Found in the Register’s Forums:
“Prior to seeing the article on Windows 8, I had installed and spent some time with Windows 8. It is a disaster. I will not be fighting my way past that ridiculous start screen and the capricious, arbitrary and fantastically irritating UI changes. Will they be an improvement if I shut down for a few weeks and try to train away 30 years of reflex arcs? Who cares? I have better things to do with my time.
I already use Linux for most of my servers. If Metro is the future at Microsoft, then I am going to switch to Linux for the Desktops and for the remaining servers as well.”
see the full comment at The Register The usual Total Fail.
This comment came in response to the announcement of a bunch of vulnerabilities fixed in that other OS and Adobe’s software for that other OS. On top of all that “normal” angst, the radical change in UI is unwelcome by many. M$ has clearly over-reached. They have cowed most OEMs and retailers for decades and now they are attempting to add more burdens to the end users in order to bypass the grumbling loyal OEMs, ISVs and retailers who have supported M$ for so long. The dam holding back FLOSS on retail shelves is crumbling. Breakage will be great but a better world awaits. Enlightenment has its costs but no one wants to return to the Dark Ages of IT.
Don’t you mean you believe that it is so, pog?
Unfotunately the case to the contrary can be more readily demonstrated.
Clarence Moon wrote, “if there were such vast numbers of Linux computers being sold and used in Brazil, they would show up in the net stats and the plain fact is that they do not show up there.”
Clearly, if all GNU/Linux clients were treated the same way that Google is treated, they would show up. Netapplications apparently accepts clients from business domains or office hours etc. to give the bias they do. Perhaps all the sites they sample are business-oriented. Who knows? Only NetApplications and they are not telling:
“76% participate in pay per click programs to drive traffic to their sites.
43% are commerce sites
18% are corporate sites
10% are content sites
29% classify themselves as other (includes gov, org, search engine marketers etc..) “
They would not need to ship any OS in that case, so it’s not true.
Oh, they would have to ship something, if only to establish a sort of plausible denial that they were fostering piracy of Windows, Mr. Pogson.
All your handwaving aside, if there were such vast numbers of Linux computers being sold and used in Brazil, they would show up in the net stats and the plain fact is that they do not show up there. All you show are fly specs and pepper flakes in terms of usage, quarrelling with their interpretation.
Clarence Moon wrote, “It would seem that the retailers have to do this in order to meet the demands of the users who want to install a pirated version of Windows on a new machine.”
They would not need to ship any OS in that case, so it’s not true. Further, humans in Brazil are no more computer geeks than in USA so they are not going to change the OS on machines they buy.
If you ask partners of M$ what the share is in Brazil that’s what you get. If you ask others the answer is quite different. The same sampling technique that NetApplications uses to pump up that other OS shows California heavily using FLOSS because 10K Google employees do… One should not rely on that to show M$ doing well in Brazil.
e.g. W3counter shows 1.75% GNU/Linux in Brazil. That’s not the same as NetApplications’ USA number of 1%.
e.g. GuidoPC in Brazil reports 5% GNU/Linux. That’s not the same as NetApplications’ 1% number either.
NetApplications have also revised their number from ~1% to 1.43% for USA in the recent year. Either we should accept their numbers are nonsensical or GNU/Linux has grown 50% per annum for two years.
ie. July 2012 – 1.43%
August 2010 – 0.63%
My analysis of regional numbers for USA from NetApplications is that that entire shift is due to 10K employees of Google showing NetApplications terrible bias to use by business which of course is the most locked-in to M$.
Further, since the retailers in USA are locked-in to M$ it is surprising that anyone in USA uses GNU/Linux except computer geeks yet the US military, many educational organizations, governmental departments and businesses use GNU/Linux in USA, but NetApplications does not count them.
NetApplications USA – Sunnyvale in Aug 2010 = 0.62%
NetApplication USA – Sunnyvale in Aug 2012 = 0.67%
Clarence Moon
“That is it exactly, Mr. O! There is nothing truly suitable unless you are willing to dismiss many of the things that people expect a new computer to do for them. Starting with compatibility with previous application purchases. Linux doesn’t do that and that deficiency alone accounts for their being unable to access essentially 100% of any potential market for their wares.”
For home users I would say you are correct at this stage.
Business usage not exactly true. Why computers inside businesses are assigned roles. The compatibility depends on what you have purchased right.
Clarence Moon the known status is Linux is able to take over 80 percent of machines in most businesses lower cost and increase productivity.
The key thing is the number of points that Linux is not suitable is reducing Clarence Moon.
iLia interesting enough if you watch times on web numbers you see the web survey numbers drop off in an areas working hours. So web survey numbers count home users ahead of business users.
Also mobile phone numbers are a real solid count. carriers know exactly how many items connect to their network and what they are. Why each 3g modem that is embedded in a phone has a unique id. Now a person does not have to do anything other than turn the device on to be counted in the Mobile phone counting game.
Most linux on mobile phone is now Android. Prior to Android there were 12 different Linux OS’s on mobile phones that were bsd user-spaces and basically not related to the GNU/Desktop in anyway.
iLia our numbers on how much Linux/Windows/Mac desktop out there are completely bogus. How do you uniquely count a Linux a Windows or a Mac machine on the Internet. You cannot.
Outside North America retailers are not shy to sell GNU/Linux on PCs.
It would seem that the retailers have to do this in order to meet the demands of the users who want to install a pirated version of Windows on a new machine. If you look at the usage statistics for Brazil, for example, you can easily see that Windows and Linux have use percentages the same as in the USA.
Note that years ago M$ saw 20% of organizations switching to GNU/Linux.
Have you eaten too much Magic Corn? Read this file yourself and pay attention to “Linux of PC installed base”, it is too often below 1%. And why there are so many arrows pointing down? Maybe too much organizations are migrating from Linux?
iLia repeats the lie of tiny GNU/Linux share, “Windows Phone market share is in two times bigger than Linux desktop market share”
With many governments actively promoting GNU/Linux and large migrations no longer newsworthy it happens so often, GNU/Linux has long ago left 1% share. Even M$ knows that. Note that years ago M$ saw 20% of organizations switching to GNU/Linux. Outside North America retailers are not shy to sell GNU/Linux on PCs.
The word used is stale and not stable
So it is. I just overlooked it.
@ iLia
It appears that English is not your first language.
But please explain this from your previous comment.
Linux is a clone of a 1970′s product, UNIX, and is itself much more stale than anything that Microsoft has to offer.
Stable? Maybe the word stale will be more appropriate here?
The word used is stale and not stable
MS still has the legacy market
Because GNU/Linux is growing and advancing and the awareness of that is becoming more apparent.
Windows Phone jumps 277% in a year to take 3.2% of smartphone market share
Ups, now Windows Phone market share is in two times bigger than Linux desktop market share, and it is growing (not Linux market share, Windows Phone market share) 🙂
If Metro is the future at Microsoft, then I am going to switch to Linux for the Desktops and for the remaining servers as well.
Windows 8 is a giant step backwards
And what can Linux can give you? Unity? KDE? Gnome? Many people wasn’t happy about them. Mate? LXDE? Xface?
And why migrate? Millions of people still use Windows XP? Actually much-much-much more people use this 10 years old operation system than brand new Linux distributions.
Linux is a clone of a 1970′s product, UNIX, and is itself much more stale than anything that Microsoft has to offer.
Stable? Maybe the word Stale will be more appropriate here?
@ Clarence Moon
You never miss a chance do you …….
Linux is a clone of a 1970′s product, UNIX, and is itself much more stale than anything that Microsoft has to offer.
Care to elaborate on your statement?
Your babbling has become tiresome beyond any hope of redemption, Mr. O. It would help us all if you just posted links to the things that you find in your Google searches and quit trying to phrase them in your faux-Australian styled pidgin English language. At least we would have some idea as to what you were on about.
as long as there is another suitable OS…
That is it exactly, Mr. O! There is nothing truly suitable unless you are willing to dismiss many of the things that people expect a new computer to do for them. Starting with compatibility with previous application purchases. Linux doesn’t do that and that deficiency alone accounts for their being unable to access essentially 100% of any potential market for their wares.
There are more reasons, of course, that Linux is not likely to be found suitable, but how many do you really need? One is usually sufficient.
Clarence Moon “You apparently are not just numb but apparently stupid, too. When Mr. Pogson talks about “major OEMs†making money, how can you come up with Red Hat and SUSE? Don’t you bother to read the posts?”
Do you think machines shipping with Redhat and SUSE on them don’t pay back to OEM’s.
Do OEM’s make any profit putting windows on the machine. Answer is really no. They place a mark up on the hardware price.
OEM’s make no money from the OS on the machine other than the fact it helped them get the machine out door.
Clarence Moon the reality is OEM are that cut throat there is no OS margin for them.
You notice the Windows versions can be sold for less. This is because OEM’s cannot place as much mark up on Windows versions.
Reality MS is a bill OEM’s are having to pay that cut into there possible profit margins. Clarence Moon. OEM’s have no reason to give MS any future loyalty as long as there is another suitable OS to get their product out door.
About time you step back and start looking at the source code of android before you comment any more about it.
Just a bunch of ho-hum, don’t care stuff that has no effect on commerce, Mr. O. How numb can you be? There is nothing in Linux to use as a selling point for a product. Nothing at all.
Redhat and SUSE…
You apparently are not just numb but apparently stupid, too. When Mr. Pogson talks about “major OEMs” making money, how can you come up with Red Hat and SUSE? Don’t you bother to read the posts?
Clarence Moon “Android contains some bits and bytes from the Linux “kernelâ€, but who really cares?”
Really you need to visit the android source code some time. https://android.googlesource.com/
Lot more than the kernel from a normal GNU/Linux desktop is hiding inside Android. Note all the external stuff. Lot of those parts are common between all distributions.
The overlap is larger than the kernel.
Clarence Moon
“There is nothing very magnificent about this code in this day and age and Android’s essence lies in the code produced by Google and that is not even FLOSS in the copyleft license sense.”
Really look closer some of the exposed API/ABI to davik is LGPL. So Android essence is not 100 percent copyleft free. Interesting enough these are latter extensions to the android API/ABI. So Android is slowly becoming more copy-left license tolerant.
Clarence Moon making statements without the homework to back yourself here. About time you step back and start looking at the source code of android before you comment any more about it.
When android started phone makers would not touch even LGPL stuff in user space anywhere. Android has broken the wall.
Clarence Moon
“Not at all true and certainly not in evidence, Mr. Pogson. You wish it were so, but that is all.”
Redhat and SUSE(sub department of Novell) are doing very well selling GNU/Linux. Sorry there is a long list of companies doing good enough from FOSS to justify keeping on doing it.
Claiming no income the elephant in the room is the 1+ billion dollar a year turn over company called Redhat. Then there are a lot of other mixed ones as well.
GNU/Linux and Android/Linux are both growing rapidly.
You keep trying to characterize Linux as “Gnu/Linux” and Android as “Android/Linux”. As hard as you work to get some of the glory of the one to rub off on the other, it only looks lame. The Gnu stuff is just stone-age utilities that even the Linux product developers rarely use in favor of more modern support applications. Ubuntu is popular to the extent that it has done away with most of these old-timers.
Android contains some bits and bytes from the Linux “kernel”, but who really cares? There is nothing very magnificent about this code in this day and age and Android’s essence lies in the code produced by Google and that is not even FLOSS in the copyleft license sense.
they make a lot of money selling GNU/Linux
Not at all true and certainly not in evidence, Mr. Pogson. You wish it were so, but that is all.
Phenom wrote, “They won’t, because Linux can’t run MS Office, Exchage, and Sharepoint.â€
This is the problem those are not problems. Exchange and Sharepoint is mostly not a issue in the near future.
Exchange is taken out by openchange to do MAPI and other tech using activesync. This a protocol compatible replacement. So end user running a phone or outlook cannot see the fact business is not using Exchange.
Alfresco does the same to Sharepoint again right down to protocol.
Phenom the missing piece of the jigsaw to kick windows out the server room for good is Active Directory this is Samba 4.
So we are almost to the point that Windows is Irrelevant. in the server room.
OpenOffice/LibreOffice has lacked linking to Sharepoint or Alfresco out box. This will change by end of year.
We are talking a perfect storm problem Phenom.
Phenom like serous-ally open-change you can connect as many clients as you like no cost difference.
http://www.alfresco.com/products/compare Yes Alfresco is flat pricing for on-site deployment if you go for the commercially supported version. It does work out cheaper than sharepoint.
Oldman will say business will not risk it. Reality if you competitor can operate cheaper than you doing the same things you lose.
Clarence Moon please stop thinking of the desktop and business server markets as split.
The one section of the server market Linux does not dominate is the one section the desktop depends on.
This is what you see as more Linux servers get used less Windows servers get used then the number of Linux desktops in the business grow.
Pogson, since when do you consider yourself “a business” or “an organization”?!?
Phenom wrote, “They won’t, because Linux can’t run MS Office, Exchage, and Sharepoint.”
Irrelevant. Most users of PCs and smart thingies don’t run those things. I have used IT for decades and never used Exchange or Sharepoint. I don’t know anyone who has.
Clarence Moon, confusing a whole bunch of things wrote, “Claiming any growth in “leaps and bounds†is just an overly optimistic view of things, one of which is that Android is the same as the Linux you have been touting for so long.”
GNU/Linux and Android/Linux are both growing rapidly. They both have OEMs and retailers selling lots of units and at an increasing rate. All the major OEMs ship millions of GNU/Linux desktops and notebooks these days even though they don’t advertise that. They are all “partners” of M$ and sworn to promote M$’s brand, but they make a lot of money selling GNU/Linux. I don’t confuse GNU/Linux and Linux. Linux is just a small part of the GNU/Linux ecosystem and Linux is not an OS just a kernel.
e.g.
Consider the client division representing M$’s most solid cash-cow
Well, consider it, Mr. Pogson. But first bother to understand the characteristics of a cash-cow. If PCs dry up and eventually go away like so many horse-drawn carriages, Windows OS will disappear from daily view along with them. Until then, a PC is a computer with Windows and a Mac is something just like it made by Apple. Linux is a footnote.
Meanwhile */Linux is growing by leaps and bounds
Consider too, the ignominious nature of your plaint here. Linux, as an OS platform, is a collection of things, the “kernel” being one of them. Claiming any growth in “leaps and bounds” is just an overly optimistic view of things, one of which is that Android is the same as the Linux you have been touting for so long. It is not, but even if it were, there has only been growth in the phone and tablet market wherein the profitability of Android devices depends mostly on the hardware aspect of those devices.
The OS contribution of Android is a “me-too” sort of thing and phone makers are prospering to various degrees, all poorly in comparison to Apple, but are not really growing public acceptance of the classic Linux, which continues to be a non-starter in retail commerce.
Businesses and organizations could install that other OS on no-OS machines but many would prefer pre-installation of GNU/Linux to that.
They won’t, because Linux can’t run MS Office, Exchage, and Sharepoint. Won’t you ever accept the fact that Office is not just Word + Excel? Let me remind you that Sharepoint stays the most successful product of MS, and even Kinect couldn’t beat it.
oiaohm wrote, “if MS income goes 0 doing nothing they are losing money. Maintenance producing windows updates is not free either.”
M$ has the option of withdrawing more or less completely from the market and living off the interest. They could cut expenses by 90% and coast a long time on the interest on their bank balance. The share price would tank and a lot would be unemployed but the entity, M$, could live on indefinitely. Their presence in IT however could die within 3 years if OEMs quit pandering to M$. Businesses and organizations could install that other OS on no-OS machines but many would prefer pre-installation of GNU/Linux to that.
ch really remember IDC and others made forecasts that Linux would take over the desktop.
“By 2007, IDC forecasts, Linux will be installed on 6% of the desktops.
http://linux.slashdo…234&mode=thread
From 2004″
The 6 percent forecast by IDC was based of the release of OpenOffice as open source with the presume that Sun will keep on working with the community. Now that IDC forcast might come true now because LibreOffice is not limited.
Also the 2004 forecast presume MS would provide up ADS information quicker and the funding to implement it would appear.
“Linux to lead smartphone OS market with 26.6% by 2010”
This forecast did come true. Ok in the form of android but all Linux smartphones have been some odd ball OS nothing like any Linux desktop OS most of the time.
ch
“MS has enough cash to survive for years even if magically their revenues were to drop to zero tomorrow morning – enough time to develop some new business ideas and products.”
To be correct that is not true. Worst case Microsoft could go splat in 12 months. Reason is they to product products have to pay other parties patents. Some of these patent charges are on going. So if MS income goes 0 doing nothing they are losing money. Maintenance producing windows updates is not free either.
“Evil M$ is doomed!”
I think I have heard that one before. When was it? Oh yes, all the way back to the late 1990ies:
http://penguinday.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/ten-years-later-super-loon-edition/
http://penguinday.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/the-world-according-to-freetards/
So all those predictions amount to no more than static noise. Reality:
– MS has enough cash to survive for years even if magically their revenues were to drop to zero tomorrow morning – enough time to develop some new business ideas and products.
– MS is the main player in business IT, and there is absolutely no sign of that changing anytime soon.
When Microsoft came out with the Xbox, everyone asked: “Why!?” Well, today the Xbox 360 is dominating the gaming console market, and due to simpler hardware design it broke even a lot sooner than the PS3. Yet Xbox 360 versions usually look better/run faster than the respective PS3 versions. The gaming console market was once dominated by Sony, Nintendo, and Sega. And now Microsoft is its biggest player.
With Windows 8 (and Surface and WP8 and so on), too, Microsoft is in it for the long distance.
Only the Cult of FLOSS here thinks they’re going to run out of steam. Chuckle. Cognitive dissonance at its best.
Agent_Smith wrote, “MS still has the legacy market”
That’s slipping away. Their share was once 95%. It’s now down to ~80%. The “feedback” is becoming negative. Their share of installed machines is now declining because share of shipments has been declining slowly for a few years now. Where they used to have exponential growth, M$ now has linear at best and some significant declines.
Clarence Moon wrote, “Microsoft has record profits and revenues every year, still, and is hardly a “wounded animalâ€. If their markets are becoming rather stale, that is the fate of all markets sooner or later. Linux is a clone of a 1970′s product, UNIX, and is itself much more stale than anything that Microsoft has to offer.”
Consider the client division representing M$’s most solid cash-cow. Revenue has been flat for several quarters. Q2 2012 was a little better than Q2 2011 but scarcely above Q2 of 2010. So, they aren’t getting record revenues time after time. They are flat. Meanwhile */Linux is growing by leaps and bounds.
Clarence Moon wrote:
“You all seem blind to the notion that these are separate and distinct markets and each is itself dominated by major players who care not one whit for your open source crusades.”
Boy did you just blow it Clarence. You are locked into your 1995 dream world.
Distinct markets like server farms, mobile phones, high performance computing, never-fail, ultra fast stock market trading? Or, let’s just put it simply, everything but the desktop.
The subject here is how MS is loosing its relevance, and, for its own fault.
Relevance to what, Mr. Smith? You folk wax on and on about how there are more phones than PCs these days and Microsoft is affecting only a small percentage. As an aside, it seems to me that the Microsoft Phone numbers are a lot better in the phone market than Linux in the PC market, but that is just rubbing it in.
You all seem blind to the notion that these are separate and distinct markets and each is itself dominated by major players who care not one whit for your open source crusades.
And the happenings in one product market really have little affect on the happenings in the others. Microsoft continues to make tens of billions in profits in PCs even as Apple makes similar profits in phones and tablets and Google makes almost as much selling clicks on all three types of devices.
Microsoft has record profits and revenues every year, still, and is hardly a “wounded animal”. If their markets are becoming rather stale, that is the fate of all markets sooner or later. Linux is a clone of a 1970’s product, UNIX, and is itself much more stale than anything that Microsoft has to offer.
They are late to phones and tablets in any effective way and haven’t shown any real brilliance in those areas. Nokia’s new phones and the Surface tablet may give them a boost, though. Time will tell. Meanwhile Microsoft has managed to “tax” the Android flood and is likely getting more revenue from it than Google.
Fantrolls have a routine to attack the messenger to discredit the message. The subject is not me. The subject here is how MS is loosing its relevance, and, for its own fault.
I am not giving back the tantrum, nor I will call you names. No, we’re discussing MS and how it is sinking.
And, the nails in its coffin are many: Google, Android, Apple, iOS, BYOD, Cloud, web apps, and on and on. GNU/Linux is just one, and, not even the strongest nail.
We’re not in 1995 anymore, nor in 2006, neither in 2009.
There are many players in the market now, and MS is not doing well. It’s holding on, but not by its own merits, but for legacy business, abusing the US patent system and, of course, as always with MS, shady deals and back stabbing.
Long gone are the days of William Henry. Now, MS is a headless chicken that has no place to run.
Sure, it is colluding with other companies, to stay afloat, even ponzi schemes are in the mix (http://billparish.com/msftfraudfacts.html)
And, as a big wounded animal, MS will fight back (already is fighting back), but how ? With better products ? No, but abusing the US patent system.
And who pay the bills are we, the customers.
The patent lawsuits costs are inserted in the products price tags. So, before loving MS so much, you should get real. MS doesn’t love you back. MS only loves its share holders, not even its users nor customers.
ch wrote:
“But I don’t see that happening anytime soon, and if you had any knowledge about the world of IT I wouldn’t have to point that out to you.”
“Everything looks okay from in here”, he says with his head up his arse. Ah yes, the all knowledgeable Cult of Microsoft. Whenever a special knowledge is needed, they have it.
No doubt there are a lot of highly educated, experienced and knowledgeable people working at Microsoft, but that isn’t helping them sell mobile phones. They’re getting their asses kicked in that market. You didn’t actually say you had any “knowledge of IT” so I’ll assume you don’t have any. But if you did, it wouldn’t mean your opinion would be worth any more than someone else’s. You can give us an example of “knowledge about the world of IT”, but the outcome is still the same. It doesn’t give you a special knowledge of what people are buying and why they are buying it.
“World of IT”, sounds like a new ride at Disney Land.
“You really think MS will stay on top forever ?”
I haven’t seen any comment here that gave me the impression the author would believe that. Of course, MS will one day be history. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon, and if you had any knowledge about the world of IT I wouldn’t have to point that out to you.
You really think MS will stay on top forever ?
Well, not even Hosni Mubarak nor the once mighty IBM could pull this off.
MS is no exception. Personal computers came in when folks got tired of computers and mainframes sold by IBM. Always way too expensive.
Guess what: Smartphones are the new personal computers.
And, there are already two kings in the mobile throne.
MS still has the legacy market, but past victories don’t give them a sure victory (not now, and I believe not in the future either).
“Because GNU/Linux is growing and advancing and the awareness of that is becoming more apparent.”
Even if that where the case (a big if): What has that got to do with my question?
“Windows 8 is a giant step backwards (It’s the Fisher Price interface).”
Au contraire: “Metro” is a pretty good interface for tablets and other touch-sceen devices, and for non-touch devices there’s still the good ol’ desktop. But of course you wouldn’t know anything about Win8.
“Some people will feel that Microsoft is being left in the technological dust.”
Yeah, sure. Just keep repeating that to yourself. You have to believe, so knowing would only get in the way!
“They certainly are on the mobile phone front.”
And in all likelihood about to change that. Wouldn’t be the first time MS needs more than one attempt to get it right.
ch wrote:
“Please explain to me why a sane person would switch to Linux because of Win8 when he could just continue running Win7?”
Because GNU/Linux is growing and advancing and the awareness of that is becoming more apparent. Windows 8 is a giant step backwards (It’s the Fisher Price interface). Some people will feel that Microsoft is being left in the technological dust. They certainly are on the mobile phone front. They will want to be where *they* feel the new technology is (not where you think it is). They won’t necessarily know it as Linux but that doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. They’ll know it as not Microsoft.
Chris Weig wrote:
“You don’t know anything about Windows or Linux or Mac OS X or anything at all, isn’t that right?”
You would love that to be so. You are an idiot Chris and you are trying to scrap some of it off on me. Get a clue: Try harder.
Uncle Koz, great contribution. Except it has nothing to do with anything at all — neither with Mr. Pogson’s article nor with the comments so far.
You don’t know anything about Windows or Linux or Mac OS X or anything at all, isn’t that right?
“Yeah, right, the world if full of morons.”
Please explain to me why a sane person would switch to Linux because of Win8 when he could just continue running Win7? I didn’t say anything about other potential reasons to switch, but claiming that “I’m switching to Linux because I don’t like Win8” like this guy did is moronic.
And BTW, the world is populated by quite a number of morons. A huge number of politicians come to mind, or religious nuts of all kinds of creeds, or the people responsible for building nuclear power plants in earthquake or tsunami areas – or, on a smaller scale, our dear Mr “I’m proud to be an asshole” kozmcrae.
Phenom and ch chime in with Cult of Microsoft fodder. Nothing new. You are still attempting to promote uncertainty about FLOSS by associating it with morons. You seem to speak a lot about morons. You imply knowledge about morons. You have morons on your mind. Gee, this looks like a case of it takes one to know one.
Yeah, right, the world if full of morons. But, do not expect them to switch to GNU/Linux. No, the morons will switch to MacOSX or Android. Google is merging Chrome with Android. This Chromeoid will be the successor of XP.
What’s the biggest “competition” for any new version of Windows? Its older sibblings. Win7 will still be supported in ten years, so if a Windows user doesn’t like Win8, the solution is simple: Sit back, relax, continue using Win7 and wait for MS to get it right with Win9. As I posted before, it will only take two buttons …
So why would anybody but a complete moron switch to Linux because of Win8?
Weird, Pogson. You are old enough to remember the past. The same rants of “disasters”, “capricious, arbitrary and fantastically irritating UI changes”, etc., were all over the place when XP was released back in 2001, when Vista was released. Even when 7 was released, certain people were quick to banish the new toolbar. Nothing new, Pogson, nothing informative.
Just a rant from a moron who confuses desktop with server. Typical for a loon.