5 ms·

>why would anyone build a production system around this platform? Why would anyone use this platform? Because companies often have a portfolio of software apps

by jasode 6y ago

>why would anyone build a production system around this platform? Why would anyone use this platform? Because companies often have a portfolio of software apps that only run on Windows os. No Linux (or even macOS) options. Yes, if a company can do _all_ its business processes only with a web brower, then it can conceivably have all employees use Linux desktop with Firefox. But many companies have critical apps like business analytics, CAD modeling, warehouse inventory management, legacy apps, etc that have no Linux options. These companies had Windows XP, then upgraded to Windows 7, then upgraded to Windows 10 -- so they could maintain Microsoft's continued support. Even for home use, my friend who sews has an embroidery machine and that software only runs on Windows. She can't run the embroidery software in a VM inside of Linux because the USB security dongle doesn't work through the vm's USB emulator. She's "stuck" on Windows too. A new YC startup with no historical baggage of legacy apps can "choose their destiny" by being a 100% Linux/Apple shop but mature Fortune 1000 companies will be running a flavor of Windows for decades to come because it's too expensive to switch off of it.

charlesdaniels 6y ago
I suppose like it or not, this is the real answer to the question. I do wonder why companies continue to write new software for the Windows platform. I guess more and more is moving to the web, but it seems like I still see relatively new programs that are Windows-only.
- jasode 6y ago
  >, but it seems like I still see relatively new programs that are Windows-only. Yes if we think of well-known software like Photoshop (Windows or Mac) and MS Excel/Word (Windows or Mac), etc. ... or cross-platform apps (Slack,Skype,Discord) using Electron ... then it seems like avoiding Windows is possible. However, a lot of the "invisible" or "dark matter" of the software universe is LOB (Line Of Business) apps and they are overwhelmingly written for Windows instead of macOS/Linux. As random trivia, I also noticed that the newest high-end oscilloscopes from Keysight have embedded Windows 10 instead of Linux as the underlying os.[1] I'm not sure what the technical reason was for building the scope's ui on Windows because their older scopes already used Linux. Maybe it was better graphics SDK with DirectX or some other Window's dependency. [1] https://www.keysight.com/en/pcx-2935671/infiniium-uxr-series-real-time-oscilloscopes?nid=-31885.0&cc=US&lc=eng https://www.keysight.com/en/pcx-2935671/infiniium-uxr-series...
  - charlesdaniels 6y ago
    Can confirm that Tektronix is using Windows also, though I think they had been for quite some time. Seems like a really odd design decision for an appliance. I would probably tend towards like FreeRTOS (or at least some variation of an RTOS). On the other hand the EEs I’ve worked with also use their scopes as workstations with external monitors and everything, so maybe that’s part of it.
- skykooler 6y ago
  Companies write Windows programs because that's the platform most people have. Most people have that platform because it's what people are writing software for. It's a vicious cycle.
- kube-system 6y ago
  Momentum. A software company's target market dictates their target platforms, and companies buy equipment that best meets their business needs. A typical company can only afford to change a small part of their IT landscape at a time, so IT management must be careful to never break their web of dependencies.
zozbot234 6y ago
Apps that ran on Windows XP/7 will probably run just fine in Linux under Wine. Windows-specific drivers for stuff like embroidery machines, dongles etc. are a different story altogether.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  For non-games (which benefit from Vulcan and non-ancient OpenGL), is Wine substantially better on Linux than on macOS? I haven't tried the Linux iteration in years, but on Mac it still fails 8 times out of 10. (Mind, it can still be tremendously useful when it does work.)
  - Macha 6y ago
    Given the Wine project's official stance is that wine will not work on Catalina (https://wiki.winehq.org/MacOS https://wiki.winehq.org/MacOS) I can at least confirm Linux support is better than that. These days the only thing I use wine for is as part of Proton for games though.
    - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Well, I meant prior to Catalina. :)
- fsflover 6y ago
  > Windows-specific drivers for stuff like embroidery machines, dongles etc. are a different story altogether. For that we theoretically have ReactOS.

by jasode 6y ago

charlesdaniels 6y ago

I suppose like it or not, this is the real answer to the question. I do wonder why companies continue to write new software for the Windows platform. I guess more and more is moving to the web, but it seems like I still see relatively new programs that are Windows-only.

jasode 6y ago
>, but it seems like I still see relatively new programs that are Windows-only. Yes if we think of well-known software like Photoshop (Windows or Mac) and MS Excel/Word (Windows or Mac), etc. ... or cross-platform apps (Slack,Skype,Discord) using Electron ... then it seems like avoiding Windows is possible. However, a lot of the "invisible" or "dark matter" of the software universe is LOB (Line Of Business) apps and they are overwhelmingly written for Windows instead of macOS/Linux. As random trivia, I also noticed that the newest high-end oscilloscopes from Keysight have embedded Windows 10 instead of Linux as the underlying os.[1] I'm not sure what the technical reason was for building the scope's ui on Windows because their older scopes already used Linux. Maybe it was better graphics SDK with DirectX or some other Window's dependency. [1] https://www.keysight.com/en/pcx-2935671/infiniium-uxr-series-real-time-oscilloscopes?nid=-31885.0&cc=US&lc=eng https://www.keysight.com/en/pcx-2935671/infiniium-uxr-series...
- charlesdaniels 6y ago
  Can confirm that Tektronix is using Windows also, though I think they had been for quite some time. Seems like a really odd design decision for an appliance. I would probably tend towards like FreeRTOS (or at least some variation of an RTOS). On the other hand the EEs I’ve worked with also use their scopes as workstations with external monitors and everything, so maybe that’s part of it.
skykooler 6y ago
Companies write Windows programs because that's the platform most people have. Most people have that platform because it's what people are writing software for. It's a vicious cycle.
kube-system 6y ago
Momentum. A software company's target market dictates their target platforms, and companies buy equipment that best meets their business needs. A typical company can only afford to change a small part of their IT landscape at a time, so IT management must be careful to never break their web of dependencies.

zozbot234 6y ago

Apps that ran on Windows XP/7 will probably run just fine in Linux under Wine. Windows-specific drivers for stuff like embroidery machines, dongles etc. are a different story altogether.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
For non-games (which benefit from Vulcan and non-ancient OpenGL), is Wine substantially better on Linux than on macOS? I haven't tried the Linux iteration in years, but on Mac it still fails 8 times out of 10. (Mind, it can still be tremendously useful when it does work.)
- Macha 6y ago
  Given the Wine project's official stance is that wine will not work on Catalina (https://wiki.winehq.org/MacOS https://wiki.winehq.org/MacOS) I can at least confirm Linux support is better than that. These days the only thing I use wine for is as part of Proton for games though.
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    Well, I meant prior to Catalina. :)
fsflover 6y ago
> Windows-specific drivers for stuff like embroidery machines, dongles etc. are a different story altogether. For that we theoretically have ReactOS.