Microsoft vs. The World 1

[Kspade]

What do you see in M$ future in light of their recent court cases, their latest attacks on the OpenSource comunity, etc. What do we see in their future? Will other OS's begin to dominate the industry finaly?

Here is one angle, Win 2K vs, Mac OSX:

http://home.cnet.com/software/0-429...w.429669-8-6112332-7.back2.429669-8-6112332-1

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every moment of it.

 

[iza]

i don't know ... according to the 2 previous threads (dmca one and windows xp activation one), i really hope that people will finally react and start boycotting products with abusive ... behavior (?) - i really really hope this will be true
in the other hand, m$ are so powerfull that you're often not even given a choice when buying your os (i mean, someone who is not really technical won't go & buy linux, someone who is not rich won't buy macintosh, and someone who only want to use standard products, lots of games and so, will have to buy windows - or emulate it)

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[butchrecon]

MS will not go anywhere for a long time UNLES someone comes up with an OS that is as easy to use for the masses. COmpatability is not an issue with the ability to create emulation software. I agree with iza on the Mac and LINUX issues. So where does that leave us? Manufacturers get kick backs and incentives to preload MS OS's on their hardware. Their strong arm tactics are working. The goverment is going about the punishment all wrong. If they separate the company into 3 different companies in the HOPES of sturring up competition, Their hopes will be shot down. Instead of 1 monopoly you now have 3 monopolies. If you want to hurt a companies as large as MS just impose restrictions and HEAVY fines. Anyway. As long as Windows is so easy to use then it will not go loose its place as THE desktop OS. James Collins
Systems Support Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

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[LittleWing]

what we need is something radically different but where is it going to come from? os has always lagged behind the pc and always depended on it. now that the pc is light years ahead of the software and any increase in speed is an engineering break through only(at this point, who notices the difference between p2 4oo Mhz and a P4 1.4Ghz?), its time for something different. Linux is good but its a copy of something older. M$ are stuck in their tunnel vision of the future which is .NET....best of luck to them and Mac, well, ah well.

Time for HALL me thinks

 

[iza]

yes, i don't see anyone wanting to spend money (or time ... or both ...) developping a new os - who will use it ?
we have to wait for the aliens to bring a new one here ------
please review FAQ183-874 - this will help you to get the best out of tt
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[gunthnp]

LittleWing is right what we need is a new killer app in the way of OS linux is great but we need is a new way of thinking to come out. The file cabnet idea is well past dead we need something new the next qusetion is what. So long and thanks for all the fish.

 

[xshadowx]

Well to answer that question, I must say. Microsoft's recent attacks on the OpenSource community shows that it's downfall may be greed, do you win a war by greed? or strategy? the way i see it, you make a program, make it opensource, let people develop it AS the people want it, take it back, reliscense it, sell it boom you're rich, you've made the most user friendly program in the world off the work of others, that seems like the microsoft way of thinking, at least i think so.

 

[pivan]

IMHO iza is right...we will need to wait for the aliens.

Sorry guys, the marketplace, like it or not, has been consistently rewarding MS with purchases of WIN OS. Who is the marketplace? You, me, our Uncles and Aunts in Poughkepsie and Detroit, our Grandmothers in Rochester. The marketplace rewards MS because at the end of the day, despite cribs about product activation, Open Source vs. Closed, Java vs C#++, MS still delivers the best value in the form of a reasonably inexpensive, seemless, well integrated, user friendly product.

I recall taking a course in datacommunications and was amazed at how little has really changed in the fundementals of computing. We are still using protocols and technology based on , the eight bit Hollarith key punch card developed in the 1890's. I was amazed at how much of the infrastucture of computing is based on technology that is decades old. Forget about operating systems, Linex, UNIX, Windows, Mac, they all are still working of of an archaic infrastructure and untill the infrastructure is changed (where the aliens come in) MS is gonna reign king.

IMHO
pivan In not now, when?
If not here, where?
If not us, who?

Just do it!!

 

[BigMag]

It's not easy for company's to boycot M$, once they have fallen into Bill's trap...

BigMag

 

[woggie]

Indeed, BigMag - It's not impossible for a company that has their desktops and servers running MS OS's and productivity apps to change to another OS, but it's extremely expensive, and, more telling, it's a move into far more uncertain waters.

The businesses which have not embraced MS are running things like UNIX on midrange computers or huge legacy mainframe environments, many with desktops running terminal emulation software under Windows. The expense of upgrading those systems to the native, user-friendly, desktop-centric environments is hugely expensive.

Those businesses which have been using MS technology should have little problem from a hardware perspective (with the exception of a few devices for which drivers are not currently available but can become so as soon as someone writes them) in migrating to Linux, but the issues of available quality apps, device drivers, legacy data access, and support for each of those aspects of the new systems makes them think thrice about the risk.

A thousand new apps are written for the Windows platform every day which are user-friendly, graphical, amusing, useful, inexpensive, etc. There may be thousands of programmers writing for Linux, but they can't compete with the volume of new work done for Windows. StarOffice and Corel's PerfectOffice suites notwithstanding, there just isn't enough application support for Linux ... yet.

That, plus the reluctance of desktop manufacturers to promote and bundle OS's other than Windows with their machines (due, mostly, I think, to inertia in the production procedures they have had in place forever) will keep MS dominant. At least they are now allowed to, the exclusive agreements that MS has imposed on them for so long now no longer in effect due to the DOJ and court decisions.

The data problem actually may be one of the biggest hurdles as well. Disparate filesystems allow only clunky access (Samba) to data being shared, converted, or interpreted between, say, Linux and Windows, or Linux and Mac OS-X, or AIX-BBx and ...

Cheers, woggie

 

[hotfusion]

I'm afraid the Microsoft disease is now too widespread. There are only 2 solutions as I can see it.
1) To do as we have done in the U.K. with the Foot & Mouth disease - slaughter every copy of Windows we can find and ensure no further copies are made. Probably not very practical.
2) For a consortium of anti-Microsoft programmers to get together and develop a forward looking OS for the masses which is compatible with all hard and soft ware, easy enough for me to use (difficult, this one) and FREE! How they would be paid for their trouble I've no idea.
Perhaps some ideas on raising revenue anyone? My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[gunthnp]

hotfusion take a look at the seul project. (simple end user linux) thats what their working on.

http://www.seul.org

So long and thanks for all the fish.

 

[hotfusion]

Thanks, gunthnp, I've had a brief look and have bookmarked the site. Looks like sunlight on the horizon! Linux isn't something I've used before but it looks like what is being created here is definately worth keeping up to date with. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[dkediger]

Its not so much the OS as the file formats of Word, Excel, etc. By controlling these, and subtly manipulating them between versions, MS keeps competing products at bay.