"Is open source still a grassroots social movement made up of idealistic underdogs trying to revolutionize an amoral industry? Or has it become a cloak used by IT vendors large and small to disguise ruthless and self-serving behavior? Some observers argue it's the latter. Despite occasional protests from old-timers - the heated backlash against the Microsoft-Novell détente, for example - open source has become so co-opted by mainstream IT, so transformed by 'accidental open sourcers' simply looking for a better business model, that it's lost its cherished moral edge."
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Member since:2006-03-31
Member since:2005-07-09
Member since:2006-11-19
Well, I'm sorry to make this stray further from the main topic.
Yep Office 2007 is really nice as you said. It's actually revolutionary.
But Vista is also a big improvement over Xp. While not revolutionary, but evolutionary at least.
Many annoying interface bugs have been fixed and many utilities have been added (like when you tried to rename open files, you lost your modifications after an error message, now there is a retry. And start menu integrated search is very nice, yep it does a little bit more than google desktop).
Unless you have hardware incompatibilities (I've seen many cases, and find it normal atm), you'll have a much better experience with Vista. And actually it's a little bit faster on the same hardware (at least in my experience).
So please try to give Vista a chance before dismissing it altogether.
(Again sorry again for interrupting).
[i]Vista?! Ok Office 2k7 I will give you...but Vista? Have you used it? IT honestly is nothing more than a prettier looking XP that has DRM and is slower for some reason along with a lot of overhead aka services running[i]
Member since:2005-08-04
I'm typing this from my Vista PeeCee... (Athlon X2 4600+, 2GB DDR2, 2x320GB HDD, GeForce 7950, Theatre 650 Pro Tuner). Services can be configured just like in Linux. If whe're to talk about DRM then try Mac OS X, cause I have an iMac 20" and a MacBook, both Intel based... Anyway, DRM on Apple is even worse. DRM can be implemented on any OS, maybe it will be implemented even in Linux. DRM os for media files, like HD Movies, Movies and Music. Despite all the DRM, which by the way works only for the content you've legally purchased, like a Movie from Movielink, you'll still be able to play all your pirated DivX movies and Kazaa'ed mp3 files, and what not, heck, even newzbinned software and games... so gimme a break...
Member since:2006-02-06
"Vista?! Ok Office 2k7 I will give you...but Vista? Have you used it? IT honestly is nothing more than a prettier looking XP that has DRM and is slower for some reason along with a lot of overhead aka services running."
Might that Reason be the DRM you speak of?
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2005-08-04
Just another one of this articles to get people all hyped up, and start a couple of flame wars. People don't really care anymore (for the most part) about software so much, as long as they can do what they need to do with it. For the most part commercial software is better when it comes to quality, and easier to use. After all, in 2007, why would Joe Average put up with Linux when he can have Windows Vista for $119 (OEM) or it comes on his PC, and Office 2007 for $149 (Instead of putting up with OOo)? In the long run, commercial software has become cheaper than Open Source / Free Software. After all, it's free because you can see / change the code, but most of the time you pay for support. and if not that, then isn't the time you put in worth nothing to learn to use some crappy "free" application / OS?
Think about it, think from a common sence perspective, think different. Buy a Mac and be a Fag.