[News] GNU/Linux Rises While Windows Vista is Killing Microsoft
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
Microsoft’s Vista armor starting to fade
,----[ Quote ]
| HP denies that they are making an OS to rival Vista, but, they do acknowledge
| that they are developing software that would bypass some of its functions
| altogether. HP formed the “customer experience” group nine months ago in an
| effort to give customers a quick and easy alternative to certain
| applications. The team is focusing on touchscreen technology where users can
| watch movies or view pictures.
`----
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/09/14/microsofts-vista-armor-starting-to-fade/
Will Windows Vista be the death of Microsoft?
,----[ Quote ]
| The last few weeks has seen a steady increase in the number of rumours about
| the Windows Vista operating system and the potential for new operating
| systems to hit the market over the next couple of years. The latest rumours
| relate to a suggestion that Hewlett Packard (HP) is on the verge of beginning
| work on a new Linux based operating system which they hope will eventually
| compete in the open market with Windows Vista. Fact or fiction?
`----
Microsoft Remains a Company on the Defensive
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft even went so far recently as to mask Vista as a new operating
| system called Mojave, and showed people's reaction on hidden camera.
| Apparently, people who claimed they wouldn't buy Vista were wowed by it when
| they saw it in action under a different name. The blind taste test might work
| for soft drinks, but there's more to an operating system than a quick taste.
| Let's let these people live with Vista for a few weeks, then record their
| reactions. Something tells me it wouldn't be very flattering.
`----
http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3164.html
Why is the media covering those ads so much? It's just amplifying them.
Recent:
Linux preinstalls rocket to three per cent
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is still be shipped with 93 per cent of all PCs sold through
| distribution in the UK, according to Context.
|
| Yet Linux has nevertheless made an impressive gain.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/linux-preloads-rocket-per-cent
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nes...@wigner.berkeley.edu
"LINUX HAS MADE headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales
channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them
has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista
operating system in January 2007."
The article makes the point that this is starting from a small base,
maybe 0.1% at the beginning of the period in question, to about 3%
now.
I thought this was going to be an interesting year, but it's been
better than I would have expected.
I gather Microsoft is hurrying to get Windows 7 out, reportedly with a
June 2009 release date. They must be worried. Of course, 7 will
solve all the problems with Vista.
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
____/ nes...@wigner.berkeley.edu on Monday 15 September 2008 23:01 : \____
It's SP2 with lipstick.
BTW, the figures quoted above are for preinstalls, which are hard to find in
the UK (I tried and surveyed a bit). Most GNU/Linux users here seem to just
buy Windows and wipe it or dual-boot.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Lions are like hippie tigers"
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
00:05:01 up 6 days, 18:00, 1 user, load average: 0.86, 0.99, 0.85
http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
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Sinister Midget
Windows 7 will be Vista with old, dried-out mascara, left over from the
Windows 95 days. (They ran out of lipstick by now.)
--
"Windows Vista performance", on the next "In Search Of".
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Rex Ballard
<ness...@wigner.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> From the Inquirer article:
>
> "LINUX HAS MADE headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales
> channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them
> has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista
> operating system in January 2007."
> The article makes the point that this is starting from a small base,
> maybe 0.1% at the beginning of the period in question, to about 3%
> now.
My understanding is that the sales was over 20 million Linux machines
in the last 6 months, so a bit closer to 10%. Of course, if it
triples again in the next 6 months, it would be up to 30% of the
market.
With OSX taking up almost 20% of the market as well, that could leave
Microsoft's Vista with as little as 50% of the market, and about 1/2
of those would be downgraded.
> I thought this was going to be an interesting year, but it's been
> better than I would have expected.
In it's current Niche (sub-notebooks) , Linux outsells the Microsoft
offering 6 to 4 by unit volumes. Profit margins are also looking much
better, for retailers.
> I gather Microsoft is hurrying to get Windows 7 out, reportedly with a
> June 2009 release date. They must be worried. Of course, 7 will
> solve all the problems with Vista.
Yet another VAPORWARE announcement. Ballmer isn't nearly as good at
stretching the truth as Gates was. You can figure that the EARLIEST
Windows 7 will be out is probably sometime in 2010, and won't be
debugged until 2011, and maybe two releases later, around 2015, will
have the features and capabilities of Linux as well as the
performance, security, and efficiency of Linux. More than likely
though, Microsoft will leave those infamous "back doors" open, and
wipe out the security, the 'bots will wipe out the performance and the
efficiency, and huge monolithic monopoly-ware libraries will wipe out
any of the efficiency.
amicus_curious
"Rex Ballard" <rex.b...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4025cccc-2d84-405d...@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>My understanding is that the sales was over 20 million Linux machines
>in the last 6 months, so a bit closer to 10%. Of course, if it
>triples again in the next 6 months, it would be up to 30% of the
>market.
>With OSX taking up almost 20% of the market as well, that could leave
>Microsoft's Vista with as little as 50% of the market, and about 1/2
>of those would be downgraded.
With understanding like that, it is a wonder that you can function at all!
Just imagine all that documented revenue coming from only 25% of the PCs
being sold! Who do you suppose is selling all these Linux and Macintosh
machines anyway? Surely there must be some gigantic PC OEM or two rising
from the ashes. Is there some stealth supplier at work?
Matt
> From the Inquirer article:
>
> "LINUX HAS MADE headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales
> channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them
> has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista
> operating system in January 2007."
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/linux-preloads-rocket-per-cent
> The article
I haven't been able to find out anything about the company Context
mentioned in the article.
Matt
Everybody knows there is a what might be called a "hardware gap"
nowadays, meaning that cheap or even run-of-the-mill hardware can't run
Vista but can run Linux.
Things will change somewhat as hardware prices drop and MS acts to
decrease the hardware demands of Windows.
Right now Windows is getting hurt in the $250 to $400 range. As
hardware in that price range becomes more capable, Windows will be more
viable in that range.
But for some years yet there will be a price range of machines that are
good for Linux but no good for Windows. Two years from now that range
might be $150 to $250. Five years from now it might be $50 to $150.
It might look like Linux will be getting squeezed into a shrinking
niche, but 1) in the cheaper machines the price of Windows is a larger
fraction of the total cost, implying that Windows will basically make no
money in the lowest price ranges even after the hardware is able to run
Windows, and 2) many units will be sold in the lower price ranges,
giving those price ranges (hence Linux) a large market share.
Sinister Midget
They have a web site:
That doesn't prove anything much one way or the other, except they
claim to be 25 years in operation.
--
Bugs come in through open Windows.
nes...@wigner.berkeley.edu
> ness...@wigner.berkeley.edu wrote:
> > From the Inquirer article:
>
> > "LINUX HAS MADE headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales
> > channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them
> > has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista
> > operating system in January 2007."
>
> > The article makes the point that this is starting from a small base,
> > maybe 0.1% at the beginning of the period in question, to about 3%
> > now.
>
> > I thought this was going to be an interesting year, but it's been
> > better than I would have expected.
>
> > I gather Microsoft is hurrying to get Windows 7 out, reportedly with a
> > June 2009 release date. They must be worried. Of course, 7 will
> > solve all the problems with Vista.
>
> Everybody knows there is a what might be called a "hardware gap"
> nowadays, meaning that cheap or even run-of-the-mill hardware can't run
> Vista but can run Linux.
>
> Things will change somewhat as hardware prices drop and MS acts to
> decrease the hardware demands of Windows.
Well there's the question about exactly *why* Windows (especially
Vista) has such hefty hardware requirements, when Linux does well with
less. DRM is certainly part of the answer, and probably the legacy of
kludges and spaghetti code in Windows is also part (but that was true
of XP, too, so it doesn't explain specifically why Vista is so bad).
And then there's the question of what Microsoft can do to reduce it.
To the extent that Vista's bloat is due to DRM, it's Microsoft's own
fault if they get clipped by leaner OSes, and they probably aren't
willing to drop DRM, so they're just going to take a hit. Too bad.
Maybe they solve the problem with marketing.
On Vista DRM see:
http://www.cypherpunks.to/~peter/vista.pdf
On spaghetti code in XP, see:
http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/06jan/bigb_microsoft.htm
Matt
> On 2008-09-17, Matt <ma...@themattfella.xxxyyz.com> claimed:
>> nes...@wigner.berkeley.edu wrote:
>>> From the Inquirer article:
>>>
>>> "LINUX HAS MADE headway in Microsoft's UK heartland, the PC sales
>>> channel. The number of machines shipped with Linux preloaded on them
>>> has multiplied a whopping 28 times since Microsoft launched its Vista
>>> operating system in January 2007."
>>
>> http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/linux-preloads-rocket-per-cent
>>
>>
>>> The article
>>
>> I haven't been able to find out anything about the company Context
>> mentioned in the article.
>
> They have a web site:
>
> http://www.contextworld.com/
>
> That doesn't prove anything much one way or the other, except they
> claim to be 25 years in operation.
thanks
Matt
> On spaghetti code in XP, see:
> http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/06jan/bigb_microsoft.htm
That article ought to be more effective than the Mojave ads in improving
Vista's image.