As pointed out in a later post, the OLPC project in Nigeria is basically charity.
In a related article, Gerald Ilukwe, the general manager of Microsoft Nigeria, said that the cost of software is not important, even though he admitted that the average annual salary in the West African country is only $160...
surely any manufacturer that limits their drivers to vista only would be insane.
Microsoft "enforcer" looks around, pushes some papers off a desk, flicks a zippo lighter a few times;
"Nice factory. Shame if anything happened to it... Now about those Vista-only drivers?"
That's good to know, but the documentation never suggests right-clicking on the desktop.
Well, you're sort of right - it's not precisely explained.
It does say
This is your Main Menu. You can access it by clicking anywhere on your desktop with the left mouse button or by hitting the Menu key on your keyboard. I'd suggest that's a fairly powerful hint...
I tend to agree with you on this one, but still, the timing's interesting.
Online stores, including Amazon and CNET are billing the Linux-powered ASUS Eee PC as America's most wanted Christmas gift among notebooks products.
Worldwide, the Eee PC is selling out as soon as it appears on the market.
Microsoft have agreed to lower the price of Windows to below $40 to get it pre-installed on the Eee PC.
A Linux-powered notebook looks like becoming a best-seller, Microsoft slashes the price of it's OS just to get a toe in the door, and the story that hits the frontpage of Slashdot is a legal quibble that hasn't even been raised with the manufacturer?
The decision to publish negative spin on what's a truly positive event is what's wrong here, not that Asus have an unresolved GPL violation.
"Selling a PC with Vista preinstalled is downright criminal."
Fixed that for you.
The Everex PC is designed from scratch as a low-end machine and the OS is lightweight to match its specs. You don't put tractor tyres on a Hyundai Excel, and you don't put Vista on this machine.
Reading that, you begin to understand why professionals get paid to review products.
It's full of inconsistencies;
The guy claims to be experienced with Ubuntu, but didn't know to type his user password at the sudo prompt.
He manually installs the Flash plugin and calls it unintuitive, when all you need to do is go to a website with Flash content, and it'll automatically install for you.
He can't find the "log out" menu item...
He thought installing Gnome would fix a network problem.
And so it goes on. There's almost no real review of what's installed, how easy it is to use, or even how to solve the problems he encounters.
About the only thing you learn from him is that a little knowledge is dangerous.
But that leaves them out of the ~90% of computers that run windows and puts them at a substantial disadvantage in that regards.
That's an important point, and it's why we're seeing so much effort from Microsoft.
The more Linux machines that get out to real users, through the OLPC, Asus EEEPC, Nokia N810 and other similar machines, the clearer it will become how much of a lie that disadvantage claim is.
A successful OLPC project would show the world definitively that an expensive, proprietary, antifeature-laden OS is an unnecessary waste of money and resources.
Would a starving ethernopian...
Ethernopian?
Christ, at least with enough OLPC using kids out there we might get some decent discussions on Slashdot, not more of this ignorant, bigoted astroturf.
It's absolutely true. Most commercial competitors haven't even survived against those dirty tactics. Ask Jean-Louis Gassée whether he thinks it achievement to be growing an OS in the face of one of the most aggressive monopolists the world has ever seen.
Slashdot needs to fix the moderation system. It's being gamed by astroturfers.
Either way, Vista performance is poor and not getting better.
It's not just Vista though. Microsoft Office 2007 on Windows Vista consumes over 12x as much memory and nearly 3x as much processing power as Office 2000.
Slashdot Mirror
Wouldn't a cheese-grater be quicker?
In a related article, Gerald Ilukwe, the general manager of Microsoft Nigeria, said that the cost of software is not important, even though he admitted that the average annual salary in the West African country is only $160...
That would explain this Vista site then.
Now this is why Vista isn't ready for the desktop.
If a bunch of you MS experts can't agree on how to get a simple video to play, how do you expect Aunt Tilly to use your operating system?
Try AusLogics Disk Defrag
Some Slashdotter pointed it out to me a few weeks ago, and I'm grateful - it's the best defragger I've found for NTFS, and it's free.
It's a good thing for Slashdot that we can add some value in the comments, 'cause there's bugger-all in dumb fluff like TFA.
Microsoft "enforcer" looks around, pushes some papers off a desk, flicks a zippo lighter a few times;
"Nice factory. Shame if anything happened to it... Now about those Vista-only drivers?"
Someone else.
You can download a preview here
Thank you!
Well, you're sort of right - it's not precisely explained.
It does say
This is your Main Menu. You can access it by clicking anywhere on your desktop with the left mouse button or by hitting the Menu key on your keyboard. I'd suggest that's a fairly powerful hint...I tend to agree with you on this one, but still, the timing's interesting.
A Linux-powered notebook looks like becoming a best-seller, Microsoft slashes the price of it's OS just to get a toe in the door, and the story that hits the frontpage of Slashdot is a legal quibble that hasn't even been raised with the manufacturer?
The decision to publish negative spin on what's a truly positive event is what's wrong here, not that Asus have an unresolved GPL violation.
With competent assassins, this becomes much harder.
Or are we talking zombies and ninja assassins here? 'Cause that'd make a great movie.
If you read TFA, you'd realise the guy created his own network problem, so yes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Because it's not very hard? Because it's explained in the pamphlet that comes with the PC?
If you're planning on reviewing a product, you need to put in enough effort to be sure you've got the basics right. This guy didn't.
Use the Start button or right click anywhere on the desktop and select "My GoS", then "Shutdown" from the popup menu.
There's a much better review of the OS here anyway.
Fixed that for you.
The Everex PC is designed from scratch as a low-end machine and the OS is lightweight to match its specs. You don't put tractor tyres on a Hyundai Excel, and you don't put Vista on this machine.
It's full of inconsistencies;
- The guy claims to be experienced with Ubuntu, but didn't know to type his user password at the sudo prompt.
- He manually installs the Flash plugin and calls it unintuitive, when all you need to do is go to a website with Flash content, and it'll automatically install for you.
- He can't find the "log out" menu item...
- He thought installing Gnome would fix a network problem.
And so it goes on. There's almost no real review of what's installed, how easy it is to use, or even how to solve the problems he encounters.About the only thing you learn from him is that a little knowledge is dangerous.
It will be fair competition if Microsoft sells Windows/Office to everyone for the same price as on the Classmate.
Three bucks is probably a fair price for it too.
Same reaction here in Australia.
I suspect there will be more interest internationally than in the US, at least initially. American citizens aren't known for their global awareness.
That's an important point, and it's why we're seeing so much effort from Microsoft.
The more Linux machines that get out to real users, through the OLPC, Asus EEEPC, Nokia N810 and other similar machines, the clearer it will become how much of a lie that disadvantage claim is.
A successful OLPC project would show the world definitively that an expensive, proprietary, antifeature-laden OS is an unnecessary waste of money and resources.
Would a starving ethernopian...
Ethernopian?
Christ, at least with enough OLPC using kids out there we might get some decent discussions on Slashdot, not more of this ignorant, bigoted astroturf.
The whole point of this discussion is that Intel and Microsoft are not fair competitors. They're aggressive, predatory monopolists.
You'd see repeats of their attempt to bribe their way into Nigeria and worse.
It's absolutely true. Most commercial competitors haven't even survived against those dirty tactics. Ask Jean-Louis Gassée whether he thinks it achievement to be growing an OS in the face of one of the most aggressive monopolists the world has ever seen.
Slashdot needs to fix the moderation system. It's being gamed by astroturfers.
It's been decried as a failure because it has the highest failure rates of any console ever.
Doesn't seem to be much of a "must-have" either, since Microsoft revised their sales estimates down last quarter.
It's not just Vista though. Microsoft Office 2007 on Windows Vista consumes over 12x as much memory and nearly 3x as much processing power as Office 2000.
Finding a smoking gun is unlikely, but Microsoft has a considerable history of astroturfing, and have shown no contrition when exposed.
http://timlambert.org/2003/11/tcs/
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/D0BC712B-7DBA-46CA-AA44-19376E64FBA6.html
http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/spinners-try-their-moves-on-astroturf/2007/02/05/1170524007596.html
You know, the ones who swore blind that we shouldn't believe that just because 2K was flawed that XP would be too.
I don't see any of them here with their "mea culpas"
Are you going to follow me around like you do for Twitter? Obsess much?