D? If so, I personally think that would decrease usability much more than "wobbly windows":)
Wobbly windows suck.:-) Mac OS X and Looking Glass, however, show that all that GL power can be turned to good rather than evil (Avalon). In any case, I was referring to the lack of a framework for such a desktop. Looking Glass has it, but it's not done yet.
Again, I've no idea what you mean by this. K3B is great for CD/DVD burning, and I believe there are plugins that allow it to integrate with Konqueror.
When you run CD/DVD burns on the Mac, they Just Work(TM). Microsoft is trying to replicate that. Linux is still, "Ok, dude. First figure out your CD drive. Then choose the command line programs that support your drive. Then create an ISO yourself, and insert a disk in the drive. Don't forget to unmount it before you eject, man! Now press 'burn' and pray to the penguin wanna-be-gods that it works the first time. If it doesn't, you'll need some righteous incantations to get it working!"
Apple is bringing out new desktops faster but they are still riding on a maintained old version of BSD for their infrastructure. They aren't outpacing Linux there.
Actually? No. Apple is running on their highly advanced Mach kernel, with a BSD microkernel to provide POSIX services. Not that it matters. BSD is extremely robust code that is not being eclipsed by Linux.
Yes, I did miss that one. Although honestly? I couldn't care less about secure startup. That's not much in the way of a killer feature.
A few weeks back, people with GNOME were demonstrating their new eyecandy features with wobbly windows and all sorts of other semi-useless eyecandy (programmable widget skins will probably be quite useful to developers) which will probably look as good as Longhorn's eyecandy, and be just as useless.
I was there for that one, and pointing out that this stuff was a) nothing new for Linux or any other system and b) didn't improve the user interface to any marked degree. Some posters even argued that it decreased usability.
The real question is, where is the killer features like integrated search (I *still* use 'find . -exec grep {} \;' if I actually need to *find* something), advanced multimedia handling, managed bytecode programs, an advanced 3D interface, reliable plug and play, and integrated CD/DVD burning? I'm sure we could piece a few of these together on software that's nowhere near completion (e.g. Lookinhg Glass, Helix Player, etc.), but there's little sign that Linux will outpace Microsoft on these fronts. If anything, Linux will be late to the game.
Rigghhhttt. No, Microsoft would never be worried that someone is going to eat their lunch. That's why they're always so nice and polite to competing companies, right?
Microsoft isn't stupid. They know that if they take too long on an upgrade, customers will start investigating alternatives. And if they slip a few percent in market share, there may be a high chance of them slipping a lot more.
Remember when 3DFX owned the 3D accelerator market? Any idea how they're doing now? Oh, that's right. They got usurped by their competitors, went belly up, and got acquired by NVidia.
It strikes me that Microsoft is feeling the pressure. While they're over there taking their sweet time on Longhorn, Apple has been slowly claiming their market with all the features that Longhorn is going to promise. As a result, Microsoft is trying to scale back the beast into something that can be released sooner rather than later. (Cue: Queen - Under Pressure)
What I find interesting, however, is that Linux is not pulling ahead in the same time. Microsoft set their dates far into the future, and many people predicted that Linux would eclipse it in features by then. Instead, we're not really seeing any revolutionary features out of the Linux developers, and Apple is starting to eat everyone's lunch. What happened?
Slashdot Mirror
I have so many ideas. I just need the bandwith.
Okkaaayyy... Why is bandwidth the problem? These guys can fix you up with everything you need at a low cost. Besides, if your ideas were sufficient to warrant VC attention, then you could get money from them for a T1.
How did that turn into a multi million dollar company? Seriously. That original page looks worse than what a 5th grader can program in HTML.
;-)
:-)
They hired an artist. Seriously.
If there's one thing I've noticed as a programmer, it's that good programmers are rarely good artists. Sure, they know all the GIMP or Photoshop tricks, but they just don't have the sense of style. The result is that everything tends to come out utilitarian.
I wish I would have made *something* and cashed in.
You still can. The trick is that your idea can't be as stupid as the DotCom ideas. VCs realized that a *business plan* might be a good idea. That being said, I hate the funding part. I'd love to hook up with a guy who's good at the "getting the funding" side of things, while I focus on the "producing a product" side of things. Doing both alone is stressful, and often yeilds poor results. No wonder 90% of businesses fail.
Turning gold into lead would be easier, but it's not as much fun for pointing out what neutron sources can be used for. :-)
BTW, I dug up an article on the process. Here's a more technical explanation.
The DCMA has a clause that allows copyright holders to force an ISP to remove infringing content. (This letter was directed at the ISP.) All that's required to get the ISP off the hook is for the website owner to write a response saying that he feels he has a right to the materials he is publishing. The DCMA then *requires* that the ISP restore the material, as they are no longer responsible for its trafficing.
I would have thought that the editors would have gotten enough complaints about this being a dupe. Oh well.
:-/
What this device really is, is not so much of a fusion generator as it is a neutron source. Nuclear physicists use sources such as these for processes such as starting atomic reactions and changing elements. (e.g. You can make lead into gold with enough radiation. Although plutonium production is a far more useful change.)
A nuclear physicist I know suggested that the Sonofusion concept might be useful for the same reasons. Unfortuntely, we are quickly piling up ways of using fusion as neutron sources, but have yet to come up with a single one to produce energy.
I would like to know what you call it when you have a monolithic kernel running on top of a microkernel, though.
;-)
Mac OS X.
Seriously, the Mach at the bottom design is what allows OS X to run OS 9 along side the BSD layer. No, it's not a "true" microkernel, but it is along the lines of that design.
Every complaint you have about Linux is a direct result of your lack of knowelege.
Really? This is going to be entertaining.
Let me guess - you selected the "custom install" option, or picked an advanced distro like Gentoo or Slackware because you thought you were such a computer genius that you'ld have no problems.
Survey says? No.
Then, after drastically misconfiguring pretty much everything, you complain that Linux doesn't work
Nice, unfounded claim there cheif. Let's see if you can keep it up.
I'm not sure how you got your mouse screwed up, I've never had any trouble with any of mine.
Well there you go. That must mean that all mice must be equally well supported. (rolls eyes)
The chances are you selected not to enable a feature that allows USB hotswapping.
Bullshit. No such option is even offered in modern distros. In fact, my temporary solution was to restart the hotswapping service using modprobe. Oh wait. I must be too stupid to know how to do that.
Since you appear to be using a very unique distro (Java Desktop according to your journal)
And the truth comes out! Didn't even notice the five other Linux reviews, did ya? Or the comments that this issue has happened with two different Microsoft Optical Mice? Or that I tracked it down on the kernel lists, and that the issue is well known but being ignored?
I've also never had a flakey video file take out the video subsystem. The worst that's ever happened is it crashed the player, and I've seen Macs amd Windows do that also.
Really? Good for you. I've had to kill X-Windows more times than I can count because of MPlayer.
And I really don't care if DeCSS is "illegal". I don't use it to rip DVD's only watch. If some company or lawmaker has a problem with me watching a legal DVD on my computer because I didn't pay MS or Apple their "tax" then they can bite me!
Which means that users can expect out-of-the-box media support... when again?
If yours don't work it's because you did something stupid like change settings you didn't understand.
Or in this case settings that didn't exist. But go on, you're making a fine job of being an asshole and making a fool of yourself.
I read your journal, and can the only conclusion I can come to is that you are clueless. You tried installing Sun's Java Desktop (far from a "typical" distro), and then made sweeping assumptions about Linux in general. You've shown that "Those who can - Do. Those who can't - pretend they can and write about it."
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Look who just stuck his foot in his mouth! "Making sweaping assumptions?" Might want to look in the mirror bud!
Go Apple!
Indeed. I still use OS X 10.2, but the differences in Safari between 10.2 and 10.3 are just astounding. Especially in the areas of CSS and DHTML support. KHTML was always a nice little widget, but Apple seems to have some of the best minds I've ever seen working on this. Not even Microsoft got their act togther this fast! (And they started with Spyglass, a component that was superior to the KHTML one that Apple started with.)
Dude, you need to check that. Despite your claims of your site being "so absurd that it must be a parody", the truth is that it is very easy to confuse with the original. You used a domain name that's nearly the same, you appropriated trademarks (which aren't protected), you used the exact same graphics, etc., etc., etc. A "parody" that's easy to confuse with the original is not protected!
Next time do a *good* job of it as call the site "Dull-Mart" or somesuch, and use a matching domain. Also ajust all the images so that they betray the intent of the site (i.e. a parody). Every last line should say something insightful or funny that it difficult to mix up with the original. Someone else pointed to this site as an example of how it should be done.
Good luck.
It sounds like no reasonable person would confuse this guys work as an actual wal-mart site.
Go to his site and click on the Cease and Desist PDF. After looking at the screenshots they presented, I'd say Walmart has a pretty good case for unfair use of copyrighted material. Not to mention all the trademarks he appropriated in this stunt...
Using my journal as a reference, it was almost exactly one year ago.
It's not just "not a good parody", it's crossing the line of what is acceptable. People don't seem to understand that Parody protection is not a basic right. It's an interpretation of fair use clauses that makes for very shaky ground. If you're going to parody, you need to make damn sure that you do a good job of it. Using trademarks (not fair use), registering the domain "walmart-foundation" instead of "walmartgoodworks", and creating a site that can easily be confused with the original all add up to laywers making easy money off of you.
If his teacher has any sense, (s)he will sit the boy down and explain the tricky legal issues involved in doing a parody, and how to do it right. (e.g. Start with something *funny* and use it to make a point, maybe?)
I'm well aware of the two different FS extensions. However, at the time I used it, the program didn't have a Joliet checkbox. (At least, that I could find.)
I'm guessing that if this went to court, it would be thrown out as this site is fairly clearly a parody site. This allows considerable freedom in copying images, ideas, logos, and so on.
Did you see the screenshots from the Cease and Desist letter? It's not quite the "parody" the author is making it out to be.
Actually, 3DHX did the same thing. They promoted their GLIDE API to such a degree, that pretty much any 3D accelerated game of the time used it. (Wing Commander Prophecy and Secret Ops are still a PITA to get running, even with added Direct3D support.) 3DFX failed, because they didn't follow up with better performing hardware. Their second release (Banshee) actually performed worse than the first release. Their successive Voodoo 3-5 cards were mostly just minor performance enhancements. The the GeForce 2 came along and 3DFX folded.
3DFX had the market cornered. They just failed to follow up.
You don't understand. OS X doesn't need those features, because it doesn't use the BSD kernel like that. OS X only needs BSD for the usermode stuff. All the low level stuff (e.g. HFS+, hardware support, etc.) is happening at the Mach level.
Awww, isn't that precious? Now go get yourself a lollipop. Us _big people_ have important stuff to discuss. Run along now! And play nice with the other trolls!
Are you really going to claim that is not a flexible enough solution?
Umm... yeah. Spotlight not only searches documents, it searches mail, photo, contacts, and other databases. And it does it *way* faster than the "wait a half hour for your entire drive to be searched" command line method.
Advanced in what fashion? Multimedia handling has been mature for ages. The only thing new in Multimedia handling that I am aware of is a couple more codecs and DRM. Linux supports pretty much all the codecs.
Windows has WMP and OS X has iTunes. Both manage your music effectively, and without issue. Both systems also have good integrated video components. No need to compile a piece of software that's illegal in this country. Both play DVDs without fuss, and both handle shakey multimedia files without crashing the video subsystem. (Although VLC and Xine seem to be much better than MPlayer on this.)
Are you aware of a system that has more reliable plug and play? True, there is no "one true system" but the distributions I have used were extremely effective in this department.
OS X? I just plug devices in, and they work. Period. Under Linux, I'm lucky if my mouse doesn't freeze up. (See my journal for this pet peeve of mine.)
If you meant functional cd/dvd burning being included with the OS, Linux is quite a few steps ahead of the competition.
The last time I used Linux CD burning, I had to run from hell and back just to configure the burner program. I ended up as a very unhappy customer, with several CDs that didn't work right on the XP machine they were intended for. (U was helping my sister with setting up her new XP machine, only to find that OpenOffice, Mozilla, and the other goodies all had 8.3 filenames on the CD.)
Yes. And the last time I used it, it "guessed" wrong at all the correct command line programs to use. Then it created a CD that didn't work right on my sister's XP machine. (All 8.3 filenames.) Let's just say that I wasn't particularly happy with the experience. Granted, it was little less than a year ago now, but I still remember it as a less than satisfactory experience. Sadly, if you check my journal, you'll find that most distros were overall unsatisfactory. (SuSE was the best, IMHO.)
You mean me? LOL! You are an idiot. My Mom's basement? Priceless. You ootsy-wootsy little trolls are just so darn cuuuute.
Beagle.
.NET (Mono). Also, Beagle again, as it is written in Mono :)
:)
:-) Mac OS X and Looking Glass, however, show that all that GL power can be turned to good rather than evil (Avalon). In any case, I was referring to the lack of a framework for such a desktop. Looking Glass has it, but it's not done yet.
I actually had to Google to figure out what that was. Good catch. Although, without a proper filesystem to support it, Beagle may fall short just like many other indexing engines.
I have no idea what this means, but mplayer can play almost any format in existence.
MPlayer is:
1. Not legal
2. Not bundled
3. Not fully compatible
4. A pain in the posterior to use
5. Not a media management solution
See anything written in perl, python, Java &
Perl is interpreted, Python is either interpreted or compiled, Java is never integrated with the system (or even distributed with the system) like OS X, and the kissing disease is a long way from complete and usable.
XGL
XGL is a X Server plugin, not a desktop environment.
Or are you talking about an interface where everything is 3D? If so, I personally think that would decrease usability much more than "wobbly windows"
Wobbly windows suck.
Again, I've no idea what you mean by this. K3B is great for CD/DVD burning, and I believe there are plugins that allow it to integrate with Konqueror.
When you run CD/DVD burns on the Mac, they Just Work(TM). Microsoft is trying to replicate that. Linux is still, "Ok, dude. First figure out your CD drive. Then choose the command line programs that support your drive. Then create an ISO yourself, and insert a disk in the drive. Don't forget to unmount it before you eject, man! Now press 'burn' and pray to the penguin wanna-be-gods that it works the first time. If it doesn't, you'll need some righteous incantations to get it working!"
Ehh... you get the idea.
Apple is bringing out new desktops faster but they are still riding on a maintained old version of BSD for their infrastructure. They aren't outpacing Linux there.
Actually? No. Apple is running on their highly advanced Mach kernel, with a BSD microkernel to provide POSIX services. Not that it matters. BSD is extremely robust code that is not being eclipsed by Linux.
Linux should have "secure startup" in 2.6.12.
Yes, I did miss that one. Although honestly? I couldn't care less about secure startup. That's not much in the way of a killer feature.
A few weeks back, people with GNOME were demonstrating their new eyecandy features with wobbly windows and all sorts of other semi-useless eyecandy (programmable widget skins will probably be quite useful to developers) which will probably look as good as Longhorn's eyecandy, and be just as useless.
I was there for that one, and pointing out that this stuff was a) nothing new for Linux or any other system and b) didn't improve the user interface to any marked degree. Some posters even argued that it decreased usability.
The real question is, where is the killer features like integrated search (I *still* use 'find . -exec grep {} \;' if I actually need to *find* something), advanced multimedia handling, managed bytecode programs, an advanced 3D interface, reliable plug and play, and integrated CD/DVD burning? I'm sure we could piece a few of these together on software that's nowhere near completion (e.g. Lookinhg Glass, Helix Player, etc.), but there's little sign that Linux will outpace Microsoft on these fronts. If anything, Linux will be late to the game.
Rigghhhttt. No, Microsoft would never be worried that someone is going to eat their lunch. That's why they're always so nice and polite to competing companies, right?
Microsoft isn't stupid. They know that if they take too long on an upgrade, customers will start investigating alternatives. And if they slip a few percent in market share, there may be a high chance of them slipping a lot more.
Remember when 3DFX owned the 3D accelerator market? Any idea how they're doing now? Oh, that's right. They got usurped by their competitors, went belly up, and got acquired by NVidia.
It strikes me that Microsoft is feeling the pressure. While they're over there taking their sweet time on Longhorn, Apple has been slowly claiming their market with all the features that Longhorn is going to promise. As a result, Microsoft is trying to scale back the beast into something that can be released sooner rather than later. (Cue: Queen - Under Pressure)
What I find interesting, however, is that Linux is not pulling ahead in the same time. Microsoft set their dates far into the future, and many people predicted that Linux would eclipse it in features by then. Instead, we're not really seeing any revolutionary features out of the Linux developers, and Apple is starting to eat everyone's lunch. What happened?