Any move to improving antipiracy measures is a good thing. I work in the software industry. People *purchasing* our companies product keeps a roof over my head. People who pirate software, or knowingly use pirated software get no love from me, they are just a bunch of slimy theives.
Sony made a big mistake by having botch a low quanity of shipping units available when introducing the Playstation 2 in the US and not delivering what anyone would consider 'Next-Generation'. Those who did not get one during the Christmas season have now had a chance to see what the system offers, and the lack of quality in the current batch of Games. If I did not get a PS2 during christmas, I would not buy one now. Many people I know feel the same. Why? The games which are delivered for the system do not meet our expectations. I'm sorry but..., I've seen it all before... on my PC.
Nintendo has wowed the game industry with each console release. Compare the NES vs the Atari? Super NES had a few more notches above the genesis.
Nintendo 64? This system was awesome. Both the usability and presentation of this product was unlike anything ever seen. But like this article said, it required that game developers buy expensive hardware (and costs of training, maintenace etc with it).. Not to mention the limitations of the system (Storage capacity, memory).Strike one down for Nintendo... Hopefully they've asked the development community what they want when creating the development platform for the GameCube
Microsoft on the otherhand seems to be doing it right. Game Developers on the PC Platform are a dime a dozen, PC Hardware is freely available and quite cheap. Microsoft has its own API Which developers already know and are comfortable with. Provide a platform that includes next-generation components (Go read up on the Xbox hardware) which similar to the same environment developers are comfortable with, Mass-Market it to the masses so everyone and their brother will own one and people will come develop for you.
I fail to see how breaking IE out of Windows is going to help consumers. Consumers are going to have to pay MORE for new computers since the OEMs are going to have to license whatever browser they opt to include with the Operating System. Do not kid yourself, if IE was broken out of the OS, companies such as Netscape will get back on the 50$/license bandwagon.
The second issue is this: Why do I keep seeing comments such as "Does this mean Microsoft will write Office 2000 for Linux?". No! There is no money to be made there. Even with the SMALL userbase linux has, the majority of that is the Server marketplace. Do you have any idea how servers are used? They sit idle, no user at the console... Serving. That's what they are intended to do. Linux is *NOT* a desktop operating system (It could be, yes, but it isnt presently). If there was ANY os Microsoft Applications would be ported to, it would be MacOS . They have already ported IE and office to this platform. Aside from MacOS, the *nix variants that would get applications would be the likes of Solaris, HP-UX, etc. Not Linux. Why not? The cost of technical support would outweigh any profit gained. Linux is a changing entity, its too chaotic to be a viable platform for application development.
Personally I feel AOL is far more dangerous than Microsoft. Microsoft has kept its roots in software for the most part, barring a few excursions into the realm of hardware (mouse, keyboard, joystick, video game console) but for the most part Microsoft is making software, and will continue to make software. AOL has many plans under its sleeve. Aside from connecting millions of people to its service and offering the internet they now own their own Web browser/Server company, and have merged with a large media machine (Time/Warner). They can now control TV, Radio, Music, Theater, Internet, Pretty much everything. They only thing I feel the company needs to become a serious sore to society is an operating system.
This article is pure FUD. The media has to dig up something to discuss to increase revenue, this is a fine example. It is no suprise that a product is released with bugs. Even with Open Source projects, each 'finished' update is released with Errata. I would imagine if you put the current Linux kernel under the intense Lab testing/stress you would come up with an unimaginable list of issues.
Most of these will be trivial, and only occur under extreme conditions. Some of them would be due to architectural difficulties. Some would be due to user error, design 'error', etc.
Microsoft did not release Windows 2000 as a busted flaky operating system. The company is smart, they know they have one hell of a Product and they know that we the public are going to love it. They would not release something so broken that they would have to invest more in supporting the product than profit would supply..
Nothing's Perfect. There are probably a bazillion bugs in it, A bazillion in Windows 98, A Bazillion in Linux, a Bazillion in FreeBSD, A Bazillion in MacOS. They exist, its part of Software. Too bad.
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Any move to improving antipiracy measures is a good thing. I work in the software industry. People *purchasing* our companies product keeps a roof over my head. People who pirate software, or knowingly use pirated software get no love from me, they are just a bunch of slimy theives.
Sony made a big mistake by having botch a low quanity of shipping units available when introducing the Playstation 2 in the US and not delivering what anyone would consider 'Next-Generation'. Those who did not get one during the Christmas season have now had a chance to see what the system offers, and the lack of quality in the current batch of Games. If I did not get a PS2 during christmas, I would not buy one now. Many people I know feel the same. Why? The games which are delivered for the system do not meet our expectations. I'm sorry but..., I've seen it all before... on my PC.
Nintendo has wowed the game industry with each console release. Compare the NES vs the Atari? Super NES had a few more notches above the genesis.
Nintendo 64? This system was awesome. Both the usability and presentation of this product was unlike anything ever seen. But like this article said, it required that game developers buy expensive hardware (and costs of training, maintenace etc with it).. Not to mention the limitations of the system (Storage capacity, memory).Strike one down for Nintendo... Hopefully they've asked the development community what they want when creating the development platform for the GameCube
Microsoft on the otherhand seems to be doing it right. Game Developers on the PC Platform are a dime a dozen, PC Hardware is freely available and quite cheap. Microsoft has its own API Which developers already know and are comfortable with. Provide a platform that includes next-generation components (Go read up on the Xbox hardware) which similar to the same environment developers are comfortable with, Mass-Market it to the masses so everyone and their brother will own one and people will come develop for you.
Two things here
I fail to see how breaking IE out of Windows is going to help consumers. Consumers are going to have to pay MORE for new computers since the OEMs are going to have to license whatever browser they opt to include with the Operating System. Do not kid yourself, if IE was broken out of the OS, companies such as Netscape will get back on the 50$/license bandwagon.
The second issue is this: Why do I keep seeing comments such as "Does this mean Microsoft will write Office 2000 for Linux?". No! There is no money to be made there. Even with the SMALL userbase linux has, the majority of that is the Server marketplace. Do you have any idea how servers are used? They sit idle, no user at the console... Serving. That's what they are intended to do. Linux is *NOT* a desktop operating system (It could be, yes, but it isnt presently). If there was ANY os Microsoft Applications would be ported to, it would be MacOS . They have already ported IE and office to this platform. Aside from MacOS, the *nix variants that would get applications would be the likes of Solaris, HP-UX, etc. Not Linux. Why not? The cost of technical support would outweigh any profit gained. Linux is a changing entity, its too chaotic to be a viable platform for application development.
If my memory serves me correctly, Was not 3D0 Open to OEM's to create hardware? History repeats itself. Sony's in trouble and they know it.
Personally I feel AOL is far more dangerous than Microsoft. Microsoft has kept its roots in software for the most part, barring a few excursions into the realm of hardware (mouse, keyboard, joystick, video game console) but for the most part Microsoft is making software, and will continue to make software. AOL has many plans under its sleeve. Aside from connecting millions of people to its service and offering the internet they now own their own Web browser/Server company, and have merged with a large media machine (Time/Warner). They can now control TV, Radio, Music, Theater, Internet, Pretty much everything. They only thing I feel the company needs to become a serious sore to society is an operating system.
This article is pure FUD. The media has to dig up something to discuss to increase revenue, this is a fine example. It is no suprise that a product is released with bugs. Even with Open Source projects, each 'finished' update is released with Errata. I would imagine if you put the current Linux kernel under the intense Lab testing/stress you would come up with an unimaginable list of issues.
Most of these will be trivial, and only occur under extreme conditions. Some of them would be due to architectural difficulties. Some would be due to user error, design 'error', etc.
Microsoft did not release Windows 2000 as a busted flaky operating system. The company is smart, they know they have one hell of a Product and they know that we the public are going to love it. They would not release something so broken that they would have to invest more in supporting the product than profit would supply..
Nothing's Perfect. There are probably a bazillion bugs in it, A bazillion in Windows 98, A Bazillion in Linux, a Bazillion in FreeBSD, A Bazillion in MacOS. They exist, its part of Software. Too bad.
My Twenty Cents.......