Microsoft rolls out free Lock-in app for Android tablets
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| Author | Content |
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| BernardSwiss Aug 21, 2014 7:52 PM EDT |
There. Fixed that for you. |
| the_doctor Aug 21, 2014 8:10 PM EDT |
To quote Linus Torvalds:
Quoting:If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won. |
| Ridcully Aug 21, 2014 10:23 PM EDT |
That's a delicious quote, The_doctor. And since the application is free, I'd say Linux is beginning to scoop the pool. Could we finally see "Winux" I wonder ? I'd love to be a fly on the wall in their FOSS laboratory and the discussions that are undoubtedly taking place. |
| NoDough Aug 22, 2014 9:32 AM EDT |
Ridcully wrote: Could we finally see "Winux" I wonder ? That's even more hilarious when you consider Microsoft sued over a Linux distro call Lindows. |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 22, 2014 10:38 AM EDT |
I've said before, that what would save Microsoft would be to make a real "WINE" that is perfectly compatible with Windows, and sell it for, say, $40, precompiled for Linux, Mac, etc etc etc. And then, sell Office for Linux just as they sell Office for Mac, etc etc etc. If Microsoft would stop with the pathological "everything must run on Windows", they could get down to writing good applications. Or at least try. Right now, if Windows goes, Microsoft goes. That kind of monoculture is not healthy. |
| mrider Aug 22, 2014 11:24 AM EDT |
Quoting:Could we finally see "Winux" I wonder ?I am not prognosticating at all, but I would think we'd be more likely to see a BSDows than Winux. And that segues nicely to Bob's comment about WINE - which would be the perfect tool for Microsoft to use for backwards compatibility with their old code while ramping up their shiny new O.S. Granted GNU/Linux compatibility with real Unix has a few problems. Still, I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to make it so that their current products could be used across the board (GNU, BSD, and OSx) with one WINE code base that would also allow them to cut ties to their current pile of (ahem) stuff. [EDIT] Trying to use slightly less stilted English. |
| seatex Aug 22, 2014 1:25 PM EDT |
> I've said before, that what would save Microsoft would be to make a real "WINE" that is perfectly compatible with Windows, and sell it for, say, $40, precompiled for Linux, Mac, etc etc etc. > And then, sell Office for Linux just as they sell Office for Mac, etc etc etc. MS is worried that if they introduce such software for Linux, people will then adopt Linux and discover all the FREE open source programs that work well enough for them, such as LibreOffice. And we can't have that! So, MS will instead keep its lawyers busy trying to milk more baseless patent infringement royalties from Linux and Android system manufacturers/providers. |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 22, 2014 1:30 PM EDT |
I wonder, since all those "free" applications exist for Windows as well, why being on Windows doesn't have the effect of having the users see all that free stuff and then abandon Microsoft Office &etc.... |
| seatex Aug 22, 2014 1:52 PM EDT |
> I wonder, since all those "free" applications exist for Windows as well, why being on Windows doesn't have the effect of having the users see all that free stuff and then abandon Microsoft Office &etc.... Because people either have preconceived negativity towards Linux or just fear change (many people). Or they try Linux, and leave it because they can't easily run iTunes on it. |
| jdixon Aug 22, 2014 3:49 PM EDT |
> I've said before, that what would save Microsoft would be to make a real "WINE" that is perfectly compatible with Windows, and sell it for, say, $40, precompiled for Linux, Mac, etc etc etc. The could always just buy Codeweavers. |
| seatex Aug 22, 2014 4:02 PM EDT |
> The could always just buy Codeweavers. I've always wondered, just how much more compatibility do you get with Codeweavers vs. WINE? Is it worth the money? |
| JaseP Aug 22, 2014 6:00 PM EDT |
Quoting: I've always wondered, just how much more compatibility do you get with Codeweavers vs. WINE? Is it worth the money? No. I always hoped MS would release their own compatibility layer ala WINE and just dump their entire Windows infrastructure over to that (at least as an option), but, unfortunately, seatex has it right, in my opinion. MS is too scared of losing the cash cow that is the one-two-punch Windows+Office. One of them, alone could sustain a normal software corporation, but MS needs the lock-in to sustain future profits. Think about it,... 25 years ago, everyone was using WordPerfect... But try picking up a copy of WordPerfect now. For $250+, what you get is a word processing program with less than a 5% market share... If MS gave up their one-two-punch lock-in of Windows+Office, they'd be going the way of WordPerfect within 5 years, or sooner. As it stands, they probably have 7-10 years of life, if they did nothing different from now. It's different for tablets/phones, since they have no market to speak of there. They are, essentially, a newbie to the mobile market. I see, coming soon, a time when they offer their "tier 1" mobile stuff (like the supposed Office for Android) for free for users of the full desktop versions, to try to grasp onto the straws of the PC market... Most of their stuff for Android is free NOW... But, with LibreOffice developing a free version of their office suite for Android, forget about it... MS's days are numbered, unless they can fully capitalize on the corporate infrastructure market (office software, server instances for specialized business software, etc.). |
| Ridcully Aug 22, 2014 6:03 PM EDT |
> I've always wondered, just how much more compatibility do you get with Codeweavers vs. WINE? Is it worth the money? I have an opposite view to JaseP, and the answer from me is a resounding "yes" as regards "worth the money". I've used Crossover Office now for perhaps 5-8 years....I'm uncertain as to the length of time,but that's of no matter. I think you definitely do get more compatibility, but what you really get is, I think, far more important. You get extreme convenience during installation of any Windows based software.....it is almost like a standard installation in Windows itself. Next, you get various levels of "lack of hiccups": bronze, silver, gold; and obviously, you can expect a gold level Win-application to install and run virtually perfectly in Crossover Office. You can also "quarantine" a suspect program by installing it in its own "bottle" of Windows api's so that if it crashes and destroys itself, it is only that "bottle" that is damaged. You have the ability to adminster and work with individual bottles and software through a series of GUI menus and displays. And finally, if you know what you are doing, the whole darn thing is transportable as an "en masse" installation. For instance, if you are in an earlier version of openSUSE and you are about to upgrade, you can copy the appropriate directories onto a disk, then into your new installation, reinstall a clean copy of Crossover and it will pick up those directories and reattach them to your menus. I have been doing this with my copies of Quicken8 and Photoshop7 for about the same 5-8 years and it always works perfectly.....no need to reinstall either of them (well, in the case of the Quicken software, I couldn't......and it would cost to get a new access code even if it was available now......and I think it would be exactly the same for Photoshop7). Hope that is of use ? |
| seatex Aug 22, 2014 6:17 PM EDT |
I've just been using XP in VirtualBox for Windows stuff. Any pro/cons on that vs Codeweavers? |
| JaseP Aug 22, 2014 8:27 PM EDT |
Pros: 100% compatible software to OS interaction. Cons: Having to deal with VirtualBox overhead, as opposed to running the software on the host OS. Have you considered running your VM using KVM vs. VirtualBox? |
| Ridcully Aug 22, 2014 8:48 PM EDT |
I've got to buy in on the aspect of speed. Because Crossover Office is using the Wine api's, and running natively in Linux, applications run as fast as they would normally run in Windows; in fact, I find they run even faster due to Linux's superior software structures. I'm not good with this terminology, but my understanding is that Crossover/Wine is just like having your applications run in a Windows machine....that isn't Windows but has all the native software api calls. The other aspect is that as far as I know, there are no limitations on C: size, or CPU usage. "You just runs what you wants", or that's my experience with it so far. Also, you are always immediately plugged into the rest of the home directory if you need to be using the normal directory selection procedures in any piece of software. |
| jdixon Aug 22, 2014 8:50 PM EDT |
> I've always wondered, just how much more compatibility do you get with Codeweavers vs. WINE? Is it worth the money? The extra compatibility is for specific programs, which Codeweavers guarantees will operate properly (certain versions of office, Lotus Notes, etc.). For you average home user, it's not that significant, especially since Codeweavers goes out of their way to make sure their changes make it into WINE. But the additional tools and capabilities that Ridcully mentions aren't available at all with Wine. If you need them, or the guaranteed compatibility, it's worth the money. Of course, they tend to occasionally give away free copies. They've done so at least twice over the past five years or so. They also have trial versions you can download to evaluate whether it's worth the money to you. > I've just been using XP in VirtualBox for Windows stuff. Any pro/cons on that vs Codeweavers? You're running XP, with all the security implications that entails, you need a valid Windows license, and you have the overhead of VirtualBox (I second JaseP's suggest to try kvm. If you need a graphical front end for it, try aqemu). But it's pretty much guaranteed to work as long as the software is XP compatible. |
| seatex Aug 22, 2014 11:51 PM EDT |
JaseP, Ridcully & jdixon - Thanks for the great info guys. I guess as far as the security threat with XP is concerned, I just figured (if it gets infected) I can just blow the machine out and re-add one from backup. XP actually runs very fast for me in the VM, but it does take a lot of overhead vs WINE or Crossover. Your responses have inspired me to play with them some more now - I actually got one of the free copies of Crossover, but that was like 4 years ago. I'll try the trial version, I think. I am also going to try KVM with the aqemu front-end as well. I tried KVM years ago when it was pretty new, but never got off the ground with it. I have read many great articles on it though, and it will be fun to try it again. I'm sure it is much more polished now than when I last looked at it. |
| JaseP Aug 23, 2014 1:08 AM EDT |
KVM is great, if you have the hardware to run it. Aqemu is similar enough to VirtualBox, that if you are confident with THAT, the aqemu interface ought to be easy enough for you to use... |
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