Vista specs = Ubuntu and other Linuxes Opportunity

[Sef]

Here are the specs for Vista:

VISTA HARDWARE CHECKLIST
Minimum Recommended
Processor 800MHz 1GHz 32 or 64 bit
System Memory 512MB 1GB
Graphics card DirectX 9 capable Runs Windows Aero
Graphics Memory - - 128MB
Free space on Hard Drive 15GB 15GB
Source: Microsoft

Sure is a huge market for Ubuntu and other Linux distros. Who feels like joining me drive truck through the hole there.

[NeoLithium]

That is soooooooooo tempting. I tested Vista long enough to install it; go onto IRC for about 10 minutes, and then remove it. I still want that time of my life returned to me from Microsoft :/

[hyper7]

I'd have no reason to upgrade other than to run vista... that's really not tempting enough for me to bother.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Another reson why i think vista is going to fly like a lead baloon.

[cunawarit]

FWIW I think this is a fallacy.

The main issue for Windows users is going to be graphics hardware if they want to use Aero. Otherwise anyone who has bought a machine in the last 12 months should either be OK or require some more memory for a speedy Vista experience. Certainly my 11 month old cheap Dell is OK, except for the graphics card issue.

I honestly don’t think you’ll see many home users switching to Ubuntu or other Linux distros just because they can’t run Vista in their current machine. Those users will more likely than not stay with XP, which is to be supported for a long time anyway.

What’s likely to get them to switch? They will be able to run all the apps they need anyway. Just about the only thing they won’t be able to run are games that support DirectX 10 only, and they can’t do that in Ubuntu either.

In my opinion it will be exactly like every other time a new version of Windows is released. Initially there is a big hoopla concerning the minimum specs needed to run it and in 6 months time all budget machines will meet those specs and everyone who buys a new machine will be able to run Vista without difficulty. And that scenario won’t change till you are able to make a saving by ordering a Dell with Linux instead of Windows. But Microsoft’s monopoly has taken care of that side of things.

[hyper7]

FWIW I think this is a fallacy.

The main issue for Windows users is going to be graphics hardware if they want to use Aero. Otherwise anyone who has bought a machine in the last 12 months should either be OK or require some more memory for a speedy Vista experience. Certainly my 11 month old cheap Dell is OK, except for the graphics card issue.

I honestly don’t think you’ll see many home users switching to Ubuntu or other Linux distros just because they can’t run Vista in their current machine. Those users will more likely than not stay with XP, which is to be supported for a long time anyway.

What’s likely to get them to switch? They will be able to run all the apps they need anyway. Just about the only thing they won’t be able to run are games that support DirectX 10 only, and they can’t do that in Ubuntu either.

In my opinion it will be exactly like every other time a new version of Windows is released. Initially there is a big hoopla concerning the minimum specs needed to run it and in 6 months time all budget machines will meet those specs and everyone who buys a new machine will be able to run Vista without difficulty. And that scenario won’t change till you are able to make a saving by ordering a Dell with Linux instead of Windows. But Microsoft’s monopoly has taken care of that side of things.
Well put, obviously, but there's been a trend with windows OS'.. Throw 3.1 away; people were quick to jump from 95 to 98, and even quicker to get to 2k. Having been a service tech, I saw the majority of people wanting to hop to 2k, even though they had no clue how it would benefit them. Then you have 2k to XP, microstuff made it difficult to stay up to date, even with their own proprietary software, without upgrading to XP.

So, my friend, what do you think is going to happen with vista? The line has already been drawn(the required specs), and people will have to upgrade or feel left out. The average user isn't a hardcore gamer, or a hardcore video editor, or a hardcore producer of anything. They're not even a hardcore system user, but the thing is, microstuff will push newer products to accompany vista. Those products will require hardware upgrades, and people will, in turn, want to upgrade.

That's my take on it. *shrug*

[DoctorMO]

there was a slowing down in the western markets for new PCs, this is why Dell, and a few notable other pc makers have branched out because they wern't making enough money from the boxes them selves.

This time it's a little diffrent because the market is some what more saturated than it was in 2001. people will find it amnoying to upgrade their whole PC just to just ms word.

[Mathiasdm]

Here are the specs for Vista:



Sure is a huge market for Ubuntu and other Linux distros. Who feels like joining me drive truck through the hole there.
Almost every newly released computer has specs higher than that.

Few people are going to run out to buy Vista and install it on their computers. However, most people are still going to get Vista with a new computer.

One thing I do expect is a slow adoption of Windows Vista, since (for most people) Windows XP is 'good enough'.

Linux adoption will increase, but it'll still be slow (as long as Linux doesn't get pre-installed on computers).

[DarkDancer]

My computer that is around 3 years old (though it has been upgraded a time or 15) has specs that meet or exceed all of those. Are there a lot of computers that don't? Those seem pretty bottom of the line (actually I would consider mine pretty bottom of the line....) ;)

I need to upgrade.

[PriceChild]

My specs:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (32bit)
768Mb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 4 FX 5600xt 256Mb

I downloaded the FREE beta version of Vista (Ultmiate edition) and found that it was EXTREMELY sluggish.... I can't see what's so good about aero glass anyway. Beryl/Compiz does an infintessimally better job.... you actually notice eyecandy. I could only see blurred window borders in vista and an awkward switcher.

[Ramses de Norre]

15GB?!? My ubuntu install uses 3.42GB..

[shining]

FWIW I think this is a fallacy.

The main issue for Windows users is going to be graphics hardware if they want to use Aero. Otherwise anyone who has bought a machine in the last 12 months should either be OK or require some more memory for a speedy Vista experience. Certainly my 11 month old cheap Dell is OK, except for the graphics card issue.

I honestly don’t think you’ll see many home users switching to Ubuntu or other Linux distros just because they can’t run Vista in their current machine. Those users will more likely than not stay with XP, which is to be supported for a long time anyway.

What’s likely to get them to switch? They will be able to run all the apps they need anyway. Just about the only thing they won’t be able to run are games that support DirectX 10 only, and they can’t do that in Ubuntu either.

In my opinion it will be exactly like every other time a new version of Windows is released. Initially there is a big hoopla concerning the minimum specs needed to run it and in 6 months time all budget machines will meet those specs and everyone who buys a new machine will be able to run Vista without difficulty. And that scenario won’t change till you are able to make a saving by ordering a Dell with Linux instead of Windows. But Microsoft’s monopoly has taken care of that side of things.

Won't all new machines just have Vista preinstalled?

[cunawarit]

People will find it amnoying to upgrade their whole PC just to just ms word.

They won't have to, Office 2007 runs on XP SP2.

[cunawarit]

Won't all new machines just have Vista preinstalled?

They will, but I would imagine that some cheaper ones at the beginning won't run Aero at its fullest. I think certainly plenty of the cheaper laptops won't.

[Jussi Kukkonen]

Well put, obviously, but there's been a trend with windows OS'.. Throw 3.1 away; people were quick to jump from 95 to 98, and even quicker to get to 2k. Having been a service tech, I saw the majority of people wanting to hop to 2k, even though they had no clue how it would benefit them. Then you have 2k to XP, microstuff made it difficult to stay up to date, even with their own proprietary software, without upgrading to XP.

I think you are wrong -- ordinary people are not quick to jump to a new OS, I assume most people have never upgraded a computer in their life. I'm guessing a large percentage of computers only have one Operating System on them during the whole lifetime. It's not that MS isn't trying, but that there isn't much value in the upgrades for most people, certainly not enough to cover the risk that is associated with any big changes to the computer (real or imaginary).

I know that statistics are damn lies, and web statistics even more so, but... maybe they're better than nothing. Take a look at the w3chools statistics: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp. The site is a learning portal for web developers. I'd guess the users mostly aren't total computer gurus, but definitely more interested in computers than average people. Let's see:
August 2003: Win2000 39.9%
August 2006: Win2000 10.1%
It took three years to come down 30 points, and a few points have gone to non-Windows platforms, not XP... Based on that I wouldn't expect Vista to have anywhere near 70% coverage before 2010 (it took XP 4 years to achieve that), presuming that the authentication scheme prevents even some illegal copying.

[3rdalbum]

I bought my computer in May. It didn't come with enough memory to run Windows Vista.

I have still recently been seeing advertisements for computers with only 256 megs of RAM, so this is bound to **** some inexperienced people off.

[MedivhX]

Look at my poor stupid specs:
AMD Athlon 1800+ MHz
nVidia GeForce4 MX440
Kingston 2x256MB DDR RAM
Maxtor DiamondMAX 8+ 40GB

This means that my PC could not run Vista even in my dreams...

[taurus]

Look at my poor stupid specs:
AMD Athlon 1800+ MHz
nVidia GeForce4 MX440
Kingston 2x256MB DDR RAM
Maxtor DiamondMAX 8+ 40GB

This means that my PC could not run Vista even in my dreams...
Actually, maybe the only way you can run Vista is in your dreams!!! :mrgreen: And don't forget, if you plan to upgrade or install Vista on your current machine, then you need to purchase a copy of it so good luck with that too... ](*,)

[Klaidas]

How many times were windows' requirements WAY bigger than linux's?
And how many time did linux gain some reasonable ammount of market share because of that?

If you answers those two answers correctly, you'll understand that linux won't gain any reasonable market share just because vista needs a better pc than most of us have.

[Klaidas]

Look at my poor stupid specs:
AMD Athlon 1800+ MHz
nVidia GeForce4 MX440
Kingston 2x256MB DDR RAM
Maxtor DiamondMAX 8+ 40GB

This means that my PC could not run Vista even in my dreams...

That's something about just as my pc's specs are. However, there's a thing called... UPGRADING :) Back in the days Windows 95 was the most popular OS, I wonder if anyone would have been able to run XP on computer designed for Win95? (Answer: No :))
However, the most popular OS is Xp now. Why?.. Because people upgrade! :)

Same thing will happen now. You are not able to run Vista at the moment, but after some time you will upgrade. Maybe not to run Vista... but you will upgrade.

[MedivhX]

Oh... I can only dream about upgrading too... My stupid ASUS motherboard can't support new technologies... So the only option is a new computer.

[cunawarit]

So the only option is a new computer.

Considering the prices of new desktops now it isn't the end of the world.

[David Mulligan]

More people are aware of Linux now than ever before so maybe there will be a small jump. However I think that Mac OS X is more likely to benefit from Vista than anything else. If folks are going to have to buy a new computer anyhow I think more are going to give Mac a try.

[aysiu]

Moved to the Windows discussion forum.

I was tempted to merge it with vista may = more linux users (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=286391), but I guess the emphasis is slightly different.

[lazyart]

It's the next new thing and people will run to it. Those who buy it preinstalled won't have any issues using their restore disks, and PCs will continue to be "disposable".

If you're not running 2 ghz and 1.5 gigs of memory you're wasting your time. For the record, XP will run on 128 megs but good luck doing anything with it.

On top of it, DirectX 10 is just the start of the forced obsolence that PC & hardware manufacturers just love.

I'm done with Windows. I just install Ubuntu server on a P3-866 with 256 megs and a 20 gig HD. I slapped on the Xubuntu desktop, then webmin and realized I didnt need Xubuntu desktop after all, but it was just as responsive as the Athlon 1700+ and 768 megs driving the domain controller (which does nothing but authenticate user and host files).

I think the hacking crowd moves more to linux instead of pirating Vista, but that's really it. I'm not dropping money to run it when I've got plenty of hardware that Dapper is plenty happy with.

[Old Pink]

I wonder what Windows does with all the extra resources it sucks up. Must be sending data somewhere... ;)

[PriceChild]

I wonder what Windows does with all the extra resources it sucks upI've been thinking that constantly... The graphics are no where near as advanced as beryl/compiz's... they're just transparent... and blurred a bit...

[Lord Illidan]

Guys, I know ppl who haven't upgraded to XP yet. So basically, the move to Vista isn't going to be all that sudden.

[Klaidas]

Guys, I know ppl who haven't upgraded to XP yet. So basically, the move to Vista isn't going to be all that sudden.

Yes, true. However, it is going to be pretty fast (if a few months is fast enought to upgrade millions of pcs ;))

The graphics are no where near as advanced as beryl/compiz's... they're just transparent... and blurred a bit...
Well, it's a matter of preference, actually ;)

[DarkDancer]

My stupid ASUS motherboard can't support new technologies... So the only option is a new computer.

You could just upgrade the motherboard...or if you ewally want a new computer, that's cool too.

[mysticrider92]

Almost every newly released computer has specs higher than that.

Few people are going to run out to buy Vista and install it on their computers. However, most people are still going to get Vista with a new computer.

One thing I do expect is a slow adoption of Windows Vista, since (for most people) Windows XP is 'good enough'.

Linux adoption will increase, but it'll still be slow (as long as Linux doesn't get pre-installed on computers).

Not everyone has a brand new computer. And 15gigs of hard drive space is rediculous. My Ubuntu computer, with the installation, multiple desktop environments (KDE, Gnome, XFCE) and lots of other packages plus all of my data and a few cd iso's was less than 8 gigs.

[zgornel]

Who knows what flight simulators they've hidden inside ...