Exploring "un-Windows" alternatives

Hi,

Link is below.

Best,

- Boyd


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/729272/posts

Hi Boyd,

Thanks, that was an interesting article.... Could this mean greater opportunities if you deal with Linux and Apple Macs?

I don't know, but if that frustration turns into actual dollars of purchasing power, it could mean some possible business opportunities servicing those who switch to Linux or Apple Macintoshes....

Interesting...!

- Dien

In the early days of the PC, IBM was the business machine of choice, weighing in at about $10,000 a pop, using DOS as the OS, with software by - IBM, of course.

IBM and Microsoft were friends then, developing OS/2, which would have been Windows '95. But the 'new' Windows 3.0 caught on like wildfire. (It was pretty, you got color, and so what if it crashed a lot!)

IBM and Microsoft fell out with each other over how much time and money would be put into OS/2. IBM continued development on its own, and Microsoft pushed win3.

Then, IBM rolled out the PS/2, with it's lovely multitasking software. Businesses were interested until they heard the 'gotcha.'

"None of that expensive hardware you have now will work. And by the way, you'll need new apps, too."

The industry rebelled over the proprietary bus of the PS/2, and ISA - Industry Standard Architecture - was born. It effectively reduced IBM to "just a PC manufacturer." (There was even a period in there when IBM wasn't IBM compatible!)

Anyway, Bill Gates seems not to have noticed all that, as it seems Micro$oft is/has cornered the market, and seems intent to control it all through it's proprietary $stuff.

Enter the Open Source folks.

There are "free" Unix distributions, and "free" Linux distributions, all of which are completely rock solid, more secure, and much more reliable.

(Free means you get the source code to do with what you will. Documentation is available, but you gotta hunt it down. The paid versions are bundled nicely with applications, spiffy manuals, AND the source code, and those are selling quite well.)

The only barrier remaining to a "Microsoft Takedown" is, IMHO, ignorance, and the constant propagation of myths, the biggest of which is that Linux is too difficult.

Mandrake Linux has a very nice, user-level interface that sets up easily, and is ready to use. (And I want Kudos for not saying 'idiot-level!') Getting it going for the basic stuff most people do was a breeze.

(The problems I've had have resulted from my wanting to go from semi-literate user to serving-user hosting my own site, in one whop! At that, it's not been hard, just time-consuming. If I'd bought my distribution, I'd have had fingertip documentation.)

Another myth is that Windows programs won't run on Linux. Many will, because there are emulation programs that function nicely, and I believe there is either an API available (or coming) in some distributions.

And, of course, maybe the biggest thing in favor of the Open Source folks is the fact that there are thousands of talented people across the globe working on making things better and easier - and more secure!

On June 18th, a security flaw was discovered in Apache. On June 22nd (same year), a patch was ready and available to everybody.

Microsoft had 40+ security holes in Windows 2000 this year, alone, but the first major upgrade/service pack to win2k was just released. (Their first response is always that these things aren't security violations at all. Then, well we'll have a patch soon maybe, if we determine . . .)

Gotta tell you guys one more thing before I get busy.

I had my Apache server running, and I kept getting these requests for pages. (I'm not officially up - it was just 'ready to be up.') I found out that it was the Nimda worm looking for a Windows Box to infect. It got really annoying, since my server is small, bandwith good, but certainly not enough for a constant assault.

What I did was to redirect the requests the worm makes to Microsoft's servers!

(Yeah, it's evil, but it feels so good!)

Marye

Hi Mary!

I think the story of IBM, Microsoft, and Apple (and other early movers and shakers in the PC industry) - is absolutely fascinating....

I read the book "Accidental Empires" by Robert Cringely - it's a fascinating book, I highly recommend it! My feeling (with the benefit of hindsight) is that part of Microsoft's ingenuity was making its operating systems backwards-compatible.... So that, you could run your old programs on any new operating system they came out with. This was a stroke of genius!

I think if Apple had done this with its Macintosh (so that it could have run Apple II software), Apple still could be in front today.... By making operating systems NOT backwards compatible, they gave their established users a "chance" to move to the competing systems!

As far as I know, back in the early 80s, Microsoft was the only company making everything backwards-compatible.... None of the other big PC makers of the time (Apple, Commodore, Atari, Sinclair, Tandy, etc.) were doing this.... And partly due to this (along with their collaboration with IBM's brand name), Microsoft kept streaking ahead! They managed to keep their customers loyal....

I think this ties in with what you were saying about people not being willing to switch to the OS/2 - people like to keep using their old software!

This is one thing which I don't like about Windows XP - it doesn't seem to be fully backwards-compatible.... (Which I think may be a mistake on Microsoft's part....)

- Dien Rice
(Cut my teeth on the Commodore-64 :) )

Mac's other stubbornness also helped the PC world.

They never licensed their hardware specs to OEMs, effectively preventing any "el cheapo" spreading.

Interesting note: The company I worked for "standardized" on the Victor as the personal computer of choice. I don't know what OS it was running - maybe CP/M.

The juicy bit is that just after the memo went out announcing the choice - maybe a week later - IBM introduced it's first machine.

Talk about egg on the face!

Jeez! Dien. I bet you remember when a cassette tape backup was a big deal!

Hi Mary!

> Jeez! Dien. I bet you remember when a
> cassette tape backup was a big deal!

Mary, I LOVE reminiscing about the "old days" of computing.... :)

I was actually a teen when we got our first home PC (a Commodore-64). I had to save up money from my paper-delivery round to help pay for it. :)

Ahhh... tape backups! Yes, I remember programs on cassette tapes.... It seems almost unbelievable nowadays!

A friend of mine had a VIC-20 computer - it came with just 2k of RAM! (Expandable to 8k!) Can you imagine that.... Wow. The memory contents of about 750 standard VIC-20s would nowadays fit on one floppy disk!!!!

Anyhow, it was fun.... I couldn't afford to buy all the games for my computer, so I bought magazines and typed in the BASIC games (from magazines like Compute!). I learned BASIC programming that way.... :)

I don't program much now, but I keep telling myself I'll get back into it one day.... :) (I think programming can be very profitable, when you couple it with marketing skills too....)

My first experience though was with an old Apple II (around 1982)... My school had exactly one Apple II, and my friends and I used to "book" it at lunch time. After experiencing the Apple II, I knew I just HAD to get my own.... :)

(Yeah, I'm pretty much a geek through-and-through...!)

Thanks Mary for this walk down memory lane! :)

I love hearing about people's experiences with computers in the 70s and 80s.... It really seems like a world away nowadays. It helps you to also appreciate the raw computing power we now take for granted at our fingertips! :)

- Dien

When I was in the 8th grade back in 1975-76 the school had a tele-type like hookup to a mainframe somewhere. The students could book time on it to play tic-tac-toe! Of course just like the paper and pencil version it ALWAYS played out ot a draw Much like the video game "PONG" that was a BIG deal to us back then!

Hugh

> Hi Mary!

> Mary, I LOVE reminiscing about the "old
> days" of computing.... :)

> I was actually a teen when we got our first
> home PC (a Commodore-64). I had to save up
> money from my paper-delivery round to help
> pay for it. :)

> Ahhh... tape backups! Yes, I remember
> programs on cassette tapes.... It seems
> almost unbelievable nowadays!

> A friend of mine had a VIC-20 computer - it
> came with just 2k of RAM! (Expandable to
> 8k!) Can you imagine that.... Wow. The
> memory contents of about 750 standard
> VIC-20s would nowadays fit on one floppy
> disk!!!!

> Anyhow, it was fun.... I couldn't afford to
> buy all the games for my computer, so I
> bought magazines and typed in the BASIC
> games (from magazines like Compute!). I
> learned BASIC programming that way.... :)

> I don't program much now, but I keep telling
> myself I'll get back into it one day.... :)
> (I think programming can be very profitable,
> when you couple it with marketing skills
> too....)

> My first experience though was with an old
> Apple II (around 1982)... My school had
> exactly one Apple II, and my friends and I
> used to "book" it at lunch time.
> After experiencing the Apple II, I knew I
> just HAD to get my own.... :)

> (Yeah, I'm pretty much a geek
> through-and-through...!)

> Thanks Mary for this walk down memory lane!
> :)

> I love hearing about people's experiences
> with computers in the 70s and 80s.... It
> really seems like a world away nowadays. It
> helps you to also appreciate the raw
> computing power we now take for granted at
> our fingertips! :)

> - Dien