Do you have any data to support the argument that most computers running today are not business computers? I find this very difficult if not impossible to believe.
As far as the "support" goes, it is not the same type of support that home users are looking for. Rather it comes in a couple of flavors.
1) Future product development. Businesses look for software that is actively be invested in. It allows them to know that revisions will be on the way to support new technologies, support their existing business functions, and add efficiency. Even if the software does everything they need it to do today, why would a business invest in training their staff, which is very expensive, only to discover that in 5 years the software isn't evolving with the rest of the ecosystem? In addition to looking for evolving solutions, businesses rely on backwards compatibility for Line of Business apps built on other software. They also look for compatibility with future platforms and LOB apps. Even if this means purchasing a new version, as long as it supports data, api, and ui compatibility / similarity, this allows a business to move forward without software becoming a business roadblock.
2) Sales and Feedback support. With commercial software, about 50% of the cost to businesses pays for "selling" the software in the first place. Sales relationships in the business world are not the same type of relationship a consumer has with a store like Best Buy. Sales staff work with the IT dept of a business to determine what solutions would be most effective, how to deliver and integrate those solutions, and how to build a full system out of many different pieces of software. Integration is key, additionally the IT departments can apply pressure through the sales staff to the commercial software provider for feature requests. Commercial software vendors actually do respond to these requests in future versions because if a good percentage of customers have asked for it, they know it will help drive sales.
3) Consistency, consistency, consistency. This is a reiteration of 1 and backwards compatibility in a way, but a business that is not software centric, should remain unfocused of software. It should only be a tool to enable them in providing services or products more efficiently and quickly. Business choose to pay for software that provides them with this consistency, and if it's not provided, they'll quickly take their money elsewhere.
All that being said. "Free" software can manage all of these things to a degree, for a price. 1 and 2 are most easily done and companies such as Red Hat and Oracle already provide these services. 3 though, is a little harder to come by when talking about Linux. Look at Picasa, a valiant effort to make a Linux version has been made, but for ever Linux distro there are if's, and's, or buts.
I know MS lawyers have claimed that Microsoft has never sued someone over Patent infringement unless it was a counter suit. In other words, I believe it is MS policy to use patents as a defense. The only reason they even need to use it as a defense is they are a huge target due to their large bank accounts. This is not to say they don't license patents if someone wishes to license them, and it's not to say their policy will never change. In fact Bill Gates however has spoken out for patent reform to reduce the patent trolling. While MS certainly seems to love the DMCA and Copyright law, I don't believe they love patents as much as everyone seems to think they do.
I can't tell you where I read it, but I recently read that is will be out this month. Who will be first, ATI or nVidia I do not know. But Vista runs just fine on my DX9 hardware for now.
The reason for domain name registration is so that a name is not consumed by an uncontactable individual. It's like owning a building to print/sell newspapers. If something happens to the property or you do something to it, they may need to contact you about it. What this is saying, however, is that you have to use a name that can be traced when blogging, which is an exclusivly speech activity. Basically it seems they require all journalists to be registered. This would be like the US government requiring all publications to discose who their authors are.
HDTV does not mean you are bound to plasma, LCD, or DLP. HDTVs are going to be increasingly common because CRTs are starting to be made HD. As a technogeek on a budget, I just picked up a 30" Widescreen Samsung HD CRT for 750, and I saw HD CRTs ranging from 500 to 1200 depending on size and manufacture. I imagine as the technology becomes more common HD will move its way down to smaller CRTs.
Slashdot Mirror
As far as the "support" goes, it is not the same type of support that home users are looking for. Rather it comes in a couple of flavors.
1) Future product development. Businesses look for software that is actively be invested in. It allows them to know that revisions will be on the way to support new technologies, support their existing business functions, and add efficiency. Even if the software does everything they need it to do today, why would a business invest in training their staff, which is very expensive, only to discover that in 5 years the software isn't evolving with the rest of the ecosystem? In addition to looking for evolving solutions, businesses rely on backwards compatibility for Line of Business apps built on other software. They also look for compatibility with future platforms and LOB apps. Even if this means purchasing a new version, as long as it supports data, api, and ui compatibility / similarity, this allows a business to move forward without software becoming a business roadblock.
2) Sales and Feedback support. With commercial software, about 50% of the cost to businesses pays for "selling" the software in the first place. Sales relationships in the business world are not the same type of relationship a consumer has with a store like Best Buy. Sales staff work with the IT dept of a business to determine what solutions would be most effective, how to deliver and integrate those solutions, and how to build a full system out of many different pieces of software. Integration is key, additionally the IT departments can apply pressure through the sales staff to the commercial software provider for feature requests. Commercial software vendors actually do respond to these requests in future versions because if a good percentage of customers have asked for it, they know it will help drive sales.
3) Consistency, consistency, consistency. This is a reiteration of 1 and backwards compatibility in a way, but a business that is not software centric, should remain unfocused of software. It should only be a tool to enable them in providing services or products more efficiently and quickly. Business choose to pay for software that provides them with this consistency, and if it's not provided, they'll quickly take their money elsewhere.
All that being said. "Free" software can manage all of these things to a degree, for a price. 1 and 2 are most easily done and companies such as Red Hat and Oracle already provide these services. 3 though, is a little harder to come by when talking about Linux. Look at Picasa, a valiant effort to make a Linux version has been made, but for ever Linux distro there are if's, and's, or buts.
I know MS lawyers have claimed that Microsoft has never sued someone over Patent infringement unless it was a counter suit. In other words, I believe it is MS policy to use patents as a defense. The only reason they even need to use it as a defense is they are a huge target due to their large bank accounts. This is not to say they don't license patents if someone wishes to license them, and it's not to say their policy will never change. In fact Bill Gates however has spoken out for patent reform to reduce the patent trolling. While MS certainly seems to love the DMCA and Copyright law, I don't believe they love patents as much as everyone seems to think they do.
I can't tell you where I read it, but I recently read that is will be out this month. Who will be first, ATI or nVidia I do not know. But Vista runs just fine on my DX9 hardware for now.
The reason for domain name registration is so that a name is not consumed by an uncontactable individual. It's like owning a building to print/sell newspapers. If something happens to the property or you do something to it, they may need to contact you about it. What this is saying, however, is that you have to use a name that can be traced when blogging, which is an exclusivly speech activity. Basically it seems they require all journalists to be registered. This would be like the US government requiring all publications to discose who their authors are.
HDTV does not mean you are bound to plasma, LCD, or DLP. HDTVs are going to be increasingly common because CRTs are starting to be made HD. As a technogeek on a budget, I just picked up a 30" Widescreen Samsung HD CRT for 750, and I saw HD CRTs ranging from 500 to 1200 depending on size and manufacture. I imagine as the technology becomes more common HD will move its way down to smaller CRTs.