8/RT is kinda like OSX, a radical re-engineering of the OS for the next generation of computers. They keep backward compatibility on the desktop but restrict the new platform (surface) to be next-gen only - perfectly reasonable, it's a new platform.
Now MS has to invest in the time and effort for Metro to take off apps for desktop/surface will feed the desktop and hopefully supplant Windows legacy, they will bug fix 8/RT till it is a stable OS and compelling enough to get conversion. Once there they have a new OS with nice shiny new competitive features including spiffy new DRM, walled garden, etc, etc.
I'm thinking RT/8 is going to be an X-Box strategy, keep fueling it until they get a market for it to return profit, once there they will end up with a singular OS that spans desktop and portable devices (profit!).
Computers were pretty new there, school got PETs, my brother and I did pretty well with them after we aced the BASIC programming classes (which just went through a BASIC introduction book) we were given independent study assignments and also did some programming for the school (my brother absence list/overdue list, and I wrote some additional graphics routines for a BASIC CAD program for the mechanical drawing class). I also got to borrow a donated TRS-80 for a few months to play with - fun times.
We also went to a regional programming competition a couple years - these rules were from our first year (1982) - which our team got fifth place - next year we got third place.
Mandrake - first one I got that would work with my crappy $200 Cyrix system of the day, learned a bit about X11 problems with that one. Also the easiest to install at the time.
Suse 9.3 retail - the thing just worked - video, sound, etc. though finding on-line assistance in discussions was difficult, and then you would have to fork out more $ to upgrade.
Ubuntu - no forking out $$ for an update, on-line support discussions were abundant, the packages were up to date, and deb packaging (thank goodness!). Though there have been glitches with Ubuntu's new package choices (dropping KDE3 and Gnome 3/Unity) I can use the installer and such to get even the latest version back to a usable state pretty readily.
I went to the Wax Museum at San Francisco recently, wasn't very impressed - most are not even posed as exciting as store mannequins, usually clumped together with others in a similar backdrop. Not to mention the lack of Star Trek actors (sigh).
The only one that stood out was the Norman Rockwell, done as a representation of the triple self portrait painting. I would like the see these figures in action poses - it would be way more interesting to see Harrison Ford in mid whip-crack or Steve Balmer in "developers, developers, developers" mode (or chair throwing but that wasn't photographed so It would have to be interpretation...)
For Steve Jobs, maybe holding some iDevice in front of a large rear projection of "just one more thing".
oops, should be "Lastly I want user configurable boot animations and startup sounds like the computers in the movie Hackers - that would be awesome!"
cant we spare a few cycles to make that happen - I'm tired of always seeing someone elses' Desktop logo with progress bars - I want my flaming kitten with AC/DC start-up splash screen!
How about whatever the fancy desktop UI you make you have an option to have a gold old Applications/Places Menu. No search, no frequently used apps display, just a list of whats there where you can select it. After that would be a user configurable bar where they could put in what they want.
I find most of the grief in the new UIs that have come out is you cant get to what you want quickly. Sure floating lists and poofing icons are cool but when I wan to get to synaptic package manager, or qavimator, I don't want to search for it. I just want to quickly launch it - most people have the same thoughts.
Should not have a fancy search up-front for installed apps, that is only useful for the first time you are looking for something, once you are there and decise to use it, all you want is to quickly launch it. The fancy searches should be part of help not the major application launching component of a UI.
Lastly I want user configurable boot animations and startup sounds like the computers hackers - that would be awesome!
Had Macs in the office since the 80s, over the recent years I've seen Macs for business being chipped away, mainly because of the popularity of iTunes/iPhone/iPad - less are the professional apps like Pagemaker, Final Cut, etc. Now it's all consumer grade entertainment apps or simplified business apps.
Windows apps are holding their own - still with the familiar overall inconsistency among applications though.
I do think that Linux is getting a boost as development for replacements for deprecated power apps becomes more necessary though the standards are different than most proprietary users are accustomed to (i.e. ODF, OGG, SVG, etc.) not that they are less capable but change is hard, than again since the the traditionally popular platforms are going through change, the difference may not be as much a factor anymore.
I started with Linux use early 2000s, went through a couple years of labor and frustration installing, re-installing troubleshooting, etc. until it became my primary OS. One of the best things UI did was grab one of those fat Linux Bibles and read it cover to cover (the one I read was the Red Hat Linux 8 bible) - not all of it will stick, some will be not useful now, and largely it makes a great sleep aid, but it will give you a general picture of how things work in Linux.
From there start setting up a test system where you can try out the more serious stuff like setting up a web server, FTP, shell, ssh, etc. Maybe try out LTSP, etc. Once you get to the point where you can confidently do something useful (business wise) then see about migrating it to work. Show your boss you could do x with Linux, faster cheaper and without licenses, and that you can write out what to do if it crashes and your not there. Once you get the chance, make it work and also show it to your peers. Once things are rolling on Linux, you've become the Linux professional. Now you're there, you have to keep up on all that stuff - and there's always more to learn.
Not a windows fan by a long shot but I'm one given theory vs practice. In theory many many things seem unreasonable but putting these things in practice you can determine if they are or not.
Theory would have you consider lower powered gaming systems would not sell as well as higher powered ones, that wasn't the outcome for the Nintendo Wii. Who knows, maybe [not-metro] might be a good paradigm for an application launcher?
I know, "Little Boxes" they can even use that cute 60s song by Pete Seeger that will draw em in!
"Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky, Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same. There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses All went to the university, Where they were put in boxes And they came out all the same, And there's doctors and lawyers, And business executives, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course And drink their martinis dry, And they all have pretty children And the children go to school, And the children go to summer camp And then to the university, Where they are put in boxes And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business And marry and raise a family In boxes made of ticky tacky And they all look just the same. There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same."...umm well, maybe that's a bit too descriptive for it...
That's my thought, moving them to Linux without any familiarity of the apps is not a good thing.
Start by transitioning them to Libre/Open office, Inkscape, Scribus, Gimp ("Here's some great programs and they're free!") ponce they see that they don't have to be locked into the Microsoft ecosystem to still be productive, then show them what Linux can do for them as well. I had helped people moved over to Open Office and Scribus by what the programs could do that the commercial ones cant (as well as their affordability), and when I showed them how much better they ran on Linux they liked that prospect even more.
Because it is so easy to get started with it and actually get something working relatively quickly, do consider PHP, it has a quick learning curve and really does provides ample flexibility and power.
But with that, keep in mind with the simplicity there are are sometimes no sanity checks - so read up on the tips to secure your PHP code (its not hard - just things you need to be aware of - and also its probably a good way to understand how web apps work and can be vulnerable (with any language).
PHP Frameworks (Zend, Cake, Smarty, etc) can help a lot if you don't want to get that deep into all of it.
The wording may not be so blatant, surveys can paint a picture without leading on to what they are actually asking. It would be very informative if the BSA actually posted the survey questions/responses and other details to see how it was conducted.
Good luck with that, read your agreement - here, check out satellite internet provider Hughesnet's disclaimer:
Introduction:
This article provides you a brief summary of our Speed Disclaimer.
Procedure/Solution: HughesNet, like all other broadband technologies, uses shared bandwidth. Actual speeds will vary based on the amount of traffic on the Internet, the content on a particular website, or by the overall performance and configuration of your computer. Due to this, stated speeds are not guaranteed.
And let me say, if you have DSL you have WAAAAY better speed than Hughesnet.
This was interesting, its about nerds and gives a perspective that not all of us understand.... What would have taken it over the top would have been adding actual clips from the con, like that starship bridge thing, and maybe some demonstrations in action, not that Froggy's not an interesting guy but I read his shirt and the cleanup crew in the background weren't all that interesting to watch for the whole time.
Slashdot Mirror
More like doing an OSX thing ala Windows.
8/RT is kinda like OSX, a radical re-engineering of the OS for the next generation of computers. They keep backward compatibility on the desktop but restrict the new platform (surface) to be next-gen only - perfectly reasonable, it's a new platform.
Now MS has to invest in the time and effort for Metro to take off apps for desktop/surface will feed the desktop and hopefully supplant Windows legacy, they will bug fix 8/RT till it is a stable OS and compelling enough to get conversion. Once there they have a new OS with nice shiny new competitive features including spiffy new DRM, walled garden, etc, etc.
I'm thinking RT/8 is going to be an X-Box strategy, keep fueling it until they get a market for it to return profit, once there they will end up with a singular OS that spans desktop and portable devices (profit!).
Are they going to finish converting/redesigning Quanta?
Computers were pretty new there, school got PETs, my brother and I did pretty well with them after we aced the BASIC programming classes (which just went through a BASIC introduction book) we were given independent study assignments and also did some programming for the school (my brother absence list/overdue list, and I wrote some additional graphics routines for a BASIC CAD program for the mechanical drawing class). I also got to borrow a donated TRS-80 for a few months to play with - fun times.
Picture of the circa 1982 Calaveras High Computer Club - brother and I in the back with the Disk Drive (i'm facing the computer, brother is the guy with the wild hair), the rest were running with cassettes.
We also went to a regional programming competition a couple years - these rules were from our first year (1982) - which our team got fifth place - next year we got third place.
I, for one, welcome our new multiple armed platform overlords.
I, for one, congratulate our Slashdot overlords!
Mandrake - first one I got that would work with my crappy $200 Cyrix system of the day, learned a bit about X11 problems with that one. Also the easiest to install at the time.
Suse 9.3 retail - the thing just worked - video, sound, etc. though finding on-line assistance in discussions was difficult, and then you would have to fork out more $ to upgrade.
Ubuntu - no forking out $$ for an update, on-line support discussions were abundant, the packages were up to date, and deb packaging (thank goodness!). Though there have been glitches with Ubuntu's new package choices (dropping KDE3 and Gnome 3/Unity) I can use the installer and such to get even the latest version back to a usable state pretty readily.
I went to the Wax Museum at San Francisco recently, wasn't very impressed - most are not even posed as exciting as store mannequins, usually clumped together with others in a similar backdrop. Not to mention the lack of Star Trek actors (sigh).
The only one that stood out was the Norman Rockwell, done as a representation of the triple self portrait painting. I would like the see these figures in action poses - it would be way more interesting to see Harrison Ford in mid whip-crack or Steve Balmer in "developers, developers, developers" mode (or chair throwing but that wasn't photographed so It would have to be interpretation...)
For Steve Jobs, maybe holding some iDevice in front of a large rear projection of "just one more thing".
This article should be inspirational:
http://changelog.complete.org/archives/7562-i-introduced-my-5-year-old-and-2-year-old-to-startx-and-xmonad-theyre-delighted
The thing is kids can get stuff pretty quick if you don't put the fear of knowledge in them.
oops, should be
"Lastly I want user configurable boot animations and startup sounds like the computers in the movie Hackers - that would be awesome!"
cant we spare a few cycles to make that happen - I'm tired of always seeing someone elses' Desktop logo with progress bars - I want my flaming kitten with AC/DC start-up splash screen!
How about whatever the fancy desktop UI you make you have an option to have a gold old Applications/Places Menu. No search, no frequently used apps display, just a list of whats there where you can select it. After that would be a user configurable bar where they could put in what they want.
I find most of the grief in the new UIs that have come out is you cant get to what you want quickly. Sure floating lists and poofing icons are cool but when I wan to get to synaptic package manager, or qavimator, I don't want to search for it. I just want to quickly launch it - most people have the same thoughts.
Should not have a fancy search up-front for installed apps, that is only useful for the first time you are looking for something, once you are there and decise to use it, all you want is to quickly launch it. The fancy searches should be part of help not the major application launching component of a UI.
Lastly I want user configurable boot animations and startup sounds like the computers hackers - that would be awesome!
Had Macs in the office since the 80s, over the recent years I've seen Macs for business being chipped away, mainly because of the popularity of iTunes/iPhone/iPad - less are the professional apps like Pagemaker, Final Cut, etc. Now it's all consumer grade entertainment apps or simplified business apps.
Windows apps are holding their own - still with the familiar overall inconsistency among applications though.
I do think that Linux is getting a boost as development for replacements for deprecated power apps becomes more necessary though the standards are different than most proprietary users are accustomed to (i.e. ODF, OGG, SVG, etc.) not that they are less capable but change is hard, than again since the the traditionally popular platforms are going through change, the difference may not be as much a factor anymore.
I started with Linux use early 2000s, went through a couple years of labor and frustration installing, re-installing troubleshooting, etc. until it became my primary OS. One of the best things UI did was grab one of those fat Linux Bibles and read it cover to cover (the one I read was the Red Hat Linux 8 bible) - not all of it will stick, some will be not useful now, and largely it makes a great sleep aid, but it will give you a general picture of how things work in Linux.
From there start setting up a test system where you can try out the more serious stuff like setting up a web server, FTP, shell, ssh, etc. Maybe try out LTSP, etc. Once you get to the point where you can confidently do something useful (business wise) then see about migrating it to work. Show your boss you could do x with Linux, faster cheaper and without licenses, and that you can write out what to do if it crashes and your not there. Once you get the chance, make it work and also show it to your peers. Once things are rolling on Linux, you've become the Linux professional. Now you're there, you have to keep up on all that stuff - and there's always more to learn.
My thought it take the most used/painful to type symbols and remap them onto keys you don't use.
Not a windows fan by a long shot but I'm one given theory vs practice. In theory many many things seem unreasonable but putting these things in practice you can determine if they are or not.
Theory would have you consider lower powered gaming systems would not sell as well as higher powered ones, that wasn't the outcome for the Nintendo Wii. Who knows, maybe [not-metro] might be a good paradigm for an application launcher?
Never a shortage of critics.
I know, "Little Boxes" they can even use that cute 60s song by Pete Seeger that will draw em in!
"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business ...umm well, maybe that's a bit too descriptive for it...
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same."
That's my thought, moving them to Linux without any familiarity of the apps is not a good thing.
Start by transitioning them to Libre/Open office, Inkscape, Scribus, Gimp ("Here's some great programs and they're free!") ponce they see that they don't have to be locked into the Microsoft ecosystem to still be productive, then show them what Linux can do for them as well. I had helped people moved over to Open Office and Scribus by what the programs could do that the commercial ones cant (as well as their affordability), and when I showed them how much better they ran on Linux they liked that prospect even more.
Because it is so easy to get started with it and actually get something working relatively quickly, do consider PHP, it has a quick learning curve and really does provides ample flexibility and power.
But with that, keep in mind with the simplicity there are are sometimes no sanity checks - so read up on the tips to secure your PHP code (its not hard - just things you need to be aware of - and also its probably a good way to understand how web apps work and can be vulnerable (with any language).
PHP Frameworks (Zend, Cake, Smarty, etc) can help a lot if you don't want to get that deep into all of it.
(rattles die....) 20! Veni, Vidi, Vici!
Most of them know better than to say actual company names so they usually start with something like:
"Hello, Sir, I am calling from Windows Computer..."
Which I usually state what's windows computer, never heard of em... etc. Some of the other posts do give me more ideas. :-D
Microsoft has given engineers a new directive to get Windows running on the Raspberry Pi platform.
The wording may not be so blatant, surveys can paint a picture without leading on to what they are actually asking. It would be very informative if the BSA actually posted the survey questions/responses and other details to see how it was conducted.
Good luck with that, read your agreement - here, check out satellite internet provider Hughesnet's disclaimer:
And let me say, if you have DSL you have WAAAAY better speed than Hughesnet.
Google apps for education and non-profits I think is free up to 5,000 accounts.
She put the "Pal" i n principal!
This was interesting, its about nerds and gives a perspective that not all of us understand.... What would have taken it over the top would have been adding actual clips from the con, like that starship bridge thing, and maybe some demonstrations in action, not that Froggy's not an interesting guy but I read his shirt and the cleanup crew in the background weren't all that interesting to watch for the whole time.
More nerd stuff please.