
Re: "the mutant offspring of Windows 3.1"
The core of 3.1 died with 3.11. Back then, Windows wasn't even an OS, just a DOS GUI. That then gave way to 95's 16/32 bit hybrid kernel.
105 publicly visible posts • joined 26 May 2010
@-tim
Its rarely that simple. Code written in scripting languages popular 20 year ago will rarely work as-is on modern implementations, even if modern implementations actually exist.
Even with compiled C/C++ code, you'll find anything more advanced than Hello World is probably making API calls that no longer exist in modern Windows, therefore even compiling the programs will often fail.
> Seriously, though, if something implemented Win32 like Wine does, but as a static lib so you could ship it built into your application, then run it on any Linux system as a binary, a LOT of windows application vendors would be VERY very interested.
Winelib exists for this precise purpose.
hhttps://wiki.winehq.org/Winelib_User%27s_Guide
> If I'm not mistaken Linux is not available on tablets/phones
Yes you are. I'm running Ubuntu Touch on a Nexus 5
> Android is not available on desktop/laptop PCs
Yes it is. My netbook came with it built-in
> Should I understand you're expecting Ubuntu to run on phones, tablets and PCs like Windows ?
It's already there. I have Ubuntu on my phone, tablet, and a derivative on my PC
"Windows 7 respects my privacy; Win10 does not."
Put this into perspective, mate, you are running a developer preview with an EULA saying you basically MUST provide that data. Windows 7 is a finished product that doesn't need that kind of testing therefore gives you the option of turning feedback off.
"Torn between applauding the government for finally trying to educate the population in these matters and laughing at the totally childish approach taken"
You have to understand this is information to be understood by even the thickest Daily Fail reader. It's to step those people in the right direction, not for us Reg readers that (should) know better. In this regard, this simplistic approach does what it is designed to do
"...the 360 was just another x86 PC-in-a-box."
Umm no it wasnt. It was based on the PPC architecture, like pre-intel Macs. PPC to x86 translation is computationally expensive and the gap between generations just isnt that big, nor do the consoles have chips from the previous console inside them (ala PS2, Wii, GBA)
"That would require the card reader to transmit information about the card (e.g. "card is in the slot") to the POS terminal, and I'd expect they are only allowed to tell the terminal about success / failure of the card approval."
The nature/presence of this glitch seems to suggest that the POS terminal (a very apt name) is already receiving this information
Lets work through your reasoning
"Because so many applications runs on windows only"
Chances are there's a more-than-viable alternative on Linux. Even if you think Libre-Office doesn't cut the mustard, Kingsoft Office will more than easily fit the bill to replace Microsoft Office, for example. Else, run WINE
"because so many users are used to Windows UI"
Which is being deprecated by Microsoft in favour of Metro. At least most Linux distro's keep some sort of familiarity
"because finding and installing drivers on Linux can be such a pain in the arse"
And almost always not necessary. Even if your driver isn't built right in, the Hardware Driver tool in Ubuntu will do it all for you
"because WS servers, Active Directory, centralized authentication, GPO are so useful and easy"
WS Servers: I assume you mean windows server. And no its not any easier to set up, its just different.
Active Directory: Supported in Linux. Look up Samba
centralized authentication: Supported in Linux. Look up Kerberos
GPO: that ill give you, but there's still NIS
Look at the blocklist itself. The OpenOffice torrents are filled with artifacts that somewhat suggest what's being offered is identifying itself with Microsoft's offering rather than Apache's (Open Office 2010 anyone?). It is more than feasable to suggest that this was a bot error
"Android is NOT Linux. Linux is Linux"
Android is no more or less Linux than Ubuntu, RedHat, openSUSE. If you said GNU/Linux, id agree (sounds pedantic until you realise Android doesn't run the GNU software stack unlike destop distros)
"which is NOT targeted because statistically nobody uses it for that"
Microsoft's own published statistics put Linux higher than Apple Mac.
http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bigger_Competitor_than_Apple
"I don't recall the court order stating they had to agree with it so why should they?"
They dont agree with it and thats natural. Slating the defendant and the UK courts (legally this is contempt of court) in that same requirement statement, where they could have just written it in a neutral tone, is asking for trouble. Its like a criminal insulting the victim and court in an interview after sentencing
Good:
.
Windows 2000
Windows 7
Halo series (excluding the original as it was written before Bungie was bought)
Age of empires (as mentioned)
Forza Motorsports
Pre 2007 Office
Active Directory
Sega Dreamcast's OS
.
Bad:
.
Windows Vista
Internet Explorer
Office 2007 and up
Windows Me
Microsoft Bob
Windows Phone 7
Fucking Clippy (it looks like you are writing a letter)
Initial release of Win95 (too buggy for words)
Recent incantation of WIndows Livew Messenger
Windows....Fucking....8
Windows 8 is a difficult sell even for a tablet OS IMHO. There are no apps, half the apps that do exist are sorely broken, and trying to do anything useful requires coming out of a touch-screen friendly interface. Even setting up some wirelesses takes you to the desktop, and the metro apps that DO work are heavily neutered to the point where I cannot even set a custom fucking Pictures folder without going into desktop!
This is before we even get to the PC side. No start button, Windows key takes you to the metro screen (where there is NO indication that you can type something to start searching), all methods to the control panel seem hidden away, vital functions such as shutdown are hidden away in a retracting sidebar (again, no visible indicator to show this thing even exists). Oh and the only way to attempt using a Metro app on a netbook is a to force the resolution to 1024x768 (netbooks are typically only 1024x600, and thus Windows locks you out of metro apps). So immediately after installation and i already have to do registry hacks (and suffer bleeding eyes) to so much as test the fucking Metro side of things!
Oh and did i tell you most settings dont carry over from desktop to Metro? even where possible?
"Eliminating patents altogether might not hurt either"
Yes, lets have this nonsense about protecting actual inventions from being copied. After all, everyone is too trustworthy to reverse-engineer stuff and build almost like-for-like clones. Arent they? oh...
That said, software patents do go too far. What is a piece of programming besides a complex mathematical formula?
Linux DAW - Im assuming you mean LMMS (which is true, it really isnt there yet), but have you tried Ardour? It really smokes the competition
Linux Video Editor - Lightworks (Hollywood-grade video editor) is coming to Linux on October 30th
Linux Sony Vegas - See above: You wont need Vegas when Lightworks hits.
Anything else i missed? :)
this is the beauty of Ubuntu (and linux in general), you can pull things out and put new things in, or download derivative distros. Myself, I use Elementary Luna; both Gnome Shell and Unity look far too cartoony for me, and Gnome's idiotic designs means I often cannot click OK buttons on my netbook because they are forced off the screen. Luna is quick, lightweight, and has the attention to detail that the other 'new DEs' sorely lack
Wine's compatibility is better than you think; I run MS Office 2010 under it and almost all of the apps (save publisher) work 100%. Also with the state of Win32 at the moment, not even microsoft want to really touch it, so developing Wine or any other Win32 compatibility layer will be far from easy, but they are geting there fast
" 2K was the first to have an actual security model that worked"
...which was NOT brought into XP, for compatibility reasons. They knew that people wanted to run their old apps, so they had to compromise security to do so.
"XP was really a pretty face on 2K"
No, it really wasn't. XP was designed as a replacement for Win 95/98/ME, and had the task of running Win9x apps, despite being NT architecture. The way many 9x programs were written assuming they had what many today would consider root access. This was simply incompatible with the traditional NT security defaults...so MS turned them off. What really turned the security efforts around was that programmers were starting to recognise and work reliably around the security architecture, thus achieving the same effect and letting the security setup do it's job. This was more or less forced in SP2 (when new defaults came into play).
2K was an enterprise OS designed to replace NT4, already of the NT lineage. It was a kick-ass system that solidified the NT line's reputation as a reliable OS, not that NT4 was doing a bad job anyway (compared to Win98). While there were improvements, they weren't of the kind that could break applications (or at least not as seriously as with WinXP). Win NT apps were already coded around a decent security model that was later inherited in XP, so they didn't have issues with compatibility