God lord man, do you remember wht it was like installing Linux on a pre-2001 machine? It was no big deal to get a text console, but running X Windows took an extreme knowledge of the software and hardware you were trying to make work. It didn't just "work" - not by a long stretch.
As craptacular as Win 95/98/ME were, you could at least install the OS and have a graphical interface on almost any piece of hardware - Linux was a 20 floppy "adventure"...
Microsoft will make sure Apple is always around - if Microsoft went to 99% of the desktop market, they would get their brains sued by anti-monopoly lawyers in governments around the world.
Linux deskop usage has been clocked at around 1% of market share, with Apple OS X having around 5-7%, depending on the survey you look at, with the rest being various Microsoft OS. (Remember, this is desktop, not all computers, typically determined by browser stats on widely-visited websites)...
Lasty time I looked, There were twice as many people running Windows Vista than Mac OS X, and ten times as many people running Windows Vista vs. any version of Linux.
Windows XP just recenlty dipped below 50% of the desktop users - and it was introduced almost 12 years ago (August, 2001)...
no viruses - I can count the number of viruses and other malware I've gotten on my Windows computers over the last 20 years on one hand, and still have enough fingers left to pick up a bowling ball. That they exist isn't the issue, it's bad user habits and a refusal to use even the basic protection MS offers for free that causes most infestations.
no forced upgrades - this is 100% controllable by the user, simply choose to not install updates/upgrades
better functionality (stuff like kioslaves, etc...) - What? That you think this is an imprtant "feature" proves you are out of the mainstream.
customization - What kind of customization? Desktop theme? Windows if extremely customizable.
price Windows 7 came bundled with my $400 Dell Desktop, which has the same specs as the $450 "Linux" computer I saw on line...
the system does what I tell it to do. Not more, not less, and not what some DRM/*AA/SW vendors wants - That is a function of the applications you choose to use, not the OS.
less demanding on HW - Seriously? When four hundred dollar bills gets you a quad-core CPU of 3 GHz and 8 gigs of RAM and a terabyte of hard drive space, how big a concern is "squeezing" the last little bit of performance out of a seven year-old computer to the average user? And, BTW, Windows 7 is actually a better performing OS than Windows XP (Win 7 runs better on an identically spec'd 7 year old computer running Win XP - at $work we use Dell Optiplex GX620s running WinXP and Win 7, and with 2 Gigs of RAM and our applications Win 7 feels "snappier" to the end user, and the improved CIFS protocols between Win7 and Windows Server 2008 make for a nice upgrade from WinXP & Server 2003)
Simply saying something is true, doesn't make it so.
Actually, it was your sixth attempt, You happened to switch platforms between your fifth and sixt attempt.
Windows Vista didn't natively support CD/DVD burning as I recall, Windows 7 does, Are you blaming Windows Vista for the failings of an application you installed and then had problems with?
As a Windows user I can go into any retailer, pick up almost any piece of hardware and it will just work with my Windows computer, I'm not just talking about obvious computer hardware, but things like MP3 players, phone sync applications, GPS update programs, etc. It all just works.
Sure, much of it also works on Mac, but Linux?
For most people, computers either "just work" or they don't - the "thrill" of hunting down the Linux driver that they can install on their particular version of Linux doesn't appeal to them. The vast majority of computer users use them to solve problems and quite honestly, arguing that they can run a technically superior OS on older hardware for slightly less cost than Windows 7 doesn't appeal to them. When a coworker tells them about Netflix streaming, they want to run it, they don't want to google for WINE settings to trick the software into working, when they buy an iPod, they want to use the Apple iTunes ecosystem, when they want to type up the minutes from their charity meeting they don't delight in using a "good enough for their purposes but still different thatn MS Word" word processor, they want to use the same tools they use at work 8 hours a day.
Once you get past the delight of being different, for the average person being different makes things harder, not easier.
The little equation most Linux advocates seem to want to avoid is the effect "crapware" subsidies have on the price of the average home PC. On low-end machines for the home (running Win 7 Home) the so-called Windows Tax (cost of the OS license) is offset, for the most part by subsidies from software vendors that load up your hard drive with special offers, trial versions, etc. With "crapware" essentially wiping out the Windows Tax, what you are left with is the cost of the hardware, and small linux system builders don't have the volume to get their hardware costs down to where the big OEMs get theirs.
You can argue that Linux system builders typically use better hardware, and they charge a reasonable premium for that better hardware, but home users simply don't appreciate the "better" system that costs a more. Many home users replace their machines every couple years, so payng more for a technically better product doesn't make sense, because the cheaper system probably won't fail until after it has outlived it's useful life to them.
A few years ago the NY Times had an article about people doing forklift upgrades of their home PCs because getting rid of viruses was a tremendous pain and a very usable replacement machine that was likely faster/demonstrably better than the machine they had could be gotten for $300-400, With the local geek squad wanting $100 or so to "clean" or "restore" your infected 3 year old machine, a $300-400 upgrade starts to make sense,
You're right - no one has ever asked their roommate to let them have the room for the night, and videotaping the "event" is a perfectly normal response... IN PRISON!
I do not believe the Oval Office has had a computer installed in it. Ever. If I'm not mistaken it is an even bigger deal than the Presidential Blackberry - it could be argued that every page POTUS surfed would be recorded and archived forever...
Do you really want your President to sit around wondering why his browser is frozen?
OK, perspective is called for - Obama took the White House in 2009, up until 2009 HP had floppy drives STANDARD on business desktops - so as Obama took the White House, HP was still shipping floppy drives as STANDARD.
Yes, sitting in 2012 we can all agree that floppy drives have been obsolete for years, but in 2009 HP was still shipping them as standard.
The note about Dell Dimensions is nice, but those are "home" computers, not "professional".
And that 6 year-old software? I can guarantee you it was Office 2003 - sure, as Bush was preparing to leave office his staff certainly could have gone around and upgraded everyone to the latest/greatest version of office (Office 2007), but it is now 2012, and the latest version of Office on PCs is 2010 - does that have 100% market penetration, or are there a few stragglers on 2007 or even 2003?
I have to say I got a chuckle when I got to the part about "inheriting" their IT problems. Obama "inherited" all his problems after all!
Let's be clear on one thing - then-Senator Obama went around the country, gave countless speeches, shook innumerable hands, and raised a record amount of campaign contributions to take on these very same problems he now blames the prior administration for... He asked for the job - he didn't draw the short straw, and as a sitting U.S. Senator at the time, he was in the best position to know exactly what he was getting into.
The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate didn't pull him out of a crowd - he stood on a chair and yelled "Pick Me, Pick Me! I have the answers!"
I remember hearing stories about accomplished people who overcame a seriously lacking formal education by commiting to reading the entire encyclopedia... One such person became a US Senator/Congressman as I recall...
Uh, maybe when a $100 speeding ticket means you lose half your food budget for the week you work really hard to avoid getting them, vs someone who can spend $100 and not feel it....
Does the library subscribe to every known publication, have every known book, newspaper and periodical? No, but I don't imagine the students are complaining about their inability to access such material.
I understand the school cafeteria employs draconian food filtering denying students access to pizza, steak and beer. Hey, these kids are paying top-dollar for their "food access plan" the university has no right to limit th emend to a few select foods at a given meal...
You are wasting your time and the time of the students for a motivation that smells a bit like Nazism.
Really? The school blocks hackaday and it is equated to the systematic extermination of millions of human beings?
There is a lot of pedagogical material on youtube.
Which is likely why the school in question doesn't block youtube - at least the OP didn't include youtube in his list of sites included in the "draconian" censored websites listed...
Slashdot Mirror
Windows Server 2008 R2 runs on the Itanium
There is also an embedded version of Windows 7
God lord man, do you remember wht it was like installing Linux on a pre-2001 machine? It was no big deal to get a text console, but running X Windows took an extreme knowledge of the software and hardware you were trying to make work. It didn't just "work" - not by a long stretch.
As craptacular as Win 95/98/ME were, you could at least install the OS and have a graphical interface on almost any piece of hardware - Linux was a 20 floppy "adventure"...
Microsoft will make sure Apple is always around - if Microsoft went to 99% of the desktop market, they would get their brains sued by anti-monopoly lawyers in governments around the world.
Linux deskop usage has been clocked at around 1% of market share, with Apple OS X having around 5-7%, depending on the survey you look at, with the rest being various Microsoft OS. (Remember, this is desktop, not all computers, typically determined by browser stats on widely-visited websites)...
Lasty time I looked, There were twice as many people running Windows Vista than Mac OS X, and ten times as many people running Windows Vista vs. any version of Linux.
Windows XP just recenlty dipped below 50% of the desktop users - and it was introduced almost 12 years ago (August, 2001)...
no viruses - I can count the number of viruses and other malware I've gotten on my Windows computers over the last 20 years on one hand, and still have enough fingers left to pick up a bowling ball. That they exist isn't the issue, it's bad user habits and a refusal to use even the basic protection MS offers for free that causes most infestations.
no forced upgrades - this is 100% controllable by the user, simply choose to not install updates/upgrades
better functionality (stuff like kioslaves, etc ...) - What? That you think this is an imprtant "feature" proves you are out of the mainstream.
customization - What kind of customization? Desktop theme? Windows if extremely customizable.
price Windows 7 came bundled with my $400 Dell Desktop, which has the same specs as the $450 "Linux" computer I saw on line...
the system does what I tell it to do. Not more, not less, and not what some DRM/*AA/SW vendors wants - That is a function of the applications you choose to use, not the OS.
less demanding on HW - Seriously? When four hundred dollar bills gets you a quad-core CPU of 3 GHz and 8 gigs of RAM and a terabyte of hard drive space, how big a concern is "squeezing" the last little bit of performance out of a seven year-old computer to the average user? And, BTW, Windows 7 is actually a better performing OS than Windows XP (Win 7 runs better on an identically spec'd 7 year old computer running Win XP - at $work we use Dell Optiplex GX620s running WinXP and Win 7, and with 2 Gigs of RAM and our applications Win 7 feels "snappier" to the end user, and the improved CIFS protocols between Win7 and Windows Server 2008 make for a nice upgrade from WinXP & Server 2003)
Simply saying something is true, doesn't make it so.
Actually, it was your sixth attempt, You happened to switch platforms between your fifth and sixt attempt.
Windows Vista didn't natively support CD/DVD burning as I recall, Windows 7 does, Are you blaming Windows Vista for the failings of an application you installed and then had problems with?
Vista or Ubuntu? Hell, I'd choose TRS-DOS over Vista!
Comparing Ubuntu with Vista is like comparing an Operating System with a shiny box...
Drivers, plain and simple.
As a Windows user I can go into any retailer, pick up almost any piece of hardware and it will just work with my Windows computer, I'm not just talking about obvious computer hardware, but things like MP3 players, phone sync applications, GPS update programs, etc. It all just works.
Sure, much of it also works on Mac, but Linux?
For most people, computers either "just work" or they don't - the "thrill" of hunting down the Linux driver that they can install on their particular version of Linux doesn't appeal to them. The vast majority of computer users use them to solve problems and quite honestly, arguing that they can run a technically superior OS on older hardware for slightly less cost than Windows 7 doesn't appeal to them. When a coworker tells them about Netflix streaming, they want to run it, they don't want to google for WINE settings to trick the software into working, when they buy an iPod, they want to use the Apple iTunes ecosystem, when they want to type up the minutes from their charity meeting they don't delight in using a "good enough for their purposes but still different thatn MS Word" word processor, they want to use the same tools they use at work 8 hours a day.
Once you get past the delight of being different, for the average person being different makes things harder, not easier.
It's price,
The little equation most Linux advocates seem to want to avoid is the effect "crapware" subsidies have on the price of the average home PC. On low-end machines for the home (running Win 7 Home) the so-called Windows Tax (cost of the OS license) is offset, for the most part by subsidies from software vendors that load up your hard drive with special offers, trial versions, etc. With "crapware" essentially wiping out the Windows Tax, what you are left with is the cost of the hardware, and small linux system builders don't have the volume to get their hardware costs down to where the big OEMs get theirs.
You can argue that Linux system builders typically use better hardware, and they charge a reasonable premium for that better hardware, but home users simply don't appreciate the "better" system that costs a more. Many home users replace their machines every couple years, so payng more for a technically better product doesn't make sense, because the cheaper system probably won't fail until after it has outlived it's useful life to them.
A few years ago the NY Times had an article about people doing forklift upgrades of their home PCs because getting rid of viruses was a tremendous pain and a very usable replacement machine that was likely faster/demonstrably better than the machine they had could be gotten for $300-400, With the local geek squad wanting $100 or so to "clean" or "restore" your infected 3 year old machine, a $300-400 upgrade starts to make sense,
How many kilowatts can I buy for the 99 cents you think I should pay for a non-free app without ads?
How long will it take me to use that many kilowatts in my cellphone?
Apps that download ads use 100% more energy downlaoding ads than apps that don't download ads... Who knew?
Next up, parked cars consume 100% less gas than cars being driven down the road.
And there is a study underway in Europe that hopes to confirm my suspicion that empty boxes weigh less than full boxes.
So what you are saying is the problem is he was a drama queen?
Wow.
You're right - no one has ever asked their roommate to let them have the room for the night, and videotaping the "event" is a perfectly normal response... IN PRISON!
I do not believe the Oval Office has had a computer installed in it. Ever. If I'm not mistaken it is an even bigger deal than the Presidential Blackberry - it could be argued that every page POTUS surfed would be recorded and archived forever...
Do you really want your President to sit around wondering why his browser is frozen?
OK, perspective is called for - Obama took the White House in 2009, up until 2009 HP had floppy drives STANDARD on business desktops - so as Obama took the White House, HP was still shipping floppy drives as STANDARD.
Yes, sitting in 2012 we can all agree that floppy drives have been obsolete for years, but in 2009 HP was still shipping them as standard.
The note about Dell Dimensions is nice, but those are "home" computers, not "professional".
And that 6 year-old software? I can guarantee you it was Office 2003 - sure, as Bush was preparing to leave office his staff certainly could have gone around and upgraded everyone to the latest/greatest version of office (Office 2007), but it is now 2012, and the latest version of Office on PCs is 2010 - does that have 100% market penetration, or are there a few stragglers on 2007 or even 2003?
Maybe, like most office users at the time, the Bush White House wasn't a big fan of the ribbon interface introduced in Office 2007
Let's be clear on one thing - then-Senator Obama went around the country, gave countless speeches, shook innumerable hands, and raised a record amount of campaign contributions to take on these very same problems he now blames the prior administration for... He asked for the job - he didn't draw the short straw, and as a sitting U.S. Senator at the time, he was in the best position to know exactly what he was getting into.
The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate didn't pull him out of a crowd - he stood on a chair and yelled "Pick Me, Pick Me! I have the answers!"
At least all the keyboards still had the "W" key!
I remember hearing stories about accomplished people who overcame a seriously lacking formal education by commiting to reading the entire encyclopedia... One such person became a US Senator/Congressman as I recall...
Uh, maybe when a $100 speeding ticket means you lose half your food budget for the week you work really hard to avoid getting them, vs someone who can spend $100 and not feel it....
Just a thought.
Well yes, they built the Autobahn.
I would hate to bury all the good work the Nazi's did by only mentioning their systematic genocide of millions and millions of people.
You know, I bet they protect their university equipment from unfettered access from machines on the public network.
The university campus isn't wired like the apartment you and your friend share with a router, switch and all machines on the same subnet...
Porn wasn't on the list of blocked sites in the original article, so I don't think that is the issue here...
Does the library subscribe to every known publication, have every known book, newspaper and periodical? No, but I don't imagine the students are complaining about their inability to access such material.
I understand the school cafeteria employs draconian food filtering denying students access to pizza, steak and beer. Hey, these kids are paying top-dollar for their "food access plan" the university has no right to limit th emend to a few select foods at a given meal...
Really? The school blocks hackaday and it is equated to the systematic extermination of millions of human beings?
Which is likely why the school in question doesn't block youtube - at least the OP didn't include youtube in his list of sites included in the "draconian" censored websites listed...