why ms windows has no future

[brickbat]

Today, I was listening to a song on a podcast that i really liked. I went to synaptic and downloaded/installed audacity. I opened the file. I selected the part with the song i like and i exported to mp3. It all took 10 minutes.

MS Windows is dead but they just don't know it yet.

Now if only Canon would issue linux drivers.

ciao
bb

[defkewl]

Perhaps this only happens to your windows [-X

[makis]

Perhaps this only happens to your windows [-X

and my ******* also! I have just Linux now and I am so pleased:razz:

[JonahRowley]

Ironically, you can do the same in Windows, somewhat. Albeit there is no pretty installer for software, you can do the same with Audacity.

Windows relies heavily (read: entirely) on third party software, but it pretends that it doesn't. Also, since it's not in its best interest to endorse a select group of software over the rest, and since the software is not free most of the time (in either sense of the word), MS cannot deploy a tool like Synaptic.

Linux, on the other hand, can do all of this. This is one of the many reasons Linux is so much better ;)

[tardis_junkie]

Slightly off topic but,

One of *******'s biggest problems also indirectly affects linux.

Pirated software - In the case you mentioned you used Audacity a superb free program (also available for windows), but in slightly longer that it took to use Synaptic you could get for example Sound Forge off a newsgroup c/w keygen.

This is often the basis of the argument that The GIMP is not as good as Photoshop, not a really valid comment as Photoshop costs approx. £500.
But if you got Photoshop for free then compared it to The GIMP on an equal cost basis it is not as good.

No answers here but interested in others views.

Bye Bye!

[jon_hill987]

The only thing i can see that windows has over linux is the lack of dependancys. In windows you install a program it will work 99 times out of 100, with linux you install aprogram and it needs more lib's before it will work. Why can't the lib's be included with the program itself?

[TravisNewman]

dll hell! Seriously, back in the Win95/98 days, I had SO many problems with missing DLL files.

The reason the libs aren't included is that it would increase the download size immensely. If Windows did it this way, most program downloads would be half the size. You take the good with the bad ;)

I'm not sure how the functioning of audacity reflects on the future of Windows, but I do hope you're right and that Windows won't last very long.

As far as ******* goes, well, I've never heard of *******. Is it a new variant of Windows that Microsoft is releasing? Similar to the Dead Rat that RedHat released, and the sub-company M$ that Microsoft started?

Oh wait, those things never existed? Hmm. (http://ubuntuforums.org/journal.php?do=showentry&e=48) ;) ;)

[GarySaved]

I have SO MANY friends that come over and see Ubuntu running. I am quick to show them it does everything M$ did, but better. I show them Open Office, and export a .pdf file. (That one impresses them)

There are so many advantages, besides the cost. I just can't figure some people out.

They see the advantages, then go home and continue to put out money to ... ](*,)

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Gary

[jon_hill987]

dll hell! Seriously, back in the Win95/98 days, I had SO many problems with missing DLL files.

The reason the libs aren't included is that it would increase the download size immensely. If Windows did it this way, most program downloads would be half the size. You take the good with the bad ;)

Well, i never had much problem with missing dll's. and as for your second point the Mutant Storm demo for windows is 4.5Mb for linux it is 8.6Mb and i needed to download a load of libs, and it still dosn't work. But then I was gonna use linux for work and windows for games...

[Sneseglarn]

but there is a big hurdle that linux has to overcome, that it is today very far from:

OpenGL Games, and don't tell me Cedega, heck, i can't even get opengl to work with radeon.. and yeah i was so impressed with the livecd i decided to install hoary right away, but the point is, as long as you stick with the standard (i.e. livecd -> harddisk) then everything is wonderful, but other than that, it keeps getting on my nerves.

Another example: sudo aptitude install blabla asdfasdf sfsadf
no problem here.. next time i do sudo aptitude install zxczxc , it says: Removing blabla asdfasdf sfsadf , since it's no longer needed.

WTF is that? who gets to decide what's needed on my system?

[tora201]

Today, I was listening to a song on a podcast that i really liked. I went to synaptic and downloaded/installed audacity. I opened the file. I selected the part with the song i like and i exported to mp3. It all took 10 minutes.

MS Windows is dead but they just don't know it yet.

Now if only Canon would issue linux drivers.

ciao
bb
Sneseglarn, there ARE canon drivers.
go to: ftp://download.canon.jp/pub/driver/bj/linux

Or, if you printer is not there do to: turboprint.de

Good luck!

edit: forvie the speling an d grammar... it is all those beers I drank after class today..... [-X

[ultima2k]

It's so sad that almost every new game is made for Winhoes. Else I hade formatted all my drives to ext3 and thrown away windows a long time ago :(

[Psquared]

Windows 95 - in retrospect - was a nightmare. If you consider it as the first iteration of a modern OS and compare it to the average Linux distro - also as the first generation of opensource OS's then Linux is lightyears ahead of Windows 95, 98 or ME.

Imagine what Linux distros will be like when they have had the same time to mature as Windows. It reminds me of a comment I read about the power of the opensource community. MS has thousands of programmers working for 6 figure salaries and it takes them years to write code for a new Windows OS. The opensource community, essentially working for free, can do this in a few months or less.

It is a true utopian computer society. Maybe, just maybe, the entire world will find this model works in all aspects of life. (esp. economics)

[poofyhairguy]

WTF is that? who gets to decide what's needed on my system?

You do. But what apt-get is telling you is "if you don't remove this, you will have conflicts and stuff might (probably from my experiance when I didn't listen) not work." Its like a safety on a gun, to keep you from blowing you system away. If you want, you can use different options in aptitude and do anything you please!

[JonahRowley]

It's so sad that almost every new game is made for Winhoes. Else I hade formatted all my drives to ext3 and thrown away windows a long time ago :(

Do what I did, stop playing games when you should be working. Or get a console ;)

[thoffland]

dll hell! Seriously, back in the Win95/98 days, I had SO many problems with missing DLL files.

The reason the libs aren't included is that it would increase the download size immensely. If Windows did it this way, most program downloads would be half the size. You take the good with the bad ;)

I'm not sure how the functioning of audacity reflects on the future of Windows, but I do hope you're right and that Windows won't last very long.

As far as ******* goes, well, I've never heard of *******. Is it a new variant of Windows that Microsoft is releasing? Similar to the Dead Rat that RedHat released, and the sub-company M$ that Microsoft started?

Oh wait, those things never existed? Hmm. (http://ubuntuforums.org/journal.php?do=showentry&e=48) ;) ;)
I'm still a newbie with Linux/Ubuntu... only 4 days old now... but say you were in charge of a computer network with multiple users... would you rather have Windows XP desktops? Or linux desktops?

I would think that Windows would be simpler to maintain... though the security on linux is much better.

Like I said, I'm still a newbie, so this is really a question, not a challenge.

[sapo]

and my ******* also! I have just Linux now and I am so pleased:razz:

same here :mrgreen:

[aysiu]

I have SO MANY friends that come over and see Ubuntu running. I am quick to show them it does everything M$ did, but better. I show them Open Office, and export a .pdf file. (That one impresses them)

There are so many advantages, besides the cost. I just can't figure some people out.

They see the advantages, then go home and continue to put out money to ... ](*,)

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Gary

I can figure them out. No one wants to install an OS. Well, most people don't, anyway. People don't use Windows because they say, "Hm. Let's see. What operating system do I want to install on my blank PC computer? Windows? Mac? Linux?" People use Windows because right now major manufacturers of hardware put out two desktop PCs: Windows and Mac. If they choose a PowerPC, it's likely loaded with Mac. If they choose an Intel or AMD PC, it's likely loaded with Windows. Blank PCs aren't consumed by the general public.

People also like the comfort of using what everyone else is using. Doing so has a few distinct advantages for them:

1. If they run into problems, they won't be labeled as freaks. They'll just be normal Windows users, and they can all gripe together.

2. Since most of the world uses Windows, they're also more likely to get support from friends and co-workers should anything go wrong. ("Oh, you're having problems with that? I had that problem last week. This is what I did.")

3. They never need to worry about commercial software being compatible with Windows or not--iTunes. Netscape. Adobe products. Games.

4. Most likely the computer they use at work will have the same operating system as the one at home.

5. They may have some kind of annoying email account with Hotmail or Yahoo, for which there are workarounds in Linux, but never consistent or reliable ones. And one can hardly expect someone to change her email account in order to move to a new operating system she wasn't sure about wanting to switch to in the first place.

I love Linux, particularly Ubuntu and Mepis, but I have to say, these first four things are missing from my Linux experience. If I have problems, no one sympathizes. They just say, "Why are you using Linux, then?" Likewise, since I'm the only one of my friends who uses Linux, no one can help me with problems except the online community (which, however, is great at Ubuntu's forums). iTunes is my weak spot, and it's the only reason I keep XP around in my triple-boot. And I can never ditch Windows completely, as I have to use it at work. Thankfully, I don't use Hotmail or Yahoo Mail.

I'm not saying Ubuntu and Linux are not great. I love them, but people do have reasons for sticking with Windows, no matter how wowed they are by Linux. I'd have to say the #1 reason is just not wanting to install an OS. Installing any OS is a pain, and until Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. start preloading their desktops with Linux, adoption will be slow.

[sapo]

I'm still a newbie with Linux/Ubuntu... only 4 days old now... but say you were in charge of a computer network with multiple users... would you rather have Windows XP desktops? Or linux desktops?

I would think that Windows would be simpler to maintain... though the security on linux is much better.

Like I said, I'm still a newbie, so this is really a question, not a challenge.

you are saying the opposite stuff...

i can maintain a network with 50 pcs with linux all by myself if a configure everything and give the user just an account that can acess the network and change his desktop/files

if he make a mess with his account i can simple create a new one and everything will be back to normal....

now.. imagine yourself in a network with a 50 windoz pcs...

you have:
50 anti virus to maintain and update
50 anti-spywares to maintain
50 "windows updates", service packs, etc etc
50 users that could make a mess with the system cause you cant block them (just if you buy 50 licenses of that softwares that block everything)

so.. it would be hell to maintain a windoz network.. and heaven with linux :grin:

i would chose a network with 50 linux boxes.. instead of one with 20 windoz ones.. :roll:

[allforcarrie]

Do what I did, stop playing games when you should be working. Or get a console ;)

LOL, if only Half life two would look as good on my xbox or enemy territory was on xbox.

[jimcooncat]

I'm still a newbie with Linux/Ubuntu... only 4 days old now... but say you were in charge of a computer network with multiple users... would you rather have Windows XP desktops? Or linux desktops? I'd like to answer on this since one of my many hats is to be the tech guy for a small business with eight Windows workstations, shared storage, and in-house email. I have the email server running Ubuntu, and am working to share individual Linux apps to the Windows stations, like Evolution and Planner. And two Ubuntu systems at home.


I would think that Windows would be simpler to maintain... though the security on linux is much better. Maintaining a bunch of Windows boxes is very time consuming. There are no central repositories for updates -- I have to check with each individual software vendor, and use a separate method to update software for each. Windows provides a way to roll out the updates to the workstations, but damned if I can find out how it works. Don't have the time or the budget to take seminars or get on an advanced support subscription. The free information available from the "community" is crap -- most of the posts are spam or spam-like.

So I have to log into each machine and navigate it's GUI to do it's particular update. I've made a few centralized scripts to make it easier for me, but it still takes a while and I have to bump the user off to update their workstation. Quite often I take lunch separately so I can update their machines while they're taking a break.

But I can sit at home and update my home Ubuntu machine, my girlfriend's, and my work email server in just of a couple of minutes with ssh and apt-get. So quick and easy, even if I have to do it every day, which seems like the norm now. Most importantly, I have a supportive community (you folks!) which is more valuable to me than the easy maintenance or "security" that Linux provides.

I have yet to find comprehensive backup solutions for Windows like I can for Linux, since I'm always running into a situation where a file being in use can't be backed up in Windows. LVM snapshots for Linux partitions are a savior, but take some advanced planning.

As far as security goes, I feel Ubuntu may be more secure than Windows when used by a single user in the default install. But when you're dealing with a small office network, you're never working with the defaults -- to set up a network you have to change the configuration. Now security is in your hands, not just the vendors', and you can goof up the security with either operating system quite easily.

Anecdote: Last fall, I cleaned the spyware off a friend's XP computer, and locked down Internet Explorer's security settings, and closed all the holes in the software firewall. I then ran the SP2 update, and found that it undid many of my settings to make the system less secure. Had to go back and check each one again.

Conclusion: I'd rather spend my time securing and updating a network based on Ubuntu than Windows XP. Reality of our business situation is that I need to support Windows, and I'm sure most other American businesses are in that boat.

Rant: Fanboys who put down Windows, Microsoft, and other vendors' applications make it harder for folks like myself to convince our coworkers that Linux distributions are legitimate alternatives. They check out Slashdot or other forums and see "******* suxors!" all over the place, instead of intelligent discussion, and get turned off. Now because I promote free software, they think I have the same attitude. If you have something bad to say about any product or business, have the balls to do the research and present an legitimate argument!

[davahmet]

Rant: Fanboys who put down Windows, Microsoft, and other vendors' applications make it harder for folks like myself to convince our coworkers that Linux distributions are legitimate alternatives. They check out Slashdot or other forums and see "******* suxors!" all over the place, instead of intelligent discussion, and get turned off. Now because I promote free software, they think I have the same attitude. If you have something bad to say about any product or business, have the balls to do the research and present an legitimate argument!

Amen! These elitist attitudes expressed at online forums are perhaps the biggest obstacle to Linux adoption in SMBs that I have seen. It becomes very difficult when IT managers have the perception that Linux is backed by militant, raving enthusiasts who would prefer to discard any form of rational discourse. I have found that references to Microsoft and Windows as 'Microsux, M$, Winblows, etc..' only adds the the general perception of managers that Linux and open source enthusiasts lack credibility.

[jsimmons]

Amen! These elitist attitudes expressed at online forums are perhaps the biggest obstacle to Linux adoption in SMBs that I have seen. It becomes very difficult when IT managers have the perception that Linux is backed by militant, raving enthusiasts who would prefer to discard any form of rational discourse. I have found that references to Microsoft and Windows as 'Microsux, M$, Winblows, etc..' only adds the the general perception of managers that Linux and open source enthusiasts lack credibility.
I agree.

[poofyhairguy]

Amen! These elitist attitudes expressed at online forums are perhaps the biggest obstacle to Linux adoption in SMBs that I have seen. It becomes very difficult when IT managers have the perception that Linux is backed by militant, raving enthusiasts who would prefer to discard any form of rational discourse. I have found that references to Microsoft and Windows as 'Microsux, M$, Winblows, etc..' only adds the the general perception of managers that Linux and open source enthusiasts lack credibility.


Yeah...it would be nice if the noisy zealots didn't out shout the moderate Linux using majority.

The way I see it...Linux is part of an open software movement. This movement is an extremist movement that began because only such extremeism could exist with the Microsoft monopoly. The true OSS fanatics (including well spoken ones like RMS) are the ones that make the noise that businesses don't want to hear. It because essentially the root of this movement to get away from a publishing business model in the software industry- companies don't like that.

Luckily a practical man named Linus got involved in the movement and happened to make a kernel that could use the previous work of the movement. Linus cares less about ruling the world like the fanatics do- when I want to tell normal people about Linux he is the person I talk about because of his moderatism.

Linux is friendly to businesses because it allows for a free, stable platform to develop on. The OSS movement Linux is apart of is not good for (software businesses) because it wants to undue the publishing model (more power for users than developers).

The fanatics are fans of the movement, the moderates are fans on Linux. Some of both are fans of both. Unfortunately you can't remove the movement from Linux (or vise versa) so its impossible to ditch the fanatics that make us all look bad. Maybe when hurd exists more will switch to that and Linux can breath a sigh of relief.

I hoped I explained myself well.

[Optimal Aurora]

Personally I like windows, then to I did like and got the Windows ME version running stable, with an average uptime of about 10 hours (since I did turn the system off every night)... I think though that microsoft will always be around for the next few decades that is... But then too maybe I am wrong...

[skoal]

TMS Windows is dead but they just don't know it yet.
Rumors of my death have been greatly exagerated (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/longhorn_alpha.asp)...

...or maybe not...

\\//_

[BWF89]

Today, I was listening to a song on a podcast that i really liked. I went to synaptic and downloaded/installed audacity. I opened the file. I selected the part with the song i like and i exported to mp3. It all took 10 minutes.

MS Windows is dead but they just don't know it yet.

Now if only Canon would issue linux drivers.

ciao
bb
Audacity rocks. I use it on Window$ because I can't use Linux on this computer because my printer and scanner aren't Un*x conpatible.

I hope you converted that song from MP3 format to Ogg Vorbis since Ogg is an open source file format and MP3 is proprietary.

Not to mention that Ogg Vorbis files are smaller than MP3 files.

EDIT: Yes, iPods do play Ogg files I believe. I haven't tried it out personally but I've read it on Wikipedia.

[bored2k]

I like Linux. It's different. I like that.
I like Windows. It's generic, but it's simple.
What I like most is the possibility to choose what I want.

Sometimes I don't feel "geeky" enough, so I fire up Windows. Windows helps me focus on what I'm doing since I don't have the bash promp to fool around with (nor I can test anything I post on the forums forehand). Right now I'm on Windows using Mathematica 5 (http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/index.html) (a $1,880 marvel app). I too have the Linux version, but I feel more concentrated here.

Personally, I don't think Microsoft will be going anywhere anytime soon.

P.S. - Looking forward to Microsoft Longhorn, Ubuntu ---after--after-Breezy or any OS that would in the growth and development of technology.

I'm all for Linux, but if Longhorn or MS brings something fresh, new and hip to the table, more power to the people.

[Brunellus]

I like Linux. It's different. I like that.
I like Windows. It's generic, but it's simple.
What I like most is the possibility to choose what I want.

Sometimes I don't feel "geeky" enough, so I fire up Windows. Windows helps me focus on what I'm doing since I don't have the bash promp to fool around with (nor I can test anything I post on the forums forehand). Right now I'm on Windows using Mathematica 5 (http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/index.html) (a $1,880 marvel app). I too have the Linux version, but I feel more concentrated here.

Personally, I don't think Microsoft will be going anywhere anytime soon.

P.S. - Looking forward to Microsoft Longhorn, Ubuntu ---after--after-Breezy or any OS that would in the growth and development of technology.

I'm all for Linux, but if Longhorn or MS brings something fresh, new and hip to the table, more power to the people.
...more power to the people, less money in their pockets :-)

[bored2k]

...more power to the people, less money in their pockets :-)
Let them make that choice. I'm not a real hardcore Free whatever advocate. If I like it, I get it. By the time Longhorn comes out I'll be stable enough to be able to get a job, and if I like it, chances are I am giving them my money.

Some people seem to want MS to fail and suck badly. I have never understood this. I hope they release a good enough OS that people could use without having to know what apt or rpm or tgz are. We do want to know about those, they don't. They have the money, we're not willing to pay it.

Drops cents.

edit - Sorry for the apparent rant.

[Arthemys]

My opinion shortened up; essentially anyone who used proper grammar and sentance structure gets an A+ for intelligence. Any points regarding piracy and cost comparisons, agreed... And for the fan boy thing, I agree there too, though myself feel that at times I get kind of fan boy myself... Just not to the extent that others may, a valid point to being an enthusiast is if you're proud about X product, you're going to shout out loud what you think. And that's a quite admirable tool, yet a dangerous one if used improperly.

Part of my job sadly is to be a salesman and a techie guy behind the scenes. You can't be selling (marketting or actual selling with money) a product unless you absolutely love it and believe strongly in what it does or what its features are. You canNOT sell something that you think sucks at life, it just won't work.

Example, I sell cell phones (Nextel) and we use them internally within the company. My fiance has an i530 currently, which was my old company phone. I've bashed that thing to ****, literally... Against concrete walls, drop kicked it, and thrown it down two flights of stairs before I could do the same thing infront of a client. I had to have faith in what I was selling. A strong factor in my company. Same thing goes for our computers that we hand build, three year hardware warranty is standard. We have faith.

Which just goes back to the fan boy thing I mentioned earlier, it's great but can be very dangerous.

[skoal]

Part of my job sadly is to be a salesman[...] You can't be selling (marketting or actual selling with money) a product unless you absolutely love it and believe strongly in what it does or what its features are. You canNOT sell something that you think sucks at life, it just won't work.
I don't know if most people here can appreciate that keen observation like I can. Personally, I call selling what you love as being a "consultant", IMHO. Increasing market share for something you really really hate (and wouldn't use yourself), now that's a salesman. That's just a subtle phillosophical observation and careless definition on my part, based on personal experience, having spent some five years in high pressure sales, where a lie meant a meal.

The hardest thing I ever had to do as a salesman was to convince someone to buy this "stuffed" brown paper bag I would normally set ablaze on my neighbors front door step, or wish upon my own worst enemy. That's probably why I left sales many moons ago. I got tired of directing other people to my competition and a better product. My employer probably did too.

Anyways, it's good to hear you've found that "faith" again brother. oops! What was this thread about anyways...

\\//_

[Takis]

Rumors of my death have been greatly exagerated (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/longhorn_alpha.asp)...

...or maybe not...

\\//_
Oh man, is that all there is to Longhorn? Where are the flying cars? We still have weather? Come on. With all the hype that's surrounding it, the LEAST it should be able to do is solve world hunger.

On the other hand, I bet 50 bucks that they STILL don't bother to change the stupid mouse cursor! Pixels are Not Cool, yet that's all I can see in a Windows mouse!
:sad:

[sonny]

Oh man, is that all there is to Longhorn? Where are the flying cars? We still have weather? Come on. With all the hype that's surrounding it, the LEAST it should be able to do is solve world hunger.

On the other hand, I bet 50 bucks that they STILL don't bother to change the stupid mouse cursor! Pixels are Not Cool, yet that's all I can see in a Windows mouse!
:sad:
I've seen the screenshots... LongHorn is the same that WinXP, only a few improvements, and more eye candy for the user; eye candy that is hardware consuming, have anyone seen the minimun riquerements?, it outrageous how they can make software so bad the there's no hardware to run it propperly... [-X

I'll give longhorn a try; not gonna buy it but test it with some friend in the pre-install version, cuz I just want to see for myself what they did in all these years.

[Takis]

The worst thing is that it actually had quite a lot of potential. If they'd managed to implement a relational (rather than conventional folder-based) filing system, that would have been very impressive.

Unfortunately they gave up.

[poofyhairguy]

have anyone seen the minimun riquerements?

No...can someone post them?

[Takis]

essentially anyone who used proper grammar and sentance structure gets an A+ for intelligence.
Arthemys I'm going to be a smart-**** for a second: it's spelled 'sentence'. \\:D/

Back to the thread:
"Analysts expect minimum requirements to start with a 4GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, built-in wireless networking, and a DirectX 9-capable 3D accelerator with at least 128MB of RAM. "
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/42522/42522.html?Ad=1

[N'Jal]

Well then that's that decided no more windows. I simply cannot afford the software and with Longhorn i now can't afford the hardware.

[poofyhairguy]

Arthemys I'm going to be a smart-**** for a second: it's spelled 'sentence'. \\:D/

Back to the thread:
"Analysts expect minimum requirements to start with a 4GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, built-in wireless networking, and a DirectX 9-capable 3D accelerator with at least 128MB of RAM. "
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/42522/42522.html?Ad=1


You have to have wireless? Screw that. Wireless networking blows chunks. They will have to pry my ethernet cable from my cold dead hands!!!

[egon spengler]

I think though that microsoft will always be around for the next few decades that is... But then too maybe I am wrong...

you must have not read the first post, that you can download and install an audio editor for linux in less than 10 minutes indicates the imminent demise for windows

[Arthemys]

Arthemys I'm going to be a smart-**** for a second: it's spelled 'sentence'. \\:D/

Back to the thread:
"Analysts expect minimum requirements to start with a 4GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, built-in wireless networking, and a DirectX 9-capable 3D accelerator with at least 128MB of RAM. "
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/42522/42522.html?Ad=1
Thank you ;) It was for the purposes of being ironic. I'm glad you noticed. (Saved well, don't you think? :-P )