Hell, most of the developing world is/avoiding/ MS completely, and a number of European and American city governments are in the process of migrating away from them.
But when the third-world bureaucrat walks the streets does he find Linux in the marketplace or Windows?
The fact that the federal government has abused the commerce clause and completly disregarded most of the constitution for some time now doesn't make this particular encroachment right.
The Constitution does not demand a narrow interpretation of the Commerce Clause:
The founders' understanding of the word "commerce" is unclear. Although commerce means economic activity today, it had non-economic meanings in late eighteenth century English. For example, in 18th century writing one finds expressions such as "the free and easy commerce of social life" and "our Lord's commerce with his disciples". Interpreting interstate commerce to mean "substantial interstate human relations" is consistent with much additional primary source evidence concerning the meaning of commerce at the time of the writing of the Constitution. This interpretation also makes sense for the foreign and Indian commerce clauses as one would expect Congress to be given authority to regulate non-economic relations with other nations and with Indian tribes. Commerce Clause
High definition video formats such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray are doomed for failure from the beginning, IMHO. Apart from DRM, HDCP, different formats, expensive players, expensive media, limited availability of titles and the ongoing war between the two formats: the main reason for its failure is that for most customers it doesn't deliver anything. Most of the customers out there have 27" or smaller non-HD sets - the different in quality between DVD and HD-DVD/Blu-ray is negligible
The "expensive media" argument is fraudulent. HD-DVD movies, mainstream titles, are $20 at Amazon.com. Netflix does not charge a premium for HD rentals.
The migration to HDTV is really picking up steam. But HD isn't the only driving force: 50" Widescreen Projection. Theatrical Quality Digital Sound. Etc.
There is the MPC, usually Windows. The PS3. The XBox 360. The PVR. Soon to come, products like Windows Home Server. Digital Convergence, and this time it's for real.
It took color tv to ten years to become mass market. The all-digital HDTV less than five years.
Of course, there is no way that this process will change until we, the consumers, demand finished products at release. But somehow I dont think the sheeple out there will do that either.
"Finished products," as Asimov remarked very early in the Foundation series, are the obsession of the decadent mind. You'll find a similiar observation in Parkinson's Law.
The modern OS distribution is always a work in progress. That is its fundamental strength and appeal. There is no loss to the consumer in a product that evolves and changes over time.
The vast majority of people (in North America at least) are completely indifferent to this format war. People with HDTV represent a fairly smallish chunk of the population. The most of the rest of us neither have, nor are we looking to buy, HDTV. It's an expensive migration path with little perceived benefit
The geek's perception of the home market is dim:
The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association estimates 2.5 million people will buy new televisions before Super Sunday, an increase of 47 percent from last year... The survey did not break down what percent of new televisions purchased are expected to be HDTVs, but retailers reported double-digit increases in sales of the high-end sets in recent months. Super Snap: HDTV Sales Seen Rising
Once they've seen a football game or blockbuster movie in high def, it's tough for many to go back to their analog or digital broadcasts.
Vance Pflanz, owner of Pflanz Electronics, recalls the amazement of one customer who bought a high-def set last fall. He returned to the store a couple of days later to report that he saw a gum wrapper underneath a bench in a World Series dugout on his screen and he could actually read W-R-I-G-L-E-Y-S on the wrapper.
"I think sports probably does more for high-definition programming than any other programming source because when you're watching a football game, you can see the individual blades of grass." HDTV sales fuel demand for high-def programming
Time Warner Cable is hurrying to make sure about 1,000 Triangle customers can bask in the glow of high-definition television during this year's Super Bowl.
Unprecedented demand for high-definition service led to a shortage of set-top boxes and a waiting list of about 1,000 customers.
Since Dec. 1, Time Warner's Raleigh division fielded 11,000 orders for high-definition service, nearly three times the number received in December and January a year ago.Time Warner rushes HD boxes
The closed source Windows programs requires involvement of the holder of the source code to be ported, while the open source Linux programs can be ported by anyone with experience in programming in both affected environments.
The program is more than the source code. You might be able to read the Photoshop source. But would you bring to the table Adobe's understanding of photo editing?
How many so-called ports have the look and feel of a second-rate translation?
these people really have no concept of what a computer is for, they just want an appliance
The machine is "for" whatever its users want to make of it. It has no purpose of its own. The computer-as-appliance is as valid a model as any other. It is particularly meaningful to the non-technical end user.
For some reason reminds me the cosmetic and grooming regime and genesis vs phil collins bits in American Psycho which obviously opens the debate as to whether all Windows users are closet psychopaths
The stereotypical Geek in full rhetorical flight.
The non-Geek picks up the attitude even when he doesn't hear the words--while the Geek still wonders why those hundreds of millions of "closet pyschopaths" don't warm to his OS of choice.
What I noticed from the comments, is that it seems most people who have tried multiple systems, prefer Mac or Linux. Most people who prefer Windows have ONLY ever used Windows, which defeats their arguments
It may also just mean that the zealot is more likely to post.
You haven't won over the arguments of ordinary users who see no compelling reason to join in the debate.
The other side people *must* use to "sell" Linux for the desktop is the fact that it is free, as in beer. People like free things. Do not enter into details on the philosophy of free software and all that crap.
There is little or nothing in F/OSS of interest to end users that is not ported to Windows or begins as a native Windows app: Paint.NET
There are many, many, free, high quality, programs available for Windows under other licenses.
When you can draw on "the best of both worlds," there is no compelling reason to migrate to the alternative OS.
Unlike old DVD-Video, HD DVD and BluRay have a bit -- so far not set -- that degrades all output unless it is via an HDCP connection. This means my older Sharp 720p projector will be degraded along with all early adapter's HD gear
The ICT forces down sampling to 960x540. Rather better than DVD video. Your aging Sharp can - in theory - display 1280x720. But will you see any difference on screen?
You will still be getting full theater sound, multichannel captioning, dialogue and commentary tracks, all the interactive features and extras that can be stamped into a 50 GB disk.
---a disk which will be readable long after the Sharp has blown its last $300 lamp.
FreeDOS configuration with is around 70$ cheaper than Windows version. Windows version is same price for 250GB and 320GB HDD but on FreeDOS version if you chose 250GB HDD then it is almost 160$ cheaper...sweetahhhhhhhhh
now go back, spec, and price out the system that has significant home sales.
the one with the free Vista upgrade, the DVD burner, the system that can play "Oblivion," the one that ships free to your doorstep bundled with a new widescreen monitor and printer.
Dude, buy more RAM. RAM is cheap.
Just because a resource is abundant and cheap isn't a reason to abuse it. You don't waste water, do you?
The programmer is expensive. RAM is cheap. Your employer is cheaper.
He expects to see projects completed on time and under project. He isn't interested in paying a premium for engineering elegance and efficiency his clients will never see.
Let us be honest here for a moment. The people who made J.K. Rowling richer than the Queen will be buying Harry Potter in high definition. The OS that can't handle protected content isn't going into the the PVR, the set-top box, or the media PC.
"the content protection mechanisms...... will lead to better driver quality control."
Less freedom = better quality?
it's a driver for a DX10 card. it's certified for Vista. all DX10 features must be supported. all features for HD play must be supported. you can compete in the market only on the quality of the driver and the performance and price of the card.
So police don't fight crime if they don't have cell phone pics to solve it for them? Great.
eyewitness testimony is confused and contradictory. the camera can capture the make and model of a car. a license plate. a face, a figure. details that would otherwise be lost.
Slashdot Mirror
While in December Time-Warner signed on 11,000 HD subscribers in Raleigh, NC., in a market of 500,000.
It's the same story in Raleigh, NC. 11,000 orders for HD service since December 1st. In a market of 500,000.Time Warner rushes HD boxes
The geek who thinks that HD is going nowhere had better look again. The train has left the station.
But when the third-world bureaucrat walks the streets does he find Linux in the marketplace or Windows?
The Constitution does not demand a narrow interpretation of the Commerce Clause:
The founders' understanding of the word "commerce" is unclear. Although commerce means economic activity today, it had non-economic meanings in late eighteenth century English. For example, in 18th century writing one finds expressions such as "the free and easy commerce of social life" and "our Lord's commerce with his disciples". Interpreting interstate commerce to mean "substantial interstate human relations" is consistent with much additional primary source evidence concerning the meaning of commerce at the time of the writing of the Constitution. This interpretation also makes sense for the foreign and Indian commerce clauses as one would expect Congress to be given authority to regulate non-economic relations with other nations and with Indian tribes. Commerce Clause
The "expensive media" argument is fraudulent. HD-DVD movies, mainstream titles, are $20 at Amazon.com. Netflix does not charge a premium for HD rentals.
The migration to HDTV is really picking up steam. But HD isn't the only driving force: 50" Widescreen Projection. Theatrical Quality Digital Sound. Etc.
There is the MPC, usually Windows. The PS3. The XBox 360. The PVR. Soon to come, products like Windows Home Server. Digital Convergence, and this time it's for real.
It took color tv to ten years to become mass market. The all-digital HDTV less than five years.
"Finished products," as Asimov remarked very early in the Foundation series, are the obsession of the decadent mind. You'll find a similiar observation in Parkinson's Law.
The modern OS distribution is always a work in progress. That is its fundamental strength and appeal. There is no loss to the consumer in a product that evolves and changes over time.
The moving image, the story film, is over one hundred years old.
But how many now living have seen a movie in pristine techicolor projection or in B/W on nitate stock?
For those who have, the argument that cinematography is unimportant, that VHS or DVD quality is "good enough," rings hollow.
How strange that it should be the geek who so casually dismisses the connection between technology and art.
How could they look better? Most older TVs had at best an S-Video connection.
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Hockey Night In Canada
Planet Earth
The geek's perception of the home market is dim:
The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association estimates 2.5 million people will buy new televisions before Super Sunday, an increase of 47 percent from last year... The survey did not break down what percent of new televisions purchased are expected to be HDTVs, but retailers reported double-digit increases in sales of the high-end sets in recent months. Super Snap: HDTV Sales Seen Rising
Once they've seen a football game or blockbuster movie in high def, it's tough for many to go back to their analog or digital broadcasts.
Vance Pflanz, owner of Pflanz Electronics, recalls the amazement of one customer who bought a high-def set last fall. He returned to the store a couple of days later to report that he saw a gum wrapper underneath a bench in a World Series dugout on his screen and he could actually read W-R-I-G-L-E-Y-S on the wrapper.
"I think sports probably does more for high-definition programming than any other programming source because when you're watching a football game, you can see the individual blades of grass." HDTV sales fuel demand for high-def programming
Time Warner Cable is hurrying to make sure about 1,000 Triangle customers can bask in the glow of high-definition television during this year's Super Bowl.
Unprecedented demand for high-definition service led to a shortage of set-top boxes and a waiting list of about 1,000 customers.
Since Dec. 1, Time Warner's Raleigh division fielded 11,000 orders for high-definition service, nearly three times the number received in December and January a year ago. Time Warner rushes HD boxes
The program is more than the source code. You might be able to read the Photoshop source. But would you bring to the table Adobe's understanding of photo editing?
How many so-called ports have the look and feel of a second-rate translation?
The machine is "for" whatever its users want to make of it. It has no purpose of its own. The computer-as-appliance is as valid a model as any other. It is particularly meaningful to the non-technical end user.
The stereotypical Geek in full rhetorical flight.
The non-Geek picks up the attitude even when he doesn't hear the words--while the Geek still wonders why those hundreds of millions of "closet pyschopaths" don't warm to his OS of choice.
It may also just mean that the zealot is more likely to post. You haven't won over the arguments of ordinary users who see no compelling reason to join in the debate.
There is little or nothing in F/OSS of interest to end users that is not ported to Windows or begins as a native Windows app: Paint.NET
There are many, many, free, high quality, programs available for Windows under other licenses.
When you can draw on "the best of both worlds," there is no compelling reason to migrate to the alternative OS.
The ICT forces down sampling to 960x540. Rather better than DVD video. Your aging Sharp can - in theory - display 1280x720. But will you see any difference on screen?
You will still be getting full theater sound, multichannel captioning, dialogue and commentary tracks, all the interactive features and extras that can be stamped into a 50 GB disk.
---a disk which will be readable long after the Sharp has blown its last $300 lamp.
now go back, spec, and price out the system that has significant home sales.
the one with the free Vista upgrade, the DVD burner, the system that can play "Oblivion," the one that ships free to your doorstep bundled with a new widescreen monitor and printer.
a show of hands please from the Geeks who believe that the "No OS" system or OEM Linux is a viable product in the domestic consumer PC market.
Just because a resource is abundant and cheap isn't a reason to abuse it. You don't waste water, do you?
The programmer is expensive. RAM is cheap. Your employer is cheaper.
He expects to see projects completed on time and under project. He isn't interested in paying a premium for engineering elegance and efficiency his clients will never see.
The key word here is "render."
Let us be honest here for a moment. The people who made J.K. Rowling richer than the Queen will be buying Harry Potter in high definition. The OS that can't handle protected content isn't going into the the PVR, the set-top box, or the media PC.
Less freedom = better quality?
it's a driver for a DX10 card. it's certified for Vista. all DX10 features must be supported. all features for HD play must be supported. you can compete in the market only on the quality of the driver and the performance and price of the card.
works for me.
"Never give a sucker an even break."
The pro has the initiative, the pro has experience. The pro takes the back shot before the rookie sees him coming.
eyewitness testimony is confused and contradictory. the camera can capture the make and model of a car. a license plate. a face, a figure. details that would otherwise be lost.
"To every lock there is a key..."
I think a judge will see encryption as a container. It isn't uncommon for a Geek to speak of "wrapping" content in encryption.