...Microsoft-free personal computing choices...
Has a nice ring to it, don't it?
That's actually the main interest in this article! Apart from that, it's just a story of IBM porting their Lotus office software to several Linux distribution, and making optimistic predictions for it (as any business would). But when they call it the "Microsoft-Free desktop" it sounds like some sort of revolution!
It's only a revolution comes when the consumers move, not the vendors.
...Microsoft-free personal computing choices...
Has a nice ring to it, don't it?
Yeh, that was my first reaction on reading this story. Sounds like they've got a winning catch-phrase there, and I expect that we're going to hear it a lot in the future. And it'll drive Microsoft nuts!
Woody Allen:
I am coming to understand my brother better, and can see that when he called me "worthless vermin, fit only for extinction", it was said more in compassion than anger.
Are you so inept or so blind that you're unable to see the benefits that Bill Gates, yes.......rant......rant..
But don't you now, or ever, even remotely blame Bill until...
The post you replied to didn't mention Bill. Even indirectly.
Thanks! Mono/Wine is an interesting cross-platform alternative i hadn't thought of before. Mono would have the advantage of being able to use Visual Studio for development (which, to me, is still the top development environment). On the other hand, Java does seem to be becoming the first choice for cross-platform development.
You question, quite validly, whether Microsoft can lose out from the Vista debacle, pointing out that business will stick with Windows (in general).
From the pp
Everybody from the hardware OEMs to software developers has lost out because of Vista... so they're going cross-platform (Java) or Linux (the EEE PC from Asus
If developers go cross platform, then Microsoft won't lose out in the next year or two, but they will in 5 to 10.
we found that Microsoft had switched focus away from the significant things that were promised, and instead concentrated its efforts on insignificant and sometimes irritating "features" like DRM.
and then they (Microsoft) insulted their customers by charging them more for this version windows than for any previous version.
The revolution will not come from Redmond. It is, however, unfolding all around you,
The reality is that Linux on the desktop, whethr you consider it "ready" yet or not, has been improving at a far faster rate than Windows has. Just compare Windows98 and the contemporary releases of Linux (around Redhat 5.2 I think...
That's been my experience with Linux and Windows. Back in 1998 colleagues were telling me that Linux is great, and can do everything Windows can. So I took a look (at RedHat 5.2 actually) and saw their default desktop, Afterstep, and thought "what a joke!". At the time I was using Windows NT at work, and it just ran beautifully, in stark contrast to Linux, which couldn't do anything without a lot tweaking. Since then, I've tried Linux from time to time, and noticed the gap closing rapidly, and wha'ts more, the things the Linux has always done better (the command line, open standards, loads of free software, etc..) it still does better. I personally have no intention of handing over hundred's of dollars for Vista, ie. I'm getting off the treadmill, and now might be the time when businesses start doing that as well. The main problem will be legacy applications.
So, if you want to build a circle of "friends" with Nobel prize winners, and join the most high-brow discussions on the planet, sign up to facebook. (Microsoft got it).
somewhere in 2002 or 2003 where average hardware became sufficient for the vast majority of user tasks
My recollection is that average, say $1500, hardware became sufficient in the late 90's. By 2002/03, low end hardware was sufficient. In 2007, obsolete hardware is sufficient, if you use *nux. Kubuntu looks great on a P4 with 512 MB.
I used to laugh at people who kept saying Linux for desktop is coming, and I'm not that big of a fan of the Linux desktop as well (I'm a fan of the Linux servers).
Yeh. I've been hearing the wrong predictions for years, and thought they always would be wrong. It looks like the reality is starting to catch up with the predictions. I tried Xandros, in 2006, and that was the first time I was really impressed, and Ubuntu this year, and was the even more impressed.
This won't be the last time that Microsoft defeats FOSS by dropping its prices.
A long time ago I was playing with Linux and open source, and genuinely enjoyed it, and thought about where to direct my career. My conclusion was that no matter how good open source became, Microsoft had enough cash in the bank to always beat it by dropping their prices - not just a little bit, but astronomically. They will also open up their source code, adopt open document standards, or whatever else it takes takes to win the big customers. It's played out just as I predicted here now, and it's going to play out again, and again, and again.
So, I've stuck with Microsoft, and got into.Net, and now I'm looking at F#, Ruby and the DLR. As a programmer, I'm happy. Microsoft does lots of things well. I give credit to the great stuff that has come from open source, but I know that Windows is going to rule for a long time, and also be a exciting platform to work with.
As for the single mum, providing a computer for her kids, and having to pay hundreds of dollars for Windows and Office, because that's what they use at school, she doesn't get any benefit from China's $3 Microsoft deal. She's hurting, and I keep hoping that she'll get a break from somewhere. Maybe FOSS can do it, by always threatening Micosoft, even it never takes over.
Maybe that's the real value of FOSS. By always providing a free alternative, they keep the pressure on Microsoft, and more and more people will get better deals. Our governments should be enabling this competition, by insisting on open standards, resisting software patents, and using and financing FOSS (in some degree). We programmers can help too, by open sourcing some of our software, and keeping ourselves in the FOSS loop. A few $$ from directed from our own income to FOSS is also a good idea.
What's more is that the figures suggest that 20 million copies of Vista are currenty being used, rather than having been shipped to OEMs and sitting on shelves.
Correct, and I think the 20 million also includes a few million boxed sets that are sitting on retailers shelves, and are being ignored, and certainly not purchased, by a disinterested public.
Reminds me of how TV programs like Popstars and Idol ship huge volumes of the winners album, so that it goes straight to number 1, and then 6 months later they are being remaindered, or returned to the record company.
If you are going to use simple 'if' statements to check your contracts, you will have to repeat exactly the same condition in the subtype.
Good point! I would also add that reading
void SquareRoot(int x) {
Assert(x > 0); ...
Is much easier to read than...
void SquareRoot(int x) {
if (x <= 0) {
throw new MyCustomException(); ...
I have used assertions like this for years, whether endorsed by project standards or not, and have always found them to be a net gain in maintaining my own code.
btw, what system do you use that enables pre-conditions to be inherited? Eiffel? I haven't encountered that yet, but it looks like a useful technique to have.
Let's hope the Dell Linux business takes off, big time. Thousands of units shipped... a double digit percentage of their business...all with Open Office... all working nicely...
Finally, a kick in the gut for Microsoft's Vista and Office 2007 prices.
That someone "doesn't like" their boss could have two main reasons: Either their boss really is a bad boss, or they are a bad employee.
We're getting somewhere here, but I think the most common reason (that people don't like their boss) is actually somewhere in between. Either the employee, or boss, or both, is mediocre (not "bad"), and the personality differences exacerbate the mediocrity, rather than lift it. This particularly applies when the mediocrity is due to inexperience - an inexperienced boss, or employee, doesn't have Plan B to fall back to, when Plan A fails, and quickly becomes nervous, and looking to blame someone else. And most of all, no-one ever admitted that they themselves were "mediocre"!!!
With 20 years experience, and more than ten bosses, I can look back at most situations where I thought the boss was "bad", and see that I was convincing myself that my performance was "excellent", and hence deserving of more recognition, when in fact it was only mediocre. On the other hand, the one or two bosses which I still, with hindsight, see as being bad bosses, were people who demanded perfection from staff, while accepting mediocrity from themselves.
And he's going to get a sheep and a cow, and breed horses
And a 11,000 ft mountain, with a ski-resort, so he has the best of both worlds. Just see how pissed he get's if the construction of the mountain is three years late:)
Yeh, me too. I've stuck with Windows while Linux has been catching up. Whether I stay with Windows depends on whether Vista is great, or sucks. I think that MS has a lot on the line here.
Slashdot Mirror
But it was you that got a +5!
Oh.. for being funny.
As usual...
I know.. you just want to be taken seriously...
That's actually the main interest in this article! Apart from that, it's just a story of IBM porting their Lotus office software to several Linux distribution, and making optimistic predictions for it (as any business would). But when they call it the "Microsoft-Free desktop" it sounds like some sort of revolution!
It's only a revolution comes when the consumers move, not the vendors.
Yeh, that was my first reaction on reading this story. Sounds like they've got a winning catch-phrase there, and I expect that we're going to hear it a lot in the future. And it'll drive Microsoft nuts!
Woody Allen: I am coming to understand my brother better, and can see that when he called me "worthless vermin, fit only for extinction", it was said more in compassion than anger.
Well said, seriously. I'll be saving that post for future reference.
Thanks! Mono/Wine is an interesting cross-platform alternative i hadn't thought of before. Mono would have the advantage of being able to use Visual Studio for development (which, to me, is still the top development environment). On the other hand, Java does seem to be becoming the first choice for cross-platform development.
You question, quite validly, whether Microsoft can lose out from the Vista debacle, pointing out that business will stick with Windows (in general).
From the pp
If developers go cross platform, then Microsoft won't lose out in the next year or two, but they will in 5 to 10.Well, we can hope!
ex-Microsoft defender here.
I really thought there were no good jokes left in this one, but that's the best of all!
According to http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/myspace-is-just-so-2006/2007/10/22/1192940966782.html facebook is " where more of the thought leaders and influentials go."
So, if you want to build a circle of "friends" with Nobel prize winners, and join the most high-brow discussions on the planet, sign up to facebook. (Microsoft got it).
Eclipse
Yeh. I've been hearing the wrong predictions for years, and thought they always would be wrong. It looks like the reality is starting to catch up with the predictions. I tried Xandros, in 2006, and that was the first time I was really impressed, and Ubuntu this year, and was the even more impressed.
Maybe the wow starts now.
This won't be the last time that Microsoft defeats FOSS by dropping its prices.
A long time ago I was playing with Linux and open source, and genuinely enjoyed it, and thought about where to direct my career. My conclusion was that no matter how good open source became, Microsoft had enough cash in the bank to always beat it by dropping their prices - not just a little bit, but astronomically. They will also open up their source code, adopt open document standards, or whatever else it takes takes to win the big customers. It's played out just as I predicted here now, and it's going to play out again, and again, and again.
So, I've stuck with Microsoft, and got into .Net, and now I'm looking at F#, Ruby and the DLR. As a programmer, I'm happy. Microsoft does lots of things well. I give credit to the great stuff that has come from open source, but I know that Windows is going to rule for a long time, and also be a exciting platform to work with.
As for the single mum, providing a computer for her kids, and having to pay hundreds of dollars for Windows and Office, because that's what they use at school, she doesn't get any benefit from China's $3 Microsoft deal. She's hurting, and I keep hoping that she'll get a break from somewhere. Maybe FOSS can do it, by always threatening Micosoft, even it never takes over.
Maybe that's the real value of FOSS. By always providing a free alternative, they keep the pressure on Microsoft, and more and more people will get better deals. Our governments should be enabling this competition, by insisting on open standards, resisting software patents, and using and financing FOSS (in some degree). We programmers can help too, by open sourcing some of our software, and keeping ourselves in the FOSS loop. A few $$ from directed from our own income to FOSS is also a good idea.
Correct, and I think the 20 million also includes a few million boxed sets that are sitting on retailers shelves, and are being ignored, and certainly not purchased, by a disinterested public.
Reminds me of how TV programs like Popstars and Idol ship huge volumes of the winners album, so that it goes straight to number 1, and then 6 months later they are being remaindered, or returned to the record company.
Good point!
I would also add that reading Is much easier to read than...
I have used assertions like this for years, whether endorsed by project standards or not, and have always found them to be a net gain in maintaining my own code.
btw, what system do you use that enables pre-conditions to be inherited? Eiffel? I haven't encountered that yet, but it looks like a useful technique to have.
Let's hope the Dell Linux business takes off, big time. Thousands of units shipped... a double digit percentage of their business...all with Open Office... all working nicely...
Finally, a kick in the gut for Microsoft's Vista and Office 2007 prices.
With 20 years experience, and more than ten bosses, I can look back at most situations where I thought the boss was "bad", and see that I was convincing myself that my performance was "excellent", and hence deserving of more recognition, when in fact it was only mediocre. On the other hand, the one or two bosses which I still, with hindsight, see as being bad bosses, were people who demanded perfection from staff, while accepting mediocrity from themselves.
Yeh, me too. I've stuck with Windows while Linux has been catching up. Whether I stay with Windows depends on whether Vista is great, or sucks. I think that MS has a lot on the line here.