patrick.net

Don't use windows period.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says

Die, Windows, Die!

Yay, you're back! People have been missing you.

They have an IM? I did not know that.

Fascinates me at work to watch my colleagues falling all over themselves to convert all servers & services to Windows.

It's becoming increasingly clear to me that Windows days are numbered.

Vicente says

It's becoming increasingly clear to me that Windows days are numbered.

I'm not sure about that. Even though Vista and Win 7 sucked, the Windows platform is still dominating in both the desktop and server arena. Solaris and other forms of Unix dominated the server market in the early/mid-1990s, but Windows has the largest usage even with Linux being free.

As for the hand-held market, Android and Apple are the dominate platforms for now. Windows and Palm seem to be dying, but as long as the servers run Windows, it ain't going away.

In principle, if cloud computing becomes mainstream not only for B2B and B2C but also as the platform of choice for end users, Android could replace Windows as people stop buying desktops/laptops and use only smartphones and tablets. But that's a big if.

The average Joe hasn't accepted the idea of cloud computing and relying on Internet only storage. Things are changing, but most people keep their music collection, pictures, and home videos locally. Sure, they may copy them to Facebook, but they don't rely on Facebook alone for storage. And then there's the gaming industry...

You do realize that Microsoft owns Skype now, right?

I have to fundamentally disagree with your argument for doing p2p messaging. That makes it a pain in the ass to do archiving, stop legitimate spam and malware, do multi-user chat, or do anything on mobile.

Dan: Bwahaha at that chart. I can think of a few worse ways to measure "market share" of server operating systems (my favorite is Microsoft's version, which is based on revenues of the organizations that produce the software), but that one is pretty terrible.

A rational way to measure would probably be to look at the top 100 internet destinations (by traffic). Not that you'd ever know how many servers those companies have (I know a few of them, and 7 figures+ for a single company would put you in the right ballpark). Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. aren't running windows servers.

Kevin says

You do realize that Microsoft owns Skype now, right?

Yes, and it has gotten much worse since the Microsoft takeover. Which is why I use Skype 4.2. Nevertheless, there is no censoring built into any version of Skype detected so far. And Skype 4.2 lacks all the annoyances that Microsoft added.

Kevin says

I have to fundamentally disagree with your argument for doing p2p messaging. That makes it a pain in the ass to do archiving, stop legitimate spam and malware, do multi-user chat, or do anything on mobile.

If you want a paper trail, use a Wiki or email. Skype is a replacement for phones and messaging, and it is useful for screen sharing. It's not meant as a permanent record.

As for spam, I have never gotten any with Skype. Just set it so that only those in your contact list can call you. Simple. Also, I have not experience any malware on Skype.

Multi-user chat and conference calls are easy to do on Skype. It just doesn't do conference video, yet. And although I have not used Skype on a mobile phone, there certainly is a Skype app for every major mobile platform.

Kevin says

Dan: Bwahaha at that chart. I can think of a few worse ways to measure "market share" of server operating systems (my favorite is Microsoft's version, which is based on revenues of the organizations that produce the software), but that one is pretty terrible.

If you have a better source, show it. I just did a Google image search and took the most credible chart I could fine quickly. Feel free to do more research than I have. I concentrated on web servers because those stats are readily available. Of course, there are many different types of servers...

Kevin says

A rational way to measure would probably be to look at the top 100 internet destinations (by traffic).

Not really. You would only be looking at a few big players by that method.

Whether or not Vicente is correct when he says "Windows days are numbered" is not determined by a few big players but rather by how many copies of Windows Microsoft can sell, or more precisely, how much licensing revenue they can get. This is far more affected by the number of servers running Windows than whether or not the big players use Windows.

Perhaps you are trying to address a different issue?

Now, I wouldn't mind if Windows days were numbered. I still use XP because Vista and Win 7 suck and Windows 8 looks like it's going to stink as well. But it would be nice if someone were to create a better OS than XP. And no, I don't consider Apple's OS or Linux to be better. Now if we could get a modernized version of OS/2, that would be cool. Or a correctly implemented Win XP x64 with Direct X 10, that would be even better.

Windows used to be big but that was when the OS actually mattered. Back in the day it wasn't so much that the programs had their own file system but even the OS. You couldn't say swap an Atari program into a Amiga or Apple and PC. Now with say office the .docx file extension can be accepted by countless programs, many don't cost a thing like google apps and libreoffice.

Sometimes just having fees adds up more than selling a whole product outright.

XP I think worked well...windows 8 I actually think works quite well but it might be a tad too late. I use ubuntu although some of the gui can be different. going from gnome to unity is strange. gnome 3.0 I think is crap..at least they fixed unity.

I like Ubuntu linux. A few years ago I got some XP craptops to set up a few friends down in Mexico. One had strange behavior, lost sound, froze up sometimes, ran slowly etc. I put ubuntu on it and it was magically transformed: faster, sound worked again, great.
I haven't used the latest version, but microsoft cannot sell windows to people in India and China for $100 when Linux is free and superior and that is a large % or the cost of the entire computer.
My phone is running linux and it's OK too. Everyone at Google has desktops running it.
iChat was faster than skype but it wasn't cross platform.

Linux is fine until you want to install software, then it's a major pain in the ass. Until Linux developers start making their installs as simple and easy as on Windows, Linux is not going to be a mainstream operating system no matter how loved it is by a subset of geeks.

When the typical senior citizen can easily install a program on Linux and use it's interface, then Linux will stand a chance. Unless there's been a major revolution in Linux over the past few months, that day ain't here yet.

mdovell says

Windows used to be big but that was when the OS actually mattered.

You people make me chuckle.

News flash: Microsoft owns the desktop and server OS markets in just about every measurable way.

Dan8267 says

Now, I wouldn't mind if Windows days were numbered. I still use XP because Vista and Win 7 suck and Windows 8 looks like it's going to stink as well. But it would be nice if someone were to create a better OS than XP.

After a bit of transition, I have found Windows 7 to be a big improvement over XP. Whatever they did to make 32 bit apps run they did it right with 7 - Vista was about useful as Windows ME. If they gave the option to use the XP UI they would be my hero. They do not have to rearrange everything just to prove that the new version is better.