Comments on: Divided we stand, Unity-ed we fall? Why Microsoft should pay attention to the history of Linux

By: MarylandBill

MarylandBill — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:44:13 +0000

Greg M,
Unix already has scaled to tablets and smart phones. Apple’s iOS is still BSD with the serial numbers filed off and Android is based on Linux. And it makes sense that it would scale. Unix got started on computers a lot less powerful than a modern smartphone (as all computers were in the late 60s and early 70s) and currently runs the most powerful computers in the world. There is no reason to believe that such an OS shouldn’t scale to computers in between.

I think what you are really talking about is the interface. That is a different question… but obviously different interfaces can be designed for the different devices.

By: Bev

Bev — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:23:40 +0000

The “fate” of Canonical as a company has little to do with Unity, just as the “fate” of Red Hat has little to do with its use of Gnome in its desktop OS.

Unlike ordinary computer consumers, the “Linux community” is highly resistant to new and better researched interfaces that overcome the annoyances of the traditional desktop UI.

Innovators have to disrupt themselves or die — read Clayton Christensen. Microsoft seems to have gotten the message. Other than confusing people with RT and the Surface tablet, Windows 8 should do just fine.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:49:44 +0000

January,
There will be a Surface that does what you want, but it’s not the RT version. The RT version is just a pure tablet, not the tablet/PC hybrid you’re talking about.

The full hybrid version is expected January next year, and it will cost more.

By: Greg M.

Greg M. — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:38:45 +0000

That’s the problem with any kind of technology. It will become obsolete someday. I once bought audiobooks on cassette type. While it’ possible to find cassette players in garage sales and maybe a few retail outlets if I really looked, my use of audiobooks had moved on, and when I wanted to relisten to one of the books on tape, I had the choice of finding time and equipment to transfer audio and digital, I thought re-buying from Audible was the better deal. That’s just the way it goes.

Software is more or less the same deal. Backwards compatibility is not always possible. Unix is a old but still functional OS but will it scale to tablets and smart phones? And would the old programs still run on the new generations of systems.

By: tbsteph

tbsteph — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:02:55 +0000

About a half a dozen manufactures are making tablets that run Windows 8 Pro – the version which will run all legacy windows applications.

Seriously, I am amazed by the number of journalists and blog posters who seem so confused by Windows RT. Yes, the same interface is also a part of Windows Pro. But, the RT version only runs apps from the Windows store that now number about 3,000. FWIW, Office (Notes, Word and Excel) are on RT tablets.

By: Jon Jermey

Jon Jermey — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:14:30 +0000

By the way — ‘April 2012′ above should be ‘April 2011′. Sorry about that.

By: Jon Jermey

Jon Jermey — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:54:48 +0000

@January: What got me started on Linux in the first place was when my Windows Vista laptop crashed, taking out the ‘rescue partition’ as well, and I was told I would have to return it to the shop to get Windows reinstalled. At that time Linux was still something of a pain to set up and modify, but now I can recommend it heartily. And unlike Windows, it doesn’t require you to save your settings (the ‘Registry’) in the same partition as your OS, so you can upgrade or switch your version of Linux without having any impact on your data or saved settings for most programs. There are also versions specifically targeted at older PCs.

By: January

January — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 18:02:13 +0000

I agree.

I was ready to replace my 6 year old laptop and, after hearing about the integrated physical keyboard that Microsoft was planning, I held off waiting for the release. I was pretty excited about the idea of having a laptop/tablet hi-bred type device.

Well, now I find out that the Surface will only run Windows RT which won’t let me run any of my older Microsoft programs. All my small business files, family budgets, personal library records…basically everything I have ever saved on a computer, is save on some type of Works template, so that Surface would be pretty useless.

I was ready to spend the money, but, for now, I’m just looking at new software for my old machine. Bad move, Microsoft.