So Microsoft says they'll be profitable on the XBox360? Then its got to be true.
I'm a Microsoft basher. It's soo easy since they suck at so much and lie about everything. Sony might be prone to lying too but I've not seen the kind of damage and kind of lying I've seen from MSFT over the last 20 years.
yes. Blue-Ray is a High Definition DVD( HD DVD ) format as you know. IMO, Toshiba picked a better name since their name, HD-DVD, is also an HD DVD format.
The average Joe is not going to know what Blue-Ray DVD is but if you tell him/her that the console has a High Definition DVD player, they'll have a better understanding. I'm not sure what Sony was thinking with Blue-Ray...
I probably should have included the Blue-Ray name to clearify, if Blue-Ray doesn't 'stick', people will be asking for HD DVDs at Blockbuster and getting the wrong format.
from what and insider/investor told me, the PS3 is going to be mind blowing. It's unfortunate that it also happens to be the platform Sony is using to make up for losing the Beta vs VHS war... That part alone is probably adding the extra kick to the price, which is putting off potential first run buyers.
My guess is that after the initial run on them( Nov-Jan ), they'll drop the price $50 for the spring/summer and maybe another $50 for the following fall/winter season. By then, the HD DVD market should be on the uptake and Sony HD DVD sales could offset losses on the console. Not to mention manufacturing improvements.
It'll also be interesting to see how much Microsoft is willing to lose on the XBox360 by putting the HD-DVD out for the XBox. It'll tough for them to get any CE hardware vendor to jump in and lose money without any other way out. Remember, Microsoft tried to OEM XBox360 hardware but nobody took them up on it.
we'll have to see but an investor friend said that what he saw the PS3 do with regards to fidelity of the graphics, will blow peoples minds. So, even though the same "game" is available for both XBox360 and PS3, the quality, realism, and special efficts could very well play VERY different.
If Sony makes it difficult to implement these more advanced features then we might very well see the same thing on either console. And especially when Microsoft provides financial incentives for those crossplatform developers to NOT implement those extra features on the PS3. The exclusive players will surely be the ones to push the PS3 and if Microsoft can purchase up as many PS3 exclusive developers then it is in their best interest to do so. It is surely NOT in the publics best interest given how Microsoft operates.
Time will tell and this summer and fall look to be an amazing period for the marketing business. With Sony and Microsoft going at the console wars and Microsoft trying to keep interest in Windows going. No wonder they said they'll be spending $2 billion on marketing for FY07.
That's exactly what a marketing company like Microsoft is good at. You'll notice that they'll keep their mouths shut about the PS3 having builtin HD DVD capabilities( currently costing $500 alone ) and the fact that the graphics system in the PS3, if purchased for a PC would also cost around $500 or there about....
I've already seen the press say there's a $200 difference between the XBox360 and the PS3. Their logic was that the lowend models should be compared and the high end models compared when in reality, the lowend PS3 has no comparison with the XBox360 and at best should be compared to the currently availble highend XBox360( 20GB HD ).
So, we all know Microsoft is an amazing marketing company and will lie, cheat, steal, and do whatever it takes to get the public to believe its rhetoric. They know darn well that comparing the PS3 to an XBox & Wii package will not mean people would purchase such a bundle and are only doing so to make the price point/differential seem cavernous. So much so that it would seem silly to consider spending so much money and instead should purchase a Microsoft XBox instead.
The truth is that the PS3 and all it has to offer is a quantum leap above the PS2 and such a huge leap above the XBox360 that all Microsoft can do is attempt to fool the public into a purchase now.
IMO, Sony needs to start touring the countries with PS3's showing off what it can do. The press would gobble this up and force Microsoft to pay even more to publish "news" about its next great money losing business, the XBox.
build up some stripped down VMware images and install that problem application and VNCServer on the image. Now, copy this image 4 times and put a loadbalancing router in front of VNC's port 5900. Now, you can have 5 simultaneous users of this application for the cost of some extra memory and disk space on one computer/server.
And put Linux under those virtual machines( as the host OS ).
If you're purchasing a new computer for this, the lastest from AMD and Intel support Zen's virtualization of Windows VMs are close to 100% speed. That is if you really need it. Otherwise, use some 3GHz system with a couple of GBs of RAM and you should be fine.
Geesh, only 25 users? I guess it's a start and can a huge Windows box really be reliable as a server for even 25 users? I hadn't thought Windows had reached the reliability of *nix yet and THAT was why Microsoft purchased VirtualPC and why VMware was soo popular. You might want to rethink the costs because your prototype system might not match realworld. ie, you'll probably end up having to spawn off a whole bunch of servers so that when one crashes( Windows, not hardware ) not everybody and everything running is lost.
Had virtualization not become so popular, I might think Windows reliability was getting somewhere but obviously it's not. If you really want to save money, try migrating off of Windows so that a moneysaving thinclient system on GNU/Linux can be implemented. Save the Citrix or terminalserver stuff for those few apps which MUST run on Windows. It may seem more "radical" but Windows just has a way of always surprising you with extra costs down the road. That road pictured in Bill G.'s book curves off and out of sight for a reason.;-/ IMO.
Remember one thing, Microsoft is a marketing company first and foremost. And also know that using Windows where it didn't belong was responsible for this event:
Microsoft can say that their software is this or that, but their EULA and their legal people make sure they are not responsible for how it runs, or doesn't run. Oh, and I don't think most of what they say in court or to the press is really true. It might be true to what the definition of MS-TRUTH is but then again, that is not the same definition others have for truth. IMO.
yes I know what realtime means and I stand by my comment. Windows CE is not an RTOS as considered by those in the field. No matter what label Microsoft puts on it.
Microsoft is a MARKETING COMPANY so for them to SAY their OS is realtime capable must be taken with a grain of salt. Just how RT capable is it and how must the hardware be customized to help it get to that point? At best, can it monitor the surf reliably and is this the criteria MSFT used to validate Windows is RT capable?;-)
IMO, this is a marketing trick to try and keep up the marketshare of WinCE as the phone hardware vendors move to consolidate the chipsets of the highend models. Where there used to be a CPU for the UI OS and a CPU for the telecom OS, there's a move to use only one CPU and some shared resources to lower the costs and shrink the size. And my guess is that these RT WinCE phones are going to be dropping calls. But, lucky for Microsoft, the customers will more likely to be blaming the carrier unless Windows BSODs or something indicates it's Windows failing.
Oh, and did you know that Microsoft has lost over $9 billion on Windows CE so far and only had one profitable quarter? The quarter following Microsofts cutting of its R&D budget by ~$3.5 billion. Surprisingly, a couple of other MSFT marketing divisions showed profits for the first time during this quarter too... My gawd, it's been almost 10 years already and they STILL can't make a profit off of, The Little Windows That Couldn't.
When they stop trying to change my MIND with press releases and start providing products which stand on their own in the marketplace, THEN I'll consider not looking at them as a MARKETING COMPANY first and a technology company second or third.
I guess if you're counting ocean waves you could call it realtime.
And a rewrite huh? Maybe we should check for the WMF expoit code to see if any more of the Windows 3.x code made it into another rewritten Microsoft operating system.;-)
Xbox is losing massive amounts of money so I would not say that this person is finally getting it right. The first gen Xbox never made any money either and since Microsoft has a long long history of losing money on many many long running projects, his only hope can be that he's paid a good salary.
Did you know that Microsoft dumped over $1 billion in losses on the Windows CE operating system to keep Palm from "growing" up from a lowly handheld OS vendor? Well, Microsoft is also willing to lose billions on the Xbox to keep Sony's PlayStation from growing from a console into a media room PC and eventually taking share from Microsofts desktop OS monoply. So, good move for jumping on the Microsoft gravy train but don't think for a minute that the product exists because "the market" accepted it. In a real competitive market, projects like Window CE and most likely the Xbox, would be dead after 5 years of 10's to 100's of millions in losses. IMO.
I would expect to see Microsoft spending alot of cash to purchase views for its advertisers in the near future. They need to make MSN something other than an also-ran so using the tactics which helped them destroy the Netscape Navigator marketshare will work here too. Microsoft will also be spending cash to purchase marketshare for its web server too since it was constantly losing marketshare to Apache and also looking like an also-ran. I'd also expect to see Microsoft take more of a loss on the Xbox when Sony ships the PS3.
All and all, there's going to be alot of Microsoft cash flowing around in the next two years. Boy, I wonder if they can put any more stickers on PCs and laptops? Dell, have you asked Microsoft this question lately? It might make you a few more bucks since the Microsoft brand is what they are attempting to polish up... IMO.
Because this "investment" by Microsoft is nothing more than a way for them to get the Chinese people hooked on Microsofts software. And the detoxification process HURTS more, the longer you stay 'hooked'.
You've been warned.
IIRC, the addiction reference - MSFT is one of many great McNealy-ism's.
ROFLMAO --- I think you just influenced a new sig.
The intelligent design of a n00b - After mother re-partitioned her drive and mounted the smaller one at "/womb", the n00b was compiled from source and set free with GNU. --contributions by schabot
well YOU try to help out your manager with the problem of not being able to connect to a VNC server through a firewall and see where THAT goes. I set them up with the VNC repeater and told him what to do to get it to work and then spent the next hour trying to explain to him how it works( he asked and asked ). We finally figured out that he thought that an internet/network connection was a one-way connection. ie, a request goes out and then the response comes back on another connection. I didn't even bother to ask why/how he could think that his browser worked....
I guess the point is, techies get very very tired of explaining something when it often/always leads them into explaining lower and lower technologies to the point that you're now explaining to them that when it says to set the PORT number, it is the port number of the network connection and not the serial port the modem is connected to... In Windows, these people are happy NOT knowing what they CAN'T do. Throw them some choice and you realize they have no clue as to how this or that works but they THINK they do because they are the Microsoft Windows guru of the department because they've figure out how to click some buttons to create an MS Acccess database applet. It's a clash of cultures for sure.
and therein lies the rub. Microsoft is a marketing company first and foremost, so they organize things nicely to make that venture successful. After all, MSN is a component of MS Windows and it's shipped with MS Windows, but they have the msn.com domain to handle update? WTF... Ahhh, marketing.... By doing it this way, they can/will say that this is about updates when infact, it's about protecting its advertising revenues. Do you think pop-up blocking was/is something they really want to do? Not if you're a marketing company and that is why they've waited so long to do anything about it. IMO.
So, just like all the things which broke 3rd party competitors in every release of an MS DOS, MS Windows, MS Office, MS etc update/patch/fix/... if/when the justice system gets called it, they'll have an excuse, say they are sorry if that's what it takes, and then fix it over a period of months because it's just so hard and difficult to do. All the while, the 3rd party/competitor is left with flooded phone support calls and their customers find that Microsoft graciously provided them with a product that'll fill in...
The writtings been on the wall for over 15 years. If people haven't seen the neon sign and stay with Microsoft it is their choice and all this is SOP. It's not any different from what they've done in the past and it'll happen many many many times again.
hey, thanks for the correction and sorry about getting that wrong( to both you and redhat ). When I was looking for a GNU/Linux based CC processing system, I somehow heard wrong about what happened. And it sounds like CCVS was quite the product and it's understandable why you talk of it the way you do.
It still blows me away how people will build CC processing systems on top of Microsoft Windows, given it's security and the target it has on its back. But, I guess too few had the money or desire to implement on the *nix's.
Here's to you getting access to the source again. My guess is that MainStreet Softworks is hoping you don't.;-)
JBoss might be a different product and different market but it makes me wonder if JBoss with end up like CCVS. Red Hat purchased another opensource project/product a while ago called CCVS( Credit Card Verification System ) and converted it to their proprietary license before later killing the product couple years later. They told their existing customers they'd be supported til the end of their contract by a 3rd party( mainstreetsoftworks.com ) and that MainStreet Works had a replacement product( also proprietary ).
If you've ever looked for GNU/Linux based CC processing software, you know how long and unsuccessful the search was/is.
There's definately a larger market for JBoss but the results could be the same in the long run if Red Hat can't market the product to profits. They are not a friend to Open Source when they do these kinds of things and it also shows/helps Microsoft when they do this... IMO.
.... about there being too many choices for GNU/Linux distros. It gives them another "excuse" to be playing Microsofts game of not providing lower priced PCs without Microsofts PetrieDish/OS. Well, there's also the money Microsoft pays them directly for putting those stickers all over the place saying stuff about being 'ready for Windows', 'powered by Windows', 'runs best with Windows', 'we recommend Windows', blah, blah,blah. You can bet that those "feet on the street" are waving THAT in front of the OEMs they find selling safe-secure-reliable/Windows-less PCs.
The other thing they SHOULD be telling those OEMs is that by putting Microsoft Windows on those PCs, they are far, far, far more likely to be getting another $100-$200 for reinstalling Windows for that customer in about a year or two because malware ravaged their MS Windows OS. I know of 3 home users around me who had to do this and I'll bet the number is going up quickly. It's one thing to have to reboot(ctl-alt-del) your computer when it crashes or locks up. It's another when you have to dish out $$$$ to have someone fix it because the SOFTWARE/OS is so messed up it's unusable. This is probably why there's word going around that Microsofts days are numbered. It's also showing more and more in requests for quotes for standards based solutions.
Been there, done that.:-) I figured www.jimthatcher.com is/was too much of an IBM guy to be the same person as the MS ODF guy. And not only that, but he seems way too active in the accessibility field to also be a Microsoft flake. Besides, helping people and working at Microsoft tend to be mutually exclusive actions.;-)
I went looking up Mr Thatchers background and it seems he has quite a background in tech. He worked at Novell from 95' til 2000 and wore a number of hats there but mostly it was related to Novells NDS product( software engineering/design, NDS SDK Dev design, and NDS training, etc ). Then he skipped on over to Redmond WA to join Microsoft to work on their NDS compatibility in MS Windows. But none of this really stands out as a REASON for Microsoft throwing him into the ODF fray. I did see that Mr Thatcher has been used to help Microsoft in their attempt to show the EU that Microsoft was doing a good job providing technical docs for interop'ing with Windows. Mr Thather said that Novell and Microsoft expect interop developers to be expert on the platform and subsystems they work on. Again, not really a reason WHY Mr Thatcher would be put on the ODF project. ODF is an application filesystem spec and not a spec for distributed directories...
There another Jim Thatcher( http://www.jimthatcher.com/ ) but he does not appear to be the same as the MSFT Jim Thatcher. But, I could see the 'hook' in this being that Mr Thatcher could probably attempt to hold up ODF progress with accessability issues. After all, who will cry foul on EXTENSIVE discussions about Accessability for the Visually Challenged? It's been brought up before and it was/is a valid concern...
Are there any photographs of the MSFT Jim Thatcher?
What do others think is the justification/qualifications for putting MS Jim Thatcher on this project?
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So Microsoft says they'll be profitable on the XBox360? Then its got to be true.
I'm a Microsoft basher. It's soo easy since they suck at so much and lie about everything. Sony might be prone to lying too but I've not seen the kind of damage and kind of lying I've seen from MSFT over the last 20 years.
Burn those karma point.
LoB
and the Frisbie... Had no idea. Thanks.
LoB
yes. Blue-Ray is a High Definition DVD( HD DVD ) format as you know. IMO, Toshiba picked a better name since their name, HD-DVD, is also an HD DVD format.
The average Joe is not going to know what Blue-Ray DVD is but if you tell him/her that the console has a High Definition DVD player, they'll have a better understanding. I'm not sure what Sony was thinking with Blue-Ray...
I probably should have included the Blue-Ray name to clearify, if Blue-Ray doesn't 'stick', people will be asking for HD DVDs at Blockbuster and getting the wrong format.
LoB
from what and insider/investor told me, the PS3 is going to be mind blowing. It's unfortunate that it also happens to be the platform Sony is using to make up for losing the Beta vs VHS war... That part alone is probably adding the extra kick to the price, which is putting off potential first run buyers.
My guess is that after the initial run on them( Nov-Jan ), they'll drop the price $50 for the spring/summer and maybe another $50 for the following fall/winter season. By then, the HD DVD market should be on the uptake and Sony HD DVD sales could offset losses on the console. Not to mention manufacturing improvements.
It'll also be interesting to see how much Microsoft is willing to lose on the XBox360 by putting the HD-DVD out for the XBox. It'll tough for them to get any CE hardware vendor to jump in and lose money without any other way out. Remember, Microsoft tried to OEM XBox360 hardware but nobody took them up on it.
These are interesting times indeed.
LoB
we'll have to see but an investor friend said that what he saw the PS3 do with regards to fidelity of the graphics, will blow peoples minds. So, even though the same "game" is available for both XBox360 and PS3, the quality, realism, and special efficts could very well play VERY different.
If Sony makes it difficult to implement these more advanced features then we might very well see the same thing on either console. And especially when Microsoft provides financial incentives for those crossplatform developers to NOT implement those extra features on the PS3. The exclusive players will surely be the ones to push the PS3 and if Microsoft can purchase up as many PS3 exclusive developers then it is in their best interest to do so. It is surely NOT in the publics best interest given how Microsoft operates.
Time will tell and this summer and fall look to be an amazing period for the marketing business. With Sony and Microsoft going at the console wars and Microsoft trying to keep interest in Windows going. No wonder they said they'll be spending $2 billion on marketing for FY07.
LoB
That's exactly what a marketing company like Microsoft is good at. You'll notice that they'll keep their mouths shut about the PS3 having builtin HD DVD capabilities( currently costing $500 alone ) and the fact that the graphics system in the PS3, if purchased for a PC would also cost around $500 or there about....
I've already seen the press say there's a $200 difference between the XBox360 and the PS3. Their logic was that the lowend models should be compared and the high end models compared when in reality, the lowend PS3 has no comparison with the XBox360 and at best should be compared to the currently availble highend XBox360( 20GB HD ).
So, we all know Microsoft is an amazing marketing company and will lie, cheat, steal, and do whatever it takes to get the public to believe its rhetoric. They know darn well that comparing the PS3 to an XBox & Wii package will not mean people would purchase such a bundle and are only doing so to make the price point/differential seem cavernous. So much so that it would seem silly to consider spending so much money and instead should purchase a Microsoft XBox instead.
The truth is that the PS3 and all it has to offer is a quantum leap above the PS2 and such a huge leap above the XBox360 that all Microsoft can do is attempt to fool the public into a purchase now.
IMO, Sony needs to start touring the countries with PS3's showing off what it can do. The press would gobble this up and force Microsoft to pay even more to publish "news" about its next great money losing business, the XBox.
LoB
build up some stripped down VMware images and install that problem application and VNCServer on the image. Now, copy this image 4 times and put a loadbalancing router in front of VNC's port 5900. Now, you can have 5 simultaneous users of this application for the cost of some extra memory and disk space on one computer/server.
And put Linux under those virtual machines( as the host OS ).
If you're purchasing a new computer for this, the lastest from AMD and Intel support Zen's virtualization of Windows VMs are close to 100% speed. That is if you really need it. Otherwise, use some 3GHz system with a couple of GBs of RAM and you should be fine.
LoB
Geesh, only 25 users? I guess it's a start and can a huge Windows box really be reliable as a server for even 25 users? I hadn't thought Windows had reached the reliability of *nix yet and THAT was why Microsoft purchased VirtualPC and why VMware was soo popular. You might want to rethink the costs because your prototype system might not match realworld. ie, you'll probably end up having to spawn off a whole bunch of servers so that when one crashes( Windows, not hardware ) not everybody and everything running is lost.
;-/ IMO.
Had virtualization not become so popular, I might think Windows reliability was getting somewhere but obviously it's not. If you really want to save money, try migrating off of Windows so that a moneysaving thinclient system on GNU/Linux can be implemented. Save the Citrix or terminalserver stuff for those few apps which MUST run on Windows. It may seem more "radical" but Windows just has a way of always surprising you with extra costs down the road. That road pictured in Bill G.'s book curves off and out of sight for a reason.
LoB
Remember one thing, Microsoft is a marketing company first and foremost.
And also know that using Windows where it didn't belong was responsible for this event:
http://socalscanner.com/2004/091604_1.htm
Microsoft can say that their software is this or that, but their EULA and their legal people make sure they are not responsible for how it runs, or doesn't run. Oh, and I don't think most of what they say in court or to the press is really true. It might be true to what the definition of MS-TRUTH is but then again, that is not the same definition others have for truth.
IMO.
LoB
yes I know what realtime means and I stand by my comment. Windows CE is not an RTOS as considered by those in the field. No matter what label Microsoft puts on it.
;-)
Microsoft is a MARKETING COMPANY so for them to SAY their OS is realtime capable must be taken with a grain of salt. Just how RT capable is it and how must the hardware be customized to help it get to that point? At best, can it monitor the surf reliably and is this the criteria MSFT used to validate Windows is RT capable?
IMO, this is a marketing trick to try and keep up the marketshare of WinCE as the phone hardware vendors move to consolidate the chipsets of the highend models. Where there used to be a CPU for the UI OS and a CPU for the telecom OS, there's a move to use only one CPU and some shared resources to lower the costs and shrink the size. And my guess is that these RT WinCE phones are going to be dropping calls. But, lucky for Microsoft, the customers will more likely to be blaming the carrier unless Windows BSODs or something indicates it's Windows failing.
Oh, and did you know that Microsoft has lost over $9 billion on Windows CE so far and only had one profitable quarter? The quarter following Microsofts cutting of its R&D budget by ~$3.5 billion. Surprisingly, a couple of other MSFT marketing divisions showed profits for the first time during this quarter too... My gawd, it's been almost 10 years already and they STILL can't make a profit off of, The Little Windows That Couldn't.
When they stop trying to change my MIND with press releases and start providing products which stand on their own in the marketplace, THEN I'll consider not looking at them as a MARKETING COMPANY first and a technology company second or third.
LoB
LOL.
;-)
I guess if you're counting ocean waves you could call it realtime.
And a rewrite huh? Maybe we should check for the WMF expoit code to see if any more of the Windows 3.x code made it into another rewritten Microsoft operating system.
LoB
Xbox is losing massive amounts of money so I would not say that this person is finally getting it right. The first gen Xbox never made any money either and since Microsoft has a long long history of losing money on many many long running projects, his only hope can be that he's paid a good salary.
Did you know that Microsoft dumped over $1 billion in losses on the Windows CE operating system to keep Palm from "growing" up from a lowly handheld OS vendor?
Well, Microsoft is also willing to lose billions on the Xbox to keep Sony's PlayStation from growing from a console into a media room PC and eventually taking share from Microsofts desktop OS monoply. So, good move for jumping on the Microsoft gravy train but don't think for a minute that the product exists because "the market" accepted it. In a real competitive market, projects like Window CE and most likely the Xbox, would be dead after 5 years of 10's to 100's of millions in losses. IMO.
LoB
I would expect to see Microsoft spending alot of cash to purchase views for its advertisers in the near future. They need to make MSN something other than an also-ran so using the tactics which helped them destroy the Netscape Navigator marketshare will work here too. Microsoft will also be spending cash to purchase marketshare for its web server too since it was constantly losing marketshare to Apache and also looking like an also-ran. I'd also expect to see Microsoft take more of a loss on the Xbox when Sony ships the PS3.
All and all, there's going to be alot of Microsoft cash flowing around in the next two years. Boy, I wonder if they can put any more stickers on PCs and laptops? Dell, have you asked Microsoft this question lately? It might make you a few more bucks since the Microsoft brand is what they are attempting to polish up... IMO.
LoB
Because this "investment" by Microsoft is nothing more than a way for them to get the Chinese people hooked on Microsofts software. And the detoxification process HURTS more, the longer you stay 'hooked'.
You've been warned.
IIRC, the addiction reference - MSFT is one of many great McNealy-ism's.
LoB
Anybody seen that photo of Bush walking around with the "Presidency for Dummies" book?
- for-dummies.html
http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/95-presidency
LoB
ROFLMAO --- I think you just influenced a new sig.
The intelligent design of a n00b - After mother re-partitioned her drive and mounted the smaller one at "/womb", the n00b was compiled from source and set free with GNU.
--contributions by schabot
or something like that. Good one.
LoB
well YOU try to help out your manager with the problem of not being able to connect to a VNC server through a firewall and see where THAT goes. I set them up with the VNC repeater and told him what to do to get it to work and then spent the next hour trying to explain to him how it works( he asked and asked ). We finally figured out that he thought that an internet/network connection was a one-way connection. ie, a request goes out and then the response comes back on another connection. I didn't even bother to ask why/how he could think that his browser worked....
I guess the point is, techies get very very tired of explaining something when it often/always leads them into explaining lower and lower technologies to the point that you're now explaining to them that when it says to set the PORT number, it is the port number of the network connection and not the serial port the modem is connected to... In Windows, these people are happy NOT knowing what they CAN'T do. Throw them some choice and you realize they have no clue as to how this or that works but they THINK they do because they are the Microsoft Windows guru of the department because they've figure out how to click some buttons to create an MS Acccess database applet. It's a clash of cultures for sure.
LoB
and therein lies the rub. Microsoft is a marketing company first and foremost, so they organize things nicely to make that venture successful. After all, MSN is a component of MS Windows and it's shipped with MS Windows, but they have the msn.com domain to handle update? WTF... Ahhh, marketing.... By doing it this way, they can/will say that this is about updates when infact, it's about protecting its advertising revenues. Do you think pop-up blocking was/is something they really want to do? Not if you're a marketing company and that is why they've waited so long to do anything about it. IMO.
So, just like all the things which broke 3rd party competitors in every release of an MS DOS, MS Windows, MS Office, MS etc update/patch/fix/... if/when the justice system gets called it, they'll have an excuse, say they are sorry if that's what it takes, and then fix it over a period of months because it's just so hard and difficult to do. All the while, the 3rd party/competitor is left with flooded phone support calls and their customers find that Microsoft graciously provided them with a product that'll fill in...
The writtings been on the wall for over 15 years. If people haven't seen the neon sign and stay with Microsoft it is their choice and all this is SOP. It's not any different from what they've done in the past and it'll happen many many many times again.
LoB
it seems to be pretty easy to root a windows box so i figure most don't bother with the rice-paper gate put up when running as a user.
LoB
hey, thanks for the correction and sorry about getting that wrong( to both you and redhat ). When I was looking for a GNU/Linux based CC processing system, I somehow heard wrong about what happened. And it sounds like CCVS was quite the product and it's understandable why you talk of it the way you do.
;-)
It still blows me away how people will build CC processing systems on top of Microsoft Windows, given it's security and the target it has on its back. But, I guess too few had the money or desire to implement on the *nix's.
Here's to you getting access to the source again. My guess is that MainStreet Softworks is hoping you don't.
LoB
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/ccvs/
JBoss might be a different product and different market but it makes me wonder if JBoss with end up like CCVS. Red Hat purchased another opensource project/product a while ago called CCVS( Credit Card Verification System ) and converted it to their proprietary license before later killing the product couple years later. They told their existing customers they'd be supported til the end of their contract by a 3rd party( mainstreetsoftworks.com ) and that MainStreet Works had a replacement product( also proprietary ).
If you've ever looked for GNU/Linux based CC processing software, you know how long and unsuccessful the search was/is.
There's definately a larger market for JBoss but the results could be the same in the long run if Red Hat can't market the product to profits. They are not a friend to Open Source when they do these kinds of things and it also shows/helps Microsoft when they do this... IMO.
LoB
.... about there being too many choices for GNU/Linux distros. It gives them another "excuse" to be playing Microsofts game of not providing lower priced PCs without Microsofts PetrieDish/OS. Well, there's also the money Microsoft pays them directly for putting those stickers all over the place saying stuff about being 'ready for Windows', 'powered by Windows', 'runs best with Windows', 'we recommend Windows', blah, blah ,blah. You can bet that those "feet on the street" are waving THAT in front of the OEMs they find selling safe-secure-reliable/Windows-less PCs.
The other thing they SHOULD be telling those OEMs is that by putting Microsoft Windows on those PCs, they are far, far, far more likely to be getting another $100-$200 for reinstalling Windows for that customer in about a year or two because malware ravaged their MS Windows OS. I know of 3 home users around me who had to do this and I'll bet the number is going up quickly. It's one thing to have to reboot(ctl-alt-del) your computer when it crashes or locks up. It's another when you have to dish out $$$$ to have someone fix it because the SOFTWARE/OS is so messed up it's unusable. This is probably why there's word going around that Microsofts days are numbered. It's also showing more and more in requests for quotes for standards based solutions.
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good points, thanks.
LoB
There another Jim Thatcher( http://www.jimthatcher.com/ ) but he does not appear to be the same as the MSFT Jim Thatcher. But, I could see the 'hook' in this being that Mr Thatcher could probably attempt to hold up ODF progress with accessability issues. After all, who will cry foul on EXTENSIVE discussions about Accessability for the Visually Challenged? It's been brought up before and it was/is a valid concern...
Are there any photographs of the MSFT Jim Thatcher?
What do others think is the justification/qualifications for putting MS Jim Thatcher on this project?
LoB