Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 9th Oct 2012 22:01 UTC
Steve Ballmer's annual letter to shareholders makes it very clear Microsoft is at a point of no return - and in the middle of a transition into a hardware company. "This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves - as a devices and services company. It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses." Line. Sand.
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Member since:2007-02-18
I guess you missed the announcement when they transitioned from PPC to Intel
That was part of the basis for my comment that they were transitioning to a software company. But I don't say they are a fully software company because, as the others say, there's still the iP* products that still keeps them with one foot in the hardware company category.
I don't understand why I get replies that wants me to make a black or white statement that they're either a hardware company or that they're a software company. They're a hardware company that is still slowly transitioning into a software company without drawing too much attention to that fact.
Member since:2005-07-06
That was part of the basis for my comment that they were transitioning to a software company. But I don't say they are a fully software company because, as the others say, there's still the iP* products that still keeps them with one foot in the hardware company category.
I don't understand why I get replies that wants me to make a black or white statement that they're either a hardware company or that they're a software company. They're a hardware company that is still slowly transitioning into a software company without drawing too much attention to that fact.
I don't understand why I get replies that wants me to make a black or white statement that they're either a hardware company or that they're a software company. They're a hardware company that is still slowly transitioning into a software company without drawing too much attention to that fact.
You stated that they're transitioning where as I'm stating that they're already have transitioned - the i-devices are also very much software selling hardware rather than hardware being used to sell software. What makes an iPhone different from the rest? the iOS and ecosystem that surrounds it. What makes a Mac different? the operating system and ecosystem that surrounds it. The hardware itself is a means to get the software.
Now if we're going to play semantics as to whether something is all hardware or all software then that is a circle jerk that could go on for many hours with nothing gained at the end of it all.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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Member since:
2005-07-06
I guess you missed the announcement when they transitioned from PPC to Intel: "At the heart of the Mac is Mac OS X" - it is the operating system not the hardware that defines Mac. They haven't transitioned because they've always been a software company with a hardware division little more than a giant dongle to enable you to get Mac OS to work. The biggest problem as I see it is the the RDF is no longer present and their consumerisation of computers is eventually going to isolate a large number of long time Mac users who depend upon them to make a dollar - such as the creative sector. I've made the transition from Mac OS X to Windows along with moving my Creative Suite from Mac OS X to Windows pretty much showed me that the only 'constants' used to justify the entrenchment of Apple in the creative sector have more in common with old wives tales than genuine strengths.
Edited 2012-10-10 04:17 UTC