In 2006, Microsoft released Windows Powershell, a new command line shell that, via cmdlets, scripts, and executables, allow core system administration tasks to be scripted. While this functionality has been available on Unix-type systems for decades, Microsoft's version will almost certainly, within a few years, be available on several hundred million PCs. So how does the Powershell stack up against Linux favorite bash? MSDN links to this Bash vs Powershell article.
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Member since:2006-11-17
Even so, why didn't they make it somewhat compatible with other shells? I mean all shells use special features, be it ksh, bash or zsh, but they all support plain sh. For instance, GNU autotools' configure script doesn't use extra features and it can run everywhere *except* Windows because ps doesn't support basic shell syntax! Did they really have to invent a new syntax for basic features to support the extra ones when others shells do not have to?
Member since:2005-08-11
I don't see why it had to be compatible with other shells, it doesn't run on a *nix and a lot of the underlying toolset is missing, grep, awk you name it. Also, they had a nice new powerful framework to base it on, with all the functionality a good shell needs.
If they had of tried to make it sh compatible, you would have ended up with a system that looks compatible, but would probably fail in such subtle ways as to make it incompatible, and super annoying.
If you really want or need to run a unix cli, why not run Linux or BSD? we need good interoperability between OSs, but not cli syntax compatibility.
Member since:2007-07-13
If your scripting language doesn't run *everywhere* then you are wasting your time (unless you a relatively small organisation, in which case any solution would work).
Any big organisation has a lot of all kinds of environments. Plus, whatever you are running on now is not what you'll be running on in the future, so why not future-proof yourself by choosing portable solutions. That is, something other than "fashion-of-the-day" PowerShell.
It makes better business sense to be portable unless you are a "ohh, look, shiny new features" kind-of-guy rather than someone who wants to get stuff done. Plus other (usually less talented) folks be need to be able to maintain your stuff otherwise you'll never be able to be promoted.
Member since:2005-08-11
"If your scripting language doesn't run *everywhere* then you are wasting your time (unless you a relatively small organisation, in which case any solution would work)."
I gotta disagree with you there, I can learn more than one scripting language, and there's lots of ways to move information between 2 different OSs. soap, rpc, email, ftp, sms, html, ODBC, blah blah blah. I'm more interested in capabilities and choice, not conformity.
"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.
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here."Overall the app is really basic, and designed for on the go editing. Microsoft says it's not planning to create an iPad version, noting that tablet users can utilize the Office Web Apps instead. We'd like to see some additional options for editing, including more clear options for text formatting and the ability to insert and change images, but it's a solid attempt for something you're only really going to use for editing in emergencies." A resounding meh can be heard from all over the world."Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream. Given these factors we've decided to retire Chrome Frame, and will cease support and updates for the product in January 2014." Eh.
Member since:
2005-08-11
It works on every other version, that's just nickpicking, really. My point was that it runs on XP and 2003, as well as Vista and 2008