“Microsoft has been tarred as an illegal monopoly and a copycat. Its flagship Windows operating system gets knocked for its security holes and user-unfriendly quirks. So what is the world’s dominant software company doing? Betting billions that its next generation of Windows, code-named Longhorn, will be the breakthrough technology that quiets its critics.” Read the rest at CRN.
Longhorn is a Chance to Set Tech Agenda
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I’ve already migrated to Linux.
Microsoft seems poised to repeat the same mistakes, Overbown, over hyped. Features that will never work. Features that will never work properly, long wait times for updates. etc..etc..etc.. As long as the chief programmer, bill, has his hand in every new program group, nothing will change.
“Will Microsoft address the big questions users have about stability, security, and features?”
Ever wonder what happened to the Windows 98 SE “Self healing” feature? Windows will continue to suck in the next decade. Thanks for the shoddy work. Keeps IT departments staffed.
Just do a google search for “windows 2003 shortcomings” and you’ll see what I mean.
I’ve already migrated to Linux.
Wow, you’re pretty cool. I guess you’re pretty much a hardcore kernel hacker now that you’ve clicked a couple buttons on your Mandrake installation. With your new elite skills I bet you can cobble together a desktop for linux in a couple days that is a bit better than the win3.1 clones that linux has these days.
Didn’t go in Win98, but in Windows ME(do not seem to really work, but hell, good try
), but work in Windows 2000, XP and 2003.
Why don’t you want to wait and see what will come? We live in a waiting time of the industry between two major evolution : new way to manage file, new gui, new tool to interact with the computer… And it’s the same for Linux, MacOS X, Windows
About shortcoming, i’ve never heard that Linux or another OS is perfect
Why don’t you want to wait and see what will come?
Because it doesn’t matter to the slashdork group-think crowd how good Microsoft technology is. What matters is that their junior high buddies told them that Microsoft is evil and that you’re really cool if you install Mandrake. It’s irrelevant that they can’t program their way out of a paper bag, much less evaluate any kind of interesting technology. But it’s sure cool to look at source code even though it looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics to them.
“Because it doesn’t matter to the slashdork group-think crowd how good Microsoft technology is. What matters is that their junior high buddies told them that Microsoft is evil and that you’re really cool if you install Mandrake.’
I don’t know about the thoughts of the poster to whom you replied, but I can tell you my own about Linux/GNU-Linux/Free Software/OSS or whatever you want to call it. This is not off-topic on a story about “Longhorn”, because the issue is whether Microsoft will maintain dominance via their desktop near-monopoly, or whether they will become just another software company.
The issue really _is_ freedom. MS did not invent the idea of proprietary software, but more than anyone else, they have pushed the idea that computer owners are only “end-users” and that we do not own the software we have bought.
(enter “when I was a kid I walked five miles to school uphill both ways section”)
People seem to be getting away from the definition of “computer” as “something that can be programmed”, and are being led to think in terms of it being hardware that “plays” software like a CD player plays a CD. Maybe it is just that PCs didn’t exist when I was younger (for reference, I graduated high school in 1979, the IBM PC and original Mac came out when I was in college), but I have always thought about computers solidly in the context of programming. From punching out Algol programs on cards in college, to writing Basic on my first PC years later (no better language was available without shelling out a lot of cash), to writing my own C++ MineSweeper and chess programs for BeOS, to my current hobby-level hacking in KDevelop on Debian/Sid, to me computing has always been about _programming_.
(end middle-age geezer historical section)
That is what Free Software is about, giving the owner of a computer free and unfettered rights to study and modify everything in the software that he/she uses. This idea of freedom runs counter to everything that MS stands for and depends on. Linux users are not “Slashdorks” in junior high school, by and large. We are people of every age and description who care about learning. At present, the combination of Free Software and cheap hardware provides an unprecedented opportunity for anyone with any motivation to learn as much as they can about programming, networking, Unix administration, and virtually anything else related to computing. I do not want to see the personal computer converted into an appliance that “plays” centrally-approved software, CDs, and DVDs, but does not allow programming by the owner without a $1300 suite of developer tools. “Longhorn” represents another effort by MS to further entrench themselves on the mass-market desktop, and further diminish the rights of computer owners.
Whatever we might think of Microsoft, what good is it to discuss something that won’t be ready before 2005/6 ? That can’t possibly be setting the agenda. Thing evolve at such a pace that the next fundamental change to the IT landscape is most likely to happen in 2004. Nothing special about 2004, but there is something pretty much every quarter.
This is a marketing updates like so many other.
…i know that could make Windows evolve and be innovative are me an a very little bunch
and after that it would no longuer be windows at all >:P
Notify me again when the release of the OS is only half a year away anymore. Until then I’m inclined to not care overly much considering that it’s effectively vapor ware for now.
Thank you David Bruce. You summed up my feelings succinctly on this subject. I don’t have the same background as you (taking a long way into IT), but in my opinion, this thing about open source is about freedom, dammit. The flamers, trolls, and astroturfers can harangue me all they want… but you don’t know me. There will always be a place for open source software as long as there are people like us. And in the commercial space it is open source software, not Windows, that is taking the place of Unix.
LOL, OSNEWS.COM is turning into Jerry Springer.
“Because it doesn’t matter to the slashdork group-think crowd how good Microsoft technology is. What matters is that their junior high buddies told them that Microsoft is evil and that you’re really cool if you install Mandrake”
Well Mr. Microsoft. I do not have any High School buddies telling me what to use, since I have been out of HS for almost 15 years. I use Linux because it is better, faster, cleaner, and easier to use than Windows. I have looked at these Longhorn screenshots, and you what? They are just screenshots of WinXP with a different GUI. So what! By the time Longhorn is finally released in 2008/9, their so called technology will not even be new.
The problem with MS is that they have been holding back their technology, and now that they have a threat, they are pulling out all the stuff they were hiding for “Later” use. What is going to happen when they use up all this technology? MS knows that they are under the gun, and they are now using, what I call, “Rainy Day Technology.” What better way to look like they have something going on?
This following is taken from a recent news article I saw today.
>>First Microsoft set out to put a computer in every home. Now the software giant hopes to put one in every vehicle, too.
“We’d like to have one of our operating systems in every car on Earth,” said Dick Brass, vice-president of Microsoft’s automotive business unit. “It’s a lofty goal.”<<
It is sometimes a good idea to do something you believe in, even it causes some inconvenience. You overlook the technical differences. So I say, unless you earn aliving off MS, directly or indirectly–and indirectly may refer to rightwing supporters who somehow think it is yet one more form of “patriotism” to back “big business” such as MS–switch to Linux.
“The problem with MS is that they have been holding back their technology, and now that they have a threat, they are pulling out all the stuff they were hiding for “Later” use.”
How do you know this? Could you please point us to information that backs up your claim? If not it is just FUD.
“You overlook the technical differences.”
Why don’t you point them out, instead of going in to a political rant. You seem to be motivated by the same reasoning you accuse Windows users of.
Every time MS is readying a new major OS release, it seems to be the “the one” to quiet the critics. Baah! We’ll see. Two years is a very long time. We’ll see if in 2006, when Longhorn ships it is as “innovative” as it appears to be today. And even today, from what I’ve seen, there is little innovation.
I don’t pretend to be a Linux expert of any sort, hell, i don’t even compile my own kernels (i download kernel rpm’s from arjan’s site), but I also have made the switch to Linux (about 8 months ago), and have yet to look back. I’m hoping Longhorn will be a great piece of software, simply because I hate to see people get shafted by buggy unstable software and OSes, but as for me, there’s no Windows in my future.
I’ve also migrated to Linux on my 1 PC.
like when it was Redhat 6.x [?],bach then i erased my windows
partitions for the first time.
Then i’ve ordered my second PC, I was given a AMD K7 ThunderBird 800 Mhz [now my TEST PC].
Now it’s a Linux- only machine.
Now my workstation [3rd], is a dual boot PC.
With pre-installed WinXP[i sad that i wanted a clean PC, but they bundled it with it(did i pay 4 that?)], but i haven’t booted into it for several weeks[prior to that, for about 2 months]
and linux.
My 1 st PC – is now my friends little old server, still runs
that Red HAT
“The pro-Windows, or anti-Linux, folks posting here seem to be extremely rude. Evidentally the best support you can muster for Microsoft is ad-hominem attacks against people who don’t agree with you.”
Have you read all the posts here? I think there is plenty of rude people for everyones favorite OS.
What I posted was sinnply a request that some one back up thier claims instead of going into a politcal rant. Which I will admit I myself have done some times before.
Off topic, but to address you: If you believe the United States of America has uncontrolled capitalism, you have never owned you own business. I also don’t believe that a lack of ethics is a sole trait of American business. Just look at all the get rich quick type product liabilty suits foisted upon business. Coffee in lap etc.
Is why, Linux as well as Windows people, just can’t realize people have choosen their own OS and not hell or high waters is going to change that. I love my Windows Box there is nothing that I would rather use, and being a C# developer Windows in the optimal platform for me. My friend is a Linux-buf that wouldn’t switch if his life depended on it, but he is a PHP developer so Linux is right for him.
“The pro-Windows, or anti-Linux, folks posting here seem to be extremely rude. Evidentally the best support you can muster for Microsoft is ad-hominem attacks against people who don’t agree with you. Here are excerpts from three posts by seemingly Windows supporters, all from different posters.”
In response to this, you are really just spreading FUD much like you are accusing the Windows people of doing. You are no better than those guys that you listed in your post. And if you think the Linux guys are inocent or the, pro-Linux – anti-Windows guys, you haven’t been reading OSNews or Slashdot very long have you. Or you are just blind to the fact of all the mis-information getting spread around about Microsoft and Windows.
I think many of these guys are just liberal-hate-big-business types and never have like you said working for a large company or owned a small company. Either way these type of people will always see making money as a sign of EVIL and there is really nothing you can do to change their views. That is why I think they hate capitalism and would love to see their own government run everything.
Sorry for the political rant.
Microsoft is taking Time to see How its counterpart Apple Matures with its MacOS X in the year 2006. It will copy many features from this operating system and even make them better in their own system. In the year 2006 computing power would have definitely increased and 32-bit will coexist with 64 in PC segment. So that Microsoft can take advantage of the computing power and its advance graphic again derived from MacOS X. Still they cannot totally eliminate the threat of Virus and Security breach. Why?? 90% of the people in this world still use Windows OS and Thaz huge no.
Looks like they are trying to reinvent WindowMaker
)
DG
“Excuse me while your anti virus software is crunshing your machines, are you really proud to be pro windows?”
Hmmmm… Obviously he doesn’t use a good Anti-Virus software if it is crushing his machine. I run Norton on my 400 Mhz and I have never run into it taking up more than 1-2 % of my processor power every once and a while.
“They are threatening little Dutch pc shops at the moment, who sell Lindows bundeled pc’s.”
They are allowed to threaten people, just as Lindows took the Microsoft settlement money from California for their software. I also find it hard to beleive a multi-billion dollar corporation is threating mom-and-pop PC shops, show me proof.
Also it is not called threatening it is called product placement, just like they do on grocery store shelves. They don’t want the Hershy Chololate next to the Godiva, and they always put Beer near the baby diapers. (this is because men running home after work will probably pick up both) I mean this has been done for countless years, Microsoft has a right to pull its product from the shelves of anybody it wants, if it doesn’t like its product next to a competing product. Welcome to capilalizm, if you don’t like it I am sure there are still some communist countries in the world that would like to have like minded thinkers like you.
Im running Linux on all my servers, XP on my gaming rig and my primary desktop system is a Mac Powerbook with OS X Panther. I have tested the latest Longhorn build, and from what Ive seen its nothing to get excited about. Especially, when its still another 2 years off. Today OSX just blows the doors off XP with exception to gaming IMO. All the neat new GUI stuff in Longhorn is pretty much a complete ripoff of where OSX was a year ago (thats the 3D stuff). IE is being heavily improved to bring it up to where Safari, Konqueror, Mozilla, Mozilla Firebird, and Opera have been at for some time. My other favorite overhype is WinFS. Please….. its nothing more than NTFS that is indexed via SQL, yet they make it out to be this huge revolution in file systems. Its still NTFS and Im sure itll still need to be defragged all the time. So far I can see where this will make for for more search options and faster searching. Novell has been doing this for years with NSS and betrieve so its nothing new. Of course there are still 2 more years of development for Longhorn, but that still doesnt change the fact that Longhorn = we’re catching up across the board. Thats MS largest most expensive project……figuring out how to bring their stuff on par with whats been available for some time in terms of GUI, Filesystem, Security, Web browser all the while spinning it to look like they were the big innovators.
I think many of these guys are just liberal-hate-big-business types and never have like you said working for a large company or owned a small company. Either way these type of people will always see making money as a sign of EVIL and there is really nothing you can do to change their views. That is why I think they hate capitalism and would love to see their own government run everything.
Wow, you pretend to refer to my post, and yet you just spin it to make it seem like I am some uber-communist. Cute. If you bother to read my post, in full, you would see I said “uncontrolled capitalism”. I am not against making money, and am in fact a partner in a small business.
If you think an uncontrolled monopoly is a good thing, maybe you should take an Intro to Economics course at your local community college.
The government running everything would be less ideal than the current state. The government should, however, do its job in hindering monopolies. A single company globally ruling the entire desktop operating system business is a monopoly.
Imagine if 95% of vehicles in the world were Fords. Imagine that Ford could charge $100,000 for their low-end vehicle, which you were basically forced to buy, in-order to exist and profit in the modern world. Does that seem like a reasonable situation?
Frankly, I don’t know why I bother replying, as none of the Microsoft zealots seem capable of abstract thought.
> …figuring out how to bring their stuff on par with whats been available for some time in terms of GUI, Filesystem, Security, Web browser all the while spinning it to look like they were the big innovators.
1.) These things (FS and GUI) are new to most home users. Espeially the FS will take some getting used to. Better no surprise their customers when they release it.
2.)The spin is called marketing. Every industry has is and everybody is used to it. OSS can’t market. Their business model is one that does not allow it. Why must you look down upon Microsoft for being able to do it.
I was talking about uncontrolled capitalism. If somebody has just as good of a product as Microsoft according to capitalism they should be competing on even markets, because the consumers will decide. Just face it Microsoft Windows may not be as superior Linux in some fields, but to the consumer it is the best options for them. You can buy a Windows PC for 400 dollars or you can go out and use a Lindows PC, from Walmart for 200 dollars. Consumer reports gives the Lindows OS a really low rating, just because it is hard to use some of the most simple hardware like Digital Cameras or what ever. If you don’t beleive me check it out for your self at Consumer Reports. Most people will choose Windows, because there is support out there for it, and they don’t have to goto a news group to find the support where half the answers will probably be “just F**K off”. In addition MacOSX might have a more user friendly OS, but compared to the Windows PC being only 25% of the price of a MacOSX going for 1800, they will always choose Windows. If Linux wants to even have a chance of making it to a double digit percentage of the home desktops, they need to shape up and stop being so eleitist. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to switch to Linux and everytime I get answers in the forum like “Why are you using that Digital Camera?”, “Go buy a real sound card.”, or I don’t even get answers. This is why the Linux community isn’t my favorite community to chat to about anything when trying to use Linux. So everytime I switch back to Windows and have no problems at all with them in forums, when I need a question answered.
Franly I don’t know why I bother replying, as none of the Linux zealots seem capable of abstract thought. Oh yeah here is the reason and seems to some up the Open Source movement very well. http://www.linuxworld.com/story/38073.htm And look it is even under LinuxWorld, I don’t think they are controled by Microsoft.
but the Wine Project will be VERY far along in 2006
so will React OS
so will Sky OS
so will Zeta
so will Transgaming’s Winex
so will Open Office
2006 is a LONG TIME away and MS isn’t the only player in the software market.
I’m curious as to how compatible “old” present day Win32 -Direct X 8, 9 software will be with Longhorn. Seems like every new version of windows MANY legacy apps break.
You are continuing the frequent problem of confusing Windows (the operating system), with Microsoft (the company). I don’t have any particular problem with several versions Windows. I use Windows XP Pro, as I already stated.
It is amusing you refer to me as a Linux zealot, as I don’t recall mentioning Linux ever in any of my posts. I am not debating the merits of Windows or Linux. I am saying Microsoft’s monopoly is a Bad Thing. That is all.
Beyond that, try using paragraphs. They’re handy.
I wouldnt be looking down on them if they didnt just sit on their laurels all the time. Look at MS in recent history and its all about catching up. You’d think that they could at least do some of their own innovation for the amount of money the world has given them on a silver platter. Im not upset with them because they know how to market. Lets be honest here….what is XP? How much better is XP pro than W2k pro? Its got a kernel rev, some theme candy, and basically thats it outside of under the hood stuff. So after the years of waiting we get a dressed up W2k with the usual bug fixes etc and not much more. Im upset that they are marketing a product that should have been out a year ago that will not ship until 2006 or even 2007. Im also upset that they get all their monopoly money by just sitting back and copying other peoples ideas. The least they could do for the poor XP and w2k folks is rev that decrepid IE. How about some popup blocking and tabs and less security holes……but no, everyone will have to wait for Longhorn for that and you wont get the nice new features unless you upgrade the whole OS. Im not an MS basher, so nobody needs to get flame happy. I have a legitimate gripe IMO and I think the world that made MS what it is today deserves MUCH better.
LOL, OSNEWS.COM is turning into Jerry Springer.
Has been a long, long time. Lots of students and unemployed. Basically chat room etiquette and out-of-touch opinions. It’s humorous but can be safely ignored by the REAL workers.
>>I think many of these guys are just liberal-hate-big-business types and never have like you said working for a large company or owned a small company. Either way these type of people will always see making money as a sign of EVIL and there is really nothing you can do to change their views. That is why I think they hate capitalism and would love to see their own government run everything. …<<
That is poster Bill Sykes talking at you, folks, fair and balanced.
Actually, I do run my own company, Bill (Sykes), for over twenty years, and I know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that Bill (Gates) represents an abject failure of capitalism. And I’ll say it again in a different way: Sometimes, even if a MS product is better, you over look that, if possible, if your livelihood doesn’t depend on it, and put your money where your mouth is, rather than, for example, wait for Linux to “get better” before you SWITCH.
Have a nice day. Don’t forget, there’s always the “abuse” button you can push, blow off a little steam.
> I wouldnt be looking down on them if they didnt just sit on their laurels all the time. Look at MS in recent history and its all about catching up.
Not really catching up. Just bringing them the the average consumer.
> u’d think that they could at least do some of their own innovation for the amount of money the world has given them on a silver platter.
Bring something new to a consumer level OS can be seen as innovating.
> Im not upset with them because they know how to market. Lets be honest here….what is XP? How much better is XP pro than W2k pro? Its got a kernel rev, some theme candy, and basically thats it outside of under the hood stuff. So after the years of waiting we get a dressed up W2k with the usual bug fixes etc and not much more.
Actually, XP was to bring the avantage of the NT kernel to the average-consumer market. It did that very well.
> Im upset that they are marketing a product that should have been out a year ago that will not ship until 2006 or even 2007.
Why should it have been out a year ago?
> Im also upset that they get all their monopoly money by just sitting back and copying other peoples ideas.
Nothing wrong with that. It is how everything works. What they do is bring others ideas to the consumer. Who else does that? Apple does, but the reason they are in the position they are in has nothing to do with the OS.
> The least they could do for the poor XP and w2k folks is rev that decrepid IE.
You don’t like IE? Use Mozilla.
> How about some popup blocking and tabs and less security holes……but no, everyone will have to wait for Longhorn for that and you wont get the nice new features unless you upgrade the whole OS.
Or get another browser. Windows comes with a minimal set of utilities. If it don’t meet your needs, get a better one.
> Im not an MS basher, so nobody needs to get flame happy. I have a legitimate gripe IMO and I think the world that made MS what it is today deserves MUCH better.
Microsoft owes nobody nothing. They make and release a product. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. It does the best job of any consumer-level OS for the the average user. That is why it has a monopoly.
No that quote is not me. I am glas you own your own business. Please go back and read the posts again.
You can apologize if you want.
“Because it doesn’t matter to the slashdork group-think crowd how good Microsoft technology is. What matters is that their junior high buddies told them that Microsoft is evil and that you’re really cool if you install Mandrake. It’s irrelevant that they can’t program their way out of a paper bag, much less evaluate any kind of interesting technology. But it’s sure cool to look at source code even though it looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics to them.”
That’s pretty presumptuous of you, Roy. To assume that people switch to Linux only as a trend. It doesn’t occur to you that someone might like to actually own their operating system, rather than just have permission to use it. It doesn’t occur to you, that not everybody thinks Windows is awesome. It also doesn’t occur to you that Linux is much more economical and that it take less space on the hard drive. Or that it works on older machines better. Not much does occur to you, does it?
Jesus Christ, take your Microsoft trolling to the WinBeat forum.
” It does the best job of any consumer-level OS for the the average user. That is why it has a monopoly”
Is that what you really think?? That the monopoly has nothing to do with their questionable business tactics nor all the help they initially got with Windows from those folks down in Cupertino. Do you not to think that Apple could have had the same monopoly if only they played by Bill’s rules?
With other operating systems, we have reviews and updates. With Longhorn we have nothing but corporate spiel, and yet we go over this day after day….apparently will do so everyday for the next 2 years or so until it finally gets here. We keep hearing this excuse “because it’s in the news”, but aren’t people tired of talking about vaporware yet? Give us a break already, Eugenia.
> Is that what you really think?? That the monopoly has nothing to do with their questionable business tactics nor all the help they initially got with Windows from those folks down in Cupertino.
They may have done some underhanded business tactics to keep their monopoly, but the truth is. They got there since there was nothing better and had good marketing.
> Do you not to think that Apple could have had the same monopoly if only they played by Bill’s rules?
Apples problem was always on the hardware side and business side.
Obviously there are technical and economic reasons to use Linux. I’m hardly a Microsoft evangelist. I actually did c++ network protocol conversion work in linux for quite a few years. I actually wrote a few patches for the LLC stack in linux. LLC is what SNA and I think to a certain extent IPX uses lower-level in the protocol stack.
Obviously I was making fun of the rabid linux crowd and specifically the 2nd post of the article. Like someone else said, Microsoft is just a product…if you don’t like it don’t use it. What’s funny is that the hardcore linux cultists first say that linux is a god-like OS, but then go about whining that people don’t have any choice. There is choice. For the more mainstream, there are Macs and Linux.
The thing is, Windows XP will do what the vast majority of joe-consumer home user, and corporate user wants with a minimial of fuss and without many crashes. I have yet to have Windows XP Pro crash on me.
Also, I’m not defending some of Microsoft’s unethical behavior. They definetely have engaged in unethical behavior and a court has found them guilty of illegal behavior as well.
As I said before, I was trying to point out how many people think without really “thinking”. .NET is good technology if not innovative, but big deal. Hardly anything is really innovative. Java surely wasn’t.
Forgot about the economical issues. I’ve got this old laptop that definetely would not run XP and even had a hard time with 98 on it, so I installed gentoo(I didn’t need to use it for a few days:-) and now I’m running fluxbox, have DotGNU and Mono on it, and does a very good job for such a low-end machine.
On the question of innovation…..how about OpenGl driven GUI, itunes, imovie, iphoto, Expose, and a relatively secure OS that doesnt require reboots. Those are all innovations that a real consumer can benefit from. Does John Q home user care about .Net? Not really, but it is a great technology.
Is Mac really using OpenGL to do their GUI or is it just that they are offloading some gui operations to do some more work that would normally be done in software?
As far as itunes, imovie, and iphoto are concerned, I just see these as apps that I’m not particularly interested in. Maybe their innovative, maybe not. I’m sure there are windows equivalents, if not as good.
I can’t really compare the security of Mac vs. Windows. Windows is so much bigger so virus writers and exploits tend to target windows. Darwin is probably more secure than windows but Mac has its problems too with the recent DHCP vulnerability. I’ve never had Windows XP Pro crash on me, so I don’t worry about reboots.
No, John Q home user doesn’t care about .NET, but developers do and developers write the apps which consumers use. I would say that we can expect higher quality and more apps because of .NET. IMO, win32 api and to a lesser extent MFC was just a mess.
It really uses OpenGl. Most of the window annimations are in real 3D etc.
There is a huge difference in Windows security vs. Darwin (BSD 5) and its got nothing to do with Windows being bigger. OSX, like any *nix, requires administrator privlidges to do most important things. As in….you get prompted for your password when you want to install somthing or change anything critical to the system. Windows is wide open 99% of the time with users logged in with administrative privlidges constantly. As a result its an easy target. The DHCP vulnerability was a minor thing that only applies to a LAN (you wont be DHCP to the internet).
As far as reboots, crashing aside Windows requires a ridiculous amount of reboots. Nearly every patch or update, installation of new software, heck I just changed a path= statement under enviroment in XP and even that required a reboot.
“It really uses OpenGl. Most of the window annimations are in real 3D etc”
For animations maybe, but actual GUI rendering (drawing of windows and the usual UI elements) is done in software using Quartz 2D.
Concerning the origins of MS’ accelerated GUI innovations, search for Chrome, Chromeffects, and gdi2k. MS had this technology working in Windows in 1998. These projects made UI acceleration available to Windows and web applications just as Avalon, XAML, and the DCE do now.
ISV feedback to make XML language used for building the UI easier, concerns of hardware requirements (required a P II 400 w/ a 4MB GPU) and concerns that it’s web-related capabilities would be used by Netscape in the antitrust trial caused them not to release it at that point, and instead, improve the API and continue internal development. The development goals and the methods of development and capabilities offered are direct parrallels of Longhorn’s offerings with the obvious exception of Longhorn having improved capabilities due to the evolution of Direct3D over the years (no shaders or programmable hardware pipelines back then, etc.).
That is what Free Software is about, giving the owner of a computer free and unfettered rights to study and modify everything in the software that he/she uses. This idea of freedom runs counter to everything that MS stands for and depends on.
The problem here is one of perception. You see Microsoft as having some big philosophical and political issue against the principles of [Ff]reedom. In reality, like Apple, Sun, Oracle and any number of other companies, they’re just targeting a different market.
When you’re aiming at the unknowledgable end user market, who wants an appliance that lets them just do things like send email and browse the web, limiting functionality – or making it difficult to find – is a reasonable method of protecting the product from inadvertent “damage” by the consumer.
It’s not some Orwellian conspiracy, they’re just trying to sell to a different group of people (and ream them for as much $$$ as possible, just like any corporation). Not everyone thinks being able to create a Linux distro from scratch and read assembly code is “cool”.
Linux users are not “Slashdorks” in junior high school, by and large. We are people of every age and description who care about learning.
A not-insignificant proportion of linux users are there for political/religious/idealistic ideals that go far beyond an urge to “learn”.
At present, the combination of Free Software and cheap hardware provides an unprecedented opportunity for anyone with any motivation to learn as much as they can about programming, networking, Unix administration, and virtually anything else related to computing.
You seem to be labouring under the misconception that a significant chunk of people *want* to learn about these things. They don’t. The vast majority of people just want a tool they can use.
I do not want to see the personal computer converted into an appliance that “plays” centrally-approved software, CDs, and DVDs, but does not allow programming by the owner without a $1300 suite of developer tools.
Tough, it’s going to happen. It’s happened to cars, it’s happening to motorbikes and it’s going to happen to computers. Heck, it happens to nearly any sufficiently multipurpose and complex device because it’s just good engineering – optimise for the common case.
“Longhorn” represents another effort by MS to further entrench themselves on the mass-market desktop, and further diminish the rights of computer owners.
No, it’s another product they’re trying to sell by giving the greatest number of people what they say they want. It’s not an Orwellian conspiracy. They’re not trying to enslave the common man. They’re not trying to turn everyone into robots. They’re just trying to make as much $$$$ as possible.
Incidentally, given that in the US your “rights” are supposedly codified by legislation and law, it should be pretty obvious that they have to get “diminished” by other parties long before they can be by Microsoft.
Jesus Christ, take your Microsoft trolling to the WinBeat forum.
Last time i checked this isn’t LinuxNews it’s OSNews so go have a glass of milk and shut up.
This is all funny because when someone posted a comment on a linux thread about the preempt bug [ http://www.osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=5239 ], he was totally flamed and yet posting about microsoft on a microsoft thread is considered trolling…
I can’t really compare the security of Mac vs. Windows. Windows is so much bigger so virus writers and exploits tend to target windows
I hope you don’t actually believe that. Unix/Linux is much more prevalent in the server market, where the real damage is done. Virus writers and crackers target servers to see how much damage they can do. No one cares if they wipe joe shmoes mp3’s off his computer.
Secondly, MS is MUCH easier to exploit. There is a simple reason for this. *nix relies on text streams while MS relies on binaries. In order to understand a binary from another program, the program examining the binary must be intimately familiar with the program that created the binary. This all leads to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly when you have things like IE, Office, and Outlook all communicated intimately with each other. It is just a breeding ground for viruses. They pass between each other effortlessly, and any intergration into the kernel is an instant disaster, resulting in a crash. It’s extrememly stupid that a server should depend on something like a web browser.
Unix/Linux is much more prevalent in the server market, where the real damage is done. Virus writers and crackers target servers to see how much damage they can do. No one cares if they wipe joe shmoes mp3’s off his computer.
Crackers routinely target the masses of windows computers hooked up to broadband connections for a number of reasons. One of them is to set up a army of zombie computers to DOS servers. Also, they use them as spam machines. And there are plenty of dorks out there that do it just to destroy people’s stuff. Remember, once they’ve got their list of machines from the port number scan programs they can effectively do mass damage with the tap of a keyboard.
So you are wrong.
Unix/Linux is much more prevalent in the server market, where the real damage is done. Virus writers and crackers target servers to see how much damage they can do.
Rubbish. Most viruses specifically target end-user PCs and end users (and always have).
No one cares if they wipe joe shmoes mp3’s off his computer.
Then why is it that nearly all viruses attempt to propogate via end user machines ?
*nix relies on text streams while MS relies on binaries.
Hate to break it to you, but there’s just as much binary IPC on a *nix box as there is on a Windows box.
In order to understand a binary from another program, the program examining the binary must be intimately familiar with the program that created the binary.
Tripe. If that were true then I wouldn’t be able to drag and drop a JPEG from Explorer to Photoshop.
[Rest of mindless dribble snipped.]
Crackers routinely target the masses of windows computers hooked up to broadband connections for a number of reasons. One of them is to set up a army of zombie computers to DOS servers. Also, they use them as spam machines. And there are plenty of dorks out there that do it just to destroy people’s stuff. Remember, once they’ve got their list of machines from the port number scan programs they can effectively do mass damage with the tap of a keyboard.
Have you forgotten Blaster and Nimda already? It doesn’t matter because you proved my point for me. DOS attacks are orchestrated against high traffic websites. It is not the individual computers that are being targeted. They are just a means.
So you are wrong.
Not today buddy. I don’t even need to argue my point when you do it so effectively for me.
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Rubbish. Most viruses specifically target end-user PCs and end users (and always have).
Rubbish. See I can do it too! I’d like to see some proof of that. The major news everytime another Windows virus erupts is the amount of damage it has done to corporate networks and servers.
Hate to break it to you, but there’s just as much binary IPC on a *nix box as there is on a Windows box
Have you used any form of Unix? Output tends to be textual in almost all *nix programs (making it easy to pipe to another program, and usable from the CLI as well, unlike Windows counterparts). Windows programs produce unreadable binaries for everything. Nevermind the lack of transparency, in order for any program to understand that binary it MUST be initimate with it. This is one way Windows viruses propagate. *nix programs don’t have to be tied together like Outlook, IE, and Office are because they output, and accept input, as text streams. It’s fact. Get over it.
Have you forgotten Blaster and Nimda already?
Two out of tens (hundreds ?) of thousands. The numbers are not on your side. Not to say saying blaster was “aimed at servers” is a bit of a stretch.
It doesn’t matter because you proved my point for me. DOS attacks are orchestrated against high traffic websites. It is not the individual computers that are being targeted. They are just a means.
Firstly, a (D)DOS is not a virus.
Secondly, the most common viruses are the standard “Naked pictures of $CELEBRITY” mailout-to-everyone-in-the-address-book or derivatives thereis
Thirdly, You’re ignoring the twenty-odd years of viruses targeting home computers before the few examples from the current crop of commercialised skript-kiddie-toolkit generated fluff that actually do what you say. Back when virus writers actually had to know something and they were spread from people sharing *floppy disks* by actually *going to other people’s houses* and meeting *face to face*.
Not today buddy. I don’t even need to argue my point when you do it so effectively for me.
A couple of examples (and aberrations at that) do not a point make.
Rubbish. See I can do it too! I’d like to see some proof of that.
Research viruses other than a few outliers that appeared in the last six to twelve months.
The major news everytime another Windows virus erupts is the amount of damage it has done to corporate networks and servers.
This is almost always a side-effect, not an objective.
And, again, you need to consider a bit more than the latest breaking news if you want to talk about “typical behaviour”.
Crackers/hackers target servers because, by and large, they’re doing it with a view to accessing something that’s on the machine – and home machines generally aren’t particularly interesting.
Virus writers, by and large, are simple vandals and have little interest past seeing their creation spread as far and wide as possible and causing as much havoc as possible.
Have you used any form of Unix?
Now and again. Depends how much I’m going to get paid.
Output tends to be textual in almost all *nix programs (making it easy to pipe to another program, and usable from the CLI as well, unlike Windows counterparts).
You are confusing output to the user with, well, I’m not really sure what you’re confusing it with because you keep comparing very different things.
Windows programs produce unreadable binaries for everything.
Hmm, “dir” seems to give me text output. Heck, so does notepad for that matter.
WOW, look at that, I can pipe the outout of “dir” through “findstr” to search for text !
I can even paste text from the clipboard into a command prompt ! AMAZING !
Not only that, but if I load a jpeg into notepad, I get a screen full of (meaningless) text.
Nevermind the lack of transparency, in order for any program to understand that binary it MUST be initimate with it.
Easily disproven by demonstrating two pieces of software from different developers successfully communicating. Like, well, just about all of them do.
How “intimately” do you think Photoshop is with Word ? Do you think Aftereffects and Powerpoint know about them ?
This is one way Windows viruses propagate.
No, the propogate exactly the same way the do everywhere else – by exploiting a software bug or by convincing the user to execute them.
*nix programs don’t have to be tied together like Outlook, IE, and Office are because they output, and accept input, as text streams. It’s fact. Get over it.
Communications between, say, the components of KDE will be in binary. Similarly, the bits of KDE are also “tied together”. All the world is not bunch of piped together CLI commands. It’s a fact. Get over it.
I hope you don’t actually believe that. Unix/Linux is much more prevalent in the server market, where the real damage is done. Virus writers and crackers target servers to see how much damage they can do. No one cares if they wipe joe shmoes mp3’s off his computer.
You see, there’s the difference. Home users stare blankly most of the time when you mention “firewall”. Many have some sort of AV, but, my gawd, the amount of idiots stupid enough not to renew their subscription, though matter how cheap it is, that is astounding.
By comparison, if server sysadmins can’t tell head to toe about network security, they really should go to Borders and read up a little. Or better yet, do your employers a favour and quit.
I’m not saying that Windows as a server is somewhat secure. Nor anywhere near it. But most viruses target joe shmoe’ mp3’s than they target Windows servers, it is just that viruses targeting servers do far more damage and is far more publicized that some weird, crappy virus easily removable by a reformat.