The big problem is that it's not just the OS, it's the apps. Right now there are some good apps for Linux, but most don't have all the features that businesses might need. It's easier for most companies to buy off the shelf Windows apps than to pay someone to develop or tweak an exisitng Linux app.
Game tester is far from fun. Imaginge playing the same area day after day testing to see if you can get stuck, testing for walkable mesh, going through ever piece of dialog to see if it matches the text over and over.
But, Marc Saltzman is one of those guys that people keep going to as an "industry expert". He's not an expert. He's just a guy that knows and interviews a fair amount of people in the industry because he started a few years ago. He really doesn't have much more insight than a lot of people that post on/. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the media keep calling him back because they are too lazy to look deeper.
Sure, but they cost more and require more power than a Mac Mini can provide, which means buying a G5 which costs more... see where I'm going with this?
True, but I don't have time or space to add another PC on top of the 2 I have and my laptop just for email and web browsing. At this point that's all I'd use a Mac for. The Mini Mac is kind of a neat idea, but I'm not about to by another KVM to add one more computer that doesn't have the power that I'd need for serious media apps. So, if I wanted to go Mac I'd have to go G5 or G4 and as I mentioned I don't have the space. Not to mention the money needed to go Apple. Apps tend to cost more just because the market is smaller. Maybe a few years down the road when I move my office out of my home I'll consider Mac.
Anyone that uses their PC seriously for work or gaming isn't going to switch because of an iPod or iTunes. I stick with Windows because it runs all the apps I need to do my media work and all the games I love to play.
To see so many/.ers defend Apple and it's IP rights and yet if this was any other company, especially MS they's be screaming blue murder. If you don't apply the rules across the board it's a double standard folks.
They want me to pay more for a lower than CD quality download. In essence they are penalizing those that chose the least costly distribution method. In other words they are trying to turn downloads into their big profit center. Why would I pay more for less quality and no physical package? I support digital distribution, but this is just sad. How much you folks want to bet the artists would see very little if any of this increase? Last, but not least I thought CD sales were up recently? Wasn't part of that attributed to extra exposure from peer to peer sharing of music?
So, let me get this straight. You are bitching about a game and a control scheme that you tried a few times and calling it an affront to your "principles"? So, I assume that the moment you picked up the controller and played Goldeneye it was like second nature. No fumbling, looking up when you meant to look down, nothing like that? It took me a couple hours to get proficient with Halo, but after that it felt great. The layout makes sense and is about as close to a KB/mouse set-up as you can get. I played Goldeneye almost constantly over a weekend both single and multiplayer and never felt comfortable with the controls. Tradition is fine and all, but fun is what matters the most. I'm not about to sacrifice a decent control scheme and controller for the sake of nostalgia. Goldeneye was a first and it did an admirable job, but just like the original Doom it doesn't hold up well with time. If you want to stick with your N64 and miss out on the fun of the newer console games go for it.
Come on, do you really think CBC is taking kickbacks from MS? It's just that MS did some saturated marketing and news needs filler so when Halo 2 popped up on the radar they decided to mention it.
You do realize that the PS2 also has push down joysticks? Also, the controller for the N64 was ass, as were the controls for Goldeneye. It's far easier to control any FPS on the Xbox controller S than any of the current console controllers.
It won in Japan because it was a relatively cheap DVD player and could play PS games. It did not have a massive title base out of the gates, even the US launch later sucked. Sony killed the DC because it used effective FUD (you know, that thing people complain the MS uses all the time) and had companies like EA on it's side.
No one even has beta dev kits yet and they are saying it's going to launch this fall? I'd say that's far from a certainty. Both Sony and MS are waiting to see who blinks first.
The problem is with a lot of those games there is no official support for Linux and the executables don't come on the disc. Not to mention games like BZFlag (and a lot of other homegrown Linux games) don't really stand up too well when people see screenshots of the latest Windows games. There is no way you are going to convert Joe Consumer if he has to go searching for an executable or having them run an emulator (i.e. HL2) to play.
Every go'vt seems to think they can impose their national law on the net. Unless you live in a dictatorship or perhaps China that's just not going to happen. Watching politicians trying to cope with the advance of technology is like watching ants run from a kid with a magnifying glass.
It's not like anyone that reads the paper or wathces the news doesn't know that Windows is the prime target for malicious malcontents. I have done 3 clean XP and 1 Win98 installs for friends and family in the last 2 months and not one machine was infected during the process or afterwards even though they were live on my DSL. Maybe it's because I know the vulnerabilities and I make it a point to patch, then apply AV and firewall as soon as I can. If this genius tried this maybe he wouldn't have these problems. Also, the new car analogy is completely flawed and specious at best.
Agreed, it's the usual Mac worshipping straw grasping that Wired likes to do and/. always buys into because it comes with a side of MS bashing. Seriously, if the money Bill Gates puts into AIDS research came up with a cure people around here would still find a way to bash it.
Haven't had a problem all day. Maybe I just got lucky? I bought HL2 over Steam and so far (with the exception of a couple hours the first day) I have not had any problems with the system at all.
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The big problem is that it's not just the OS, it's the apps. Right now there are some good apps for Linux, but most don't have all the features that businesses might need. It's easier for most companies to buy off the shelf Windows apps than to pay someone to develop or tweak an exisitng Linux app.
Game tester is far from fun. Imaginge playing the same area day after day testing to see if you can get stuck, testing for walkable mesh, going through ever piece of dialog to see if it matches the text over and over.
But, Marc Saltzman is one of those guys that people keep going to as an "industry expert". He's not an expert. He's just a guy that knows and interviews a fair amount of people in the industry because he started a few years ago. He really doesn't have much more insight than a lot of people that post on /. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and the media keep calling him back because they are too lazy to look deeper.
Sure, but they cost more and require more power than a Mac Mini can provide, which means buying a G5 which costs more... see where I'm going with this?
True, but I don't have time or space to add another PC on top of the 2 I have and my laptop just for email and web browsing. At this point that's all I'd use a Mac for. The Mini Mac is kind of a neat idea, but I'm not about to by another KVM to add one more computer that doesn't have the power that I'd need for serious media apps. So, if I wanted to go Mac I'd have to go G5 or G4 and as I mentioned I don't have the space. Not to mention the money needed to go Apple. Apps tend to cost more just because the market is smaller. Maybe a few years down the road when I move my office out of my home I'll consider Mac.
Anyone that uses their PC seriously for work or gaming isn't going to switch because of an iPod or iTunes. I stick with Windows because it runs all the apps I need to do my media work and all the games I love to play.
To see so many /.ers defend Apple and it's IP rights and yet if this was any other company, especially MS they's be screaming blue murder. If you don't apply the rules across the board it's a double standard folks.
Guess what though. Your 8-track would play in any 8-track machine. That goes for albums and cassettes as well.
They want me to pay more for a lower than CD quality download. In essence they are penalizing those that chose the least costly distribution method. In other words they are trying to turn downloads into their big profit center. Why would I pay more for less quality and no physical package? I support digital distribution, but this is just sad. How much you folks want to bet the artists would see very little if any of this increase? Last, but not least I thought CD sales were up recently? Wasn't part of that attributed to extra exposure from peer to peer sharing of music?
So, let me get this straight. You are bitching about a game and a control scheme that you tried a few times and calling it an affront to your "principles"? So, I assume that the moment you picked up the controller and played Goldeneye it was like second nature. No fumbling, looking up when you meant to look down, nothing like that? It took me a couple hours to get proficient with Halo, but after that it felt great. The layout makes sense and is about as close to a KB/mouse set-up as you can get. I played Goldeneye almost constantly over a weekend both single and multiplayer and never felt comfortable with the controls. Tradition is fine and all, but fun is what matters the most. I'm not about to sacrifice a decent control scheme and controller for the sake of nostalgia. Goldeneye was a first and it did an admirable job, but just like the original Doom it doesn't hold up well with time. If you want to stick with your N64 and miss out on the fun of the newer console games go for it.
Come on, do you really think CBC is taking kickbacks from MS? It's just that MS did some saturated marketing and news needs filler so when Halo 2 popped up on the radar they decided to mention it.
You do realize that the PS2 also has push down joysticks? Also, the controller for the N64 was ass, as were the controls for Goldeneye. It's far easier to control any FPS on the Xbox controller S than any of the current console controllers.
It won in Japan because it was a relatively cheap DVD player and could play PS games. It did not have a massive title base out of the gates, even the US launch later sucked. Sony killed the DC because it used effective FUD (you know, that thing people complain the MS uses all the time) and had companies like EA on it's side.
No one even has beta dev kits yet and they are saying it's going to launch this fall? I'd say that's far from a certainty. Both Sony and MS are waiting to see who blinks first.
The problem is with a lot of those games there is no official support for Linux and the executables don't come on the disc. Not to mention games like BZFlag (and a lot of other homegrown Linux games) don't really stand up too well when people see screenshots of the latest Windows games. There is no way you are going to convert Joe Consumer if he has to go searching for an executable or having them run an emulator (i.e. HL2) to play.
A little early in the game to call the Mini a raging success isn't it? Has anyone got any sales numbers?
I wonder if it would be more appropriate to compare someone stealing a truck full of CDs and DVDs?
Every go'vt seems to think they can impose their national law on the net. Unless you live in a dictatorship or perhaps China that's just not going to happen. Watching politicians trying to cope with the advance of technology is like watching ants run from a kid with a magnifying glass.
Apple has sold to all levels of schools at a discount for many, many years and it hasn't made a dent in the PC market.
It's not like anyone that reads the paper or wathces the news doesn't know that Windows is the prime target for malicious malcontents. I have done 3 clean XP and 1 Win98 installs for friends and family in the last 2 months and not one machine was infected during the process or afterwards even though they were live on my DSL. Maybe it's because I know the vulnerabilities and I make it a point to patch, then apply AV and firewall as soon as I can. If this genius tried this maybe he wouldn't have these problems. Also, the new car analogy is completely flawed and specious at best.
Yeah, it looks bad when MS employees aren't buying the MS brand MP3 players... oh wait, they don't make any.
Agreed, it's the usual Mac worshipping straw grasping that Wired likes to do and /. always buys into because it comes with a side of MS bashing. Seriously, if the money Bill Gates puts into AIDS research came up with a cure people around here would still find a way to bash it.
There is a huge difference between using generic parts in an open system and a custom made closed system. So, next time compare Apples to Apples.
Haven't had a problem all day. Maybe I just got lucky? I bought HL2 over Steam and so far (with the exception of a couple hours the first day) I have not had any problems with the system at all.
Yeah, that's sounds like BS to me. The iPod doesn't have the processing power or the memory to do something like that.