Microsoft sees end of Windows era

[TechBear_Seattle]

Microsoft sees end of Windows era

Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.

Called Midori, the cut-down operating system is radically different to Microsoft's older programs.

It is centred on the internet and does away with the dependencies that tie Windows to a single PC.

It is seen as Microsoft's answer to rivals' use of "virtualisation" as a way to solve many of the problems of modern-day computing.

The article continues at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7540282.stm

With strong ties to the Internet, you will have to pay by the hour when you run household budget software that will tell you that just turning on your computer means you can't pay rent this month!

:eyes:

[yourout]

1. They finally get XP to were it should be then the drop the POS Vista on us.

And now if you want to buy XP they doubled the price.

[rox63]

2. I managed to get a new laptop with XP loaded back in May

I just beat the deadline. I'm sticking with it for now. I've heard too much bad news about Vista.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Don't expect "Midori" to be any better

The principle complaints against Vista center on its paranoid security system; pretty much every one I know has used a number of hacks to turn it off as much as possible. Because Midori will (apparently) require a live connection to the Internet to run at full power, you can bet that its security will be even more paranoid.

Vista's chief "gee whiz!" factor is its Aero visual interface. In developing that, Microsoft also developed two sets of tools: Windows Presentation Framework (WPF), which allows programmers to write their own interfaces based on Aero, and Silverlight, which exports WPF to your web browser. Both are very graphics intensive and require a good quality video card with lots of dedicated memory in order to work well. I would be very surprised if Midori is not based entirely on WPF/Silverlight.

I tell you: As a programmer, I am starting to long for the days of command line DOS.

[rox63]

5. This is starting to convince me that a switch to Linux might be the best way to go n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. A paraphrase from Star Wars, Episode IV seems appropriate re. Microsoft

"The more you tighten your grip, Microsoft, the more computers will slip through your fingers."

[BearSquirrel2]

3. I agree, completely evil ...

The software industry has figured out that selling service as opposed to product is the way to make real money. In my brief time with IBM, I learned that they couldn't give a rats ass less about usability. In fact, the poorer their interfaces and installation was, the more they made at Global Services. So why make software work when you can rent people to prop it up.

Microsoft has done really good things in recent years to address usability. But they're looking at the possibilities of making you pay every time you write a document and that has them salivating. I am scared because despite how cool Google Maps implementations are on Javascript, I know what a nightmare Javascript is and the fundamental limitations of running software inside a browser is.

I don't think people will buy such a "internet only" product. In fact, I think they'll have to give it away which is probably what they're looking at anyway. They'll give you a box with a keyboard and an internet connection, you'll get a "services" bill every month the same way cell phone companies sock it to you for sending text messages (which is one of the worlds biggest ripoffs).


There are some laudable goals here. Universal data access for one. The idea that I can have my apps customized and my documents anywhere. But I'd prefer they do that with a USB key. There is the goal that applications should be able to run anywhere, but that's what .net and Java was supposed to be.

And then there is the notion that application should be able to run remotely in the same manner that they run locally. Anyone who has programmed in X-11/Motif knows that this isn't impossible. But it does provide certain challenges as it introduces network latency to any action. What is really required is programmatic structures that allow self contained GUI elements to transport their operative elements to the client when appropriate while retaining "back office" functionality back on the host. This would eliminate a lot of latency. Likewise, the same type of system could be used to dynamically move basic logic onto database servers in a way that SQL cannot handle.

I doubt Microsoft is after any of this. I think they're after the guaranteed revenue stream.

[sakabatou]

7. Yep

I'm getting an Apple soon.

[RoyGBiv]

8. This is my absolute nightmare ...

Bit of a rant ...

I hate web apps. Hate them. HATE. Midori, as it seems to be shaping up, seems little more than a web app on steroids, which requires a working Internet connection to function anywhere near properly.

Well, here's how that goes.

The last two companies I've worked for have, despite the screams of IT, moved to web based (largely Java based) applications to perform some of their main customer service functions. When they work, they work reasonably well and are a bit more "idiot proof" than the prior applications, which of course means they get to spend less on training. But in terms of speed and reliability, they do not measure up to those older applications with a client installed individually on each workstation even when they are working well.

And they don't work well that often.

My current employer has gone so far as to use a completely outsourced web based system, meaning no part of it except the main database resides on any local servers. A simple DNS issue creates absolute chaos for hours. When the connection between our local database server and that remote application's server screws up, we're all down for half the day. The idiots at this third party company allowed their security certificate to expire, and that screwed up another day. Lines form. People complain. We bang our heads against the wall. None of the local IT people can do anything because they have no control over any of it except our local lines, and it is never our local lines.

I can just imagine what's going to happen when not only all the applications are remote but the OS itself.

I may be forced to look for employment in some industry where I don't ever have to use a computer.

Rant over...

[DireStrike]

9. Cool, so we won't have "computers" at home anymore

Just machines that can access the internet and show us pretty pictures. That sounds much better than all those numbers and files and stuff!

I'd like to think that if manufacturers go this way, there will be some who continue to provide REAL computers and operating systems to those of us who don't want to be robbed of control and power.

[phantom power]

10. I was sort of hoping for the end of the Microsoft Era.