This article details the story of a KDE-loving software engineer who was forced to use Windows for his job. "His only hope was that he knew Qt was cross compatible with Windows Linux and Mac, and there was talk that someday, KDE was to be ported to Windows. So he waited. Well, KDE4 was announced and there was much joy. Betas were released and there was much bitching. KDE4.0.0 was released and there again was much joy (and still a little bitching). More importantly an actual honest to goodness Windows port is released. Here follows that engineer's report."
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Member since:2005-12-21
To contrast, can you tell me about the "cutting edge" ideas that are developing on other platforms?
Member since:2005-07-13
Member since:2006-01-19
Very simple:
1. Get yourselves a Kubunto or Knoppix CD.
2. Load KDE
3. Try to find out what you can do with Konqueror (without Konqi ever bloating!):
- File Browsing
- File Browsing, split Window
- Additionally open a directory in a new tab
- now type a http:// URL into the URL bar
- now split the view again
- now type man:ls in the URL bar
- create another tab
- enter ftp://username@your.next.ftp.server.com
- if there is a pdf file, click on it.
You should now have 3 tabs, first with split windows for file browsing, second with web browsing and man page displaying, third with ftp file browsing or an open pdf document.
Now count the buttons in the button bar. Are they more than you have in Windows Explorer? Sure, but not by much, for sure the icon count is low enough to make the statement "it's not bloated" a true one.
And now USE this setup. Copy files here and there - ftp to local, local to ftp.
You will find out, that Konqueror is to Windows Explorer what a Mercedes is to a Yugo. Both can get you from Vienna to Rom, but the Mercedes is less noisy, safer and can play CDs - the Yugo can't.
That is probably the reason why the Author meant Windows is a dying system.
Member since:2006-02-05
Member since:2005-09-21
Hmm.. No. Qt and C++ are just as good as .NET to work with. And the difference is that you can write a whole platform in them, which you can't realistically do with .NET, because your performance will be terrible. Not to mention that you'll be locked in to windows (mono doesn't really count).
Member since:2005-07-08
>Cutting edge has become too risky and they cater more towards >maintaining backwards compatibility than towards the cutting edge.
This is maybe the biggest strenght of windows, come on !
Just try to run any games (except q3 and ut) made by Loki on any recent distribution. Or any commercial apps from Wordperfect to applixware which used to run just fine on any distro. What would you say to those who bought these programs and can't use them anymore or whithout incredible pains (such as installing another dynamic linker)...
As long as linux won't respect people investment, windows won't be a dying platform..
Djamé
Member since:2005-07-07
Most of the old Loki games work fine here... SMAC, SimCity 3000, and might and magic anyway. If you're having problems try:
(Google-fu)
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Running_Old_Loki_Games
Yes, it's from Gentoo but it works on any distro... Most of the Loki games use a symbolic link to the executable, so it's quite easy to add the instructions on the wiki to a script, remove the symbolic link, and your done.
So if the game doesn't work it's a google search for "old Loki games", 4 lines of text, the ability to delete a file, and the ability to save a file. Failing that you could go play with a pile of rocks. :p
(And before you say: "Ohh that's too much work for Joe User!" this is the same Joe User that'll download a DOS emulator on Windows to play vintage DOS games so the point is moot. You can't handle an emulator if you can't handle Google and a text file.)
Member since:2005-08-18
Member since:2006-01-04
As long as linux won't respect people investment ...
Pardon my descent into grammar-nazi-hood but:
Linux is *based* on people investment much more so than, but not exclusive of, capital investment.
As long as you value [old, but classic] games over the bulk of available productive, stable, but not easily backwards compatible functionality you should be running Donkey Kong or some other Mario-based system on WII, no?
Member since:2006-02-04
I'd argue more that the desktop is a dying 'platform.' No seriously. You suggest that MS has done nothing to bring anything new to the desktop. I won't disagree. But I suggest that neither has the Macintosh world or Linux.
We have been sitting in the same place for years. Choose your poison.
Member since:2006-12-07
Some people have serious perception problems, or keep living in imaginary world they made for themselves, which is, by definition, unhealthy mental condition. Microsoft Windows have been installed on more than 90% PC's in the world during last ten years. That is the fact, hard, unavoidable fact. And, in those 10 years I have seen dozens of articles describing the end of Microsoft. None of them offered any sound argument for that except authors own wishful thinking.
Windows will go away someday, there is no doubt of it, but some substantial change is going to take them away. Such change has not happened yet, so please, keep your daydreaming for yourselves until then.
In the 90's Windows offered a compromise of user friendly and affordable system at expense of quality, stability and usability. Since then the way of using PC is the Windows way. And no platform is better in being Windows than Windows itself. It has nothing to do with quality, usability, security or anything else. It is a market leader position.
Member since:
2006-01-16
Granted, I don't know what the author meant by this, but I personally see windows as a dying platform. Not because of it's user base (which is obviously very dominate) but because there is not much interesting happening as far as development of new and cutting edge ideas are concerned. Quite honestly it has become boring and lethargic. Cutting edge has become too risky and they cater more towards maintaining backwards compatibility than towards the cutting edge.