If the same games were available on both Windows and Mac OS, I would have a full gaming environment and a full development/productivity environment on the one computer.
This would avoid the current stupidity with dual booting.
In all honesty, you might as well say "if the same games were available on both Windows and Linux", though.
The driver problem isn't a technical hurdle with OpenGL itself. The problem is caused by manufacturers who flatly refuse to deliver something at the same quality as they deliver on the other OS.
You can see this, because both NVIDIA's and ATI's OpenGL driver on Windows are perfectly fine. Have you played Doom 3 on Windows lately? I didn't have any problems with OpenGL in that title, and I would hardly say that it was lacking in any way when compared to Direct3D.
Part of the problem here is the way the companies consider support for their cards.
ATI see 5% of their market share using Linux, so they devote 5% of their man hours to working on the Linux drivers. Assuming that this means 5% to Mac and 90% to Windows, this means that they spend 18 times more time on the Windows driver than the Linux driver.
When you take this into account, it's no wonder that ATI can't writer a driver that doesn't crash X.:-(
NVIDIA have been in it longer, though, so theirs is more stable even if they probably play by the same rules as ATI. But even so, I still have a hard lockup of my system every few days, usually due to the NVIDIA driver.
This sort of system seems like it would enable us to reach parts of the colour spectrum which are otherwise untouchable by computer graphics.
You can't really get a vibrant orange out of a computer monitor, because it lies outside the RGB colour cube, but these lasers could easily be run at greater than 100% of a conventional monitor's intensity.
Maybe this sort of system would be the answer to the last real limitation in graphic design.:-)
The main difference in IM would be that IM clients do tend to give you the ability to block people who aren't on your list.
I suppose, though, that this really just replaces the problem of dozens of instant messages, with receiving dozens of requests to be added to people's contact lists. And if clients end up allowing a way to see the requester's "reason" for being added, then you've effectively replicated the "BlueJack" on an instant messenger.:-/
What I want to know is how it was launched "today", yet been "actually" out long enough for dozens of players to get sick of it already, and go back to the original game.
I assume that people who actually play the game had access to the expansion earlier than everyone else.
DVD region coding has already been ruled uncompetitive in a few regions of the world, so it should just fuck off. But most DVD players by now are multi-region anyway.
I mean, it's based on Linux, so at the very least, their kernel is available. If they're anything like Linksys (don't get your hopes up, though), they might distribute the source code for practically everything.
Although you might find that "practically everything" means "everything but the media player."
At that point you'd have to wonder how much effort it would be to rewrite its software around MPlayer.
Or in fact their dedication to supporting 32-bit Linux. I had to switch to NVIDIA because none of the ATI drivers were able to start X without crashing something.
I suppose that something can't be considered open source if it depends on a closed source library. After all, Mozilla runs on Win32, doesn't it? That must mean Mozilla/Win32 isn't open source either.
What is "the" market? Last I checked, there were multiple markets for graphics cards. Tom's Hardware only cares about the "gamer" market, it doesn't give a wet toss about the really good features that Matrox do provide in their cards (superior open source driver support, triple head cards, etc.)
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Try eBay. You should be able to pick up a pretty simple but still recent phone for under $100.
P.S. For all the geeks with a Pocket PC (what self-respecting geek is without one?)
Well, geeks who own Palm or Zaurus devices, instead of being filthy Microsoft thralls, I suppose. :-)
Dude. That would be awesome!
Then I could run Linux on Java on Linux on Java on Linux on Java on Linux on Java on Linux on Java ...
It might be able to run something like uCLinux. I wonder...
If the same games were available on both Windows and Mac OS, I would have a full gaming environment and a full development/productivity environment on the one computer.
This would avoid the current stupidity with dual booting.
In all honesty, you might as well say "if the same games were available on both Windows and Linux", though.
The driver problem isn't a technical hurdle with OpenGL itself. The problem is caused by manufacturers who flatly refuse to deliver something at the same quality as they deliver on the other OS.
You can see this, because both NVIDIA's and ATI's OpenGL driver on Windows are perfectly fine. Have you played Doom 3 on Windows lately? I didn't have any problems with OpenGL in that title, and I would hardly say that it was lacking in any way when compared to Direct3D.
Part of the problem here is the way the companies consider support for their cards.
ATI see 5% of their market share using Linux, so they devote 5% of their man hours to working on the Linux drivers. Assuming that this means 5% to Mac and 90% to Windows, this means that they spend 18 times more time on the Windows driver than the Linux driver.
When you take this into account, it's no wonder that ATI can't writer a driver that doesn't crash X. :-(
NVIDIA have been in it longer, though, so theirs is more stable even if they probably play by the same rules as ATI. But even so, I still have a hard lockup of my system every few days, usually due to the NVIDIA driver.
This sort of system seems like it would enable us to reach parts of the colour spectrum which are otherwise untouchable by computer graphics.
You can't really get a vibrant orange out of a computer monitor, because it lies outside the RGB colour cube, but these lasers could easily be run at greater than 100% of a conventional monitor's intensity.
Maybe this sort of system would be the answer to the last real limitation in graphic design. :-)
The main difference in IM would be that IM clients do tend to give you the ability to block people who aren't on your list.
I suppose, though, that this really just replaces the problem of dozens of instant messages, with receiving dozens of requests to be added to people's contact lists. And if clients end up allowing a way to see the requester's "reason" for being added, then you've effectively replicated the "BlueJack" on an instant messenger. :-/
Why do we need "spam"? Can't we just call it "unsolicited email" and "unsolicited instant messages"?
My favourite is:
SPam over Internet Telephony -> SPIT
Imagine if they just used cartridges in the first place. Oh, the power savings!
What I want to know is how it was launched "today", yet been "actually" out long enough for dozens of players to get sick of it already, and go back to the original game.
I assume that people who actually play the game had access to the expansion earlier than everyone else.
The solution of blocking the IP addresses could be done from the US's side, if the US really cared.
Makes me wonder why this "amazing technology" couldn't have been designed not to be in the part which needs replacing. ;-)
DVD region coding has already been ruled uncompetitive in a few regions of the world, so it should just fuck off. But most DVD players by now are multi-region anyway.
That's where the cost belongs, afterall, if it's covering the cost of a printer. How expensive can ink really be?
I, for one, would love to see more sharks in my Star Wars!
Inflated prices... but at least it's available. ;-)
They should update the standard to require it.
Makes me wonder how easy this thing is to hack.
I mean, it's based on Linux, so at the very least, their kernel is available. If they're anything like Linksys (don't get your hopes up, though), they might distribute the source code for practically everything.
Although you might find that "practically everything" means "everything but the media player."
At that point you'd have to wonder how much effort it would be to rewrite its software around MPlayer.
Not to mention that this tiny market segment isn't exactly known for their generosity and lavish spending habits.
Just a guess, but maybe this is because the market hasn't really done its job at providing gadgets of the required quality?
Actually, I just meant the graphics market. They've been pretty far from the gaming market for quite some time now. :-)
Or in fact their dedication to supporting 32-bit Linux. I had to switch to NVIDIA because none of the ATI drivers were able to start X without crashing something.
I suppose that something can't be considered open source if it depends on a closed source library. After all, Mozilla runs on Win32, doesn't it? That must mean Mozilla/Win32 isn't open source either.
What is "the" market? Last I checked, there were multiple markets for graphics cards. Tom's Hardware only cares about the "gamer" market, it doesn't give a wet toss about the really good features that Matrox do provide in their cards (superior open source driver support, triple head cards, etc.)