Currently, the PC games market is dying. Too many poor quality and poorly tested games, high cost of entry for decent performance, and low cost of entry for consoles have all taken their toll.
The console markets are flourishing. While there are still many poor quality games, they are fewer in quantity due to the extra cost involved in making console titles available (platform fees, development kits) as well as the certification requirements for each platform.
To be honest, Microsoft establishing a true "base line" for PC's with DXNext/Longhorn, creating a common controller standard and common API's between the Xbox and PC can only help the gaming consumer in the long run.
Currently, the Xbox API's handle several things that are basically "random" on the PC: save game handling, data caching, controller handling, patching, etc. By making those API's available to PC developers, PC gamers will start getting a consistent feel for games (My Saved Games are here; an update is available...BAM! done; I pop a disk in and it only takes up disk space while it's running.)
The PC Live service will most likely require that participating titles certify themselves, similar to how Gamespy works with titles to integrate their service into new titles.
The common controller standard will ensure a base set of functionality, allow controller manufacturers to utilize the same chipset for console and PC controllers (reducing their COGS), and give OSS projects a stable hardware target to support.
Besides, given that the API's will have to be public (ala DX) in order to propogate, it's not like an OSS version of the API's will be that hard to "WINE" about.
That's as maybe, but if you are implying that sound functioning 50% of the time is somehow worse than sound functioning 0% of the time, then I fear I have wandered into either a Monty Python sketch, the Twilight Zone, or Slashdot.
I was able to attend a "virtual lecture" by Dr. Whittaker thanks to a former employer. He not only understands the root causes for most bugs, but understands the core competencies that the best software testers have.
Personally, I think that backwards compatibility could still be done without trampling all over nVidia...as long as they keep the hard disk or a disk-like storage mechanism.
Xbox developers are specifically prohibited from writing to the metal. For any graphics calls, sound calls, I/O calls, or any hardware call, they have to go through the API. In that way, developing on the Xbox is rather like developing against a system abstraction layer. Change the kernel but keep the entry points the same, and you should work fine. After all, most games use the vertex shaders (which are well-documented and implemented on ATI's cards), so I don't see a problem.
As for the IP issues, the only issue I can see is implementing some nVidia-specific texture formats, but since most of them were not supported or recommended by Xbox Developer Services, few (if any) games use them.
The possible flipside is that VirtualPC technology may not work on the IBM processors. VirtualPC will not work on the G5 due to the elimination of a certain addressing mode. If that addressing mode is still gone in the processors made for MS, then backwards compatibility just got 100's of times harder to implement.
Has anyone ever stopped to think...
on
Google v. Microsoft
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
...that Microsoft's goal isn't to control searching the Internet but to control searching the Intranet?
Think about it. Microsoft's bread and butter is servers and workstations. Whenever Microsoft releases something to make it easier to get information from the servers to the workstations, it ends up making them money.
By allowing centralized "search servers" to extract data from the WinFS metadata store, a single add-on product for the Windows Server System can alow a user at his desk using Windows "Longhorn" to do a search and not only find out where the data is that he needs, but who has it, who created it, who has been working on it, etc.
If you think of the quantity of data in the WinFS metadata store on any individual resource as the "PageRank," you might see where Microsoft is REALLY going with this.
As for Internet search, it's just a bonus. Basically, if they get the Internet search working first, they can test and tune their algorithms using the Internet's userbase as a large testbed and possibly a small profit center.
But that's the whole thing...the software does NOT automatically update without your knowledge. The article is wrong. A user action is required to initiate the update. Before this update is installed, the Xbox Live Dashboard and the Xbox Dashboard are seperate components. Outside of recognizing Xbox GamerTags in the Memory portion of the Dashboard, the base dashboard has no knowledge of the Internet's existence.
The user has to log on to the Xbox Live Dashboard or service to get the authentication cookies to allow any sort of file transfer.
Even with the new Silent Sign-In feature for Live, if you have locked your account using a keycode, an update is required for your software or a message is waiting for you from the Live service, Silent Sign-In fails. You must still manually log on to the Live service to update or get your messages.
In order to connect to Live using the original version of Xbox Live, you select the Xbox Live menu option, then select your GamerTag. You are making a conscious effort to transition to Live.
In the new version, the same steps apply UNLESS you manually enable a new feature called "Silent Sign-In." Even then, if there are required updates or messages, you are not automatically signed in. You are informed that account maintenance is required and are required to manually sign in.
Regardless, you are actively causing the transition. Saying that it's Microsoft's fault for not informing you that selecting Xbox Live will take you to the Live service is paramount to saying that it's Smith & Wesson's fault for not informing you that pulling a trigger will fire a gun.
And have you verified this? I use Xbox Live, and when I turned on my Xbox and tried to play a game, the game informed me that there was a required update to Xbox Live, and I could not play online until I installed it. Taking the disk out brought me to the regular dashboard. I had to log into Live in order to download the update.
Since you can't download the updates without being signed into Xbox Live, installing the Xbox Live Starter Kit or selecting the Xbox Live option on newer Xboxes, how can Microsoft upgrade you automatically if you are not using Xbox Live?
While I don't mind calls for accountability, people really should control their knee-jerk reactions until they verify things for a change.
What most people seem to miss here is there is a very core difference to the way that Microsoft and Sony have been handling their consoles.
Sony was trying to get a tax break, so they really pushed to have the PlayStation 2 classified as a computer rather than a video game console. To that end, they released Linux and the development kit add-on for it.
Microsoft has been very adamant. According to the Xbox Terminology Guide, you are only allowed to call it the "Xbox Video Game System."
The classification does tend to support a certain viewpoint, however. Microsoft isn't auto-updating your computer unless you consent. They're upgrading your video game console...although you do consent when you sign up for Live, if you actually read the Terms of Service.
While it would be nice for them to show Love Hina, I doubt they ever will. Too much fan service for them to cover up without completely shredding the episodes to nothing. Even with Tenchi, they've often cut massive sections of episodes out because of their broadcast standards.
(For those who don't know, Love Hina is considered a "harem" anime, where all of the girls at one part or another are interested in the main character, who is usually a loser. I consider it a "fan service revenge" anime, because as soon as there is fan service, someone ends up paying for it, usually the aforementioned loser main character. I still enjoy the series, however.)
Don't forget to filter out their own numbers. After all, we want them to consciously opt themselves out...especially since that is what we are expected to do.
Let me see...Office 11 is in beta. Microsoft often makes tweaks of file formats and internal structures for their products up to the last minute. The beta is only in use at a limited number of sites, and is merely a tech beta, not even a feature beta. Documentation for products isn't even ready for final tech review until 16 weeks prior to the product being done. It's very possible that the documentation that they're asking for is either 1) not done, or 2) done, but in an internal spec document that is subject to change.
I'd say wait and see what happens at release. Anything developed off of assumptions made based on the current state of the product will most likely be broken at release anyway. If it isn't released at ship time, then worry. Until then, it's kind of pointless to ask for the stuff.
Anytime you are unsure if the law is on your side, even in the slightest, get a lawyer. Also, if your entire knowledge of the law on a particular matter revolves around what you have read on Slashdot, you definitely need a lawyer.
Now, as for how to pay for one, that's another matter. You can try to talk to Legal Aid in your neighborhood. Usually, lawyers participating in Legal Aid will give you pro bono (free) advice until it leads to a courtroom appearance, in which case they do usually require payment.
If your work offers a legal plan (like mine does), I recommend you sign up for it. I pay $16 a month, but in return, I have full legal coverage for everything except legal actions against my employer.
Damn...I thought I only had to worry about "ring around the collar." [grin]
Seriously, though, does anyone else seem to notice that we only notice problems when scientists discover an explanation for it? We were polluting like mad, and then scientists discovered the ozone layer was being depleted, and we suddenly "noticed" global warning. People were smoking like chimneys, and scientists discovered that what is in cigarettes causes someone with a genetic predisposition for cancer to generate tumors, and we suddenly "noticed" that people who smoked lived a little bit shorter lives.
I'm not intending to say that ignorance is bliss, but sometimes, it seems that way.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have unprotected sex with this person over here, or has science found out something about that recently...[grin]
Piracy removes niche games, games that aren't marketed well, and games that are good, but had the misfortune of being released at the same time as a title that was extremely anticipated (aka anything from Blizzard) from the marketplace.
Do you want to be responsible for causing the premature death of a sleeper hit?
Slashdot Mirror
For consumers, there is a high cost of entry for the PC games market, and a low cost of entry for the console market.
It is the opposite for the developer.
Currently, the PC games market is dying. Too many poor quality and poorly tested games, high cost of entry for decent performance, and low cost of entry for consoles have all taken their toll.
The console markets are flourishing. While there are still many poor quality games, they are fewer in quantity due to the extra cost involved in making console titles available (platform fees, development kits) as well as the certification requirements for each platform.
To be honest, Microsoft establishing a true "base line" for PC's with DXNext/Longhorn, creating a common controller standard and common API's between the Xbox and PC can only help the gaming consumer in the long run.
Currently, the Xbox API's handle several things that are basically "random" on the PC: save game handling, data caching, controller handling, patching, etc. By making those API's available to PC developers, PC gamers will start getting a consistent feel for games (My Saved Games are here; an update is available...BAM! done; I pop a disk in and it only takes up disk space while it's running.)
The PC Live service will most likely require that participating titles certify themselves, similar to how Gamespy works with titles to integrate their service into new titles.
The common controller standard will ensure a base set of functionality, allow controller manufacturers to utilize the same chipset for console and PC controllers (reducing their COGS), and give OSS projects a stable hardware target to support.
Besides, given that the API's will have to be public (ala DX) in order to propogate, it's not like an OSS version of the API's will be that hard to "WINE" about.
FWIW, I'm currently employed as a developer, and I'm glad to see our young people being tested on their knowledge of Java.
After all, if being a developer has taught me anything...it's that I need to know all about my caffiene. [grin]
Internally, Microsoft uses Source Depot, which seems to be a source-modified version of Perforce.
It has some additional features that Perforce lacks for doing per-checkin builds and acceptance tests.
That's as maybe, but if you are implying that sound functioning 50% of the time is somehow worse than sound functioning 0% of the time, then I fear I have wandered into either a Monty Python sketch, the Twilight Zone, or Slashdot.
In any case, it can't be good for my sanity.
You can't get unbiased advice where you are, so you come to Slashdot?
Isn't that like going to a pro-choice rally for abortion advice?
How To Break Software by Dr. James Whittaker.
I was able to attend a "virtual lecture" by Dr. Whittaker thanks to a former employer. He not only understands the root causes for most bugs, but understands the core competencies that the best software testers have.
Personally, I think that backwards compatibility could still be done without trampling all over nVidia...as long as they keep the hard disk or a disk-like storage mechanism.
Xbox developers are specifically prohibited from writing to the metal. For any graphics calls, sound calls, I/O calls, or any hardware call, they have to go through the API. In that way, developing on the Xbox is rather like developing against a system abstraction layer. Change the kernel but keep the entry points the same, and you should work fine. After all, most games use the vertex shaders (which are well-documented and implemented on ATI's cards), so I don't see a problem.
As for the IP issues, the only issue I can see is implementing some nVidia-specific texture formats, but since most of them were not supported or recommended by Xbox Developer Services, few (if any) games use them.
The possible flipside is that VirtualPC technology may not work on the IBM processors. VirtualPC will not work on the G5 due to the elimination of a certain addressing mode. If that addressing mode is still gone in the processors made for MS, then backwards compatibility just got 100's of times harder to implement.
...that Microsoft's goal isn't to control searching the Internet but to control searching the Intranet?
Think about it. Microsoft's bread and butter is servers and workstations. Whenever Microsoft releases something to make it easier to get information from the servers to the workstations, it ends up making them money.
By allowing centralized "search servers" to extract data from the WinFS metadata store, a single add-on product for the Windows Server System can alow a user at his desk using Windows "Longhorn" to do a search and not only find out where the data is that he needs, but who has it, who created it, who has been working on it, etc.
If you think of the quantity of data in the WinFS metadata store on any individual resource as the "PageRank," you might see where Microsoft is REALLY going with this.
As for Internet search, it's just a bonus. Basically, if they get the Internet search working first, they can test and tune their algorithms using the Internet's userbase as a large testbed and possibly a small profit center.
Anyone who has seen Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie knows how this will end...
"Mike killed the Hubble! Mike killed the Hubble!"
The user has to log on to the Xbox Live Dashboard or service to get the authentication cookies to allow any sort of file transfer.
Even with the new Silent Sign-In feature for Live, if you have locked your account using a keycode, an update is required for your software or a message is waiting for you from the Live service, Silent Sign-In fails. You must still manually log on to the Live service to update or get your messages.
In the new version, the same steps apply UNLESS you manually enable a new feature called "Silent Sign-In." Even then, if there are required updates or messages, you are not automatically signed in. You are informed that account maintenance is required and are required to manually sign in.
Regardless, you are actively causing the transition. Saying that it's Microsoft's fault for not informing you that selecting Xbox Live will take you to the Live service is paramount to saying that it's Smith & Wesson's fault for not informing you that pulling a trigger will fire a gun.
Since you can't download the updates without being signed into Xbox Live, installing the Xbox Live Starter Kit or selecting the Xbox Live option on newer Xboxes, how can Microsoft upgrade you automatically if you are not using Xbox Live?
While I don't mind calls for accountability, people really should control their knee-jerk reactions until they verify things for a change.
Sony was trying to get a tax break, so they really pushed to have the PlayStation 2 classified as a computer rather than a video game console. To that end, they released Linux and the development kit add-on for it.
Microsoft has been very adamant. According to the Xbox Terminology Guide, you are only allowed to call it the "Xbox Video Game System."
The classification does tend to support a certain viewpoint, however. Microsoft isn't auto-updating your computer unless you consent. They're upgrading your video game console...although you do consent when you sign up for Live, if you actually read the Terms of Service.
You know, this must be the first time ever that I've heard someone say that a game is leaps and bounds beyond itself. [grin]
Probably because when people hear "Cartoon Network," the initial reaction is that whatever is shown will be appropriate for children.
(For those who don't know, Love Hina is considered a "harem" anime, where all of the girls at one part or another are interested in the main character, who is usually a loser. I consider it a "fan service revenge" anime, because as soon as there is fan service, someone ends up paying for it, usually the aforementioned loser main character. I still enjoy the series, however.)
It may be opt-out instead of opt-in, but it's still better than a kick to the crotch...unless you happen to be into that sort of thing.
I'd say wait and see what happens at release. Anything developed off of assumptions made based on the current state of the product will most likely be broken at release anyway. If it isn't released at ship time, then worry. Until then, it's kind of pointless to ask for the stuff.
Actually, he said "a CEO," not "his CEO." What a difference a word makes...
Now, as for how to pay for one, that's another matter. You can try to talk to Legal Aid in your neighborhood. Usually, lawyers participating in Legal Aid will give you pro bono (free) advice until it leads to a courtroom appearance, in which case they do usually require payment.
If your work offers a legal plan (like mine does), I recommend you sign up for it. I pay $16 a month, but in return, I have full legal coverage for everything except legal actions against my employer.
Seriously, though, does anyone else seem to notice that we only notice problems when scientists discover an explanation for it? We were polluting like mad, and then scientists discovered the ozone layer was being depleted, and we suddenly "noticed" global warning. People were smoking like chimneys, and scientists discovered that what is in cigarettes causes someone with a genetic predisposition for cancer to generate tumors, and we suddenly "noticed" that people who smoked lived a little bit shorter lives.
I'm not intending to say that ignorance is bliss, but sometimes, it seems that way.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have unprotected sex with this person over here, or has science found out something about that recently...[grin]
Nothing will stop a dedicated pirate, but SafeDisc does effectively deter the casual pirates.
Piracy removes niche games, games that aren't marketed well, and games that are good, but had the misfortune of being released at the same time as a title that was extremely anticipated (aka anything from Blizzard) from the marketplace.
Do you want to be responsible for causing the premature death of a sleeper hit?