Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 28th Nov 2012 15:17 UTC
"As we pass the one month anniversary of the general availability of Windows 8, we are pleased to announce that to-date Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses. Tami Reller shared this news with industry and financial analysts, investors and media today at the Credit Suisse 2012 Annual Technology Conference. Windows 8 is outpacing Windows 7 in terms of upgrades." Not bad, but there are the usual asterisks, as Ars notes.
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Member since:2006-02-15
1. Doesn't it also train users who are Ubuntu users to prefix everything with Sudo in the command terminal, without actually checking the script out?
Well, the difference is in that that actually writing something down yourself is a much more conscious effort than clicking twice. Also, a not-so-geek user wouldn't be typing scripts down anyways.
2. On your second point. One thing I don't like about unix style security is that it saves the system, but the users home directory can still be destroyed.
That is something I've mentioned multiple times in the past, but alas, you may not have read my comments; I've expressed the wish that someone would come up with a new OS where all applications by default are sandboxed and only given access to their own files, and that users could grant or deny permissions to any extraneous files and/or services. By default NO APPLICATION OR GAME should have access to all of the users' files.
Member since:2009-08-18
Well, the difference is in that that actually writing something down yourself is a much more conscious effort than clicking twice. Also, a not-so-geek user wouldn't be typing scripts down anyways.
Not so, a lot of users copy and paste unfortunately. In fact a lot of developers do as well.
That is something I've mentioned multiple times in the past, but alas, you may not have read my comments; I've expressed the wish that someone would come up with a new OS where all applications by default are sandboxed and only given access to their own files, and that users could grant or deny permissions to any extraneous files and/or services. By default NO APPLICATION OR GAME should have access to all of the users' files.
I hear you. I probably haven't seen it otherwise I would agree, not sure about about the sand-boxing would work via application that read the same file type, but nonetheless I agree with the principle.
Member since:2005-11-16
Well, the difference is in that that actually writing something down yourself is a much more conscious effort than clicking twice. Also, a not-so-geek user wouldn't be typing scripts down anyways.
On Linux forums confused newbies are routinely told to open a terminal and copy/paste strings of commands, often when the task could have been accomplished entirely from the GUI. Of course it's usually quicker for an experienced Linux user to write the commands rather than explaining how to find and use a graphical tool.
In my experience most of those users simply copy and paste and hope for the best, without any knowledge of what they're actually doing. I've seen that cause serious problems on more than one occasion.
Member since:2007-09-22
2. On your second point. One thing I don't like about unix style security is that it saves the system, but the users home directory can still be destroyed.
On a home system, what is stored in the /home or the equivalent IMO is more important than the system which can be just replaced.
On a home system, what is stored in the /home or the equivalent IMO is more important than the system which can be just replaced.
That is what backup is for, at least now you don't need to rebuild the whole system and other home directories are still safe.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
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!More Features »
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Member since:
2009-08-18
Indeed, there isn't much of a difference between UAC and how e.g. Ubuntu does things, the problem instead lies mostly with applications insisting on needing admin rights; the constant demand for admin rights just trains people to ignore UAC prompts and just click on the "yes" - thingy, something that even I do these days before I've even noticed it. Applications and games should really, really drop that behaviour, and even installers should only request for admin rights if the user wishes to install the app/game system-wise; the sane, more secure default would be to install these per user, thereby also not showing up the UAC prompt.
1. Doesn't it also train users who are Ubuntu users to prefix everything with Sudo in the command terminal, without actually checking the script out?
There was a blog called "ubuntard" (doesn't exist anymore) that actually highlighting (with a lot of profanity) some commands that people were putting on ubuntu forums and saying they should run as a sudoer or root and some of them could easily destroy the OS or the entire MBR. NOT GOOD!.
2. On your second point. One thing I don't like about unix style security is that it saves the system, but the users home directory can still be destroyed.
On a home system, what is stored in the /home or the equivalent IMO is more important than the system which can be just replaced.
I agree that the start menu is a topic of contention, but I most agree with your assessment.
I don't particularly have a lot of love for the start menu or start screen, applications I used regularly are pinned anyway ... no big deal for me.