When this study was presented the press should have asked if the millions of PS1, PS2, Xbox and GCs currently in use are going to vanish in thin air all at once or if it will be a long process.
there's 5 years to go before it's possible to check if this prediction is accurate, but at this moment in time it looks like it's not, and by a long way. Disregarding the PS2, the portable consoles and a new offer before 2011 is just plain shortsighted.
Essentially, when an employee comes in in the morning, have them log-in, and automatically download their VM from the server Your goals may be better accomplished with a different approach.
Build your standard, clean virtual image to use in all workstations
set the/home dir as a remote share. tell users to keep their files on that share
have all workstations load VMware player on startup, running a local copy of the virtual machine you built
Now you have most of the benefits you asked for: you can have users switch places at random, you can replace physical computers and set them all up with the same VM... you can even have them all run windows on a linux host if this helps prepare for "the big switch". As for your maintenance of the VMs, you can remotely log in to any of the workstations and replace the old VMs with new ones when you need to update something. Ocasionally you can wipe out all files that are kept on workstations to ensure that no kiddie p0rn is found, and to further illustrate that it is essential to keep all work-related files on the server as instructed in 2):)
the real wildcard though is just how much marketshare Apple is really capturing And/if they're willing to try something slightly evil, like iTunes endorsing a browser like Safari/Firefox when a IE user drops by.
Furthermore, Microsoft has been talking up Vista for five years. You didn't see Dell or HP go out of business for lack of sales because people are waiting for Vista, did you? no, because everybody knows that computers break down by themselves or sabotaged by viruses. The cyclic replacement of HP/Dell PCs with MS Windows probably plays an important role in economy growth figures.
In terms of shape and size, I'm a bit surprised that peope are willing to lug around laptops with 17" displays while portrait-oriented displays are not widely available. Instead of having the whole LCD panel being the "lid" on the laptop, a smaller panel would do that and then hold the pivot to allow switching between landscape and portrait orientation. these days I tend to keep the dock on OSX taking up the right hand side of my 16:9 screen and the only reason I don't do the same with the Windows taskbar is that some apps act funny when their menus are not where they're expected. Anyway, it makes much more sense to have the taskbars and menus taking up space on the corner of the eye than to have one web browser displaying empty space on both sides of whatever I'm reading, and then to have to scroll up and down all the time.
I simply cannot fathom a purpose for 8 cores for any "desktop" application that isn't in the "workstation" class. answer: virtual reality + porn. it will be just like the games you mentioned before, but with lots of AI. the market will demand lots of AI in their virtual gang bang:)
I would say that the parent poster is not a troll, and still wonder if someone realises that most of the time there's 25 or 50% of the "5.3L Vortec V8" engine switched off, will they consider to buy something with a smaller displacement engine next time?
Then, if you press ALT+TAB again the same process will be done but instead of booting the computer will just restore the state from the hibernation file. Good idea. Instead of using a strange key combination, perhaps it would be better to add a new key, like one with a "windows" logo and another with a "penguin" logo next to the space bar. I bet it would cost next to nothing and would work great.
people just look like idiots to me when they're drunk, and not in an entertaining way. Don't blame them for that, they're semi-conscious. As the conscious one, you're in charge of making things entertaining. Just don't forget to take your camera with you when you go out with your drunken friends. After a few "priceless" pictures, they should reconsider their ways:)
So Microsoft makes Virtual PC free. Suddenly everyone starts using virtualization software and (besides the licensing fees Microsoft will get for each copy of its OS that is virtualized)
I like to think of virtualization as 3 different sets of solutions: 1) for optimizing server performance vs. cost; 2) a "nice to have" kind of thing for development workstations 3) a tool to ease the transition between MS Windows and Linux
In the server optimization field, Microsoft may follow whatever trend they need to, in this case damaging a bit of the relationship they have with hardware vendors, as it's possible to do MSWindows-related tasks with less hardware than before. VMware and Microsoft solutions will be picked in different cases depending on how good they perform. MS gets to sell their other software as they always do, regardless of their clients using theirs or VMware virtualization solutions.
In the case of desktops, Microsoft may have much more to lose: Let's say you have a lot of workstations with legal copies of MS Windows and little incentive to upgrade to Windows XP or Vista. If you decide to do a round of hardware upgrades on your desktops, you can use VMware to stop the expense of automatically updating to Windows XP/Vista/Whatever:
backup "My documents" of all machines involved;
install Ubuntu Linux on all the new workstations;
install vmware workstation
reinstall MS Windows inside the virtual machine
backup the "clean install" you just did of Microsoft Windows
Move all the "my Documents" folders to some file server
Keep VMware running on one of the virtual desktops, so that the user can go back to its familiar environment and some old school windows app they really need - bonus points for having 2 LCD screens per computer, one with Gnome Desktop, another for virtualized Windows
The final step is to make your maniacal laugh be well heard on the day that your version of MS Windows is discontinued, and you still use it as happily as the day you started - you just broke the forced upgrade cycle.
My chosen exercise is to split firewood with a maul, at the fastest pace my body can handle. our hacker neighbour is at it again! keep the noise down buddy!!!
I was wondering if anyone would point this out. Perhaps what I do with my files is unusual or something, but my simplistic point of view is that NTFS allows >4GB files and is exclusive to the Windows world and FAT32 is read/writeable by a lot of different OSes but doesn't allow files that large nor file access permissions.
When I'm dualbooting Windows and Linux and/or using windows inside a Vmware virtual machine, I would need to be able to reach "/home" or "My documents" from different places, and I have to use FAT32. Now being able to use one of the Linux-compatible filesystems is great - much better than keeping a FAT32 partition with important stuff on an iPod or on a laptop hard drive. Thanks for the link to Ext2 IFS.
This product here by targus is a sort of a pointing device like the ones you'd find on IBM and Toshiba laptops a few years ago before trackpads took over completely. It's meant to be a "presenter pointing device" and its shape allows use with one hand, with or without desk and although oposable thumbs help, you can use any other finger to move the cursor. interestingly enough, I've seen them on sale for EUR59, or bundled with a laptop carrying bag for EUR99. On this online shop they retail for US$44. grrr.
Your comment and a few others remind me of other uses for this OS... for those people and companies stuck in the middle of migrating from windows98 to linux, being able to run a few specific apps in a virtualized windows box without paying software licences for the OS might be a good idea.
Other people working on filters and converter tools for semi-closed formats might find it handy to run Win32 applications in a more controlable environment than MSWindows to figure out how certain things work.
Since most people already have XP who would use this? Or will ReactOS emulate Vista? No, this is not a troll post, but a legit question. This question is as legit as that one that shows up frequently around here: What are the good reasons for people to upgrade to Vista? Having WIN32 compatibility without getting the DRM,and inside properly protected userspace are good enough reasons to want ReactOS instead of Vista...
Microsoft might be able to pull this off... if they add the ability to download screensavers and funny sound clips, they might profit from Ballmer's singing, dancing and swearing. Add Clippy as a Tamagotchi-style game and this might kill both iPod and Nintendo DS.
The computer where I've been experimenting is a Powermac G4@400mhz. Ubuntu is faster, all hardware is automagically detected, but beyond that there's stuff that just needs tweaking or packages that only exist for i386 machines.
On that same G4, when using OS X Panther, sharing the internet connectiong from one NIC to the other using OS X is done with 2 or 3 clicks in the appropriate switches on the control panel. Accessing a PPTP VPN is set up quite easily as well. There's jsut too many things hat had to be left out of Ubuntu because of political decisions.
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When this study was presented the press should have asked if the millions of PS1, PS2, Xbox and GCs currently in use are going to vanish in thin air all at once or if it will be a long process.
there's 5 years to go before it's possible to check if this prediction is accurate, but at this moment in time it looks like it's not, and by a long way. Disregarding the PS2, the portable consoles and a new offer before 2011 is just plain shortsighted.
Your goals may be better accomplished with a different approach.
Now you have most of the benefits you asked for: you can have users switch places at random, you can replace physical computers and set them all up with the same VM... you can even have them all run windows on a linux host if this helps prepare for "the big switch". :)
As for your maintenance of the VMs, you can remotely log in to any of the workstations and replace the old VMs with new ones when you need to update something. Ocasionally you can wipe out all files that are kept on workstations to ensure that no kiddie p0rn is found, and to further illustrate that it is essential to keep all work-related files on the server as instructed in 2)
the real wildcard though is just how much marketshare Apple is really capturing And/if they're willing to try something slightly evil, like iTunes endorsing a browser like Safari/Firefox when a IE user drops by.
What if it is decided in a referendum that you have to?
Furthermore, Microsoft has been talking up Vista for five years. You didn't see Dell or HP go out of business for lack of sales because people are waiting for Vista, did you?
no, because everybody knows that computers break down by themselves or sabotaged by viruses. The cyclic replacement of HP/Dell PCs with MS Windows probably plays an important role in economy growth figures.
Found an example of what I was talking about: the samsung Z130 mobile phone has a pivoting display in a very small package.
In terms of shape and size, I'm a bit surprised that peope are willing to lug around laptops with 17" displays while portrait-oriented displays are not widely available. Instead of having the whole LCD panel being the "lid" on the laptop, a smaller panel would do that and then hold the pivot to allow switching between landscape and portrait orientation.
these days I tend to keep the dock on OSX taking up the right hand side of my 16:9 screen and the only reason I don't do the same with the Windows taskbar is that some apps act funny when their menus are not where they're expected. Anyway, it makes much more sense to have the taskbars and menus taking up space on the corner of the eye than to have one web browser displaying empty space on both sides of whatever I'm reading, and then to have to scroll up and down all the time.
I simply cannot fathom a purpose for 8 cores for any "desktop" application that isn't in the "workstation" class. :)
answer: virtual reality + porn.
it will be just like the games you mentioned before, but with lots of AI. the market will demand lots of AI in their virtual gang bang
they come in plenty different sizes these days.
Ford
Renault
VW
Skoda
and exactly why is that "hybrid"? do you use natural gas to help pedalling uphill?
That would be a perfect way of getting thousands of people to cancel contracts and get a sattelite dish.
Then, if you press ALT+TAB again the same process will be done but instead of booting the computer will just restore the state from the hibernation file.
Good idea. Instead of using a strange key combination, perhaps it would be better to add a new key, like one with a "windows" logo and another with a "penguin" logo next to the space bar. I bet it would cost next to nothing and would work great.
how I miss the days when you'd replace a 80386 with a 80486 ... what are these FX thingies? the 80886 series?
people just look like idiots to me when they're drunk, and not in an entertaining way. :)
Don't blame them for that, they're semi-conscious. As the conscious one, you're in charge of making things entertaining. Just don't forget to take your camera with you when you go out with your drunken friends. After a few "priceless" pictures, they should reconsider their ways
I like to think of virtualization as 3 different sets of solutions: 1) for optimizing server performance vs. cost; 2) a "nice to have" kind of thing for development workstations 3) a tool to ease the transition between MS Windows and Linux
In the server optimization field, Microsoft may follow whatever trend they need to, in this case damaging a bit of the relationship they have with hardware vendors, as it's possible to do MSWindows-related tasks with less hardware than before. VMware and Microsoft solutions will be picked in different cases depending on how good they perform. MS gets to sell their other software as they always do, regardless of their clients using theirs or VMware virtualization solutions.
In the case of desktops, Microsoft may have much more to lose: Let's say you have a lot of workstations with legal copies of MS Windows and little incentive to upgrade to Windows XP or Vista. If you decide to do a round of hardware upgrades on your desktops, you can use VMware to stop the expense of automatically updating to Windows XP/Vista/Whatever:
- backup "My documents" of all machines involved;
- install Ubuntu Linux on all the new workstations;
- install vmware workstation
- reinstall MS Windows inside the virtual machine
- backup the "clean install" you just did of Microsoft Windows
- Move all the "my Documents" folders to some file server
- Keep VMware running on one of the virtual desktops, so that the user can go back to its familiar environment and some old school windows app they really need - bonus points for having 2 LCD screens per computer, one with Gnome Desktop, another for virtualized Windows
The final step is to make your maniacal laugh be well heard on the day that your version of MS Windows is discontinued, and you still use it as happily as the day you started - you just broke the forced upgrade cycle.My chosen exercise is to split firewood with a maul, at the fastest pace my body can handle.
our hacker neighbour is at it again! keep the noise down buddy!!!
I was wondering if anyone would point this out. Perhaps what I do with my files is unusual or something, but my simplistic point of view is that NTFS allows >4GB files and is exclusive to the Windows world and FAT32 is read/writeable by a lot of different OSes but doesn't allow files that large nor file access permissions.
When I'm dualbooting Windows and Linux and/or using windows inside a Vmware virtual machine, I would need to be able to reach "/home" or "My documents" from different places, and I have to use FAT32. Now being able to use one of the Linux-compatible filesystems is great - much better than keeping a FAT32 partition with important stuff on an iPod or on a laptop hard drive. Thanks for the link to Ext2 IFS.
This product here by targus is a sort of a pointing device like the ones you'd find on IBM and Toshiba laptops a few years ago before trackpads took over completely. It's meant to be a "presenter pointing device" and its shape allows use with one hand, with or without desk and although oposable thumbs help, you can use any other finger to move the cursor.
interestingly enough, I've seen them on sale for EUR59, or bundled with a laptop carrying bag for EUR99. On this online shop they retail for US$44. grrr.
Your comment and a few others remind me of other uses for this OS... for those people and companies stuck in the middle of migrating from windows98 to linux, being able to run a few specific apps in a virtualized windows box without paying software licences for the OS might be a good idea. Other people working on filters and converter tools for semi-closed formats might find it handy to run Win32 applications in a more controlable environment than MSWindows to figure out how certain things work.
Since most people already have XP who would use this? Or will ReactOS emulate Vista? No, this is not a troll post, but a legit question. This question is as legit as that one that shows up frequently around here: What are the good reasons for people to upgrade to Vista? Having WIN32 compatibility without getting the DRM,and inside properly protected userspace are good enough reasons to want ReactOS instead of Vista...
this just shows that people should have settled for 8 characters for filename, 3 for file extension and google desktop to actually do the finding...
Microsoft might be able to pull this off... if they add the ability to download screensavers and funny sound clips, they might profit from Ballmer's singing, dancing and swearing. Add Clippy as a Tamagotchi-style game and this might kill both iPod and Nintendo DS.
Welcome our new monopoly-abbusing and >US$2500000/person paying overlords
The computer where I've been experimenting is a Powermac G4@400mhz. Ubuntu is faster, all hardware is automagically detected, but beyond that there's stuff that just needs tweaking or packages that only exist for i386 machines.
On that same G4, when using OS X Panther, sharing the internet connectiong from one NIC to the other using OS X is done with 2 or 3 clicks in the appropriate switches on the control panel. Accessing a PPTP VPN is set up quite easily as well. There's jsut too many things hat had to be left out of Ubuntu because of political decisions.
why should I use mileage literally when we're talking about bits or bytes per second?