make a fully inclusive, very feature rich web client for your email.
I'd love to see a Mozilla branded 'hotmail' type of mail account I could use. I'd pay for it, if it had functionality that Gmail or Hotmail had but then again, why reinvent the wheel? The rich client for email is on its way out, thin clients are in.
That said, I think I'm the one guy on Slashdot that hates Gmail. I like Yahoo mail, and pay for it:)
I agree with what you're saying... my point is that since Linus shares his name with the product in question, I just thought his role as a kernel only developer kind of stifles adoption because his voice is left out of it. When he speaks, people listen -- and I just thought that his using his position in the industry to spur development, reconcile GUI options, unify, etc... would be a good idea.
As good as a kernel developer as he may be, I still think he'd be valuable reconciling the problems that the different distros have and producing a product that is not only good on technical merits, but also other merits:)
I figured I'd get flack for the initial comment I posted, but I stand by it.
I am thinking that his love for writing low level code is something of a failure of what will allow Linux to come into the mainstream.
And that is, getting the GUI perfected, fixing software distribution (standardize it, so no RPM or whatever... just a single package)... Click N' Run seems to be going this route.
I feel Linux can make some serious inroads on the desktop, but it has to be presented as a unified system. When you tell your friends you run Ubuntu (or whatever), then they are like "What's that?" There's no unity... if you run Gentoo, RedHat, Ubuntu... it's not "just" Linux, because even within Linux you have fanboys for different distros.
Anyway.. just throwing it out there. I'm still a Linux neophyte compared to most here, but I enjoy learning about it. I don't think there is a centralized focus for the future of Linux, other than through Linus who it seems to me, is far too geeky to realize what it takes to bring Linux into the mainstream.
Microsoft has found a way to make a boatload of money from closed source software. And I know we will hear the arguments of people who say that open source is better -- but tell me why? I am an open source proponent for lots of things, but it has to make sense. Business sense. And I think that fact is lost on a lot of people.
If you can have code reviewed by people be it open source, or closed... how is it different? The open source projects that are best, are the ones that have the most involvement in them. Here's a good case in point -- phpBB which is by far the best open source forum software, has been surpassed by Invision Power Board, and vBulletin in features, speed, and fit and finish. But why? phpBB is open source! It's because not as many people are dedicating as many hours to review the code, check for bugs, and continually update the product. Invision and Jelsoft are doing this on a daily basis, all day long.
Another example is Open Office. From a technical point of view, it's got a lot of developers, but no focus. That's why we have Java in it because technically, it makes sense to have. But that leads to longer load times. There's no central cohesion on the project it seems.
I'm not a MS proponent -- but I understand the logic they have. Windows is closed source and making it open source is in their mind, a bad idea -- because then they will lose money because the technology out there can be used in forked projects to build "a better OS" that remains compatible to Windows. Each progressive version of Windows is essentially being able to build upon the foundation of what there was before, and adding more. (let's not get into a Vista is good/bad debate). If Windows is open sourced, what's to prevent a competent group of folks to recreate the libraries, APIs, etc... and make a COMPATIBLE OS that is actually you know... "better"?
Microsoft's good move would be to see the projects that add value to Windows as a PLATFORM, and support them. Open source or NOT. And they are actively doing this. Just recently Microsoft dropped $150 million to ensure the movement of HD-DVD, because it's a technology that plays to their interests, plays to their benefit, and provides them long term stability in a certain business avenue.
Linux isn't ready for the desktop yet. With Click n' Run, moving "edit the.conf file!" into a GUI, and other streamlining, it can be. But I fear more the next version of Windows which by all accounts, seems to be a *drastic* departure from what there was previously because they are abandoning a lot of legacy code, and replacing compatibility with internalized virtualization layers. Microsoft has a LOT of talented programmers, a lot of smart minds, and a lot of good directions. Some business moves they have made in the past have been questionable or stupid. Some products they have released are just piss poor. But cohesively, Microsoft has provided products that are largely decent, and their biggest stopping point is backward compatibility to support older products. They can't "reinvent" the Windows wheel, like Apple decided to. But with virtualization, they can.
I fear the day that Microsoft makes a "great" OS (by/. standards), because that's the day we lose our choice in the marketplace. Linux is making the right moves, but until there is a single, unified distribution, there's even arguments within the Linux community on which distro is best -- and how can a consumer decide?
Open source projects for Microsoft are a non-issue. Take away the "open source" and just use "Windows enhancing", and then you might be more appropriate. Microsoft doesn't care if the product is open source or not -- they will support what strengthens them, just as Linux should be more actively doing as well. Strengthen the platform as a whole, unify, and provide a clear choice to consumers on an enterprise and home level.
It will only serve us all.
In the meanwhile -- thanks for making Ubuntu so this Windows kid could learn that Linux can fly too, and still be useful. Firefox too:)
The option to buy and keep will always be there in digital media, but I think that the future is going to be a combination, mostly streaming media and some kept media.
Like I said, I use Yahoo LaunchCast now, but when I find a song I like, I grab that (I'm on the unlimited subscription), UN-DRM it (I love you Doom9), and convert it to VBR MP3 format.
Then I can throw it onto my iPod and roam around my car and the gym with it. If I had the ability to stream into my car and the gym with 'personalization' and 'skipping' ability -- I'd never bother downloading the song, because I'd get exactly what I want.
The future of the music industry is going to be subscription based. You'll have internet access everywhere you go at some point in the near future... in your car, at work, everywhere.
You will pay $10 or $15 a month to play all the music you want.
Last.FM is one of my best bets in this market too... personalized music stations, international hits, etc.. it's going to be a lot of fun to see the next few years. Personally I use Last.FM and Yahoo LaunchCast on a daily basis -- people ask me all the time how I find such neat new music, and I tell them always "It was recommended to me" -- by whom? Ahh.. when they figure that out, say good bye to music sales as we know them.
Last I checked, physical disks costs $100 for 500GB in a USB enclosure. That's faster than Blu-Ray can write, cheaper, and portable. Most games and media will fit onto an HD-DVD EASILY. If you're backing up to Blu-Ray discs then I think you silly. Even USB sticks can hold 4GB on them, and the next generation will 'up' that even higher. Again, faster writes, and cheaper pricing.
Personally, I want HD-DVD to win the 'format' war, because in reality, it's going to be the LAST physical format. The 'next' generation is going to be streaming media entirely. Look at how long it took for people to move from VHS to DVD -- oh wait, they still haven't! The same is true for a physical format like HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I just want what will be cheaper in the long run. I can go to WalMart now and pick up a DVD for $5. Do you think I will ever be able to pick up a $5 Blu-Ray disc? Won't happen. Sony has a bad history in terms of media and closed formats, and BR will be no exception. HD-DVD is cheaper to produce, and that means as factories convert, it will be even MORE cheap. And the plus is that a lot of HD-DVDs are dual sided, one side being the HD content, the other being a regular DVD.
This 'war' is just idiotic -- just choose the cheaper format and move on. Or do you want to get higher pricing on your media, so that when the streaming content comes along and costs virtually NOTHING, that you are arguing it down from a higher price?
It's going to be harder to say "Hey, you were paying $30 for that BR disc, now you can pay $20 for streaming media."
Or would you rather say "Hey, you were paying $15 for that HD-DVD, now you can pay $10 for streaming content."
That said, it doesn't offer much over what XP did, except for a few new icons, better integrated search, widgets, and "Aero" which sucks anyway.
But it works fine. I have an nVidia graphics card for which drivers are quite good. ATI cards (i had one earlier) and I did have some lockups with that, but ATI is notorious for bad driver support, and so I swapped to nVidia. I have a Creative X-Fi card, an HDCP compliant monitor (Dell 24" sweetness!), and a USB Keyboard/Mouse. Everything works just like it did with XP.
I admit, I'm kind of an early adopter. Some things annoyed me constantly, like the User Account Control (UAC) and I turned off almost immediately. I run as "Administrator" on my PC. Sleep doesn't work worth a damn, and will always lock up my PC if I try it (It's a custom build though). Didn't work that well under XP either, for that matter.
The issue with Vista or XP or Microsoft on the desktop versus Linux isn't really the issue here. It's a suite of products that Microsoft offers as a complement to their OS which makes Microsoft on the desktop a reasonable business case for most folks. To be sure, not all folks -- I am not going to try and kid you here. Linux has a lot of benefits, so does Mac, but in the end Microsoft development tends to be cheaper and easier to support than any other software deployment for large organizations.
And why do a lot of people have Windows on their PCs at home? "I use it at work." It's not an uncommon answer, and if you can step away from the Slashdot bias (I know it's tough, but try), ask average, every day users why they have a Windows PC at home. That will be in the top 5 answers. That, and Windows PCs are pretty cheap too, and only idiots buy pre-built Linux PCs because frankly, you can get Windows for $25 and format it with Linux ANYWAY. Few people buy Linux PCs for their kids to use, because there are almost zero educational games for Linux. Dell gives people the option because it is pure profit for them to do it -- it's only changing a standard image that the PC you are buying is getting rolled out. Very easy to do, and costs them nothing. You actually wind up paying a premium because you lost out on a copy of Windows for $25 that you could have kept for some other purpose.
I digress though... Windows PCs in the enterprise are generally the norm. Office in a corporate environment is also a 'norm'. Now add to that Sharepoint, which is now Microsoft's fastest growing product, BizTalk which allows for rapid software development without any coding whatsoever (it's all graphical coding) and allows business managers to make changes to 'software' without requiring a developer. Then there is IIS which is probably MS's best product. Other software like Softgrid, SMS, Project, etc... these are all tie-ins to IE, and a Windows based desktop.
If you move to Linux on the desktop, you lose all of those options, and there are no quick fixes to find replacements. Want software to manage and inventory your entire enterprise, roll out patches, software, and lock down workstations for different users? SMS+Active Directory are pretty easy and pretty cheap, and work on Windows only. Is there an equivalent for Linux or Mac? Probably -- but then you lose out on something else, like say, Sharepoint Server which you really could use for your document management, or BizTalk where you wanted to let your managers change business logic on the fly without a developer.
See, the way Microsoft beats Linux and Mac on the desktop is by pushing it through on the corporate side. If we want Linux or Mac to take over the desktop, then they need to offer a SUITE of products. Mac will frankly *never* take over the desktop because it's a closed architecture and they are the only ones who sell the hardware. For a lot of companies, that's like dealing with a mafia and they won't have it. Linux has a great shot, and with the "Click and Run" technology coming out I'm very excited to see the future of Linux as it draws closer
It is news for nerds, when the top advisor of an administration who has supported topics like changing the fight on global warming, letting the FCC let lobbyists write its daily agendas, encouraging telcos to say that the internet is "theirs" and that they can charge a premium to different internet sites around the globe if they want 'increased' bandwith.
It is news for nerds, when an administration is guilty of supporting failing industries like airlines, stopping the path for new airlines to make headway into the arena. It is news for nerds when we remove the advisor who played the "Wizard of Oz" with what should be the most powerful man in the world.
In reality though, it won't change a thing. Rove's departure is too little, too late. My hope is that charges are brought upon him for the firing of the US Attorneys and making it politically motivated, for helping cherry pick intelligence to make a case for a war of choice, for re-writing documents written by climatologists to show that global warming is a hoax, and on and on. The intelligent folks would start the indictment towards the end of Bush's term, and have it run through after he is out of office. No sentence should be passed while George Bush is in office. This way, when faced with SOLID jail time, Karl Rove will show how his underhanded life will play against George Bush and Co when he starts blathering about every bad thing he and his buddies in the White House did during his tenure. And you can bet that it would happen if he did face jail time.
For an administration so bent on war, almost all of them deferred multiple times to stay out of Vietnam, or flew aircraft that were obsolete and had no chance of being used in battle. When they are faced with the violent fact of jail -- you can bet they will try to "defer" yet again.
proves that he has vision beyond the typical game developer.
How many countless technologies id Software has brought us over the years, games today should be forever thankful. Now that games tend to sprawl out into massive landscapes (MMOs are big on this too), engines that are geared towards serving large landscapes instead of 'room by room' sprawling are going to be the norm.
On an unrelated note -- I'm looking forward to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
Women in IT, generally suck at it. They suck as programmers. They suck even more as sysadmins. There is a girl I work with who is the 100% opposite to what I'm saying, so there are definite silver linings, and even I have eaten my words since I had given up on the idea that women would be good at IT.
In the 10 years I've been in IT, this is the first female whom I have met who is willing to learn, do the job, work hard, and has a sense of logic and systematic approach to working in IT. The other women I've met felt a sense of entitlement because they were women, felt a sense they were being put down because they were a woman, and not because they couldn't handle the work. Women I've met (as a sysadmin) wouldn't meet the requirements of moving servers because "I'm a girl!", but then expected to set them up from top to bottom after I'd racked and stacked it for them.
Programming is a similar story. Women I've encountered took a long time to come up with the logic to create a flow, create a procedure. Lots of questions to ask colleagues, lots of back and forth, and little actual code -- too much talking about the code. What they do code is usually well commented and indented (before.NET did it all for you).
I am sorry to say, but if a woman feels that IT is her calling -- she better be good at it. They have a lot more to prove and as a manager myself, I would be wary of hiring a woman because the skills I look for are competence and the ability to 'figure it out' without interference. It's not to say that it cannot be done, but the burden of proof is on the woman in the job. It's unfortunate for sure, but there are similar circumstances where men would not be as aptly suited for a job as a woman would. Would you for example, hire a male decorator over a woman? The answer is MAYBE -- that person would have to prove their work.
Women are no different. It's just that there are so few of them that are able to prove their worth (just as there are so few male decorators), that it seems like a difficult task. Honestly, after meeting the girl in my current job, my respect for her is two times what it would be if she was a guy -- and she gets that from everybody whom she works with because she is competent to do her job. Usually the people who are bitching about fairness and being treated with respect, given the work of their position, trusted with it to be done quickly and efficiently... well they usually suck at their jobs and it's nothing to do with the fact they are women.
It's got its downsides, of course.. IIS 7 gets a separate entry in the event log (as do all applications now programmed for Vista and beyond). You will find your complaints well addressed after that:)
I should make the point though, that when something in IIS breaks -- it's usually not the fault of IIS but rather the application. Either that, or somebody changed a setting which, if you have good auditing software, can be easy to figure out.
The end result of universities is to turn out future employees for organizations. A lot of application level programming is done at the.NET level -- it is the job of a university to train you to be able to fill the next generation slots.
The other option taught at a lot of universities (when I went some years ago) is Java. And Java becomes increasingly slower and more painful to use, what other options are there? PHP is a good language but in a corporate environment... how often do you see it used to develop enterprise apps?.NET has the ability to be developed fast and dirty and work. Lots of tools in place to support it as well.
I'm not saying other languages are bad, but.NET has a great foothold in the corporate world. Take that away, and universities will likely teach other alternatives.
It's easy to set up, comes with Windows, easy to administer and is out of the box, extremely secure. Adding load balancing is a snap and works really well. Doesn't cost a dime either.
It's one of Microsoft's best products.
There is no reason why it shouldn't compete with Apache -- it does a lot of work and works really well. I know with the MS haters on Slashdot we may get some opposition to my remarks but let's face it -- sometimes good engineers and programmers exist at Microsoft too. They have been known to make more than a few good products.
Create a USB plugin for PCs that runs the software, and a CableCard as well as the tuner. Say it's $300 (just like the set). This turns ANY PC into a HTPC unit. You can pick it up and use it elsewhere (usb).
There's no way I will pay $300 PLUS $15 a month in order to record television. I have a HTPC in my room running Windows Media Center and I really love it, although it has its shortcomings. I was hoping the AppleTV would do something like my Windows box, but so far that hasn't been the case.
Windows Media Center gets better and better over time, and it will be one of the many possibilities and avenues of the death of Tivo. The cost is just too much for what you are getting, even though the hardware and service technically justifies what you pay... nobody wants to pay monthly to record TV, when you can pay $10 a month for a DVR from your cable company.
Either that... or start making cable boxes for cable companies. I would gladly pay $15 a month to have a Tivo box that works as my cable tv tuner as well as HDTV recorder:)
Peter Molyneux, of "Black and White" fame, from Lionhead Studios.
He created Black and White with great acclaim and praise, a game that relied heavily on mouse gestures and a total lack of buttons. It was a development "focus" to rid the UI of buttons. The game was brilliant in its AI, in its development, and its graphics. It was a technical marvel.
The people started to play it. Go look up at Amazon.com's reviews of the game. The sheer number of people complaining of pained hands after playing the game, the annoying control schemes and never getting the gestures 'quite right' were all great issues.
So a great game with lots of promise became a game that was tedious and annoying to play, even if it was fun underneath all the irritation.
No buttons, is not always a good thing. BMW's iDrive is another great example of trying to take buttons 'out' of the equation and replace them with something simple.... didn't work out well there either. Jobs should be keen to keep these reminders that simplistic is great to a point, but sometimes it hinders rather than helps.
I have found the new UI, after using it day in and out (work related) to be exceptional and well thought. I work more quickly as I've learned the menus.
It's entirely different, and that does put people off using it with ease, but different doesn't mean bad necessarily. It takes getting used to, just like anything else.
Slashdot Mirror
make a fully inclusive, very feature rich web client for your email.
:)
I'd love to see a Mozilla branded 'hotmail' type of mail account I could use. I'd pay for it, if it had functionality that Gmail or Hotmail had but then again, why reinvent the wheel? The rich client for email is on its way out, thin clients are in.
That said, I think I'm the one guy on Slashdot that hates Gmail. I like Yahoo mail, and pay for it
Anybody remember Windows XP and the adoption of DX9?
Jeez, for nerds we have a bad sense of history.
I agree with what you're saying... my point is that since Linus shares his name with the product in question, I just thought his role as a kernel only developer kind of stifles adoption because his voice is left out of it. When he speaks, people listen -- and I just thought that his using his position in the industry to spur development, reconcile GUI options, unify, etc... would be a good idea.
:)
As good as a kernel developer as he may be, I still think he'd be valuable reconciling the problems that the different distros have and producing a product that is not only good on technical merits, but also other merits
I figured I'd get flack for the initial comment I posted, but I stand by it.
I am thinking that his love for writing low level code is something of a failure of what will allow Linux to come into the mainstream.
And that is, getting the GUI perfected, fixing software distribution (standardize it, so no RPM or whatever... just a single package)... Click N' Run seems to be going this route.
I feel Linux can make some serious inroads on the desktop, but it has to be presented as a unified system. When you tell your friends you run Ubuntu (or whatever), then they are like "What's that?" There's no unity... if you run Gentoo, RedHat, Ubuntu... it's not "just" Linux, because even within Linux you have fanboys for different distros.
Anyway.. just throwing it out there. I'm still a Linux neophyte compared to most here, but I enjoy learning about it. I don't think there is a centralized focus for the future of Linux, other than through Linus who it seems to me, is far too geeky to realize what it takes to bring Linux into the mainstream.
It's a battle about how to make money, isn't it?
.conf file!" into a GUI, and other streamlining, it can be. But I fear more the next version of Windows which by all accounts, seems to be a *drastic* departure from what there was previously because they are abandoning a lot of legacy code, and replacing compatibility with internalized virtualization layers. Microsoft has a LOT of talented programmers, a lot of smart minds, and a lot of good directions. Some business moves they have made in the past have been questionable or stupid. Some products they have released are just piss poor. But cohesively, Microsoft has provided products that are largely decent, and their biggest stopping point is backward compatibility to support older products. They can't "reinvent" the Windows wheel, like Apple decided to. But with virtualization, they can.
/. standards), because that's the day we lose our choice in the marketplace. Linux is making the right moves, but until there is a single, unified distribution, there's even arguments within the Linux community on which distro is best -- and how can a consumer decide?
:)
Microsoft has found a way to make a boatload of money from closed source software. And I know we will hear the arguments of people who say that open source is better -- but tell me why? I am an open source proponent for lots of things, but it has to make sense. Business sense. And I think that fact is lost on a lot of people.
If you can have code reviewed by people be it open source, or closed... how is it different? The open source projects that are best, are the ones that have the most involvement in them. Here's a good case in point -- phpBB which is by far the best open source forum software, has been surpassed by Invision Power Board, and vBulletin in features, speed, and fit and finish. But why? phpBB is open source! It's because not as many people are dedicating as many hours to review the code, check for bugs, and continually update the product. Invision and Jelsoft are doing this on a daily basis, all day long.
Another example is Open Office. From a technical point of view, it's got a lot of developers, but no focus. That's why we have Java in it because technically, it makes sense to have. But that leads to longer load times. There's no central cohesion on the project it seems.
I'm not a MS proponent -- but I understand the logic they have. Windows is closed source and making it open source is in their mind, a bad idea -- because then they will lose money because the technology out there can be used in forked projects to build "a better OS" that remains compatible to Windows. Each progressive version of Windows is essentially being able to build upon the foundation of what there was before, and adding more. (let's not get into a Vista is good/bad debate). If Windows is open sourced, what's to prevent a competent group of folks to recreate the libraries, APIs, etc... and make a COMPATIBLE OS that is actually you know... "better"?
Microsoft's good move would be to see the projects that add value to Windows as a PLATFORM, and support them. Open source or NOT. And they are actively doing this. Just recently Microsoft dropped $150 million to ensure the movement of HD-DVD, because it's a technology that plays to their interests, plays to their benefit, and provides them long term stability in a certain business avenue.
Linux isn't ready for the desktop yet. With Click n' Run, moving "edit the
I fear the day that Microsoft makes a "great" OS (by
Open source projects for Microsoft are a non-issue. Take away the "open source" and just use "Windows enhancing", and then you might be more appropriate. Microsoft doesn't care if the product is open source or not -- they will support what strengthens them, just as Linux should be more actively doing as well. Strengthen the platform as a whole, unify, and provide a clear choice to consumers on an enterprise and home level.
It will only serve us all.
In the meanwhile -- thanks for making Ubuntu so this Windows kid could learn that Linux can fly too, and still be useful. Firefox too
The option to buy and keep will always be there in digital media, but I think that the future is going to be a combination, mostly streaming media and some kept media.
Like I said, I use Yahoo LaunchCast now, but when I find a song I like, I grab that (I'm on the unlimited subscription), UN-DRM it (I love you Doom9), and convert it to VBR MP3 format.
Then I can throw it onto my iPod and roam around my car and the gym with it. If I had the ability to stream into my car and the gym with 'personalization' and 'skipping' ability -- I'd never bother downloading the song, because I'd get exactly what I want.
The future of the music industry is going to be subscription based. You'll have internet access everywhere you go at some point in the near future... in your car, at work, everywhere.
You will pay $10 or $15 a month to play all the music you want.
Last.FM is one of my best bets in this market too... personalized music stations, international hits, etc.. it's going to be a lot of fun to see the next few years. Personally I use Last.FM and Yahoo LaunchCast on a daily basis -- people ask me all the time how I find such neat new music, and I tell them always "It was recommended to me" -- by whom? Ahh.. when they figure that out, say good bye to music sales as we know them.
Google's hard drive study is kind of a great thing when you think about it.... it just shows that archiving to disk is cheap and efficient.
Are missing out.
Last I checked, physical disks costs $100 for 500GB in a USB enclosure. That's faster than Blu-Ray can write, cheaper, and portable. Most games and media will fit onto an HD-DVD EASILY. If you're backing up to Blu-Ray discs then I think you silly. Even USB sticks can hold 4GB on them, and the next generation will 'up' that even higher. Again, faster writes, and cheaper pricing.
Personally, I want HD-DVD to win the 'format' war, because in reality, it's going to be the LAST physical format. The 'next' generation is going to be streaming media entirely. Look at how long it took for people to move from VHS to DVD -- oh wait, they still haven't! The same is true for a physical format like HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I just want what will be cheaper in the long run. I can go to WalMart now and pick up a DVD for $5. Do you think I will ever be able to pick up a $5 Blu-Ray disc? Won't happen. Sony has a bad history in terms of media and closed formats, and BR will be no exception. HD-DVD is cheaper to produce, and that means as factories convert, it will be even MORE cheap. And the plus is that a lot of HD-DVDs are dual sided, one side being the HD content, the other being a regular DVD.
This 'war' is just idiotic -- just choose the cheaper format and move on. Or do you want to get higher pricing on your media, so that when the streaming content comes along and costs virtually NOTHING, that you are arguing it down from a higher price?
It's going to be harder to say "Hey, you were paying $30 for that BR disc, now you can pay $20 for streaming media."
Or would you rather say "Hey, you were paying $15 for that HD-DVD, now you can pay $10 for streaming content."
I know which one I'd pick.
If we are judging based off of current generation processors, I believe the size of the chip will be about 3 feet squared.
Warning: Sarcasm above may cause irritation of skin and explosion of monitor.
How do I overclock it?
Who hasn't had many issues with Vista.
That said, it doesn't offer much over what XP did, except for a few new icons, better integrated search, widgets, and "Aero" which sucks anyway.
But it works fine. I have an nVidia graphics card for which drivers are quite good. ATI cards (i had one earlier) and I did have some lockups with that, but ATI is notorious for bad driver support, and so I swapped to nVidia. I have a Creative X-Fi card, an HDCP compliant monitor (Dell 24" sweetness!), and a USB Keyboard/Mouse. Everything works just like it did with XP.
I admit, I'm kind of an early adopter. Some things annoyed me constantly, like the User Account Control (UAC) and I turned off almost immediately. I run as "Administrator" on my PC. Sleep doesn't work worth a damn, and will always lock up my PC if I try it (It's a custom build though). Didn't work that well under XP either, for that matter.
The issue with Vista or XP or Microsoft on the desktop versus Linux isn't really the issue here. It's a suite of products that Microsoft offers as a complement to their OS which makes Microsoft on the desktop a reasonable business case for most folks. To be sure, not all folks -- I am not going to try and kid you here. Linux has a lot of benefits, so does Mac, but in the end Microsoft development tends to be cheaper and easier to support than any other software deployment for large organizations.
And why do a lot of people have Windows on their PCs at home? "I use it at work." It's not an uncommon answer, and if you can step away from the Slashdot bias (I know it's tough, but try), ask average, every day users why they have a Windows PC at home. That will be in the top 5 answers. That, and Windows PCs are pretty cheap too, and only idiots buy pre-built Linux PCs because frankly, you can get Windows for $25 and format it with Linux ANYWAY. Few people buy Linux PCs for their kids to use, because there are almost zero educational games for Linux. Dell gives people the option because it is pure profit for them to do it -- it's only changing a standard image that the PC you are buying is getting rolled out. Very easy to do, and costs them nothing. You actually wind up paying a premium because you lost out on a copy of Windows for $25 that you could have kept for some other purpose.
I digress though... Windows PCs in the enterprise are generally the norm. Office in a corporate environment is also a 'norm'. Now add to that Sharepoint, which is now Microsoft's fastest growing product, BizTalk which allows for rapid software development without any coding whatsoever (it's all graphical coding) and allows business managers to make changes to 'software' without requiring a developer. Then there is IIS which is probably MS's best product. Other software like Softgrid, SMS, Project, etc... these are all tie-ins to IE, and a Windows based desktop.
If you move to Linux on the desktop, you lose all of those options, and there are no quick fixes to find replacements. Want software to manage and inventory your entire enterprise, roll out patches, software, and lock down workstations for different users? SMS+Active Directory are pretty easy and pretty cheap, and work on Windows only. Is there an equivalent for Linux or Mac? Probably -- but then you lose out on something else, like say, Sharepoint Server which you really could use for your document management, or BizTalk where you wanted to let your managers change business logic on the fly without a developer.
See, the way Microsoft beats Linux and Mac on the desktop is by pushing it through on the corporate side. If we want Linux or Mac to take over the desktop, then they need to offer a SUITE of products. Mac will frankly *never* take over the desktop because it's a closed architecture and they are the only ones who sell the hardware. For a lot of companies, that's like dealing with a mafia and they won't have it. Linux has a great shot, and with the "Click and Run" technology coming out I'm very excited to see the future of Linux as it draws closer
Linux systems are only as secure as the admins who manage them.
:)
And for bonus "hate" points, even MS servers can be secure if they are admined probably. Don't worry though, I have my flame suit on.
Inference is best -- hobbits live in the Shire... it was enough for me to chuckle :)
The movie version serves perfectly fine for your analogy :)
:)
I've only read "the Hobbit" and was terribly bored by the end of it -- the movies are a lot better and explain what the Shire is perfectly well
It is news for nerds, when the top advisor of an administration who has supported topics like changing the fight on global warming, letting the FCC let lobbyists write its daily agendas, encouraging telcos to say that the internet is "theirs" and that they can charge a premium to different internet sites around the globe if they want 'increased' bandwith.
It is news for nerds, when an administration is guilty of supporting failing industries like airlines, stopping the path for new airlines to make headway into the arena. It is news for nerds when we remove the advisor who played the "Wizard of Oz" with what should be the most powerful man in the world.
In reality though, it won't change a thing. Rove's departure is too little, too late. My hope is that charges are brought upon him for the firing of the US Attorneys and making it politically motivated, for helping cherry pick intelligence to make a case for a war of choice, for re-writing documents written by climatologists to show that global warming is a hoax, and on and on. The intelligent folks would start the indictment towards the end of Bush's term, and have it run through after he is out of office. No sentence should be passed while George Bush is in office. This way, when faced with SOLID jail time, Karl Rove will show how his underhanded life will play against George Bush and Co when he starts blathering about every bad thing he and his buddies in the White House did during his tenure. And you can bet that it would happen if he did face jail time.
For an administration so bent on war, almost all of them deferred multiple times to stay out of Vietnam, or flew aircraft that were obsolete and had no chance of being used in battle. When they are faced with the violent fact of jail -- you can bet they will try to "defer" yet again.
proves that he has vision beyond the typical game developer.
How many countless technologies id Software has brought us over the years, games today should be forever thankful. Now that games tend to sprawl out into massive landscapes (MMOs are big on this too), engines that are geared towards serving large landscapes instead of 'room by room' sprawling are going to be the norm.
On an unrelated note -- I'm looking forward to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
but I will.
.NET did it all for you).
Women in IT, generally suck at it. They suck as programmers. They suck even more as sysadmins. There is a girl I work with who is the 100% opposite to what I'm saying, so there are definite silver linings, and even I have eaten my words since I had given up on the idea that women would be good at IT.
In the 10 years I've been in IT, this is the first female whom I have met who is willing to learn, do the job, work hard, and has a sense of logic and systematic approach to working in IT. The other women I've met felt a sense of entitlement because they were women, felt a sense they were being put down because they were a woman, and not because they couldn't handle the work. Women I've met (as a sysadmin) wouldn't meet the requirements of moving servers because "I'm a girl!", but then expected to set them up from top to bottom after I'd racked and stacked it for them.
Programming is a similar story. Women I've encountered took a long time to come up with the logic to create a flow, create a procedure. Lots of questions to ask colleagues, lots of back and forth, and little actual code -- too much talking about the code. What they do code is usually well commented and indented (before
I am sorry to say, but if a woman feels that IT is her calling -- she better be good at it. They have a lot more to prove and as a manager myself, I would be wary of hiring a woman because the skills I look for are competence and the ability to 'figure it out' without interference. It's not to say that it cannot be done, but the burden of proof is on the woman in the job. It's unfortunate for sure, but there are similar circumstances where men would not be as aptly suited for a job as a woman would. Would you for example, hire a male decorator over a woman? The answer is MAYBE -- that person would have to prove their work.
Women are no different. It's just that there are so few of them that are able to prove their worth (just as there are so few male decorators), that it seems like a difficult task. Honestly, after meeting the girl in my current job, my respect for her is two times what it would be if she was a guy -- and she gets that from everybody whom she works with because she is competent to do her job. Usually the people who are bitching about fairness and being treated with respect, given the work of their position, trusted with it to be done quickly and efficiently... well they usually suck at their jobs and it's nothing to do with the fact they are women.
It's got its downsides, of course.. IIS 7 gets a separate entry in the event log (as do all applications now programmed for Vista and beyond). You will find your complaints well addressed after that :)
I should make the point though, that when something in IIS breaks -- it's usually not the fault of IIS but rather the application. Either that, or somebody changed a setting which, if you have good auditing software, can be easy to figure out.
The end result of universities is to turn out future employees for organizations. A lot of application level programming is done at the .NET level -- it is the job of a university to train you to be able to fill the next generation slots.
.NET has the ability to be developed fast and dirty and work. Lots of tools in place to support it as well.
.NET has a great foothold in the corporate world. Take that away, and universities will likely teach other alternatives.
The other option taught at a lot of universities (when I went some years ago) is Java. And Java becomes increasingly slower and more painful to use, what other options are there? PHP is a good language but in a corporate environment... how often do you see it used to develop enterprise apps?
I'm not saying other languages are bad, but
It's easy to set up, comes with Windows, easy to administer and is out of the box, extremely secure. Adding load balancing is a snap and works really well. Doesn't cost a dime either.
It's one of Microsoft's best products.
There is no reason why it shouldn't compete with Apache -- it does a lot of work and works really well. I know with the MS haters on Slashdot we may get some opposition to my remarks but let's face it -- sometimes good engineers and programmers exist at Microsoft too. They have been known to make more than a few good products.
Create a USB plugin for PCs that runs the software, and a CableCard as well as the tuner. Say it's $300 (just like the set). This turns ANY PC into a HTPC unit. You can pick it up and use it elsewhere (usb).
:)
There's no way I will pay $300 PLUS $15 a month in order to record television. I have a HTPC in my room running Windows Media Center and I really love it, although it has its shortcomings. I was hoping the AppleTV would do something like my Windows box, but so far that hasn't been the case.
Windows Media Center gets better and better over time, and it will be one of the many possibilities and avenues of the death of Tivo. The cost is just too much for what you are getting, even though the hardware and service technically justifies what you pay... nobody wants to pay monthly to record TV, when you can pay $10 a month for a DVR from your cable company.
Either that... or start making cable boxes for cable companies. I would gladly pay $15 a month to have a Tivo box that works as my cable tv tuner as well as HDTV recorder
Peter Molyneux, of "Black and White" fame, from Lionhead Studios.
He created Black and White with great acclaim and praise, a game that relied heavily on mouse gestures and a total lack of buttons. It was a development "focus" to rid the UI of buttons. The game was brilliant in its AI, in its development, and its graphics. It was a technical marvel.
The people started to play it. Go look up at Amazon.com's reviews of the game. The sheer number of people complaining of pained hands after playing the game, the annoying control schemes and never getting the gestures 'quite right' were all great issues.
So a great game with lots of promise became a game that was tedious and annoying to play, even if it was fun underneath all the irritation.
No buttons, is not always a good thing. BMW's iDrive is another great example of trying to take buttons 'out' of the equation and replace them with something simple.... didn't work out well there either. Jobs should be keen to keep these reminders that simplistic is great to a point, but sometimes it hinders rather than helps.
I think a lot of that plays to "it's different".
I have found the new UI, after using it day in and out (work related) to be exceptional and well thought. I work more quickly as I've learned the menus.
It's entirely different, and that does put people off using it with ease, but different doesn't mean bad necessarily. It takes getting used to, just like anything else.
Sharepoint is free with Windows :)
If you want to go for a full blown portal, then yea it costs, but for document management and such... Sharepoint is free.