03.22.12
Vista 8: The Disaster Starts Now
Summary: Vista 8 is already failing in public, long before its official arrival
THE main competitor to Linux (and Android) is starting to look like Apple, not Microsoft, so software like Vista 8 we have reduced focus on. It is difficult to ignore, however, blunders like this:
You’ve got to hand it to Kirill Tatarinov, the head of Microsoft’s ERP division. The Russian Rocket was cool as a cucumber on Monday when a demo of the Windows 8 Metro UI running on a touch-screen tablet crashed and burned during the opening keynote of Convergence 2012.
[...]
When Studer handed the tablet over to Tatarinov to let him submit a change to the system, the tablet suddenly froze. The two Microsoft employees frantically started pushing different buttons to get it unstuck, but nothing seemed to work. Luckily, there was a second tablet available on stage that was working, so the changes for the hypothetical app were successfully written to the pretend database, and all was well.
A sign of what’s to come. There are many more articles out there which criticise Vista 8 these days, despite Microsoft’s expensive PR campaign, which includes bribing journalists as usual. This is very telling. █
mcinsand said,
March 22, 2012 at 11:16 am
If Windows 8 continues to nosedive, Apple could be in for some serious trouble. Without Windows to make Apple look good, selling Macintoys is going to be a nightmare. Apple’s OS is just FOSS without the freedom, versatility, and hardware support, all sold on overpriced hardware. Once market dynamics shift and hardware suppliers can put together FOSS machines without the Windows tax, only the truest of Apple lemmings will remain as customers. After all, Apple may have reliability in a pretty and shiny package, but why settle for that when you can have reliability on whatever hardware you choose with the freedom to reconfigure it? Not only that, but you can have the software feature as soon as they are developed, rather than waiting for Apple to fold them into Apple’s wares.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
March 22nd, 2012 at 2:17 pm
People are terrible at estimating the worth of products. Apple is good for Linux for the same reason Microsoft is good for Apple. Apple overprices things, so then when people buy Android/Linux gadgets they feel like they get a bargain (cheaper and better than iDevices).
walterbyrd said,
March 23, 2012 at 1:56 pm
I dunno.
1) Its all about the apps. By far, the most important thing for any platform is that it runs the apps you need to run. Cost, reliability, security, speed, etc. all come in a distant second.
2) I have seen new iPad 2′s selling for $360. That is cheaper than most 10″ Androids, and the iPad 2 is not a bad device. So Apple is not always that crazy over-priced. When it comes to the cost of a phone, the contract with the carrier is the main factor. The cost of the phone itself is no big deal.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
March 23rd, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Apple may have already adjusted its prices in accordance with the competition (Android). Windows was devalued completely after Microsoft had attacked GNU/Linux on netbooks.