That'll be why most games are still DX9 so they can run on XP.
Yet again, Microsoft can't see any rational reason for people to 'upgrade' to Windows Metro, so they're trying to force them by arbitrary restrictions on DirectX. Yet again, it will ensure that games don't use the new version until about Windows 11.
It's not *a* MAJOR linux distro, it is, according to several sources, *the* MAJOR linux distro, after masses of Ubuntu users jumped ship in the Unity/Gnome 3 debacle.
Certainly this machine will be switching from Ubuntu to Mint shortly.
There was a time when you could expect people on Slashdot to know about the most popular Linux desktop distro and not need to be spoon-fed that information.
People (like me) who are used to the mouse and keyboard might find it hard to see how productivity can improve without the two, but if you imagine that in a year or two there will be large (A4 or even A3 size), high resolution displays that sit horizontally on a desk or a lectern, which have multi-touch interfaces plus pressure sensitive pen devices, then a mouse is totally redundant and a keyboard an optional extra.
Yeah, because we're all going to sit hunched over a huge touchscreen lying flat on our desks, pressing on the screen to create Excel spreadsheets.
Tech like this has been available for years (I had an interview for a company producing large touchscreen panels like that in the early 90s) and it's never taken off because, outside specialist uses and TV shows, it's simply retarded.
Sure, if all that Windows software was compiled with Intel's compoler. That is highly unlikely.
When I was writing high-performance Windows software it was compiled with the Intel compiler. Since Intel CPUs were 99% of our market, not optimising for them would have been silly.
Your word processor probably doesn't use the Intel compiler, but when was the last time you complained that your word processor's code wasn't optimised enough?
I was wondering this myself, but if it is trivial then why hasn't the Taliban done it to shoot down Apaches/Chinooks in Afghanistan left right and centre?
From what I've read, the Taliban consider them more important for bragging rights ('Hey babe, come talk to me, I have a Stinger missile on my mantelpiece') than as weapons. You seem to assume they're a military force fighting a war rather than a gang of Afghan rednecks.
To be fair, if someone cares enough about time accuracy to understand why that's a dumb idea, they should probably be using a GPS receiver instead of a PC.
Maybe if the average newspaper contained 'content' which wasn't freely available on the web or had more intellectual content than 'Temporary Star X has bought a new dress', people might be willing to pay for them.
Yeah, 'cause they let someone else write the most popular OS for PCs and then released MS-DOS and took over the world.
Oh, wait, they owned the PC market with MS-DOS right from the start, and then released Windows 3.x when IBM were dabbling with OS/2 with much higher system requirements.
The only way they could get 'success' in the console market was to blow billions of dollars buying market share. If they'd put the same money into Apple shares, they'd be vastly richer today.
Now imagine the people in that world imagining what it would take to create a petroleum-based economy like ours from scratch.
As straw men go, that's a pretty poor one. This article is talking about producing algal fuel, not distributing it; when oil first began to be used as a fuel, it just squirted out of the ground ready to burn... who cared whether someone a thousand miles away can't burn it because there's no pipeline to get it there?
BTW, when I was a kid, we only had twenty years of oil left. Oddly, we seem to have about twenty years of oil left, thirty years later.
Yeah, because when we're working in an office we really want everyone to be talking to their computers all the time. That will really make for a good working environment.
Much as I am loathe to agree with Steve Jobs, I have to agree with him on that. To me personally, I don't see much use for a tablet that's less than 10". Smaller than that, and I can just use my smartphone instead. I want something big enough to read magazines and comic books on, and 7" don't cut it.
Owning a 10" tablet, I very much wish I'd bought a smaller one. It's too big and too heavy to comfortably carry around and most web sites switch to mobile versions designed for a 3" phone screen anyway (Slashdot is one of the exceptions as it randomly switches between desktop and mobile versions regardless of whether I'm using a desktop, laptop or tablet).
I'm guessing they'll kill Windows 7 ASAP. That's why I just bought the parts to build a new gaming PC, which should last me until at least Windows 9, if not 10.
No, no, Windows 8 is brilliant. Now when people ask for help on their Windows machines I'll be able to say 'sorry, don't know how to do it' and mutter something about massive UI changes if they ask why.
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That'll be why most games are still DX9 so they can run on XP.
Yet again, Microsoft can't see any rational reason for people to 'upgrade' to Windows Metro, so they're trying to force them by arbitrary restrictions on DirectX. Yet again, it will ensure that games don't use the new version until about Windows 11.
It's not *a* MAJOR linux distro, it is, according to several sources, *the* MAJOR linux distro, after masses of Ubuntu users jumped ship in the Unity/Gnome 3 debacle.
Certainly this machine will be switching from Ubuntu to Mint shortly.
There was a time when you could expect people on Slashdot to know about the most popular Linux desktop distro and not need to be spoon-fed that information.
People (like me) who are used to the mouse and keyboard might find it hard to see how productivity can improve without the two, but if you imagine that in a year or two there will be large (A4 or even A3 size), high resolution displays that sit horizontally on a desk or a lectern, which have multi-touch interfaces plus pressure sensitive pen devices, then a mouse is totally redundant and a keyboard an optional extra.
Yeah, because we're all going to sit hunched over a huge touchscreen lying flat on our desks, pressing on the screen to create Excel spreadsheets.
Tech like this has been available for years (I had an interview for a company producing large touchscreen panels like that in the early 90s) and it's never taken off because, outside specialist uses and TV shows, it's simply retarded.
Sure, if all that Windows software was compiled with Intel's compoler. That is highly unlikely.
When I was writing high-performance Windows software it was compiled with the Intel compiler. Since Intel CPUs were 99% of our market, not optimising for them would have been silly.
Your word processor probably doesn't use the Intel compiler, but when was the last time you complained that your word processor's code wasn't optimised enough?
Games are a lot cheaper if you don't hire Hollywood actors to record cut-scene dialogue that I just skip anyway.
I was wondering this myself, but if it is trivial then why hasn't the Taliban done it to shoot down Apaches/Chinooks in Afghanistan left right and centre?
From what I've read, the Taliban consider them more important for bragging rights ('Hey babe, come talk to me, I have a Stinger missile on my mantelpiece') than as weapons. You seem to assume they're a military force fighting a war rather than a gang of Afghan rednecks.
Can anyone convince me that this car can do well in the Canadian winter?
I'm sure it will run great at forty below. For about ten kilometers.
There are plenty of cars in that price range sold in the US every year -- thousands of them.
But they don't have to stop every two or three hours to spend an hour or two recharging at one of the few charging stations available.
It's a niche toy, not a car to compete with any other $80k luxury vehicle.
To be fair, if someone cares enough about time accuracy to understand why that's a dumb idea, they should probably be using a GPS receiver instead of a PC.
You hate it when Lucas made the original trilogy - the idea being that he sucks at making movies.
We liked the original trilogy: particularly the parts he didn't direct. It's the prequels that sucked ass.
Maybe if the average newspaper contained 'content' which wasn't freely available on the web or had more intellectual content than 'Temporary Star X has bought a new dress', people might be willing to pay for them.
Sounds good. And the newspapers can share some of the profit they make from Google pointing people toward their stories, then everyone wins.
No. The idea that power generation capability should be based on the fears of people with no understanding of technology or risk is the problem.
I say: shut it all down. Let them live in the dark for a few weeks and then see whether they're still saying 'nukelear is scary, ok'.
So your answer is: none. Correct?
Yes, but it's NUKELEAR! Who cares about a few million dead people if someone gets a moderately high radiation dose?
And how many people have died because of Fukushima?
Yeah, 'cause they let someone else write the most popular OS for PCs and then released MS-DOS and took over the world.
Oh, wait, they owned the PC market with MS-DOS right from the start, and then released Windows 3.x when IBM were dabbling with OS/2 with much higher system requirements.
The only way they could get 'success' in the console market was to blow billions of dollars buying market share. If they'd put the same money into Apple shares, they'd be vastly richer today.
Now imagine the people in that world imagining what it would take to create a petroleum-based economy like ours from scratch.
As straw men go, that's a pretty poor one. This article is talking about producing algal fuel, not distributing it; when oil first began to be used as a fuel, it just squirted out of the ground ready to burn... who cared whether someone a thousand miles away can't burn it because there's no pipeline to get it there?
BTW, when I was a kid, we only had twenty years of oil left. Oddly, we seem to have about twenty years of oil left, thirty years later.
Indeed, initial Win8 reviews have been scathing but this basically a 1.0 release of this new hybrid paradigm.
Except there is nothing new about this 'paradigm'. The Asus Transformer has been available for years.
Tablets with keyboards are a horrible kludge.
Yeah, because when we're working in an office we really want everyone to be talking to their computers all the time. That will really make for a good working environment.
We can accomplish that with today's technology.
Can you make it automatically clean off the coffee stains, too?
My tablet's bad enough, I was cleaning melted cheese off the screen the other day.
Much as I am loathe to agree with Steve Jobs, I have to agree with him on that. To me personally, I don't see much use for a tablet that's less than 10". Smaller than that, and I can just use my smartphone instead. I want something big enough to read magazines and comic books on, and 7" don't cut it.
Owning a 10" tablet, I very much wish I'd bought a smaller one. It's too big and too heavy to comfortably carry around and most web sites switch to mobile versions designed for a 3" phone screen anyway (Slashdot is one of the exceptions as it randomly switches between desktop and mobile versions regardless of whether I'm using a desktop, laptop or tablet).
A 7" tablet seems about the right size to me.
I'm guessing they'll kill Windows 7 ASAP. That's why I just bought the parts to build a new gaming PC, which should last me until at least Windows 9, if not 10.
Assuming Microsoft is still around by that point.
No, no, Windows 8 is brilliant. Now when people ask for help on their Windows machines I'll be able to say 'sorry, don't know how to do it' and mutter something about massive UI changes if they ask why.