Linked by Amjith Ramanujam on Tue 22nd Jul 2008 17:54 UTC
David Williams over at iTWire has done a comparison of Windows vs Linux. It is performed by doing functionally identical tasks in both the OSes. This comparison is not a fair one by any measure. The laptops running the Windows and Linux were different in the hardware config and the software used for the tests were comparable but clearly different (MS Office vs OpenOffice; IE vs Firefox 3).
Thread beginning with comment 324146
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: I must be getting tired
by Gunderwo on Wed 23rd Jul 2008 03:46
in reply to "I must be getting tired"
Member since:2006-01-03
However you paint it Vista+Office 2007+Internet explorer 7+Any necessary 3rd Party Anti-virus program is going to look pathetic from a memory footprint when compared to any Linux distribution+OpenOffice 2.41+Firefox 3...but then it would compared to Windows XP+Office 2003+Internet explorer 6.
The (deeply flawed) comparison is about systems that are functionally equivalent. You can't honestly tell me that you think IE6 is the equivalent to Firefox3. You may be able to make a case for Linux vs. XP (thousands have tried and we still haven't come to a decisive conclusion about which is better). And on the other end of the spectrum Office 2003 is generally a better Office (more features?) suite than Open Office (that is debatable too depending on one's needs).
The point is the idea of a attempting to make a fair comparison between functionally equivalent software is not really possible using your recommendations or the articles.
I guess the one conclusion I can come to is Windows is better at some things than Linux distros and Linux distros are better at some things than Windows. But trying to make an apples to apples comparison is damn near umpossible.
RE[2]: I must be getting tired
by lemur2 on Wed 23rd Jul 2008 04:13
in reply to "RE: I must be getting tired"
Member since:2007-02-17
The point is the idea of a attempting to make a fair comparison between functionally equivalent software is not really possible using your recommendations or the articles. I guess the one conclusion I can come to is Windows is better at some things than Linux distros and Linux distros are better at some things than Windows. But trying to make an apples to apples comparison is damn near umpossible.
I disagree. Twice.
I can think of some areas where Linux is better than Windows (any version, even XP) ... for example, Linux comes with a powerful compiler, XP doesn't.
I can't think of any area where Windows on its own is "better" than Linux ... where you define "better" in terms of "what can I get done for my money"?
So take that further ... define a set of "things I want to get done on my desktop" ... such as" browse the web; write a letter; read an e-mail and reply; make a flat spreadsheet; IM, etc, etc. Make it a list that most of the PCs that get sold in stores would be used for.
Now compare the least expensive and best-performing "solution" to get those things done using a Linux machine. Ubuntu probably, since it is the best known. The lowest spec and cheapest of the low-end Celerons would probably suffice.
Now match that perfomance with a Vista machine (tough one, I know, but there are some really high spec machines available now, so you might find something that despite running Vista can still match the performance).
OK, now tally up the costs for both solutions ... Oh dear.
So the question is ... why aren't people being offered in stores the far and away better option in terms of value-for-their-money-for-their-needs? Why is their only option the far more expensive Vista?
Edited 2008-07-23 04:15 UTC
RE[2]: I must be getting tired
by bert64 on Wed 23rd Jul 2008 08:25
in reply to "RE: I must be getting tired"
Member since:2007-04-23
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 22:43 UTC
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 21:50 UTC
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 7:37 UTC
"In NixOS, the entire operating system - the kernel, applications, system packages, configuration files, and so on - is built by the Nix package manager from a description in a purely functional build language. The fact that it's purely functional essentially means that building a new configuration cannot overwrite previous configurations. Most of the other features follow from this." Interesting approach. A Linux distribution, sure, but with some very refreshing ideas about system configuration.
Linked by fran on 05/18/13 1:38 UTC
Appfour added, among other features, C/C++ support to its new version of AIDE. From Android-IDE, "Now you can write parts of your app or your whole app in C/C++ on your device. AIDE supports the Standard Android NDK toolchain (GCC 4.6 + Bionic, STL, ...). No changes are necessary if you want to build an app developed on a PC with Eclipse. C/C++ development is fully integrated: Build errors appear in the error list and files can easily be navigated to with Go to file. The editor supports C/C++ syntax highlighting."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 23:35 UTC, submitted by kragil
Ars nails it: "The answer is that Google did announce what amounts to a fairly substantial Android update yesterday. They simply did it without adding to the update fragmentation problems that continue to plague the platform. By focusing on these changes and not the apparently-waiting-in-the-wings update to the core software, Google is showing us one of the ways in which it's trying to fix the update problem."
Linked by MOS6510 on 05/17/13 22:22 UTC
"It is good for programmers to understand what goes on inside a processor. The CPU is at the heart of our career. What goes on inside the CPU? How long does it take for one instruction to run? What does it mean when a new CPU has a 12-stage pipeline, or 18-stage pipeline, or even a 'deep' 31-stage pipeline? Programs generally treat the CPU as a black box. Instructions go into the box in order, instructions come out of the box in order, and some processing magic happens inside. As a programmer, it is useful to learn what happens inside the box. This is especially true if you will be working on tasks like program optimization. If you don't know what is going on inside the CPU, how can you optimize for it? This article is about what goes on inside the x86 processor's deep pipeline."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/17/13 22:15 UTC, submitted by Tom
"It was the only moment I heard regret slip into Otellini's voice during the several hours of conversations I had with him. 'The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut,' he said. 'My gut told me to say yes.'" The world would've been a much different place - Apple would have been less dependant on Samsung for its chips, which probably would've meant less money for Samsung to develop its Galaxy business.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2006-03-12
This article is superfluous. I've read all the comments but I will save you a little time, because I've done these arguments to death.
, One Desktop analogy it turns out looks enough like another, Adobe products are heavily supported on those ever popular Apple products, and open-source software are not only improving but is at least good enough to all but the elite if that is still true. Commercial gaming is being crippled by Microsoft and consoles simply being a better platform, with casual gaming being good enough on linux(in reality I suspect social networking is killing desktop gaming).
Ignoring the different hardware Memory Footprint is being tested...not performance; application support; features; usability; maintenance; security; look and feel. Of which we all should know here are important, especially with hardware prices dropping, and particularly memory due to Vista. Vista is even being used as a selling point for memory by Memory Manufacturers...have you not seen the advertisements. We also should be aware here as a least semi-technical people memory can be used for all kinds of clever things from parity to a whole host of caching that might have side benefits, thats ignoring things like :o features.
However you paint it Vista+Office 2007+Internet explorer 7+Any necessary 3rd Party Anti-virus program is going to look pathetic from a memory footprint when compared to any Linux distribution+OpenOffice 2.41+Firefox 3...but then it would compared to Windows XP+Office 2003+Internet explorer 6. Thats why vista is losing out in the new disposable computer market. Have you not been paying attention.
This total blind denial is tedious. Its why I post less. The arguments used to be Windows had Application Support; De facto standards; Installed at default; Familiarity; Them Adobe Products; Commercial Gaming and a host of reasons going for it.
Has Linux based Distributions got enough application support with good enough Office + Internet + Small tool support. Support for those proprietary standards and supporting legitimate Open Standards
...but the bottom line is that if your response is not Microsoft Proprietary Products have larger memory footprints than their most popular open source rivals but they <insert advantage here> you are a <insert noun for reason for denial>
I miss the days before Vista was RTM at least Microsoft was a contender then.
Edited 2008-07-22 23:54 UTC