Does the 300 MHz, 128M for XP include running a virus scanner?
This may change, but for the moment, Windohs is the only system where you have to have a monstrous virus scanner continuously running, periodically swapping out your frequently used apps so that they take just as long to start up the second time as the first time you launch them. This is with an 800MHz/256M laptop.
When you factor this in, even a bloated KDE or Gnome system offers better response time on a machine at half the speed (in my personal experience). And just be glad you don't need a virus scanner for your virus scanner.
Migration to either Linux or the next version of Windohs on the clients will have its bumps no matter what. But arguably, a client/server solution should be far more manageable than the typical MS migration and subsequent patches-from-hell, especially for a Unix shop.
How much is it going to be to replace the hardware?
Sadly, the latest, slickest Linux graphical desktop environments are also getting bloated (IMHO), so faster/wider hardware may be needed either way, even if not as much as with Longshorn. But, if they choose their distro carefully, they may not even need a RAM upgrade.
How bound are your applications to the current OS?
Now you're talkin'. This is where the analysts conducting the study will earn their money. If the MS lock-in talons weren't embedded too deeply, they just might be able to wrest themselves free.
* training. This is going to cost a whole lot. But they have to train anyway if they're moving from Windows blah to Windows XP
Saved your best points for last? Training is one of those unknowns that even a good analyst can't guess at perfectly. But if my grandma can use Linux without a Linux cert, these people can.
their current hardware isn't capable of running XP effectively.
I can imagine that some employees must be having a cow right now with XP and will breathe a sigh of relief when it is replaced with an optimized distro.
You would think that in this case Muckrakesoft would give them a discount for not mentioning anything. This is yet another large IT org that doesn't swallow the anti-Linux TCO argument.
No, if they're outing MS' underwear in public, it's because the negotiations have already broken down. In a poker game, this is where MS thinks ATT is bluffing, so, to scare MS into folding, ATT is upping the ante and putting enough cards on the table to make the audience gasp. The stakes are high because the timing is pretty damned near perfect.
Of course, ATT wants MS to fold, because they would rather cut a smaller check and not reorg their IT staff. But they are not bluffing: in the end they will make the decision based on the numbers, and if MS sticks to their price, I would expect many more interesting announcements from ATT. If MS backs down, you probably won't hear another word about it.
If throwing garbage out is non-trivial, how about drying it out like buffalo chips and burning it, using the exhaust as propellant?
That way, the space debris is kept to a small particle size, and the exhaust is just as controllable as any conventional thruster.
Whatever is left over (carbon?) might even be useful for something, though I don't think you'll have enough to build a space elevator out of the stuff (that is what you were implying right?)
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Is that for SP1, SP2 or unpatched? YMWV.
Does the 300 MHz, 128M for XP include running a virus scanner?
This may change, but for the moment, Windohs is the only system where you have to have a monstrous virus scanner continuously running, periodically swapping out your frequently used apps so that they take just as long to start up the second time as the first time you launch them. This is with an 800MHz/256M laptop.
When you factor this in, even a bloated KDE or Gnome system offers better response time on a machine at half the speed (in my personal experience). And just be glad you don't need a virus scanner for your virus scanner.
Migration to either Linux or the next version of Windohs on the clients will have its bumps no matter what. But arguably, a client/server solution should be far more manageable than the typical MS migration and subsequent patches-from-hell, especially for a Unix shop.
Sadly, the latest, slickest Linux graphical desktop environments are also getting bloated (IMHO), so faster/wider hardware may be needed either way, even if not as much as with Longshorn. But, if they choose their distro carefully, they may not even need a RAM upgrade.
Now you're talkin'. This is where the analysts conducting the study will earn their money. If the MS lock-in talons weren't embedded too deeply, they just might be able to wrest themselves free.
Saved your best points for last? Training is one of those unknowns that even a good analyst can't guess at perfectly. But if my grandma can use Linux without a Linux cert, these people can.
I can imagine that some employees must be having a cow right now with XP and will breathe a sigh of relief when it is replaced with an optimized distro.
You would think that in this case Muckrakesoft would give them a discount for not mentioning anything. This is yet another large IT org that doesn't swallow the anti-Linux TCO argument.
No, if they're outing MS' underwear in public, it's because the negotiations have already broken down. In a poker game, this is where MS thinks ATT is bluffing, so, to scare MS into folding, ATT is upping the ante and putting enough cards on the table to make the audience gasp. The stakes are high because the timing is pretty damned near perfect.
Of course, ATT wants MS to fold, because they would rather cut a smaller check and not reorg their IT staff. But they are not bluffing: in the end they will make the decision based on the numbers, and if MS sticks to their price, I would expect many more interesting announcements from ATT. If MS backs down, you probably won't hear another word about it.
If throwing garbage out is non-trivial, how about drying it out like buffalo chips and burning it, using the exhaust as propellant?
That way, the space debris is kept to a small particle size, and the exhaust is just as controllable as any conventional thruster.
Whatever is left over (carbon?) might even be useful for something, though I don't think you'll have enough to build a space elevator out of the stuff (that is what you were implying right?)
If Linux is being blamed for this, then are they saying they want these machines to come with a feature that prevents Wincrows from being installed?
...like Longshoehorn is supposedly going to be, paired up with its own lock-in BIOS?
...or like those machines with a BIOS that prevents booting from CD?
...or like those low-end machines with a WinModem and closed specs to prevent people from writing Linux drivers?
They have been trying to lock people in for years. Now it sounds like they want to lock people out? They should make up their minds.