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And this, after Biden said that he wants to cut $20B from the DoD spending... Really wouldn't be cheaper with something else? Maybe I'm missing something, but a
by malkia 14y ago
And this, after Biden said that he wants to cut $20B from the DoD spending... Really wouldn't be cheaper with something else? Maybe I'm missing something, but a Windows OS by itself takes probably couple to dozen GB, and if this is installed on a tablet device, or even on SSD laptop - this takes significant amount of space (probably to solve SxS issues (dll side-by side versions) which also grows quite big with newer updates).
And then you would have to instruct your personnel to learn two interfaces - Metro, or who knows how it's called, and the old one.
And for that all monitors better be touch-capable, otherwise - what's the point of Windows 8?
I simply don't get it... Me & My wife are both using OSX, and we are happy, and while I understand that this is probably more expensive (or maybe... not) - there is completely free OS alternatives - not one, but at least couple decent.
If a big portion of the internet is built behind free OS, I don't see why DoD can't go with that option too.
- kvb 14y agoPerhaps running their existing applications is a consideration? Or retraining costs? There are plenty of reasons that the total cost of ownership might be lower with Windows.
- greghinch 14y agoAgreed, retraining and existing software costs probably make this transition not as overall expensive as it sounds. Now that being said, it would be nice to know that part of the ongoing cost-cutting would be switching specific groups to open source over time so that retraining and existing software becomes a non-issue
- sliverstorm 14y agoSwitching at the level of groups sounds like a terrible idea. Suddenly nobody is using the same software. You think an MS Office-only environment is bad? Try an environment with MS Office, Open Office, Star Office, and Google Docs all used as SOP in different parts of the company.
- frankydp 14y agoThis is the reason for OS lock in the DOD. Billions upon billions of custom MS software exist in the DOD ecosystem. Cost of migration would be prohibitive. Second issue would be forest management. I am not sure which free or paid nonMS solution would replace the AD/exchange integration and the many other tools required to run a worldwide domain/forest with 2.5+ million machines.
- madoublet 14y agoI think the big advantage Windows has in large organizations is that it is secure and it supports Exchange and Active Directory. So, it might be prohibitively more expensive to switch the infrastructure. Plus, most people are familiar with Windows and Windows 8 really is not that much different.