Has anyone else realized that since about the beginning of this decade, Microsoft has slowly begun a transition to competing on quality, rather than simply leveraging their monopoly and sitting on their laurels? Take a look at some improvements in Microsoft products over the past few years:
* Windows XP. There is simply no comparing XP to previous "home" versions of Windows in terms of quality. Yes, I know it's largely Windows 2000 with a new skin, but the important thing here is that they discontinued their crufty, broken, DOS-based line that didn't even have true multitasking and replaced it with something stable and mature (in comparison).
* Visual Studio: As for the IDE itself, I never used versions prior to 2003, but I loved 2003 and have seen it getting nicer and nicer since. As for programming languages, their current implementation of C++ is actually quite close to standards-compliant, on the level of G++. They've got a ways to go with C, but it's less of a priority for them. The biggest change is in their flagship RAD offerings. C# and VB.NET are now mature object-oriented languages in the tradition of Java. No comparison with VB6.
* Internet Explorer: 6 was simply a joke, the laughingstock of the web. No tabs, an extremely buggy rendering engine, not extensible, unpredictable for web developers, and largely at odds with every published standard ever. IE7 was a big step in the right direction, and IE8 has entered the playing field as a serious competitor.
* Search: MSN search was useless abandonware; now they are really trying with Bing.
* User interface: Vista brought in a modern, powerful shell complete with modern, powerful command-line utilities. No comparison to the shell (with bundled terminal emulator) that has been outdated since it was released as part of DOS 1.0. Windows 7 has made several improvements on the GUI side.
Yes they're still behind, but they've covered a huge amount of ground. Yes I'd much prefer coding in Emacs using GNU Screen and XMonad for window management than in Visual Studio on Windows 7. Yes I'd much rather use Firefox, Opera, or Chrome than IE8, when given the choice. Yes, Apple has hands down the best GUI of all. But in, say, 2000, who'd have thought Microsoft would have come so far? I'm excited to see where their products will go and whether someday they will be as good as what comes from Apple, Google, and open-source hackers. I don't know whether they will, but it'll certainly be interesting.
A lot more comes with a standard Windows install than a kernel. Two different shells with all the necessary built-in command-line utilities (these are shell builtins in Windows and separate programs on GNU/Linux... doesn't make a difference really), a web browser, a simple text editor, a simple word processor, a window manager and desktop environment, a file manager, a video player, a great many drivers, C and C++ graphics libraries, the.NET framework, games... need I go on?
Windows is actually functionally much more than pure, raw "GNU/Linux", and comparing that whole package to a kernel and things sky-high in userland like Photoshop to "GNU", which consists in part of programs like "cat" and "ls", is silly.
Google has required a phone number when applying for Gmail for an incredibly long time; probably for as long as they've had open registration. Certainly as long as I can remember (and GMail has been my primary e-mail provider for years)
I know. Ctrl+s doesn't even save a file. Emacs is a great text editor, incremental search is cool and all, and I kinda understand why people rave about it, but come on people, without the ability to save the files you edit with it, it's just lacking the technology we've really come to expect in a modern editor.
Notepad, although its exuberant-ctags integration and psychoanalyst simulation features aren't quite there yet (Windows 8 wishlist???), saves and opens files like a champ. Open-source hackers could really take a hint from Microsoft and work on the essentials before adding more and more feature bloat.
TFA, while at the very end paying lip service to the point I was making, talks about having been "worried about Firefox" because other browsers were getting better.
My point was that other browsers getting better is a <i>good</i> thing, not something that anyone should be worried about, unless they are a zealot.
Basically the same point you're making, actually, so I wonder why you criticized my post, unless of course you didn't rtfa.
Actually, I'm betting the ones at the top who have drunk the most kool-aid would almost certainly choose to lose a limb.
Too lazy to find a link, but the president of PETA has stated that she would be opposed even to research that was guaranteed with 100% certainty to cure AIDS or cancer (I forget which) if even one animal was used for the research.
Slashdot Mirror
Has anyone else realized that since about the beginning of this decade, Microsoft has slowly begun a transition to competing on quality, rather than simply leveraging their monopoly and sitting on their laurels? Take a look at some improvements in Microsoft products over the past few years:
* Windows XP. There is simply no comparing XP to previous "home" versions of Windows in terms of quality. Yes, I know it's largely Windows 2000 with a new skin, but the important thing here is that they discontinued their crufty, broken, DOS-based line that didn't even have true multitasking and replaced it with something stable and mature (in comparison).
* Visual Studio: As for the IDE itself, I never used versions prior to 2003, but I loved 2003 and have seen it getting nicer and nicer since. As for programming languages, their current implementation of C++ is actually quite close to standards-compliant, on the level of G++. They've got a ways to go with C, but it's less of a priority for them. The biggest change is in their flagship RAD offerings. C# and VB.NET are now mature object-oriented languages in the tradition of Java. No comparison with VB6.
* Internet Explorer: 6 was simply a joke, the laughingstock of the web. No tabs, an extremely buggy rendering engine, not extensible, unpredictable for web developers, and largely at odds with every published standard ever. IE7 was a big step in the right direction, and IE8 has entered the playing field as a serious competitor.
* Search: MSN search was useless abandonware; now they are really trying with Bing.
* User interface: Vista brought in a modern, powerful shell complete with modern, powerful command-line utilities. No comparison to the shell (with bundled terminal emulator) that has been outdated since it was released as part of DOS 1.0. Windows 7 has made several improvements on the GUI side.
Yes they're still behind, but they've covered a huge amount of ground. Yes I'd much prefer coding in Emacs using GNU Screen and XMonad for window management than in Visual Studio on Windows 7. Yes I'd much rather use Firefox, Opera, or Chrome than IE8, when given the choice. Yes, Apple has hands down the best GUI of all. But in, say, 2000, who'd have thought Microsoft would have come so far? I'm excited to see where their products will go and whether someday they will be as good as what comes from Apple, Google, and open-source hackers. I don't know whether they will, but it'll certainly be interesting.
A lot more comes with a standard Windows install than a kernel. Two different shells with all the necessary built-in command-line utilities (these are shell builtins in Windows and separate programs on GNU/Linux... doesn't make a difference really), a web browser, a simple text editor, a simple word processor, a window manager and desktop environment, a file manager, a video player, a great many drivers, C and C++ graphics libraries, the .NET framework, games... need I go on?
Windows is actually functionally much more than pure, raw "GNU/Linux", and comparing that whole package to a kernel and things sky-high in userland like Photoshop to "GNU", which consists in part of programs like "cat" and "ls", is silly.
Been there, done that.
I haven't personally seen one, but I know many people who have seen hummers in France. They're a lot more rare, but they definitely exist.
Billy, we hardly knew ya
Much less hydrogen fits in one gallon than does gasoline.
What the hell Slashdot, post the Google OS article already!
What do you expect from the type of person who tries to shoehorn discussion of FOSS into completely unrelated discussions.
That's all well and good, but how relevant is it to the Cloud?
Try LFS.
Mod parent up and grandparent down.
I thought Hurd was the underdog?!!
Google has required a phone number when applying for Gmail for an incredibly long time; probably for as long as they've had open registration. Certainly as long as I can remember (and GMail has been my primary e-mail provider for years)
I know. Ctrl+s doesn't even save a file. Emacs is a great text editor, incremental search is cool and all, and I kinda understand why people rave about it, but come on people, without the ability to save the files you edit with it, it's just lacking the technology we've really come to expect in a modern editor.
Notepad, although its exuberant-ctags integration and psychoanalyst simulation features aren't quite there yet (Windows 8 wishlist???), saves and opens files like a champ. Open-source hackers could really take a hint from Microsoft and work on the essentials before adding more and more feature bloat.
Acetaminophen is much more dangerous than weed, and weed is illegal. At least the Powers that Be seem to be aiming for consistency!
"OSX is $129"
You realize how ridiculous this is when part of the cost of running OSX is the hundreds or thousands of dollars extra an Apple computer costs?
I would assume businesses would be careful to only purchase hardware compatible with whatever operating system they are using.
What the fuck are you talking about, you fucking idiot? It makes perfect sense.
If you don't value the life of bugs and flies, you do in fact either have a beef with PETA, or misunderstand PETA's position.
For Apple users cost doesn't matter, remember? And psh. If Steve Jobs can survive a liver transplant, you can survive a rectum transplant.
TFA, while at the very end paying lip service to the point I was making, talks about having been "worried about Firefox" because other browsers were getting better.
My point was that other browsers getting better is a <i>good</i> thing, not something that anyone should be worried about, unless they are a zealot.
Basically the same point you're making, actually, so I wonder why you criticized my post, unless of course you didn't rtfa.
In most of Europe, periods are used as thousands-separators in the same way we Americans use commas.
No wonder he's not returning your calls. He can't hear a word your saying on the messages, since your phone is stuck in your rectum.
I think the solution is to just buy a new one. Along with a MacBook Pro and some Apple t-shirts and bumper stickers. Rock on!
Actually, I'm betting the ones at the top who have drunk the most kool-aid would almost certainly choose to lose a limb.
Too lazy to find a link, but the president of PETA has stated that she would be opposed even to research that was guaranteed with 100% certainty to cure AIDS or cancer (I forget which) if even one animal was used for the research.
Note: I meant "Apple on the desktop and GNU/Linux on servers"