With the imminent release of Windows Vista to consumers this month, Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, has claimed Microsoft's latest desktop effort is over-hyped and not a revolutionary advancement. "I don't actually think that something like Vista will change how people work that much," Torvalds told Computerworld. "I think it, to some degree, has been over-hyped as being something completely new and I don't actually think it is."
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Member since:2006-01-06
Member since:2005-07-07
I'm afraid Torvalds words have a backtaste of someone who's a bit sad not to be able to keep up, even if he's working hard
I think you might be confusing Linus Torvalds with some of the developers working things which Microsoft can actually deliver something as well.
I am pretty sure that from the point of view of a Linux kernel developer Microsoft is the one who is not able to keep up, since it is essentially restricted to a very small range of hardware platforms, quite limited cluster capabilities, etc.
From a end user's or application developer's point of view Vista might have quite some improvements, assuming you are referring to this part when using the term "market leader"
Member since:2005-10-06
You appear to believe that Linus, himself, personally, writes every line of every Linux app.
WOW he's productive! No wonder he finds it difficult to keep up with Microsoft, when they are releasing such wondrous shiny innovation like Office 2007 (ever tried Office '97 - it does everything every normal person expects from a word processor - oh! wait! it isn't new and innovative! it's ten years old so it must be really useless! No "new paths" or "new ways" there!)
If these products are what people see as "innovative" then God help innovation.
Member since:2006-04-21
Linux, being unable to keep up, is still fighting this war on the price level, not on the features level. Sad but true.
Erm, since when is Linux "unable to keep up"? In 17 years it has gone from a microkernel to a fully-functional desktop OS on a par with Windows and MacOS X, whilst Windows has gone from a bloated, overhyped, crappily-implemented OS to... an ever more-bloated, over-hyped, slightly less crappily-implemented OS.
Oh, sorry; you're right. Linux isn't able to keep up; it's too busy racing ahead.
Member since:
2005-07-06
While I agree that Torvalds is usually better-balanced than other OSS zealots, this time he's speaking as marketing guy rather than being objective.
I agree Vista failed to be "revolutionary" by failing to introduce ALL stuffs they planned to. However, under the hood there's a lot of meat and even advanced stuff which most OSes aren't featuring.
Plus, MS (as market leader) can enjoy the possibility to be very slow in their releases, as all market leaders are. Yet, with .NET 3, Office 2007 and other tools, Microsoft proved to be able to drive new paths and explore new ways, even if market leaders usually don't do that as that's a bet they don't need to afford.
I'm afraid Torvalds words have a backtaste of someone who's a bit sad not to be able to keep up, even if he's working hard. Historically, to beat a market leader (expecially when close to monopoly), you need to release VERY revolutionary products to steal enough market share while the leader tries to keep up. I would ask Torvalds: where is your revolutionary stuff, man?
If you're not able to deliver revolutionary products, you will only be scratching the surface of market leader and while you struggle hard to gain your 1% market share, leader will have its new products ready and will get another 2%.
Linux, being unable to keep up, is still fighting this war on the price level, not on the features level. Sad but true.
(Notice that this is different in the server market which is completely different from desktop one and where Windows had to keep up with Unix-dominant player.)