relative lack of free/GPL'd apps for the Win32 platform
That's ridiculous, frankly. All of those big open source apps have win32 ports. OpenSSL, OpenSSH, apache, OpenLDAP, GIMP, Firefox, OO.o, etc, etc..
Someone could create a portage-like system for windows for all the Free software. Of course, under windows there's nothing to be gained by constantly recompiling everything.
You could probably make a few bucks hosting such a system, and charging some sort of membership dues to keep it all up to date.
I don't want an "iPod killer". To me, iPod was stillborn. I can get an mp3 cd player for 20 bucks with all the simplicity you crave, and capacity I need.
A portable audio/video media player is a wholly new market, and something I may actually be interested in. It's "something I don't already have", as opposed to "something that does exactly what the thing you already have does, but just a bit different, and for 15x the price".
The potential hackability of this platform has my interest piqued as well. What are you going to hack an iPod to do? Play another format of music... oh woooooowee I just split my pants.
Huh? This is a reference platform, not a consumer level product. The only people interested in this are the ones who will use it to develop said consumer products, and they know what it is. You could call it a VIC-20 if you want.
At any rate, when IOMega's Jaz drive (only one z) came out, I immediately thought of the "Jazz 16" soundblaster clone I had in my computer at the time. My sound card was robust and stable and never gave me any problems.
A portable box with a screen and some buttons. Just what the fuck did you think it was going to look like, a dune buggy with tank treads instead of wheels?
As I understand it, the year of manufacture is encoded in one digit. So it goes 0-9, A-Z... 36 years, then it goes back to 0.
I mean, a 17 digit alphanumeric string gives you 17^36-1 combinations. (1.9777034430598898484014560205854e+44) combinations says windows' calculator. That's a lot. More than IPv6 or MAC.
It's the year thing that's the "problem", but like you said, they've always known about this problem. And there are many different solutions, they'll pick one (they have about a decade to do so), and life will move on. It's certainly nothing to panic about.
I'm sure a few little VIN-parsing apps will need to be updated here and there, no big deal.
No, I don't think it's straightforward. I just think it's much more likely that a 5 year old OpenGL based game would work than a 2 month old DX9 based one.
About a month after XP was released an update came out that specifically addressed compatibility with older apps, have you used it?
And do you know about the compatibility options? Checking a box makes the environment anything from 95,98,ME,XP.
I play a ton of old games, and have had no problem getting anything working under XP. I dont doubt there are some crappy old incompatible apps, but I don't know of any.
Even "for some applications" the answer is not "yes", but "maybe", "mostly", "sortof".
Have codeweavers or transgaming guarantee me, in writing, that applications X, Y, and Z will work 100% - including any future patches or upgrades I may have to apply to them.
The answer is, and always has been, "maybe". Whether you're talking about a particular version of a particular app, or Win32 as a whole.
Alice is a no-brainer, quake engine, OpenGL, pretty straightforward. I have no doubt it would work.
Wake me when you play Far Cry, or Halo, or POP:Sands of Time, Call of Duty - or something from the last year or so. (Ie; something with DirectX 9+ with PS2.0).
I cant wait for my network to fill with UDP broadcasts!
This is basically how system-linked xboxes work.
It's cute for little networks that consist of an apple, a printer and an ipod, but it doesn't scale well.
I like my dhcp, that I can control based on MAC addresses.
But kudos to Apple for opening this source. They really had to, you know, one thing they desperately have to overcome is the awkwardness of mixing Mac's and PCs on the same network.
I put my cds into sleeves, then into boxes, and keep them in a climate controlled room. I copied some old-timey classic games off a handful of 8 year old discs for a friend just the other day, without the slightest hiccup.
If you get quality media, and store it properly, it will last a long time.
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relative lack of free/GPL'd apps for the Win32 platform
That's ridiculous, frankly. All of those big open source apps have win32 ports. OpenSSL, OpenSSH, apache, OpenLDAP, GIMP, Firefox, OO.o, etc, etc..
Someone could create a portage-like system for windows for all the Free software. Of course, under windows there's nothing to be gained by constantly recompiling everything.
You could probably make a few bucks hosting such a system, and charging some sort of membership dues to keep it all up to date.
You can use CVS, MySQL, Photoshop, Open Office, apache so forth and so on under windows.
Worse comes to worse you can install cygwin or coLinux to run 'em.
Open source does not mean linux.
You're wrong. They can ship dual boot systems, and have in the past.
Frankly, there's no market for them, and that's why you dont see them.
I don't think any linux users have a 4k stack of bills.
What's this all about, for those of us who aren't nVidia or linux zealots.
That short was spoofed on the simpsons.
"I'm sorry Jimmy, but the firing pin in your revolver was made of. Ha ha, that's right. Zinc!"
Zinccccccc Zinnnccccc! Oh my god what have I done!
Why's everything need to be an "iPod killer"?
I don't want an "iPod killer". To me, iPod was stillborn. I can get an mp3 cd player for 20 bucks with all the simplicity you crave, and capacity I need.
A portable audio/video media player is a wholly new market, and something I may actually be interested in. It's "something I don't already have", as opposed to "something that does exactly what the thing you already have does, but just a bit different, and for 15x the price".
The potential hackability of this platform has my interest piqued as well. What are you going to hack an iPod to do? Play another format of music... oh woooooowee I just split my pants.
Huh? This is a reference platform, not a consumer level product. The only people interested in this are the ones who will use it to develop said consumer products, and they know what it is. You could call it a VIC-20 if you want.
At any rate, when IOMega's Jaz drive (only one z) came out, I immediately thought of the "Jazz 16" soundblaster clone I had in my computer at the time. My sound card was robust and stable and never gave me any problems.
My laptop does all that and more, but it's also a lot more expensive than these things plan to be...
iPod is #1 because of marketing, pure and simple. They're selling a branded lifestyle, not electronics.
Designer jeans don't cost so much more because they're necessarily better, or of a higher quality construction, etc..
Hmm... like a gameboy.
A portable box with a screen and some buttons. Just what the fuck did you think it was going to look like, a dune buggy with tank treads instead of wheels?
36 years..
As I understand it, the year of manufacture is encoded in one digit. So it goes 0-9, A-Z... 36 years, then it goes back to 0.
I mean, a 17 digit alphanumeric string gives you 17^36-1 combinations. (1.9777034430598898484014560205854e+44) combinations says windows' calculator. That's a lot. More than IPv6 or MAC.
It's the year thing that's the "problem", but like you said, they've always known about this problem. And there are many different solutions, they'll pick one (they have about a decade to do so), and life will move on. It's certainly nothing to panic about.
I'm sure a few little VIN-parsing apps will need to be updated here and there, no big deal.
No, I don't think it's straightforward. I just think it's much more likely that a 5 year old OpenGL based game would work than a 2 month old DX9 based one.
I've played Armada under XP.
About a month after XP was released an update came out that specifically addressed compatibility with older apps, have you used it?
And do you know about the compatibility options? Checking a box makes the environment anything from 95,98,ME,XP.
I play a ton of old games, and have had no problem getting anything working under XP. I dont doubt there are some crappy old incompatible apps, but I don't know of any.
No, not if it still runs as administrator.
Running is running. There's been plenty of crappy linux apps that refused to run unless they're root.
Even "for some applications" the answer is not "yes", but "maybe", "mostly", "sortof".
Have codeweavers or transgaming guarantee me, in writing, that applications X, Y, and Z will work 100% - including any future patches or upgrades I may have to apply to them.
The answer is, and always has been, "maybe". Whether you're talking about a particular version of a particular app, or Win32 as a whole.
Can you name a Win32 app that doesnt work on Windows XP?
Alice is a no-brainer, quake engine, OpenGL, pretty straightforward. I have no doubt it would work.
Wake me when you play Far Cry, or Halo, or POP:Sands of Time, Call of Duty - or something from the last year or so. (Ie; something with DirectX 9+ with PS2.0).
This isn't true, it's never been true, and it likely will never be true.
The truthful answer to the question "Will $WINDOWS_APP work under linux?" is "Maybe, ummmm.. sort of.. depends.. uhh... i dont really know"
It's not even a troll or flame, though it will be modded as such, no doubt. Everyone on slashdot knows it's true.
I think it means "Modern Assembler Developers" or something.
All I know is it has a picture of Linus on every cover!
Sounds like SAMBA and the migration tools which already exist, bundled with a fancy brushed-chrome GUI.
I cant wait for my network to fill with UDP broadcasts!
This is basically how system-linked xboxes work.
It's cute for little networks that consist of an apple, a printer and an ipod, but it doesn't scale well.
I like my dhcp, that I can control based on MAC addresses.
But kudos to Apple for opening this source. They really had to, you know, one thing they desperately have to overcome is the awkwardness of mixing Mac's and PCs on the same network.
They'll release all six Star Wars on six 50 gig DVDs.
It'll be 1080i HDTV resolution, 7 channel sound, multiple audio tracks you can switch on the fly, etc, etc.
It took DVD a good decade to get a foothold, and CD before that.
Define "lying around"?
I put my cds into sleeves, then into boxes, and keep them in a climate controlled room. I copied some old-timey classic games off a handful of 8 year old discs for a friend just the other day, without the slightest hiccup.
If you get quality media, and store it properly, it will last a long time.
There are dual-sided players (with a laser on top and one on the bottom).