XP was the only reason 2000 became a popular consumer desktop OS. Built on the same architecture, XP brought (some could say forced) software compatibilty for the NT platform which is why the 98->XP transition was so difficult at first. Before XP there wasn't that much compatible consumer-grade software available, hence the heavy business orientation.
Saying Vista is the new ME is not a fair comaparison at all. Vista, while it does have its flaws, is based on Windows Server 2003 architecture wheres ME was still based on 9x and marketed as the "Home Edition" of 2000. 2003 still is, in my opinion, the best OS Microsoft have ever released and this alone puts Vista miles ahead of ME.
Perhaps MS won't suddenly go broke, but slowly the monopoly they had is eroding, and every shot to the foot is increasing it. Just wait, if Windows 7 is anything like Vista, MS is dead. Heh. Isn't that similar to what people keep saying about World of Warcraft? D&D Online, Warhammer 40k, Age of Conan. All these have been labelled as "WoW Killers" yet WoW subscriptions keep increasing (albiet at a reduced rate but market saturation has to occur at some point).
Microsoft is by no means "dead" even if Windows 7 is anything like Vista. Whether you like Vista or not it is still a better OS than XP. I held of installing Vista until SP1 and I'm happier with the XP->Vista transition than I was with 98->XP.
Microsoft aren't stupid. They have admitted Vista wasn't the success they expected it to be. If Windows 7 fails, Windows - as a brand name in general - won't be the same OS it used to be and Microsoft knows this. Do you really think they won't do something about it? Take IE6->IE7, now that was a helluva improvement and it's really going to show in IE8. I'd bet they can do the same with Vista->7.
We know next to nothing about Windows 7. I'm prepared to sit back and wait for what Microsoft can pull out of their collective to save the slowly eroding Windows name.
The trees without spikes were all eaten, yes, but this is natural selection propogating the evolution evident in the other trees. How do you tell the difference? Evolution doesn't control how external forces (ie. predators, weather, etc) act on the organism whereas these forces do have a measure of control over the major evolutionary path. Sometimes this is only a relatively minor influence (the taste or colour of prey making them undesirable or undetectable), sometimes it can be very apparent (poison secreting glands, regenerative abilities)
It's incredible - and sometimes confusing - how these two processes interweave and compliment, even mimic, each other.
Yeah. That was the most mature comment I've read in a while.... "Throw all your money at it, Microsoft, the problem will fix itself!" Right.
The thing here is not whether they have the resources to make a fantastic product (they have made some decent products when all things considered) but whether they have the management. You contradicted yourself when you said "... Windows Paint is a pathetic application that does almost nothing, a team of open source developers could better it in a week."
So if OSS devs were to recreate MS Paint, assuming a minimal to non-existent budget, the obvious conclusion is that their product will blow since they put hardly any money into it at all... Notice the flaw there?
Microsoft doesn't need "BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars" to reverse their history of bloated, buggy, unsupported, incompatible, insecure, closed-source code. They need management to care more about the product they are creating and direct the developers to stick to a standard and enforce it. Worst ever scenario is to cause a "Them and Us" mentality within the company and would be more disastrous for us - the consumer - in the end. Look where that ideal got Apple in the late '80s/early '90s...
This raises the question of what formats will the movie be offered in? Sure we might get a PC version but I'm certainly not going to use it if it requires a proprietary player - and how long would it take for a crack that lets us copy the file from someone else and watch it? What if they come contained in a self-playing executable (such as Bink Video).
The files would also have to be within a reasonable size, the current 700MB standard would be perfect so I could burn it to a CD for later playback. Will the files be available for re-download in the event of a hard drive failure or format? This sounds like a great step forward in the right direction - provided they do it right. Finally someone has listened to the consumer... Well, they could have chosen a better movie than King Kong as the first film available...
Slashdot Mirror
... she's so hot she could power all of Canada indefinitely!
So Phoenix is frustrated by it's vibrator?
Tell us something any women on Earth could confirm...
... then they could warn the poor bastard she's going to attack next.
I hated every alternative to Opera until I tried... oh wait, nevermind. Still hate every alternative.
See what I did there? Completely subjective.
XP was the only reason 2000 became a popular consumer desktop OS. Built on the same architecture, XP brought (some could say forced) software compatibilty for the NT platform which is why the 98->XP transition was so difficult at first. Before XP there wasn't that much compatible consumer-grade software available, hence the heavy business orientation.
Saying Vista is the new ME is not a fair comaparison at all. Vista, while it does have its flaws, is based on Windows Server 2003 architecture wheres ME was still based on 9x and marketed as the "Home Edition" of 2000. 2003 still is, in my opinion, the best OS Microsoft have ever released and this alone puts Vista miles ahead of ME.
Microsoft is by no means "dead" even if Windows 7 is anything like Vista. Whether you like Vista or not it is still a better OS than XP. I held of installing Vista until SP1 and I'm happier with the XP->Vista transition than I was with 98->XP.
Microsoft aren't stupid. They have admitted Vista wasn't the success they expected it to be. If Windows 7 fails, Windows - as a brand name in general - won't be the same OS it used to be and Microsoft knows this. Do you really think they won't do something about it? Take IE6->IE7, now that was a helluva improvement and it's really going to show in IE8. I'd bet they can do the same with Vista->7.
We know next to nothing about Windows 7. I'm prepared to sit back and wait for what Microsoft can pull out of their collective to save the slowly eroding Windows name.
I would appreciate an invite also, been looking around for a while. Incidentally, I have invites available for an aussie-only private tracker.
That's Natural Selection, not Evolution...
The trees without spikes were all eaten, yes, but this is natural selection propogating the evolution evident in the other trees. How do you tell the difference? Evolution doesn't control how external forces (ie. predators, weather, etc) act on the organism whereas these forces do have a measure of control over the major evolutionary path. Sometimes this is only a relatively minor influence (the taste or colour of prey making them undesirable or undetectable), sometimes it can be very apparent (poison secreting glands, regenerative abilities)
It's incredible - and sometimes confusing - how these two processes interweave and compliment, even mimic, each other.
Yeah. That was the most mature comment I've read in a while.... "Throw all your money at it, Microsoft, the problem will fix itself!" Right.
The thing here is not whether they have the resources to make a fantastic product (they have made some decent products when all things considered) but whether they have the management. You contradicted yourself when you said "... Windows Paint is a pathetic application that does almost nothing, a team of open source developers could better it in a week."
So if OSS devs were to recreate MS Paint, assuming a minimal to non-existent budget, the obvious conclusion is that their product will blow since they put hardly any money into it at all... Notice the flaw there?
Microsoft doesn't need "BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars" to reverse their history of bloated, buggy, unsupported, incompatible, insecure, closed-source code. They need management to care more about the product they are creating and direct the developers to stick to a standard and enforce it. Worst ever scenario is to cause a "Them and Us" mentality within the company and would be more disastrous for us - the consumer - in the end. Look where that ideal got Apple in the late '80s/early '90s...
This raises the question of what formats will the movie be offered in? Sure we might get a PC version but I'm certainly not going to use it if it requires a proprietary player - and how long would it take for a crack that lets us copy the file from someone else and watch it? What if they come contained in a self-playing executable (such as Bink Video).
The files would also have to be within a reasonable size, the current 700MB standard would be perfect so I could burn it to a CD for later playback. Will the files be available for re-download in the event of a hard drive failure or format? This sounds like a great step forward in the right direction - provided they do it right. Finally someone has listened to the consumer... Well, they could have chosen a better movie than King Kong as the first film available...
Can't wait until people try to sue Google for saving their Gtalk conversations....
Google has been sued for not releasing the requested information.
This guy sounds like the Jack Thompson of Science.