Windows becoming Senile?

[irneb]

That is more than it used to be

This from the last paragraph here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03...w_90_per_cent/

Does provide food for thought though. OSX seems to make some inroads on MS's 90% market penetration. As is the "Linux" community, but what is even more surprising is something he's totally failed to consider: The Other OS's having "skyrocketed" from even more obscure than Linux to rivalling OSX. I'd like to know what this "other" comprises, only Android, or stuff like BSD as well, or are those grouped under Linux?

[xcorporation]

Tooked me 4 years to develop a MMO game, June/July last year, Microsoft went and canned the XNA Framework.
Leaving me with nothing but 120 000 lines of code. and about 200 documents that coverts my concepts.

i can build my own operating system in C# and still make it work on linux / windows platforms.
Which i will inevitably do soon.

The quicker i can get away from useless license agreements and run software for consumers that's not a painful experience.
i can expect billions as customers.

[irneb]

Yep, very painful stuff. Just think of the ATM's around the world - an estimated 90% is still running XP embedded. And MS's support stops on that in a few weeks, so watch the cracking free-for-all start next month.

But this actually makes me even more surprised about MS: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57...n-the-free-os/
So they're now giving Win8 away for free in India to see how that makes them compete with Android / FireFoxOS. Starts sounding really desperate doesn't it?

[irneb]

And then this actually makes me more woried about where Windows is headed: http://www.neowin.net/news/mozilla-p...d-indefinitely

So FireFox is betting that people won't be using it that much! Or is it just that they think the Metro version is going to die-off?

[adrianh]

I think the problem with Windows, and Apple for that matter, is that a very large part of their strategy is based on new sales. Those sales are based on innovation. I think that their bright ideas come way too fast and those bright ideas are not accepted by the market any longer. Windows 8 brings nothing of value as far as I can see nor does the MS Slate nor their smartphone OS. Apple keeps fiddling with their toys without improving them much. Take the new cable standard, that just served to annoy their customer base.

[Blurock]

Window is getting my back up with all their Bull$#!t and licences etc. I have purchased an Office 365 package for 5 computers, but they are making installation and password confirmations so difficult that I have only been able to install on 2 computers. That is even after I have contacted MS online! The operator was unfriendly and unhelpful to say the least. So how much will it cost me to switch to another OS?

[irneb]

So how much will it cost me to switch to another OS?

Depends what OS and what programs you would need to run. Apple's OSX means you need an Apple branded PC also - they have just as (or even more) restrictive licensing in that you're not even allowed to use their OS on non-Apple-hardware. Linux / BSD is basically "free" if you do everything yourself, it's when you get someone to do it for you or provide support that you'd need to pay (e.g. RedHat's Enterprise Edition). Or you could try a full Unix system, but in most cases they're meant for servers not desktops.

So from the OS side:

• Apple would mean you'd need to scrap your existing hardware and replace with Apple branded.
• Linux (free versions like Ubuntu / Fedora / Debian / etc.) means your time and any data downloads is your cost. It should be able to run on ANY hardware - even stuff from the 90s. Also it doesn't tie you into any specific desktop user interface - some of them are near duplicates of W7, others look very similar to OSX, and others have a totally different design as well. And because it's "free" you can try out any to test which works best for you. What I really like about Linux is their application management - they've had something like Apple's App-Store since the 90s and have been fine-tuning it over all these years (i.e. it's very slick and works perfectly) - in Linux it's called repositories.
• BSD (free versions) - this is similar to Linux but more like a distant cousin in that BSD grew from Unix while Linux was based on Unix. It's actually this on which Apple's OSX is based, though there the entire user interface is Apple-only, while on BSD you have the same choices as with Linux. The main difference from the user's point of view is the way you install software, while in Linux you install pre-built software from the repository while in most cases you install on BSD by downloading source code and compiling it locally.
• Unix and paid-for Linux/BSD versions - these tend to come pre-packaged with the programs. In most cases these are meant for servers and not desktops. You might want to look at RedHat or SUSE - enterprise desktop editions.

As for programs. These days all general purpose programs are available on all OSs, or at least viable alternatives. In some cases I've found that the alternatives are way better than MS's programs.

I'm not sure if MSO 365 is just a web service - like Google docs. In which case it "should" work on anything, though it seems you've got issues with some "install" not happening. So it seems the "cloud-based" office suite is still requiring "local programs". That's a bit of a WTF for me. For office suites ... I've personally moved to Open Office since 2005 (even if I am on a Windows PC), and lately use LibreOffice after Oracle bought out Sun MicroSystems who originally made OO. Haven't looked back since, have no further need for anything from MSO as in most cases OO/LO's alternatives I find works better. At the office I'm still stuck with what's given to me: MSO 2007 and MSO 2010. And even there I find that I constantly have issues where I ask myself: "Why doesn't it allow me to do this or that, I can easily accomplish it in LO or some other?" This is especially true when I'm forced to use Outlook, it's as if the ubiquitous email program is a decade behind the stuff I can do in Thunderbird/Evolution.

More special purpose programs is trouble though. I know that some book-keeping packages don't work on anything but Windows. And my personal problem is with CAD/BIM - I can just get by using the Linux version of BricsCAD instead of AutoCAD, but cannot find any alternative for Revit. So this to me is the major cost of other OS's - and it's a deal breaker and why I'm stuck with still having a Windows at home.

[tish23]

I think it is just that sometimes things can have even just have bugs without any fault of Windows.