4 ms·
There isn't a desktop any more, we might as well be trying to make Linux for the mini computer if you're chasing the desktop market.
by KUcxrAVrtI 7y ago
There isn't a desktop any more, we might as well be trying to make Linux for the mini computer if you're chasing the desktop market.
- meruru 7y agoThat's a meme propagated by the news, but I'm pretty sure the desktop is still a thing.
- garmaine 7y ago...where? No joke. I seriously don't see desktops running rich applications around anywhere, except the mini-computer / workstation use case. Generally people are running a glorified thin terminal with a browser or putty connection to a dosbox app. People who actually do things on their own computers generally run laptops now. The exceptions are people who do demanding work loads, and they run workstations that can handle it--more like the mini-computer than the traditional office desktop. There are public computer terminals in libraries and such, but the only reasons these are not laptops are theft prevention and the need for a large screen, keyboard and mouse.
- danieldk 7y agoWalk into any random company, there will be many desktops. Sure, some applications are web applications, but they will typically also use Microsoft Office and a smattering of more niche applications. We happen to live across an office tower. People sit and work behind desktops.
- garmaine 7y agoInteresting. The offices in the part of the world where I live generally consist of flat surfaces where employees place their company-provided laptops. The exception is things like receptionists, or other areas where multiple employees share a common terminal. But as mentioned before, those computers are basically used as stationary, large-screen browsers or thin clients for cloud applications. Email? Excel? It's been a decade since I've seen people doing that on desktops in office environments.
- etaioinshrdlu 7y agoEven electrical/mechanical engineering workstations are primarily laptops now. There are some desktops, but the majority are higher-spec laptops.
- mkl 7y agoLaptops run desktop operating systems, and that's what pcr910303 was talking about. Plus "putty connection to a dosbox app"? I have never heard of anyone doing that, and don't understand why they would. Or maybe you don't mean "dosbox" [1], but "console"/"terminal"? [1] https://www.dosbox.com https://www.dosbox.com
- KUcxrAVrtI 7y agoLaptops aren't computers any more, they are thin clients connected a mainframe somewhere. That we call them laptops and the cloud doesn't change the use case.
- mkl 7y agoI think you are almost completely wrong here. I have hundreds of students, most of whom have a laptop running a desktop OS. Practically all of them run normal desktop apps.
- garmaine 7y agoI mean dosbox. Look behind the counter next time you're with a human bank teller or checking in at the airport. You'll find a screen running telnet connected to an instance of dosbox running on some central server.
- mkl 7y agoBank tellers make up an absolutely tiny proportion of desktop OS users, most of whom run normal desktop apps. I have seen tellers connect to terminal apps running on a server, though, so I know what you mean.
- KUcxrAVrtI 7y agoI have not seen a desktop in a corporate environment in over a decade now.
- pcr910303 7y agoI was meaning consumer-targeted-computers (which includes laptops).