Well well well, convergent Windows.

[philinux]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28440288
Fascinating.

[craig10x]

There is also going to be a cloud based version of windows as well...rumored to be free...microsoft's version of chrome os???
They just can't stand that chromeboxes are eating into their sales
As to your link...looks like microsoft is copying canonical!

[mooreted]

Can't beat em, join em, I guess.

I think Microsoft has lost all direction, just running around with their hair on fire trying to figure out what to do next.

[/ADM]

I wonder if Microsoft can actually get it right? On a desktop I don't want to see any pretty pastel colors nor do I want to see any animated panels.

Of course this would make the switch appaling from a UI perspective, assuming the tablet interface is Windows 8. Ubuntu at least looks nice either way.

I think at this point, they should simply work on a brand new OS built from the ground up for this generation. There is only a certain amount of life hacking away and adding new features to an almost 30 year old OS. Linux is different because it is collaborate, it's constantly evolving and getting cleaned. I wonder what state the Windows NT Kernel is in.

[PondPuppy]

Well, I suspect Microsoft has to keep its enterprise/industrial user base going, and simultaneously try to compete in the mobile-computing consumer market.

Since the late 1990s -- I think -- industrial automation moved to Windows. Enterprises had been using Windows longer. Both have extensive application sets based on the long-established Windows API. I attended a Rockwell industrial automation presentation a few days ago, and the boffin explained that they tested the execution time of each function block in order to estimate how much processing power and memory would be required to run, say, an oil refinery with 15 thousand I/O points. [edit] The code (probably C or C++) has been optimized for fast execution and for rock-like stability. It has to be.

The point is, Microsoft cannot walk away from the Windows API. But to compete with Android and iOS in the mobile market, they'd like to build a Javascript-HTML5 app desktop ecosystem.

[/ADM]

I think Microsoft should not try to compete at all. Just look at the market everyone gets Android phones because now they know how to use them, they work. I think at this point in time, it would be very difficult for Microsoft to convince people to buy a locked-down (and probably more expensive) phone. Look at the specs for most Windows phones and compare them to android.. 512MB Ram pfft you must be joking.

Microsoft should focus on Home and Enterprise users.

[PondPuppy]

@abilbrou -- In part, I agree. Windows dominates the desktop/laptop market, with something like 90% market share. If MS played to its strength, it would refine its user, enterprise, and industrial OS in that sector and ignore phones and tablets.

But I think that MS is worried about being technologically islanded. The largest growth market right now is in smart phones and tablets. If MS is not a player in those markets, its managers may feel it risks becoming "that OS that runs on grandpa-boxes, that one that nobody who's cool uses anymore". Overall, MS is not dominant -- Windows runs 14% off all devices, and has a dismal 2% or 3% of the phone market.

You're right about the difficulties MS faces in the mobile marketplace, I think. Currently the mobile market is split between iOS and Android. MS can't break in by under-pricing, because Android already runs on very cheap devices. And MS has no overwhelmingly superior technology to bring, no innovation that no-one else has. So they have to gut it out as an underdog.

That's my very uninformed, off-the-cuff opinion. Probably worth less than the standard 2 cents, but anyway.

Linux has been in the underdog position on the desktop/laptop scene forever, hasn't it? Despite being free, despite the advances in easy graphical installers and system updating, despite its security advantages, it still has about 2% of the desktop/laptop market. Four or five of my co-workers had to upgrade their home systems from Win XP, and despite my advocacy for Linux they all either paid extra to have Win 7 installed or else gritted their teeth and went with Win 8. (All of the latter found Win 8 frustrating, but they're toughing it out.)

I know this has been discussed to death here and elsewhere in Linux Universe. But I find it interesting to watch the interplay between corporate top-down goal-setting and independent user-developer trends. *shrug* I should get a life, huh?

[rainerw2]

Hi PondPupp. Brilliant compilation, short and to the very point. Worth distinctly more than 2 cents.

Have also found that converting Windows users to Linux/Ubuntu is largely a waste of time. Even when I succeed, the whining and doubts go on until the moon comes up. I found that newcomers are the ideal target for open source. Once initiated with Ubuntu, they find Windows the proverbial pain in the bud. People do simply don't like change – just have look at the girl/boyfriend they keep!
In South Africa we have still a large audience never exposed to the world of computers of any sort. At least 60% do however have cell phones. I am convinced that Laptops are the serious operational choice, with Tablets as the additional “toy” for whoever can afford it and whoever can afford to have it stolen 3 to 4 times in a given time.

[monkeybrain20122]

Have also found that converting Windows users to Linux/Ubuntu is largely a waste of time. Even when I succeed, the whining and doubts go on until the moon comes up. I found that newcomers are the ideal target for open source. Once initiated with Ubuntu, they find Windows the proverbial pain in the bud. People do simply don't like change –

Yeah, either complete novice or Windows users with an open mind and prepared for learning new things. I am very selective about who I install Linux for (all *buntu for other people, easiest to set up and maintain) and I have long sessions with them explaining the pros and cons and workarounds etc before going ahead.