And when you can do proper web browsing, email and a little office from your TV's / displays (and now don't think WebTV, but more 1280x768 HDTV), I'm sure many people don't really want to have their own PC anymore. Let someone else do the backups, virus and spam filtering, etc.
Exactly, this is really an untapped market. People fight every day with PCs, when so many other things are "plug and play", such as satellite TV, cable TV, telephones, electric appliances, etc.
Imagine getting a Sun Ray in the mail with a cable modem kit, you plug in all the cables, turn it on, and within moments there is a personal desktop ready to use. I personally have not used a Sun Ray, but they have USB ports so I bet local printing, audio, etc. are possible.
Really? I thought they just got rid of a low-margin PC business. Since they are a main PowerPC supplier to Apple, Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, a huge embedded market, and many of their own servers, it seems thier hardware business will stick around for a while.
Other than a proprietary strangle-hold on their current customers, Microsoft has zero competitive advantage going forward. Of course Microsoft is concerned.
...having the final nail in the coffin being hammered in by choosing Linux.
GNOME/KDE desktops on Linux and Solaris are the future, I think. What if every company started selling nearly 100% compatible desktops for home users (GNOME, OpenOffice.org, etc.) plus what if the big guys (Sun/IBM) started selling over-broadband GNOME desktop subscriptions (e.g., Sun Ray)?
All of it is cheaper than anything Microsoft can do. Sun/IBM can give the software away, because they will still sell you the server or the thin client hardware. Microsoft can't give away anything. I suppose Novell is sort of in the middle, as they are currently suppliers to both Sun and IBM.
If Microsoft identifies Novell as a threat (I'm sure they have), they need only give away Microsoft products/service to their customers for a while - like they have already - until Novell runs out of money.
It goes all ways. I'm sure Sun's price cuts were in response to Red Hat and Novell, but it also is a nice stiff jab at Microsoft, too. This is ultimately a good thing for everyone, as we are seeing competition drive prices down.
Has anyone noticed that Microsoft is now the highest priced vendor? Ironic that UNIX was the high vendor not even a decade ago.
I think in the long-term, the companies with hardware and services wings (e.g., Sun and IBM) will probably fare the best. Microsoft is pretty much software-only, which is an industry becoming more price competitive than Wal-Mart.
Next time don't stick your goopy PB&J sandwiches into the slots!
(My NES, bought on its first release in the USA waaaayyy back, still functions perfectly. God, is that thing 20 years old, now?
My only complaint is that my parents got me the Gyromite bundle instead of the Super Mario bundle. I was the only kid in elementary school who didn't have Mario!)
Well, on one hand, they feel the need to replace the entire operating system as a security upgrade. Warm fuzzies waning...
On the other hand, you now have an OS that has been replaced but has the same name, so who knows what side effects there will be on existing applications. Warm fuzzies gone.
Ugh.
I don't think the big UNIX vendors could ever get away with this, but Microsoft can.
Oh, and what is this I've been hearing about a forced Windows XP SP2 upgrade in April for everyone using WIndows Update? One more reason I'm glad I use UNIX/Linux at home.
I'll save another $50 and buy an Xbox 3 this Christmas.
But the trailer to carry the XBox 3 Portable Edition is another $600 and is available only at Lowe's hardware stores. The 2" ball hitch is extra. Not really a bargain, IMO.
Haven't there been JavaScript breaches that allow web sites to gain access to local filesystems? No one can predict what security holes remain in Windows, so it's hard to say any new approaches would make personal data safer.
I don't even use Windows, have a BSD firewall, etc. but I still don't put account numbers in my finance program, for example. While I do use mailorder websites, at least my CC number is revokable. My checking account is not!
Just because you fit into an affirmative action profile does not exclude you from being "smart"
I never said that it did, but sometimes schools go too far in ensuring political correctness.
One school I know of, a state science/technology-focused high school, went to such extremes to ensure that rural students, for example, got a chance that for some students they just admitted them and disregarded their academic history. There was a high burnout rate at that school among these students, which undoubtedly caused a lot of undue stress. This is unfair to them, IMO, because the school is basically being dishonest but the students pay the price. Now they're burnt out, their self esteem is shot, and that is a good thing? They make a poster child out of the occasional success story, but we never hear about the kids who go back home with a year basically taken from their life.
Now that I'm older, I can look back and see how overrated schools like that are. At the time, I thought the school was doing good work, but now I understand it is just another feel-good drug for the state's politicians.
Once someone is accepted, their full financial need is met completely, and in a way that doesn't put them in debt up to their eyebrows.
LOL, who sold you this nugget of wisdom?
"Financial aid" is usually unsecured loans that cripple students after graduation. Think a degree will get someone a good job to pay off the debt? Are you a gambling man?
Tons of people going into expensive private universities are overcommitting themselves by a huge huge margin. Having been an "adult" now for a number of years, I can't imagine how people with $50K in loans can cope with living a normal life of trying to establish a home and family. Housing costs rise faster than inflation, so those down payments just get harder over time.
If you can get into MIT, you're smart...
Either that or you fit their affirmative action profile.
Going to a university like MIT ( or Harvard, Stanford, CalTech, Carnegie Mellon, etc...) better make you smarter and more educated. These schools have reputations to live up to and charge a LOT of money.
That's a popular misconception of prestigious universities. Having gone to one, there are only two things I can figure out were benefits: a really nice campus and the alumni network.
The education itself was just a standard university treatment but with lots of regular kids who didn't need to be smart if their parents had a lot of pull.
In the sense that the companies have to settle down and come up with a real business plan and answer to their customers, yes.
Anyone who had tried Sun's earlier GNOME betas and then tried their new JDS3 can see just how far JDS has come. There are only a handful of things that really need attention, and the system is quite nice overall.
You're talking about Macs, but I'm talking about UNIX/Linux desktops. I used an existing computer and exist in a different market segment. Some things in common between your Mac and my Solaris 10 box are UNIX interoperability, high reliability, good security, and the satisfaction of supporting a healthy competitive marketplace.
No, just plain cheaper. My cost to upgrade to Solaris 10: five CD-R disks. "Retraining" isn't much of an issue--the apps are right there in the Launch menu.
I have StarOffice, Moneydance (~$30), Firefox, Evolution, apps for PDF and multimedia, etc. If anything was missing, I installed it from Blastwave.org. It meets my needs for a computer. I have a PS2 for any major games.
For a decent PC, the number of problems with a good Linux/UNIX desktop are more or less at the same level as any Windows system. The "time is worthless" argument is getting pretty tired, and Windows isn't anything special in this regard.
More and more businesses, too, will find that keeping up with Microsoft's licensing plans will cost more in the long run than any migration. Look around, every single one of Microsoft's competitors is starting to sell desktops based on GNOME/KDE and OpenOffice.org.
Re:Windows - Linux - Mac?
on
Return of the Mac
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
The most Mac-like of the Linux/UNIX systems will be the commercial ones from Sun, Novell, and Red Hat. They are current enough to make the user feel good, but have been stabilized enough to not make the user go prematurely gray.
It is only a matter of time before those who want a no-BS stylish computer buy a Mac and those who need something very affordable get KDE/GNOME and OpenOffice.org/StarOffice on a $100 PC.
Slashdot Mirror
And when you can do proper web browsing, email and a little office from your TV's / displays (and now don't think WebTV, but more 1280x768 HDTV), I'm sure many people don't really want to have their own PC anymore. Let someone else do the backups, virus and spam filtering, etc.
Exactly, this is really an untapped market. People fight every day with PCs, when so many other things are "plug and play", such as satellite TV, cable TV, telephones, electric appliances, etc.
Imagine getting a Sun Ray in the mail with a cable modem kit, you plug in all the cables, turn it on, and within moments there is a personal desktop ready to use. I personally have not used a Sun Ray, but they have USB ports so I bet local printing, audio, etc. are possible.
Really? I thought they just got rid of a low-margin PC business. Since they are a main PowerPC supplier to Apple, Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, a huge embedded market, and many of their own servers, it seems thier hardware business will stick around for a while.
Other than a proprietary strangle-hold on their current customers, Microsoft has zero competitive advantage going forward. Of course Microsoft is concerned.
They could call it Windows XP Home Edition N ('N' stands for Novell).
...having the final nail in the coffin being hammered in by choosing Linux.
GNOME/KDE desktops on Linux and Solaris are the future, I think. What if every company started selling nearly 100% compatible desktops for home users (GNOME, OpenOffice.org, etc.) plus what if the big guys (Sun/IBM) started selling over-broadband GNOME desktop subscriptions (e.g., Sun Ray)?
All of it is cheaper than anything Microsoft can do. Sun/IBM can give the software away, because they will still sell you the server or the thin client hardware. Microsoft can't give away anything. I suppose Novell is sort of in the middle, as they are currently suppliers to both Sun and IBM.
If Microsoft identifies Novell as a threat (I'm sure they have), they need only give away Microsoft products/service to their customers for a while - like they have already - until Novell runs out of money.
It goes all ways. I'm sure Sun's price cuts were in response to Red Hat and Novell, but it also is a nice stiff jab at Microsoft, too. This is ultimately a good thing for everyone, as we are seeing competition drive prices down.
Has anyone noticed that Microsoft is now the highest priced vendor? Ironic that UNIX was the high vendor not even a decade ago.
I think in the long-term, the companies with hardware and services wings (e.g., Sun and IBM) will probably fare the best. Microsoft is pretty much software-only, which is an industry becoming more price competitive than Wal-Mart.
Next time don't stick your goopy PB&J sandwiches into the slots!
(My NES, bought on its first release in the USA waaaayyy back, still functions perfectly. God, is that thing 20 years old, now?
My only complaint is that my parents got me the Gyromite bundle instead of the Super Mario bundle. I was the only kid in elementary school who didn't have Mario!)
.xxx for the porn
What about grain alcohol manufacturers?
Yes, but they pay only half price each time.
Sun doesn't recompile the whole OS with different compiler flags, though. Big difference.
Well, on one hand, they feel the need to replace the entire operating system as a security upgrade. Warm fuzzies waning...
On the other hand, you now have an OS that has been replaced but has the same name, so who knows what side effects there will be on existing applications. Warm fuzzies gone.
Ugh.
I don't think the big UNIX vendors could ever get away with this, but Microsoft can.
Oh, and what is this I've been hearing about a forced Windows XP SP2 upgrade in April for everyone using WIndows Update? One more reason I'm glad I use UNIX/Linux at home.
I'll save another $50 and buy an Xbox 3 this Christmas.
But the trailer to carry the XBox 3 Portable Edition is another $600 and is available only at Lowe's hardware stores. The 2" ball hitch is extra. Not really a bargain, IMO.
A piece of rabbit fur and a balloon.
Haven't there been JavaScript breaches that allow web sites to gain access to local filesystems? No one can predict what security holes remain in Windows, so it's hard to say any new approaches would make personal data safer.
I don't even use Windows, have a BSD firewall, etc. but I still don't put account numbers in my finance program, for example. While I do use mailorder websites, at least my CC number is revokable. My checking account is not!
Just because you fit into an affirmative action profile does not exclude you from being "smart"
I never said that it did, but sometimes schools go too far in ensuring political correctness.
One school I know of, a state science/technology-focused high school, went to such extremes to ensure that rural students, for example, got a chance that for some students they just admitted them and disregarded their academic history. There was a high burnout rate at that school among these students, which undoubtedly caused a lot of undue stress. This is unfair to them, IMO, because the school is basically being dishonest but the students pay the price. Now they're burnt out, their self esteem is shot, and that is a good thing? They make a poster child out of the occasional success story, but we never hear about the kids who go back home with a year basically taken from their life.
Now that I'm older, I can look back and see how overrated schools like that are. At the time, I thought the school was doing good work, but now I understand it is just another feel-good drug for the state's politicians.
"Qiu Chengwei, 41..."
Stop. There's the problem right there.
If I'm ever this worked up about a video game at 41, then please just put me into an institution somewhere.
Once someone is accepted, their full financial need is met completely, and in a way that doesn't put them in debt up to their eyebrows.
LOL, who sold you this nugget of wisdom?
"Financial aid" is usually unsecured loans that cripple students after graduation. Think a degree will get someone a good job to pay off the debt? Are you a gambling man?
Tons of people going into expensive private universities are overcommitting themselves by a huge huge margin. Having been an "adult" now for a number of years, I can't imagine how people with $50K in loans can cope with living a normal life of trying to establish a home and family. Housing costs rise faster than inflation, so those down payments just get harder over time.
If you can get into MIT, you're smart...
Either that or you fit their affirmative action profile.
Going to a university like MIT ( or Harvard, Stanford, CalTech, Carnegie Mellon, etc...) better make you smarter and more educated. These schools have reputations to live up to and charge a LOT of money.
That's a popular misconception of prestigious universities. Having gone to one, there are only two things I can figure out were benefits: a really nice campus and the alumni network.
The education itself was just a standard university treatment but with lots of regular kids who didn't need to be smart if their parents had a lot of pull.
Sounds more like Microsoft negotiating a deal.
but governments cracking down on academia sounds stangely familiar to me.
In the sense that the companies have to settle down and come up with a real business plan and answer to their customers, yes.
Anyone who had tried Sun's earlier GNOME betas and then tried their new JDS3 can see just how far JDS has come. There are only a handful of things that really need attention, and the system is quite nice overall.
You're talking about Macs, but I'm talking about UNIX/Linux desktops. I used an existing computer and exist in a different market segment. Some things in common between your Mac and my Solaris 10 box are UNIX interoperability, high reliability, good security, and the satisfaction of supporting a healthy competitive marketplace.
"Well yeah cheaper if your time is worthless."
No, just plain cheaper. My cost to upgrade to Solaris 10: five CD-R disks. "Retraining" isn't much of an issue--the apps are right there in the Launch menu.
I have StarOffice, Moneydance (~$30), Firefox, Evolution, apps for PDF and multimedia, etc. If anything was missing, I installed it from Blastwave.org. It meets my needs for a computer. I have a PS2 for any major games.
For a decent PC, the number of problems with a good Linux/UNIX desktop are more or less at the same level as any Windows system. The "time is worthless" argument is getting pretty tired, and Windows isn't anything special in this regard.
More and more businesses, too, will find that keeping up with Microsoft's licensing plans will cost more in the long run than any migration. Look around, every single one of Microsoft's competitors is starting to sell desktops based on GNOME/KDE and OpenOffice.org.
The most Mac-like of the Linux/UNIX systems will be the commercial ones from Sun, Novell, and Red Hat. They are current enough to make the user feel good, but have been stabilized enough to not make the user go prematurely gray.
It is only a matter of time before those who want a no-BS stylish computer buy a Mac and those who need something very affordable get KDE/GNOME and OpenOffice.org/StarOffice on a $100 PC.
Microsoft is being squeezed from both sides.