I meet college-age people all the time and they have an iPod and a MacBook. I met some from Texas recently and I thought they would have Dells, but no: iPods, iPhones, and MacBooks. One literally told me "my mom has a Dell."
All is not lost for open source. All 3 of the above devices has open source Unix core systems and open source WebKit HTML5 browser out-of-the-box.
2 of the above devices have a locked ecosystem with Apple acting as the gatekeeper, so I'm not sure what your point was there.
If I take Linux and embed KHTML into it, but don't let you put apps onto it without my express permission, how exactly is that open even if it does use open source?
Windows NT 4 was a pain to set up, too, thanks to things like the lack of PnP support until Service Pack 5 or 6. There were some Windows applications (including most games) that simply wouldn't run on NT.
Java is FOSS now, but that's a recent development, 12 years after Java was first released (1995-2007).
You would have done better to bring up the more popular apps and frameworks. I can name a lot that are open source: Apache Struts (Apache 2.0), Spring (Apache 2.0), Hibernate (LGPL 2.1), Apache Tomcat (Apache 2.0), Jetty (Apache 2.0), Glassfish (dual CDDL 1/GPL 2)...
What Apple is doing is a threat to freedom of speech, freedom to program, and ultimately our political freedoms. It needs to stop. Apple isn't going to stop voluntarily, so we need laws.
We really need something like "common carrier" rules for operating system and hardware vendors. The people who provide the wires and the devices should not be allowed to determine the content.
The correct answer in this case is "don't buy Apple products."
1) Get a bank that lets you put your picture on your card (in case your card is physically stolen)
Doesn't help online, and it's very rare for anyone in a store to ask to see a credit card when one runs it through a credit card machine.
2) If it's possible (not sure on this one), get a card that can't be used without a PIN
Doesn't prevent skimming. In fact, in the United States, using a Debit card with PIN means that it's not processed through Visa/MasterCard, and thus their fraud protections don't apply.
I can't check playstation.com from work, but last I heard (a few days after the firmware update), Sony was still advertising the Other OS feature on its website, despite none of its newer models shipping with it... and now its older models having it removed via firmware update.
This is clearly false advertising, as an advertised feature doesn't appear in the final product.
Perhaps someone should point this out to the Federal Trade Commission?
While I don't like Sony's action and IANAL; I'm not sure it would violate consumer protection laws. I think it would depend on what Sony claimed when the first sold it. While I agree there is an implied ability to run all future PS3 releases they might be able to argue all the functionality as originally delivered is still there since it will run all the launch games; and re-enable Playstation Network for all PS3's regardless of OS version. It might also be possible to argue the fat PS3 represents an old model that is at EOL but are offering users the option to continue using; does EU law require indefinite retention of capabilities or only for a limited time? If it is indefinite, a company ending support for any product could wind up running afoul of the law; which I doubt is the EU's intent. Would you expect Apple to have to deliver current OS capabilities to to PowerPC based Macs; or should OS vendors be required to ensure each new OS release, that adds functionality or fixes bugs, is backwards compatible with all programs to not take away any originally provided functionality?
In this case, the functionality was already there, and the update that removed Other OS was a required update if you wanted to continue using any Internet features on the device.
I didn't mention XP mode, because most users will probably have Home Premium installed and not have it available.
The free IE compatibility VHDs have a built-in expiration date. I suppose you could change your clock back (remembering to disable the option to set time from the Internet)...
This DOES MATTER and its proof yet again, why not to purchase anything crApple..
The "yet again" is precisely why it doesn't matter. Seriously, is there anyone who read this story who didn't know Apple locks down its app store and rejects apps for the dumbest of reasons?
I'm curious. If one of the major purveyors of technology has policies that "rejects apps for arbitrary reasons" doesn't matter, can you give me an example of something that does matter on a website that positions itself as "news for nerds"?
The reason it doesn't matter is that this is because it's the same old song and dance that we've gone through at least 10 times before, and Apple clearly isn't going to change.
If you didn't know that Apple locks its platform down and can reject apps for any reasons, your geek creds need to be revoked.
A: Release New OS B: No One Adopts New OS C: Release Another New OS D: Support Expires for Old OS E: "SOMEONE" Develops a rootkit\virus\malware that targets old OS. F: Anti-Virus keeps the old OS limping along G: Anti-Virus vendors keep releasing updates to prevent new viruses\rootkits\etc. H: Over time thousands, if not millions of Old OS systems get infected by root kits that the large population isn't aware of. I: Create a new patch that specifically, when coupled with the largely ignored\unnoticed rootkit\virus\malware, makes Old OS unuseable. J: Choice: switch to Linux or upgrade to New OS. K: Laugh histerically as at least 50% upgrade to New OS and you bath in $20 bills soaked in Champaign. L: Profit.
The Register mentioned this earlier today, and I immediately informed our local IT guy, who contacted someone higher up at Enterprise Security.
Then Worf came to my desk and said I needed to test the Java upgrade before they deployed it to everyone.
...
Ok, not Worf, just one of our tech guys. Since I'm one of two Java developers on this floor as well as the one who reported it, I got the fun job of making sure everything i have (Eclipse, OC4J, Oracle SQLDeveloper, Oracle JDeveloper, etc...) still worked.
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I still don't know what he looks like this year! Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't out until the end of next month... :(
I'm guessing it will look like a window with a tab bar and 1-2 text boxes to enter in urls and search terms, with navigation buttons nearby.
No, no, no...
You went one generation too far.
The iPad is surprisingly similar to the Lisa.
The same Kobayashi Maru that nearly got Kirk expelled (from Starfleet Academy) for tampering with in the latest Star Trek movie?
I laughed when I saw this.
2 of the above devices have a locked ecosystem with Apple acting as the gatekeeper, so I'm not sure what your point was there.
If I take Linux and embed KHTML into it, but don't let you put apps onto it without my express permission, how exactly is that open even if it does use open source?
Windows NT 4 was a pain to set up, too, thanks to things like the lack of PnP support until Service Pack 5 or 6. There were some Windows applications (including most games) that simply wouldn't run on NT.
I don't know about Java, but I thought C# was: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/singularity/
Granted, this is by Microsoft...
Java is FOSS now, but that's a recent development, 12 years after Java was first released (1995-2007).
You would have done better to bring up the more popular apps and frameworks. I can name a lot that are open source:
Apache Struts (Apache 2.0), Spring (Apache 2.0), Hibernate (LGPL 2.1), Apache Tomcat (Apache 2.0), Jetty (Apache 2.0), Glassfish (dual CDDL 1/GPL 2)...
The correct answer in this case is "don't buy Apple products."
Then you don't have to worry about it.
Doesn't help online, and it's very rare for anyone in a store to ask to see a credit card when one runs it through a credit card machine.
Doesn't prevent skimming. In fact, in the United States, using a Debit card with PIN means that it's not processed through Visa/MasterCard, and thus their fraud protections don't apply.
I can't check playstation.com from work, but last I heard (a few days after the firmware update), Sony was still advertising the Other OS feature on its website, despite none of its newer models shipping with it... and now its older models having it removed via firmware update.
This is clearly false advertising, as an advertised feature doesn't appear in the final product.
Perhaps someone should point this out to the Federal Trade Commission?
In this case, the functionality was already there, and the update that removed Other OS was a required update if you wanted to continue using any Internet features on the device.
As a side note, it doesn't apply if you bought the PS3 Slim, as it never had that feature, nor was that an advertised feature on the Slim model.
I didn't mention XP mode, because most users will probably have Home Premium installed and not have it available.
The free IE compatibility VHDs have a built-in expiration date. I suppose you could change your clock back (remembering to disable the option to set time from the Internet)...
The "yet again" is precisely why it doesn't matter. Seriously, is there anyone who read this story who didn't know Apple locks down its app store and rejects apps for the dumbest of reasons?
Anyone?
Bueller?
The reason it doesn't matter is that this is because it's the same old song and dance that we've gone through at least 10 times before, and Apple clearly isn't going to change.
If you didn't know that Apple locks its platform down and can reject apps for any reasons, your geek creds need to be revoked.
...fifth build of 1.6.0_19 and it still crippled your app? Whoops.
Yes, Apple has a locked down system that rejects apps for arbitrary reasons.
This is a known fact, can we stop pretending its "stuff that matters?"
I hate to say it, but it's more like this:
A: Release New OS
B: No One Adopts New OS
C: Release Another New OS
D: Support Expires for Old OS
E: "SOMEONE" Develops a rootkit\virus\malware that targets old OS.
F: Anti-Virus keeps the old OS limping along
G: Anti-Virus vendors keep releasing updates to prevent new viruses\rootkits\etc.
H: Over time thousands, if not millions of Old OS systems get infected by root kits that the large population isn't aware of.
I: Create a new patch that specifically, when coupled with the largely ignored\unnoticed rootkit\virus\malware, makes Old OS unuseable.
J: Choice: switch to Linux or upgrade to New OS.
K: Laugh histerically as at least 50% upgrade to New OS and you bath in $20 bills soaked in Champaign.
L: Profit.
Most Win 3.1 non-filesystem related programs will still run on Windows 7 32-bit. Not on 64-bit though.
Why not XP SP3?
The Register mentioned this earlier today, and I immediately informed our local IT guy, who contacted someone higher up at Enterprise Security.
Then Worf came to my desk and said I needed to test the Java upgrade before they deployed it to everyone.
...
Ok, not Worf, just one of our tech guys. Since I'm one of two Java developers on this floor as well as the one who reported it, I got the fun job of making sure everything i have (Eclipse, OC4J, Oracle SQLDeveloper, Oracle JDeveloper, etc...) still worked.
Chances are, if it's a rootkit, it's already overwritten the "known good" versions of those files Windows keeps around.
Plus, they can't guarantee that other files won't be modified by different versions of the same rootkit.
Other than that, Microsoft already pushes a new version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool through Windows Update every month.