On Jul 14, 7:42 pm, Linonut <lino...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> * Rex Ballard peremptorily fired off this memo:
>
> > The one thing that WinTrolls could argue is that most people get the
> > ASUS EEE as a second computer, a supplement to their desktop or
> > laptop. This means that these users still have access to Windows, but
> > they just don't need Windows when they are in a restaurant, in a
> > conference room, or on an airplane, where the seat in front of you is
> > jamming into your knees.
>
> Deluge of F*cking Sh*t's insane rhetoric to the contrary, there's
> nothing wrong with having a Windows system at hand, if you must.
>
> After, Bill "I'm a Thug" Gates got his lame OS, formats, and protocols
> into dominance, and actually has a reasonably useful product now
> (although Microsoft seems to want to torpedo XP), which led a lot of
> companies to write solely for Windows. And Microsoft approaches
> Scientology in its aggressive, monomaniacal, strident, jeering, and
> unrelenting approach to the least sign of opposition. Hence, like
> taxes, Windows is difficult to avoid.
The key here is that we are seeing more and more indicators that most
people really don't like Windows/Vista all that much, and many of them
are reducing their dependence on Windows, even though they don't
scuttle Windows entirely.
Desktop Virtualization, with Linux as the "native" OS, is spreading
like wild-fire thanks to tools like VMWare Converter and VMWare
player. The proliferation of "Mini-Linux" laptops that come with
Linux-in-flash, and will boot Windows if it's on the hard drive, and
Linux if Windows is not on the hard drive (or the Windows partition is
shrunk.
Dual-boot systems can easily be configured to be virtualized.
WinTrolls point to Linux and a 0.3% "market share" based on the number
of machines which are sold with Linux preinstalled, instead of
Windows, but they miss the fact that installing Linux on a Windows
machine is getting easier every week. They don't seem to notice that
most PC hardware is now "Linux Ready". They don't seem to notice that
machines designed to run Vista exclusively (Linux hostile) have
dropped in price from $2000 to $200, and many retailers have either
stopped carrying them (Staples), stopped ordering refresh inventory
(Best Buy), or have just shut down completely (CompUSA).
The OEMs are very aware of the Linux market, because Linux users
typically order higher resolution displays (up to 1900x1200 WUXGA),
7200 RPM hard drives, and 4 gigabytes of RAM, and they DON'T order the
"Vista Only" WiFi cards or the "Vista Only" Graphics cards. They also
seem to request downgrades to XP and usually spend a little extra for
installation media (so they can reinstall Linux.
Some OEMs, including HP, Dell, and Lenovo, are offering "Replacement
Plans" for "Non-windows" systems at a slightly higher price than the
Windows plans. This is because most Linux users don't need lots of
"help desk" support, but they might need to replace an LCD display if
they drop the laptop.
> Even when you hate it, or the thuggish company that created it.
The interesting trend here is that more and more end-users really hate
Microsoft and Windows/Vista. They still have problems with Windows
crashing, stopping all activity for several seconds or even several
minutes, or just freezing up entirely. They still have problems with
Malware, and they still experience Windows as "Slow", having to wait
for Windows to "Catch up".
When users have the experience of taking a MAC for a "test drive",
they have a very strong preference for the MAC over Windows. The
problem is that a Windows PC costs around $400 and a good Mac Desktop
typically costs around $1400 to $2000.
When these users discover that they can pay $100 for a replacement
hard drive, and/or an external USB drive, create a Windows VM image,
and install Linux, and get the same performance as Mac, while still
having the ability to run the hand-full of applications that have to
run on Windows, they are often "quick converts".
The problem is that Microsoft can't actually see these "defections".
They might be able to recognize that the memory size was decreased, or
that the hardware looks "familiar" (standard VMWare peripherals), but
when XP or Vista "phones home" it only reports that there is a Windows
or Vista system running.
Even when the user is running Windows, they get better performance
when it's running as a client to native Linux. Linux has better
memory management, better disk buffering, and uses memory mapping for
buffer transfers. The result is that Windows doesn't "hang" as much.
Since the VM image can be saved as a "snapshot" or put into standby
then Linux can be shut down, the image can be restarted as if the
Windows box had only been put into standby.
Microsoft is blind, an it's making them crazy. It seems that Linux is
everywhere, including desktops and severs, but Microsoft is losing
it's control of the market. Vista has only achieved 10% market
penetration in 18 months, compared to XP which had 70% penetration
within a year. Corporate customers are not upgrading to Vista or
Office 2007, and many are refusing to accept documents sent in OpenXML
format (firewalls and virus filters are blocking them). Many
companies are now officially adopting "Sunset" policies, with the goal
of having all future documents stored in Open Document Format.
Even Microsoft servers are being virtualized and embedded in ESX or
Virtual Center systems, where they share the same hardware with Linux
VMs. Microsoft is claiming the server as a "Windows" server, but with
blades runing dual Quad-core Xeon processors, 16-32 gig of RAM, and
being sold with VMware licenses, it's pretty obvious that stuff other
than Windows is running on that server.
Modern blade racks can hold up to 24 blades per cage, and up to 8
cages per rack. These blade servers can have as many as 256 cores in
a single rack.
And the Unix boxes aren't slowing down either. UltraSparc and Power 6
processors now have huge L3 cache and better memory isolation, which
means that there is less memory contention between LPARs, VPARs, or
other VMs. A 64 core P-585 is the equivalent of about 192 Xeon
cores.
I said in another posting that there are now over 3 BILLION Linux
users, but Microsoft only wants to count the ones who purchase Linux
preinstalled so that they have to run Linux exclusively. WinTrolls
even go further, siting a statistic that only counts Linux clients if
Linux is the ONLY operating system being used on ALL of the clients
sitting behind a firewall. They claim that number is 0.3% which would
be about 3 million IP addresses that run Linux clients exclusively.
Other surveys show Linux clients at more like 7-12% which, based on
1.5 billion user base, would be about 180 million Linux clients world-
wide.
It took Microsoft 20 years to reach 100 million users (1994), and they
had no monopolist trying to shut them down every step of the way.
There was no huge company spending $4 billion/year to keep Microsoft
coverage out af the media.
Linux/OSS on the other hand, has managed to thrive even in the face of
Microsoft's most vigorous attacks, in spite of $4 billion/year spent
to limit Linux and OSS coverage, in spite of Microsoft's business
practices which have been ruled by federal court judges to include
Fraud, extortion, blackmail, sabotage, piracy, and obstruction of
justice. All of these rulings resulted in quick settlements in which
Microsoft refused to acknowledge the wrongdoing in the judges'
preliminary rulings, sealed the court records and settlement details
so that evidence of these criminal activities couldn't be used by
other plaintiffs or prosecutors, and often included a carefully worded
settlement agreement which gave Microsoft express permission to
continue to engage in these criminal business practices.
The big question for the future, is; now that Bill Gates II and III
have left the company, can Ballmer pull the same hijinks in federal
and international courts, negotiating tables, and key business
meetings, and get away with the things Bill did. Negotiators often
mistook Bill's whiny voice, seeming frailty, and seeming vulnerability
as a sign of weakness. Bill used to beat the crap out of Ballmer in
poker. Bill was the "Good Cop" and Ballmer was the "Bad Cop", but now
Ballmer is on his own.
Perhaps the real question should be "How long before Ballmer ends up
facing federal or international indictments?.
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