the ferrari is a superior car, just like MS Office
MS Office 2007 is like a Ferrari, if by Ferrari you mean huge resource consuming SUV, with all the agility of an overloaded dump truck and a propensity for locking it's doors randomly.
I'd accept this from anyone but a Firefox security head.
Accept it from vulnerability-scanning company Qualys then.
Study: 'Huge jump' in Microsoft flaws since last year
"We have seen a huge jump in the vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office products," said Amol Sawate, manager of Qualys's vulnerability-management lab. "These charts show growth of nearly 300 percent from 2006 to 2007 http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-178018.html
Apple might avoid the WINE codebase, but only because they have rights to much of an older version of the Windows API directly from having won a lawsuit against MS quite a while ago when MS stole their code.
Apple might even license Win32 code from Microsoft.
There's writing on a lot of walls for Microsoft.
The EU legal settlement will eventually, despite the bitter fighting, force them to open their APIs to anyone.
They're facing an onslaught of low-end Linux machines like Asus Eee PC and the Walmart $199 box. So far, their response has been to lower the price of Windows below $40 for Eee PC owners. That's going to be hard to sustain when other buyers balk at paying three times Asus' price.
Vista won't drive any new sales, and looks losing anyone who was waiting for a sign from above.
Essentially, all MS has left to sell on the OS front is compatibility with the enormous back-catalogue of Windows applications.
Being able to sell Win32/FX as an API pack to other OS vendors might be a way out for MS. The future of computing looks like hypervisors and VMs anyway. Most tech savvy people already run Windows in a VM on their preferred OS (or vice versa) already.
Selling a portable API would just be going with the flow.
I would love to have a very portable computer, but I also value my eyesight, especially since I have slight retinal decay.
In a lot of the applications listed, it wouldn't be relevant.
Underground mine rescuers already use equipment like BG4s, gas detectors, leaky feeder radios and more. Being able to combine the current half-dozen displays into a single HUD would be a godsend.
There's nothing like dangling from a belay in pitch darkness with an armfull of gear, and having your SCBA's fault alarm go off, to make you wish the info screen was in front of your eyes instead of securely strapped away on the set's harness...
Agreed, and interesting to the point that it deserves its own topic thread.
I did that, and it gets weirder.
I put submitted the story to the Firehose, where it started at orange (I've had a few stories on the front page recently). It cycled back down through the spectrum in seconds, then bounced back to bright red.
Every couple of minutes, it'll cycle again - there's some serious voting happening in both directions there...
Since this theory is not unique to the poster, he isn't "obviously making shit up".
You're right about that, but it's obviously got the fanbois worked up. They're modding me to oblivion, for some reason.
A lot of the speculation is coming from the guys over at Wine. They found PE loading capabilities in Leopard that wasn't there in Tiger.
Further dissection shows that Apple is hiding references to *Win* and *PE* in the dll, which means it's not an accidental inclusion.
The moderation of my original post is interesting too. I don't think there's anything particularly provocative about it, yet it's attracting "troll" mods. Strange.
But that's the great benefit of using a free (as in freedom) OS.
I used Ubuntu for a while (on my home computer), decided that while it was nice, it wasn't what I wanted. I switched to Sabayon, and I'm happier with that. The switch was painless - all the apps I used on Ubuntu were there in Sabayon, my data was all as usable with the new OS as it had been with the old, and all my hardware still works fine.
The cost of switching between Linux distros is so low that users can abandon any distro that's lagging, then switch back if the vendors improve. It's where real competition is driving real improvements.
And partly because macs are supposed to work without any problems. And frankly, there's no excuse for them not to.
They might have a slight excuse.
They are getting ready for the inclusion of a Win32 compatibility layer in OSX, so a little instability at OS level's not unexpected. At least those PE files will feel right at home...
An OEM version of Windows probably costs Dell ca. US$50.
Vista business OEM costs me AU$205 wholesale. On the average box we supply to our customers, the next most expensive item is the MB at about AU$165. CPU, HDD, memory, case and optical drive are all much cheaper.
I would even add that the OS is only a fraction of the cost of a PC
It used to be, but as hardware prices have fallen and Windows prices have risen, that has changed. Now the OS is often the single most expensive component of a computer.
No, it exists in data formats, communication protocols and application lockin.
When we have communication protocols, document and other data formats that are open and implementable by anyone, and when we have applications that are portable across operating systems, then there'll be no monopoly.
Neither will happen while Microsoft is running the show.
is it irrational to expect that one or a group of folks will in the very near future, provide code in ISO format that I can use to install on my "ordinary" PC?
Yes, it is irrational.
The code related to the GPL violation was specific to the Eee PC hardware and would not work on an ordinary PC.
If want your normal PC to run the same distro, you already can. The Eee PC runs Xandros, which you can download and install anytime.
Slashdot Mirror
MS Office 2007 is like a Ferrari, if by Ferrari you mean huge resource consuming SUV, with all the agility of an overloaded dump truck and a propensity for locking it's doors randomly.
Nah, not science.
He was just trying to get enough Dutch courage to invade Pakistan.
It could be worse...
Accept it from vulnerability-scanning company Qualys then.
Study: 'Huge jump' in Microsoft flaws since last year"We have seen a huge jump in the vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office products," said Amol Sawate, manager of Qualys's vulnerability-management lab. "These charts show growth of nearly 300 percent from 2006 to 2007 http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-178018.html
By not invading them?
By not using the CIA to subvert their governments and install despots instead?
By ratifying international treaties like Kyoto?
By not treating international law like a plaything and undermining the whole basis of international cooperation?
Windows is infinitely configurable by power users, often remotely.
All you need to do is persuade the regular users to click on the right web link or email attachment, and you can do what you want with their box.
How soon before they have to start questioning posts and moderation on tech sites like Slashdot?
Can somebody with Microsoft HR confirm or deny that they have position descriptions for "Blog Reader" and "Commenter"?
Apple might even license Win32 code from Microsoft.
There's writing on a lot of walls for Microsoft.
The EU legal settlement will eventually, despite the bitter fighting, force them to open their APIs to anyone.
They're facing an onslaught of low-end Linux machines like Asus Eee PC and the Walmart $199 box. So far, their response has been to lower the price of Windows below $40 for Eee PC owners. That's going to be hard to sustain when other buyers balk at paying three times Asus' price.
Vista won't drive any new sales, and looks losing anyone who was waiting for a sign from above.
Essentially, all MS has left to sell on the OS front is compatibility with the enormous back-catalogue of Windows applications.
Being able to sell Win32/FX as an API pack to other OS vendors might be a way out for MS. The future of computing looks like hypervisors and VMs anyway. Most tech savvy people already run Windows in a VM on their preferred OS (or vice versa) already.
Selling a portable API would just be going with the flow.
In a lot of the applications listed, it wouldn't be relevant.
Underground mine rescuers already use equipment like BG4s, gas detectors, leaky feeder radios and more. Being able to combine the current half-dozen displays into a single HUD would be a godsend.
There's nothing like dangling from a belay in pitch darkness with an armfull of gear, and having your SCBA's fault alarm go off, to make you wish the info screen was in front of your eyes instead of securely strapped away on the set's harness...
I did that, and it gets weirder.
I put submitted the story to the Firehose, where it started at orange (I've had a few stories on the front page recently). It cycled back down through the spectrum in seconds, then bounced back to bright red.
Every couple of minutes, it'll cycle again - there's some serious voting happening in both directions there...
Try Microsoft condoms.
There's no way they could be confused with any other flaccid, desensitising products.
You're right about that, but it's obviously got the fanbois worked up. They're modding me to oblivion, for some reason.
A lot of the speculation is coming from the guys over at Wine. They found PE loading capabilities in Leopard that wasn't there in Tiger. Further dissection shows that Apple is hiding references to *Win* and *PE* in the dll, which means it's not an accidental inclusion.
The moderation of my original post is interesting too. I don't think there's anything particularly provocative about it, yet it's attracting "troll" mods. Strange.
Microsoft has given the sticker a little more thought.
In future, all computers intended for Vista will have a sticker based on this design.
No, it doesn't work on humans.
However, if you were to find an attractive female cockroach...
Hawk moth pupae?
But that's the great benefit of using a free (as in freedom) OS.
I used Ubuntu for a while (on my home computer), decided that while it was nice, it wasn't what I wanted. I switched to Sabayon, and I'm happier with that. The switch was painless - all the apps I used on Ubuntu were there in Sabayon, my data was all as usable with the new OS as it had been with the old, and all my hardware still works fine.
The cost of switching between Linux distros is so low that users can abandon any distro that's lagging, then switch back if the vendors improve. It's where real competition is driving real improvements.
They might have a slight excuse.
They are getting ready for the inclusion of a Win32 compatibility layer in OSX, so a little instability at OS level's not unexpected. At least those PE files will feel right at home...
I placed 18 of them in a training room today, and I'm not normally even a hardware supplier.
Doesn't work anymore.
In today's Slashdot, you get modded down by Microsoft's "blog readers" and "commenters" for criticising MS products.
Vista business OEM costs me AU$205 wholesale. On the average box we supply to our customers, the next most expensive item is the MB at about AU$165. CPU, HDD, memory, case and optical drive are all much cheaper.
It would be more cost-effective to buy an apartment for every family in Iraq.
It used to be, but as hardware prices have fallen and Windows prices have risen, that has changed. Now the OS is often the single most expensive component of a computer.
No, it exists in data formats, communication protocols and application lockin.
When we have communication protocols, document and other data formats that are open and implementable by anyone, and when we have applications that are portable across operating systems, then there'll be no monopoly.
Neither will happen while Microsoft is running the show.
Me too.
I'm always happy to buy cheap gear built by underpaid Americans in sweatshops.
Yes, it is irrational.
The code related to the GPL violation was specific to the Eee PC hardware and would not work on an ordinary PC.
If want your normal PC to run the same distro, you already can. The Eee PC runs Xandros, which you can download and install anytime.