5 ms·

Just wanted to clarify if by "from the ground up" you mean rewriting everything (memory management, device drivers, scheduler, API, etc) or something else. And

Just wanted to clarify if by "from the ground up" you mean rewriting everything (memory management, device drivers, scheduler, API, etc) or something else. And what that would look like?

iheartmemcache 12y ago
Major, major chaos- especially for their business clients. Microsoft goes out of their way to make sure there is still support for business LOB apps running Delphi and MFC. Just look at their long term support. Windows XP had like 15 years of support. "From the ground up" might be a good idea, but tons of existing software is actually built around former bugs in the OS-- so writing a new OS "the right way" would actually break the apps of their target demographic (business clients.)
freehunter 12y ago
I mean made for the way people use devices now, as opposed to how they were used in the 80's when Windows and Mac OS started. By "from the ground up", I don't mean a complete rewrite, but at least a complete re-thinking of what an OS should be in modern times. Like when FAT wasn't good enough anymore, let's switch to NTFS and get rid of DOS at the same time. What exactly that looks like, I don't know. I'm not a designer and I don't work on OS development, so I'm not an expert. I can tell you the features I would like in my OS, and maybe you could extrapolate what I mean from there? I would like it to be responsive, so it best uses the capabilities of the hardware you give it. Windows 8 started, but didn't get quite there. Ubuntu has a nice idea for plugging your phone into a monitor and getting a full Ubuntu install. If I'm tapping, don't make me double tap just because I would normally double click. Recognize that it's a tap and not a click. And don't give me options my device can't handle. Don't show me a desktop on a 7" tablet. Don't default to full-screen apps on a 4k display. And if my monitor is big enough that it could be four regular sized monitors, tile my windows automatically. It's not that hard to do. I'm tired of starting something on my PC and trying to figure out how to continue on a tablet or a phone, or even just another PC. This could either depend on application developers to support or be baked well enough into the OS that applications don't even know it's happening, but everything should be available to me everywhere. Again, Windows 8 has a nice start with Onedrive, but I still have to manually save things there. Why not replicate my drives so I can access any file from any where without even thinking about it? Make it completely invisible what is local storage and what is cloud storage, and with that, cache things on my hard drive for if the network goes down. If I don't have a connection, everything should be there. If I do have a connection again, everything that happened without a connection should automatically show up on my phone and tablet too. Make Onedrive/Dropbox automatic and invisible. That's actually an annoyance I have with Github, too. Why do I need to manually commit my changes? When I hit ctrl+s, it should just go straight to version control. If I need to revert later, well, that's why I'm using version control, right? I don't want to have to boot. I don't want to have to shut down (or wait 10 minutes while it shuts down). I don't want to have to install updates, nor do I want to have to reboot for those updates. Chrome is the best model here. Just push updates in the background and either apply them immediately or wait until the system is idle and apply them. I don't want to think about anti-virus. Actually this is the one thing Windows 8 got perfectly. I've never thought about putting an AV on my system. It's just there. I don't want to run out of power. Windows Phone is a great reference system. If power is getting low, start disabling features that drain the battery. I can handle checking email manually if it means I get another hour of battery life. My eyes will adjust to a dimmer display for a little while. Facebook can wait. If power is low, disable the things that I have turned on but am not using. Now, I know a lot of these features would be very controversial to the HN crowd (since Windows 8 is very controversial). But that's fine. Anyone who threatened to switch to OSX or Linux because of Windows 8 is free to do so. I want a desktop OS with the simplicity of an iPad, but the problem with the iPad is that it's simple, but not magic. Make it magic. I don't want to micromanage my computer. That's why we invented computers in the first place.
- Swizec 12y ago
  I for one love this! I am one person with a single mind, it's time all my devices started understanding that. And for the love of god can somebody PLEASE make cross-device copy-paste? The amount of fb/whatsapp/email I send just to copy a link from my laptop to my phone or vice-versa is silly.
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > And for the love of god can somebody PLEASE make cross-device copy-paste? The amount of fb/whatsapp/email I send just to copy a link from my laptop to my phone or vice-versa is silly. As it happens, my free Android app SSHelper has a bidirectional clipboard server, very easy to use: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.sshelper&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.... You open a browser on the desktop, enter the address of the phone on your local wireless network, and you have a two-way clipboard exchange with the phone. My app is free, there are no ads, and it's not a shareware-get-the-pro-version deal. It's exactly what it sounds like -- a useful, free app. In fairness, my app isn't the only Android app that provides a clipboard gateway, but it's the only one that doesn't have ads or some other restriction.
    - Swizec 12y ago
      Alas, I am on iOS. And while a shared clipboard app is a great improvement, I would prefer this in the OS itself. Use the normal copy feature, and Cmd+V has that thing on my laptop.
      - dllthomas 12y ago
        What do you mean by "in the OS itself"?
      - lutusp 12y ago
        > And while a shared clipboard app is a great improvement, I would prefer this in the OS itself. Wait ... you want a mobile device clipboard feature to communicate with a laptop, but be integrated in the OS? Which OS -- the device, or the laptop? > Use the normal copy feature, and Cmd+V has that thing on my laptop. Any laptop? Without any setup or permissions? People who write programs can get pretty close to what you want, but not quite as you describe it.

Just wanted to clarify if by "from the ground up" you mean rewriting everything (memory management, device drivers, scheduler, API, etc) or something else. And what that would look like?

iheartmemcache 12y ago

Major, major chaos- especially for their business clients. Microsoft goes out of their way to make sure there is still support for business LOB apps running Delphi and MFC. Just look at their long term support. Windows XP had like 15 years of support. "From the ground up" might be a good idea, but tons of existing software is actually built around former bugs in the OS-- so writing a new OS "the right way" would actually break the apps of their target demographic (business clients.)

freehunter 12y ago

I mean made for the way people use devices now, as opposed to how they were used in the 80's when Windows and Mac OS started. By "from the ground up", I don't mean a complete rewrite, but at least a complete re-thinking of what an OS should be in modern times. Like when FAT wasn't good enough anymore, let's switch to NTFS and get rid of DOS at the same time. What exactly that looks like, I don't know. I'm not a designer and I don't work on OS development, so I'm not an expert. I can tell you the features I would like in my OS, and maybe you could extrapolate what I mean from there? I would like it to be responsive, so it best uses the capabilities of the hardware you give it. Windows 8 started, but didn't get quite there. Ubuntu has a nice idea for plugging your phone into a monitor and getting a full Ubuntu install. If I'm tapping, don't make me double tap just because I would normally double click. Recognize that it's a tap and not a click. And don't give me options my device can't handle. Don't show me a desktop on a 7" tablet. Don't default to full-screen apps on a 4k display. And if my monitor is big enough that it could be four regular sized monitors, tile my windows automatically. It's not that hard to do. I'm tired of starting something on my PC and trying to figure out how to continue on a tablet or a phone, or even just another PC. This could either depend on application developers to support or be baked well enough into the OS that applications don't even know it's happening, but everything should be available to me everywhere. Again, Windows 8 has a nice start with Onedrive, but I still have to manually save things there. Why not replicate my drives so I can access any file from any where without even thinking about it? Make it completely invisible what is local storage and what is cloud storage, and with that, cache things on my hard drive for if the network goes down. If I don't have a connection, everything should be there. If I do have a connection again, everything that happened without a connection should automatically show up on my phone and tablet too. Make Onedrive/Dropbox automatic and invisible. That's actually an annoyance I have with Github, too. Why do I need to manually commit my changes? When I hit ctrl+s, it should just go straight to version control. If I need to revert later, well, that's why I'm using version control, right? I don't want to have to boot. I don't want to have to shut down (or wait 10 minutes while it shuts down). I don't want to have to install updates, nor do I want to have to reboot for those updates. Chrome is the best model here. Just push updates in the background and either apply them immediately or wait until the system is idle and apply them. I don't want to think about anti-virus. Actually this is the one thing Windows 8 got perfectly. I've never thought about putting an AV on my system. It's just there. I don't want to run out of power. Windows Phone is a great reference system. If power is getting low, start disabling features that drain the battery. I can handle checking email manually if it means I get another hour of battery life. My eyes will adjust to a dimmer display for a little while. Facebook can wait. If power is low, disable the things that I have turned on but am not using. Now, I know a lot of these features would be very controversial to the HN crowd (since Windows 8 is very controversial). But that's fine. Anyone who threatened to switch to OSX or Linux because of Windows 8 is free to do so. I want a desktop OS with the simplicity of an iPad, but the problem with the iPad is that it's simple, but not magic. Make it magic. I don't want to micromanage my computer. That's why we invented computers in the first place.

Swizec 12y ago
I for one love this! I am one person with a single mind, it's time all my devices started understanding that. And for the love of god can somebody PLEASE make cross-device copy-paste? The amount of fb/whatsapp/email I send just to copy a link from my laptop to my phone or vice-versa is silly.
- lutusp 12y ago
  > And for the love of god can somebody PLEASE make cross-device copy-paste? The amount of fb/whatsapp/email I send just to copy a link from my laptop to my phone or vice-versa is silly. As it happens, my free Android app SSHelper has a bidirectional clipboard server, very easy to use: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.sshelper&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.... You open a browser on the desktop, enter the address of the phone on your local wireless network, and you have a two-way clipboard exchange with the phone. My app is free, there are no ads, and it's not a shareware-get-the-pro-version deal. It's exactly what it sounds like -- a useful, free app. In fairness, my app isn't the only Android app that provides a clipboard gateway, but it's the only one that doesn't have ads or some other restriction.
  - Swizec 12y ago
    Alas, I am on iOS. And while a shared clipboard app is a great improvement, I would prefer this in the OS itself. Use the normal copy feature, and Cmd+V has that thing on my laptop.
    - dllthomas 12y ago
      What do you mean by "in the OS itself"?
    - lutusp 12y ago
      > And while a shared clipboard app is a great improvement, I would prefer this in the OS itself. Wait ... you want a mobile device clipboard feature to communicate with a laptop, but be integrated in the OS? Which OS -- the device, or the laptop? > Use the normal copy feature, and Cmd+V has that thing on my laptop. Any laptop? Without any setup or permissions? People who write programs can get pretty close to what you want, but not quite as you describe it.