One can only hope
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Jul 26, 2012 10:43 PM EDT |
One can only hope Gabe Newell is right about this. It might, just might, finally drive some businesses and consumers to a Linux desktop that is ready for them and has been for a long time now. |
| jacog Jul 27, 2012 3:01 AM EDT |
I predict all that will happen is most will stick to Windows 7. |
| tracyanne Jul 27, 2012 5:03 AM EDT |
It only needs a small percentage to switch to Linux to make a real difference in perception about Linux. So even if Most do stay with Win 7, even 5 percent of Windows users making the change would be a big boost to the public perception of Linux. |
| r_a_trip Jul 27, 2012 6:47 AM EDT |
Maybe Gabe Newell is right with this. MS hasn't screwed up this bad before. Windows ME and Vista were unfinished and bugridden pieces of fertilizer, but at least they did follow the conventional Windows ideas. Windows 8 is completely of its rocker. Who thought it was a good idea to degrade the desktop to secondary status and foist a marginally mouse enabled, touch tablet interface on desktop users? Is MS that desperate to save their still born Windows Phone that they are willing to sacrifice one of their sacred cash cows? |
| gus3 Jul 27, 2012 3:58 PM EDT |
Windows hasn't been this frotzed before? Doesn't Vista count? |
| DrGeoffrey Jul 27, 2012 6:42 PM EDT |
One should never, ever, underestimate MS's ability to produce garbage. |
| BernardSwiss Jul 27, 2012 6:55 PM EDT |
I believe Vista does count -- and that illustrates the problem. As long as Windows dominates the retail channels, and Linux is not to be seen, or hidden in an obscure alcove, or in a "for geeks and developers only" special section, it won't matter that much how bad Windows 8 might turn out to be. Throw in concerns about document format compatibility (often referred to mistakenly -- but tellingly -- as "standards" compliance), and whether people can count on being able to run that greeting card problem, that genealogy program, iTunes and especially QuickBooks and the annual Income Tax program -- and it's still a pretty tough slog. (Note: I deliberately did not mention games -- that's a rather different issue.) It's not a question of whether Windows or Linux or OS X is "better" or even "good enough"; the issues are market structure and marketing. |
| jdixon Jul 27, 2012 7:06 PM EDT |
> One should never, ever, underestimate MS's ability to produce garbage. Or their ability to sell it, unfortunately. |
| helios Jul 28, 2012 8:37 AM EDT |
Who thought it was a good idea to degrade the desktop to secondary status and foist a marginally mouse enabled, touch tablet interface on desktop users? Mark Shuttleworth. |
| helios Jul 28, 2012 9:12 AM EDT |
Throw in concerns about document format compatibility (often referred to mistakenly -- but tellingly -- as "standards" compliance), and whether people can count on being able to run that greeting card problem, that genealogy program, iTunes and especially QuickBooks and the annual Income Tax program -- and it's still a pretty tough slog. (Note: I deliberately did not mention games -- that's a rather different issue.) BernardSwiss nailed every issue in one succinct paragraph. My little side business on the home user side finds the lack of a native Quickbooks solution by far the biggest show stopper I face. In many cases, I am able to successfully run the older Quickbooks programs from Wine and Crossover office but doing so is a supreme hassle because they have to call tech support and explain that they've lost their Windows system and need to reinstall. Migrating existing Quickbook files into that environment can be tricky as well. I've only ran into a couple of folks that were willing to do so. Both Rbox and Banshee have evolved into a fairly decent replacement for ITunes and those who have asked for it have been satisfied. Most just want to move files between their ipods and computers and either one of those choices does that fine. But Bernard is right when he mentions the little apps like genealogy and business/greeting card software. It seems everyone has at least one small must-have app that just won't play nice with Linux.....again, that's not our fault. Kinda hard to explain that to a Windows Customer without going into the whole proprietary code thing. More often than not, that just makes their eyes glaze over in the first 15 seconds. |
| BernardSwiss Aug 04, 2012 10:04 PM EDT |
Creator of Minecraft agrees Windows 8 will be bad for gaming http://tech2.in.com/news/pc/creator-of-minecraft-agrees-wind... |
| henke54 Aug 05, 2012 5:00 AM EDT |
>...the little apps like genealogy ...
http://gramps-project.org/features/
http://gramps-project.org/2012/05/towards-an-on-line-version... ;-) |
| helios Aug 05, 2012 8:27 AM EDT |
We've had some success in getting people to use gramps. It really is a great application. One of the best examples of just how good open source software can be in my opinion. Trouble is, people hate change and in my experience, folks who are deeply involved in genealogy tracking have done years of work to establish the current records of their family history. Getting them to change applications and to basically start all over doesn't happen. However, to those that have shown an interest in beginning a project like this, gramps has worked well for us. Fact is, it will be included as one of the many default apps in our new Reglue distro.....a respin of the SolusOS 2 release. We're looking forward to it. But back to the subject, Windows XP bought years of extended life due to the poo poo-ness of Vista...and in actuality, I have an old machine running at the shop that has Vista with full SP updates and it works fairly well....for Windows that is. Occasionally we need a Windoze box for one thing or another. There is really no comparison in quality between Linux and Vista. It's like comparing a Studebaker to a Porsche. However the major changes Vista threw a lot of users off, just as Win 8 will do. They will simply hold on to their Windows 7 machines and weather the storm....just like they did with XP. Not saying it won't cause many to look at Linux mind you....I'm simply saying that it won't be a game-changer....so to speak. |
| JaseP Aug 06, 2012 10:48 AM EDT |
At Ken,... VirtualBox is your friend... Sure, you need a Windoze license, and about 4 hours to install the OS in the VM,... But plenty of people have an old copy of XPee lying around, maybe not your foundation's clientele, but many others. |
| jdixon Aug 06, 2012 12:13 PM EDT |
> But plenty of people have an old copy of XPee lying around, Yes. Mostly the OEM versions which came with their old or another PC. Unfortunately, it's extremely questionable whether it's legal to virtualize those licenses, and the consensus seems to be that it's not. And Ken has to be as above board as possible when doing his installs. :( |
| caitlyn Aug 07, 2012 4:40 PM EDT |
Most of the "Windows 8 will be a catastrophe" crowd seems to be basing their opinion on the Metro desktop. While us old geeks tend to hate the new paradigm, it's been darned successful and popular with a younger crowd. There are lots of reasons Windows 8 could run into trouble but the desktop? Nah, that's not it. Besides, Windows 8 does allow switching back to a "classic" desktop. Honestly, the more I look at Win8 the more I think it probably will do just fine, unfortunately. |
| BernardSwiss Aug 07, 2012 7:08 PM EDT |
To tell the truth, I like the Metro UI better than Unity or Gnome Shell -- or I would, if it worked well. As it is, Unity appears to be actually usable for most people, even if it's not to my taste either. I am going to have to get familiar with KDE again; KDE went through its own rough period, but they seem to have at least some idea some idea not only where the technology is going, but also some idea what they're doing (and why), and some idea what their users want and need (and why). I hear they're even getting the resource requirements under control -- A few more bugs ironed out, and it will be the first "modern" multi-platform GUI to actually get it all together. I wouldn't get too exited about Win8/Metro's deficiencies; the big outcry seems to be about legacy compatibility and the affect on industry players' business models, rather than concept. I predict it will be like previous MS clankers -- savvy users will skip a generation, and the next release will get it right. The interesting question for us will be how well the Linux desktop/tablet UI adjusts to the times. Where is Enlightenment? Will someone adapt CrunchBang or something similar to make a touch/tablet/newbie-friendly UI? Will we have KDE, Unity, and "the old guard", or will we have some new, popular standard/default Linux desktops? |
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