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I wonder, since Apple is obviously abandoning this market, why is Microsoft trying so hard to alienate the power desktop user market with Windows 8 instead of a
by davidroberts 14y ago
I wonder, since Apple is obviously abandoning this market, why is Microsoft trying so hard to alienate the power desktop user market with Windows 8 instead of aggressively trying to bring this group of Mac Pro users over to them. Of course they would have to improve Windows into a high-quality OS that works for them and find OEM's to partner with who are willing to find out what hardware these users want and provide it. Maybe it's a forlorn hope, but it's better than flailing after the tablet ship that sailed past them two years ago.
- bishnu 14y agoBecause this strategy is making a shit-pile of money for Apple and Microsoft would rather chase this shit-pile of money rather than take Apple's table scraps?
- davidroberts 14y agoThat would make sense if they had any chance of getting that money with Windows 8.
- actf 14y agoI agree completely. Lately everyone seems to be convinced that we're witnessing the death of the desktop computer, but I wonder if this could be partly due to the lack of options in this market. Apple and Microsoft have both dropped the ball here. Apple has eliminated hardware options that power users are looking for, while Microsoft still doesn't provide a decent POSIX environment or even a passable terminal. I honestly wonder what the world would look like if Microsoft were to suddenly switch focus and deploy a version of windows with full POSIX support built in, a decent terminal, a first class package manager, and a decent app store. Instead they are removing features like the start button that confuse existing users, and adding a Metro UI that power users don't want. Maybe I'm just getting old and cynical, but I think we would be witnessing stronger desktop sales if Apple and Microsoft were providing options that users actually wanted.
- ubercow13 14y agoPowershell isn't a passable terminal?
- jiggy2011 14y agoSo, basically you want MS to make a Linux distribution?
- actf 14y agoI'm not sure if you're being serious or just sarcastic, but no - that's not at all what I'm suggesting. OSX provides a POSIX environment, and OSX is obviously not a Linux distribution. In fact Microsoft already provides SUA (Subsystem for Unix Applications) which is basically a POSIX environment, but iirc SUA is only available in certain versions of Windows, and only as a download from Microsoft, post installation. So no I'm not in anyway suggesting Microsoft re-architect Windows as a Linux distribution. I'm suggesting that Microsoft make POSIX tools an integral part of the OS, like they are in OSX. For example, making bash the default shell, providing cmdline tools like powershell cmdlets to manage the system from the command line, providing a useable terminal etc. Basically similar to what cygwin and msys provide today, but better and with deeper integration in the OS.
- jiggy2011 14y agoA Unix system intended primarily to run on X86? May as well be a Linux distribution. At that point it probably doesn't make economic sense to maintain your own kernel.
- Spooky23 14y agoBecause innovation in this space is driven by the low end. You can do about 75% of common computing tasks on a $30 ARM computer on a stick. The notion of a $3,000 PC is as relevant today as a $10,000 Sun workstation was in 2003.
- jiggy2011 14y agoThing is, quite a few of those 75% things are created by the 25%.
- Spooky23 14y agoAbsolutely. 75% of the workstation market had shifted to Windows by 2003, and the remaining 25% were Sun/HP/SGI/etc. But guess what? Cheap wins. The last vestige of the old Unix workstation market is the Mac Pro.