Since Windows 8 changes a lot of things like the user interface, many people are starting to consider the alternatives. But what are they?
First we have older versions of Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and so on. The thing is the farther back you go in Windows the less likely you are to run modern apps. XP, Vista, and 7 run most apps, but soon XP and Vista will be phased out by Microsoft support and then we have Windows 7. Some people need older versions of Windows to run legacy software and in the case of video games and 3D support a virtual machine simply won't do. If it is just business apps a virtual machine runs just fine.
I have been testing Windows 8 Enterprise edition for 90 days on my PC, I am using it right now to make this blog entry. I always use the things I write about. I'm finding a lot of legacy Windows apps won't work in Windows 8, but hopefully they will be rewritten or have newer versions to replace the ones that won't work. Bad luck if you need Visual Studio 2002/2003, or you have a PLC RLL software to control your PLC devices. I'd pick Windows 7 over Vista any day of the week, and dual boot to Windows XP for those old applications that need it for a legacy Windows PC.
Linux is gaining a lot of support as a Windows 8 alternative, with the WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) program some legacy and modern Windows apps can run under Linux. WINE exists for other Unix like platforms. But Linux itself has countless free and open source software programs you can use for free, and others that are commercial you can buy. Ubuntu seems to be the favorite as 12.10 just rolled out.
The Macintosh, Mac OS X, well you have to buy a Mac to use Mac OS X to be legal. There are Hackintosh PCs out there that can run a modified Mac OS X but it is not as modern as Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, IIRC The Hackintosh Mac OSX86 is still 10.6.2 last I checked. Basically if you need Mac OS X apps buy a Macintosh, if you just want a Unix system try Linux like Ubuntu which can have the Cario Dock added and Mac OS X skins added to have a Mac look and feel for free without violating Apple's EULA/TOS.
ReactOS, a free and open source operating system that is trying to rewrite itself as a Windows 2000/XP/2003 clone, and might be sued by Microsoft if it gets too popular. Using the WINE program it tries to run Windows apps and use Windows drivers. It is still in alpha testing and not ready for prime time, but give it five to ten years and it might become something. Don't use it unless you run it in a virtual machine.
Haiku Project, a free and open source rewrite of BeOS. It too is in the alpha stage but it is more stable than ReactOS. It won't run Windows apps, but will run some old BeOS apps. If anyone remembers, Apple was going to buy out Be Inc. and base the next Mac OS on BeOS, but changed its mind and bought out Next, Inc. instead and got back Steve Jobs and turned the BSD Unix based NextOS into Mac OS X. Run this in a virtual machine because it is not stable enough for bare iron yet, and make sure you set a serial port for the debugging part or else the virtual machine boot will crash.
AROS, AROS Research Operating System, this is a much better free and open source operating system than ReactOS and Haiku, but it won't run Windows apps. It is an AmigaOS type OS that can run some legacy Amiga software, and they are developing new software for it. In a few years it might be worth installing on bare iron PCs once they update the drivers and add in a good and decent email and web browser to it. I can really see AROS ported to ARM chips and used in touchscreen devices.
eComStation, honk if you love OS/2! This is the modern day version of IBM's old and busted OS/2 operating system for modern hardware. Sure you pay a lot to license one but the right package has Lotus Smart Suite included and of course the OS/2 version of OpenOffice.Org and access to a suite of free and open source software ported to OS/2. OS/2 was a better DOS than DOS and a better Windows than Windows, but Windows 95 and up killed it dead. IBM eventually licensed an OEM of OS/2 to Serenity Systems International and a lot of legacy OS/2 code is still used in international bank ATM systems and banking systems. I was amazed when I visited Thailand, for example, that the ATM near me showed the "OS/2 Warp" logo after a reboot during a thunderstorm when we were at an island resort. I found out these are all over the world and not replaced and needs OS/2 systems to communicate with them as it was never ported to Windows. There is a thing called ODIN that functions like WINE to run 32 bit Windows programs on eComStation.
FreeDOS, yikes, you really don't like Windows 8 so much that you'd consider downgrading to DOS to avoid it? MS-DOS won't run on modern PC systems, or at least not access all the memory and other stuff? Try FreeDOS the 32 bit DOS that is free and open source. I think in some cases there is a FreeGEM you can run on top of it for a GUI, if anyone remembers the old DRI GEM that used to compete with Windows 3.X way back when?
SparrowOS, well this used to be LosethOS but it was renamed. Imagine if there was a hybrid Commodore 64/Amiga 64 bit operating system with C/C++ added instead of BASIC and of course no TCP/IP stack, no serial ports, no 3D support just 2D, and it was written by a mentally ill person on disability who claims you can talk to God in it. I mean it has hymns in it, that is how religious it really seems to be. You'd have to be really really mad at Microsoft to use this OS, or get revenge on your friend or boss by installing this OS on their PC and watching their face trying to figure it out. For recreational use only, if the government would only legalize it. :)
Android tablets, yeah they get very cheap these days. So cheap they forced Apple to make an iPad Mini. Ditch the PC unless you want to install Android X86 on your PC. That might just work as any device can become an Android device.
iOS devices, be it iPad Mini, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPad (Maxi Pad?), the iPhone or whatever else Apple comes out with, iToaster, iRefridgerator, iAutomobile, Apple TV, maybe even bringing the Apple Newton back from the dead as an iOS device? They can be used instead of a Windows 8 device and if you don't mind an on-screen keyboard they work quite well.
My favorite choice is Ubuntu, it is free, it is fast, and it is easy to use. It is the cheapest solution to avoiding Windows 8 if you don't mind a bit of a learning curve, well Windows 8's GUI causes a new learning curve so why not try Ubuntu out?
Don't forget if you buy a Windows 8 PC and reformat it and put on a new OS to ask for a refund and return the Windows 8 disk and license. Let Microsoft know that Windows 8 is the New Coke of Windows operating systems.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The 2013 Tablet Wars
By now Apple is ready to announce the iPad Mini, a 7.9 inch tablet for under $300. Something Steve Jobs once said Apple would never do. But the saintly Steve Jobs has passed on. Tim Cook is running Apple now. Many ask, why do this.
Well Google and Amazon had 7 inch tablets for under $300 for a while now, the Android based tablets. Apple saw it was a threat and since lawsuits didn't turn out as well as they wanted, they have to copy Android and make a 7 inch tablet. But of course Apple will be considered to be first with the 7 inch tablet. 7 Inch Android Tablets at Amazon for example you can pick from a lot of them.
Meanwhile Microsoft is ready to roll out Windows 8 on October 26, 2012. Why is that relevant? Well Microsoft has their surface tablets based on Windows 8 that compete with the Android and iOS devices. The kicker is that Windows 8 uses Intel/AMD chips that can run legacy Windows applications (well to be honest not 100% of them but enough) and have a docking feature to turn them into laptops with a detachable keyboard.
Microsoft also has Windows RT (RISC Technology) that looks like Windows 8, but uses the same ARM chip many Android and all iOS devices use. The Windows RT tablet should compete with the Android and iPad in price. The difference is the Windows RT tablet won't run legacy Windows apps, as it is not Intel/AMD X86/X64 compatible.
There is the 7 inch Android 4.1 tablet from China that costs $45 that hasn't even entered the US market yet. The so called A-Pad that All Winners and other Chinese companies are making. If the FCC approves it, and the federal government allows it, you will see cheap 7 inch tablets in discount stores that outsell the iPad, Windows 8, and Google and Amazon and Samsung etc Android tablets. Apple had to make something to compete with it before it hits US shores.
There will be a tablet war in 2013, make no doubt about that.
Well Google and Amazon had 7 inch tablets for under $300 for a while now, the Android based tablets. Apple saw it was a threat and since lawsuits didn't turn out as well as they wanted, they have to copy Android and make a 7 inch tablet. But of course Apple will be considered to be first with the 7 inch tablet. 7 Inch Android Tablets at Amazon for example you can pick from a lot of them.
Meanwhile Microsoft is ready to roll out Windows 8 on October 26, 2012. Why is that relevant? Well Microsoft has their surface tablets based on Windows 8 that compete with the Android and iOS devices. The kicker is that Windows 8 uses Intel/AMD chips that can run legacy Windows applications (well to be honest not 100% of them but enough) and have a docking feature to turn them into laptops with a detachable keyboard.
Microsoft also has Windows RT (RISC Technology) that looks like Windows 8, but uses the same ARM chip many Android and all iOS devices use. The Windows RT tablet should compete with the Android and iPad in price. The difference is the Windows RT tablet won't run legacy Windows apps, as it is not Intel/AMD X86/X64 compatible.
There is the 7 inch Android 4.1 tablet from China that costs $45 that hasn't even entered the US market yet. The so called A-Pad that All Winners and other Chinese companies are making. If the FCC approves it, and the federal government allows it, you will see cheap 7 inch tablets in discount stores that outsell the iPad, Windows 8, and Google and Amazon and Samsung etc Android tablets. Apple had to make something to compete with it before it hits US shores.
There will be a tablet war in 2013, make no doubt about that.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Big Law Firms need to use technology to cut costs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un9yg_uPGEY
I used to work for Thompson Coburn, LLP in Saint Louis Missouri. I had developed a Docket Calendar and integrated it with a Practice Area Information System with several other programmer / analysts. It was a web based Intranet system based on Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP around 1999-2000. The system had cut costs by millions because it also had an IN/Out board for each lawyer, partner, employee and so they can find when they are out of the office on vacation or sick days and reassign cases to other lawyers, partners, employees to avoid missing court dates and not getting work done on time. It was shown at a LawNet conference as commercial quality, and there wasn't anything like it at the time.
It had used Microsoft SQL Server and IIS with Windows NT 4.0 Server and later Windows 2000 Server. But in this day and age many law firms ought to look into free and open source options. The XAMP platform for example, is the Apache, MySQL, and PHP solution that runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and etc. Rather than pay the thousands of dollars for Windows Server with SQL Server and IIS and Microsoft's high priced licensing fees, law firms out to consider a Linux based Server solution with Apache, MySQL, PHP. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it differently.
Now when I developed software, management was in control with using all Microsoft based technology. I had to use VBScript, ActiveX, and develop for Internet Explorer. This is, of course, a mistake and can lead to higher expenses for more server licenses, and more Windows workstations. The problems we had were that when buying out other firms they used Macs, OS/2, Linux, and other non-Microsoft technology and it cost a lot of money to convert them to Windows and buy more Windows Server licenses. The XAMP technology does not require licenses and if written properly will be able to support the other platforms.
I feel bad that I left the company in 2001, I was doing good but ended up becoming too sick to work from all the stress. They no longer required my services. I eventually ended up on disability in 2003. I had planned on working on a new system called CAMELS (Client And Matter Electronic Litigation System) for legal practice management and prototyped a system in MS-Access and Visual BASIC 6.0 to look up some data. It was primitive and not a complete system, but I ended up being sick again and put it on the shelf. I heard that no system developed would be used by law firms because several commercial systems already existed and nobody would want to use one written by a small business or individual.
I quite wonder if I should start work on a XAMP version of CAMELS, open source it, and see if others want to contribute to it. See if it can be freely used as a way to cut costs by providing a skeleton of a bare minimum system that law firms can modify to their own system and use it as a standard to share data between law firms? If there is a primary system in place, there would be a business for contractors to migrate data from one system to another. I used to do that as well migrate from one database or programming language to another.
The thing is, I don't know if there is a market for it, or if law firms will even consider it an option. I mean you have to cut costs, and when you are a big law firm locked into Microsoft's Server pricing you could end up spending millions of dollars to upgrade everyone to the newest technology be it hardware, software, server, training, and support and debugging costs just to get to the next level, and then repeat that every three years when new technology comes out. Perhaps I seem a bit crazy here, but an open sourced XAMP solution would save those millions every three years and cut it down to thousands. When you are pricing your services down to "Suicide Prices" you have to find more ways to cut costs and expenses. Putting all your eggs into the Microsoft basket will cost you dearly, putting them into other areas might not cost you as much.
Everyone is always looking for the killer app for the open source crowd, I think legal practice management software would be a good killer app. You'll have to excuse XAMP for not having Exchange and Sharepoint technologies, they are proprietary to Microsoft and Microsoft does not share them with others. Consider alternatives to MS-Office like LibreOffice and OpenOffice.Org, they still work with the old MS-Office format with some support for the new MS-Office format. http://www.libreoffice.org/ http://www.openoffice.org/ Microsoft is going to try and make people and businesses use a "rental software" of moving MS-Office to Office 365 in the Cloud and paying on a per-year basis. There used to be a time when Wordperfect was the standard with legal documents, and then MS-Office took over. Well LibreOffice and OpenOffice.Org can still use your Word and Excel templates.
It is possible to manage a legal office with Linux based systems http://lawtech.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/managing-a-practice-with-linux/ but the trick is tying together the systems to integrate them into a more user friendly system. If anyone is interested in doing that and would like to help me start up a legal practice management open source solution on XAMP or Linux please let me know at normanking@gmail.com and what you would like to do. I think we as a community can pull together here to develop something to help cut costs and expenses.
I used to work for Thompson Coburn, LLP in Saint Louis Missouri. I had developed a Docket Calendar and integrated it with a Practice Area Information System with several other programmer / analysts. It was a web based Intranet system based on Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP around 1999-2000. The system had cut costs by millions because it also had an IN/Out board for each lawyer, partner, employee and so they can find when they are out of the office on vacation or sick days and reassign cases to other lawyers, partners, employees to avoid missing court dates and not getting work done on time. It was shown at a LawNet conference as commercial quality, and there wasn't anything like it at the time.
It had used Microsoft SQL Server and IIS with Windows NT 4.0 Server and later Windows 2000 Server. But in this day and age many law firms ought to look into free and open source options. The XAMP platform for example, is the Apache, MySQL, and PHP solution that runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and etc. Rather than pay the thousands of dollars for Windows Server with SQL Server and IIS and Microsoft's high priced licensing fees, law firms out to consider a Linux based Server solution with Apache, MySQL, PHP. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it differently.
Now when I developed software, management was in control with using all Microsoft based technology. I had to use VBScript, ActiveX, and develop for Internet Explorer. This is, of course, a mistake and can lead to higher expenses for more server licenses, and more Windows workstations. The problems we had were that when buying out other firms they used Macs, OS/2, Linux, and other non-Microsoft technology and it cost a lot of money to convert them to Windows and buy more Windows Server licenses. The XAMP technology does not require licenses and if written properly will be able to support the other platforms.
I feel bad that I left the company in 2001, I was doing good but ended up becoming too sick to work from all the stress. They no longer required my services. I eventually ended up on disability in 2003. I had planned on working on a new system called CAMELS (Client And Matter Electronic Litigation System) for legal practice management and prototyped a system in MS-Access and Visual BASIC 6.0 to look up some data. It was primitive and not a complete system, but I ended up being sick again and put it on the shelf. I heard that no system developed would be used by law firms because several commercial systems already existed and nobody would want to use one written by a small business or individual.
I quite wonder if I should start work on a XAMP version of CAMELS, open source it, and see if others want to contribute to it. See if it can be freely used as a way to cut costs by providing a skeleton of a bare minimum system that law firms can modify to their own system and use it as a standard to share data between law firms? If there is a primary system in place, there would be a business for contractors to migrate data from one system to another. I used to do that as well migrate from one database or programming language to another.
The thing is, I don't know if there is a market for it, or if law firms will even consider it an option. I mean you have to cut costs, and when you are a big law firm locked into Microsoft's Server pricing you could end up spending millions of dollars to upgrade everyone to the newest technology be it hardware, software, server, training, and support and debugging costs just to get to the next level, and then repeat that every three years when new technology comes out. Perhaps I seem a bit crazy here, but an open sourced XAMP solution would save those millions every three years and cut it down to thousands. When you are pricing your services down to "Suicide Prices" you have to find more ways to cut costs and expenses. Putting all your eggs into the Microsoft basket will cost you dearly, putting them into other areas might not cost you as much.
Everyone is always looking for the killer app for the open source crowd, I think legal practice management software would be a good killer app. You'll have to excuse XAMP for not having Exchange and Sharepoint technologies, they are proprietary to Microsoft and Microsoft does not share them with others. Consider alternatives to MS-Office like LibreOffice and OpenOffice.Org, they still work with the old MS-Office format with some support for the new MS-Office format. http://www.libreoffice.org/ http://www.openoffice.org/ Microsoft is going to try and make people and businesses use a "rental software" of moving MS-Office to Office 365 in the Cloud and paying on a per-year basis. There used to be a time when Wordperfect was the standard with legal documents, and then MS-Office took over. Well LibreOffice and OpenOffice.Org can still use your Word and Excel templates.
It is possible to manage a legal office with Linux based systems http://lawtech.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/managing-a-practice-with-linux/ but the trick is tying together the systems to integrate them into a more user friendly system. If anyone is interested in doing that and would like to help me start up a legal practice management open source solution on XAMP or Linux please let me know at normanking@gmail.com and what you would like to do. I think we as a community can pull together here to develop something to help cut costs and expenses.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
2013 Might be the year of The Linux Rebellion
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelinuxrebellon/
I am calling it official now, users are getting tired of Microsoft and Apple and want an alternative. Join us in this new Facebook Group or create your own Linux Rebellion group. This is a movement to tell people that there is an alternative to the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh OS X empires and it is The Linux Rebellion!
Gabe Newell knows that Windows 8 is The New Coke of Windows operating systems. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/07/26/windows-8-is-a-catastrophe-according-to-gabe-newell-valve-hedging-with-steam-on-linux/ He used to work for Microsoft and rolled out Windows versions, this new one, Windows 8 is awful. Video game makers are considering a move to Linux, and it looks like Valve Software headed by GabeN is going with a Steam Linux beta soon. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/steam-linux-beta/ Linux Gaming is nothing new, lookie here at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_gaming
Consider these links:
http://www.winehq.org/
http://www.playonlinux.com/
http://wiki.winehq.org/winetricks
http://gametreelinux.com/
WINE won't run 100% of Windows apps but it will run some. PlayOnLinux is a good utility to use to install Windows programs and games that are tricky to install. Winetricks creates prefixes or WINE profiles for each type of trciky install and even Windows components you need to install the tricky ones. It can even install an older copy of, ick Internet Explorer if you wanted for some strange reason.
Rumors have it that EA, and others are considering porting to Linux as well, but that remains to be seen if those rumors are correct. If I ran a software company of any type, I'd seriously consider making ports to Linux of any major selling software that my company makes. Why? You cannot count the number of Linux converts, because it is a free and open source operating system that thousands of groups make distrobutions of and people download the ISO and burn the CD for free and then install next to Windows or in replacement of Windows. There could be over 100+ million Linux users out there, it is an untapped market and writing commercial Linux apps is the next gold rush.
How do you Mac users feel now that Apple abandoned the PowerPC PowerMacs and then the 32 bit Intel Macs and keeps changing Mac OS X so that older software no longer works and you are forced to buy new software? Isn't that what Microsoft is accused of doing? Consider Linux as an alternative. 68K and PowerMacs: http://lowendmac.com/linux/index.shtml Intel Macs: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Miss the dock from Mac OS X? Try Cario Dock: http://glx-dock.org/
Miss the Windows GUI? Try this Windows 7 skin: http://lifehacker.com/5619064/w7-theme-for-ubuntu-brings-windows-7s-familiar-gui-to-linux
Linux is cool like that can change themes and skins to look and feel like any other OS out there. Sort of like having a working chameleon circuit in a TARDIS kind of cool.
Want a free antivirus, I know most video gamers play on their home PC so this Avast Home for Linux is only for home users for free: http://www.avast.com/linux-home-edition Though Linux makes it hard for virus code to run, still be smart and use an antivirus program.
Uh yeah sure you could run an older version of MS-Office like MS-Office 2003 on WINE, but I think LibreOffice would do better and it costs less than a bottle of water to download and install. http://www.libreoffice.org/
Linux Newbies go here: http://thelinuxnewbie.blogspot.com/ It is the blog for you to read.
Join The Linux Rebellion in 2013 to join the fight against the Microsoft and Apple Empires/Monopolies and educate yourself about Linux and educate others as well. There will eventually be a mass exodus from Windows and Mac OS X to Linux when users get tired of the same old pattern of new OS, breaks old apps, forces users to buy brand new apps or stick with older unsupported operating systems.
Consider these links to be of importance:
http://www.linux.org/
http://www.linux.com/
http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:Linux
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
When you have taken all the abuse you can from Apple and Microsoft as I and many others have, you will consider Linux to be a good alternative that just keeps getting better over the years.
I am switching a few friends of mine to Linux, because they got tired of Microsoft and Windows and the problems they always had with them, and want to move on to Linux. So the idea of The Linux Rebellion came to me, to help promote Linux and educate people on Linux. Why be a slave to a mufti-billion dollar mega-corporation when you can become free and use Linux and be a slave to no one? Don't you want your rights, freedoms, and liberties back? Did you ever read those EULAs and Terms of Service agreements? You basically don't own the software and you wave your rights, freedoms, and liberties so they can keep turning profits.
I am calling it official now, users are getting tired of Microsoft and Apple and want an alternative. Join us in this new Facebook Group or create your own Linux Rebellion group. This is a movement to tell people that there is an alternative to the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh OS X empires and it is The Linux Rebellion!
Gabe Newell knows that Windows 8 is The New Coke of Windows operating systems. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/07/26/windows-8-is-a-catastrophe-according-to-gabe-newell-valve-hedging-with-steam-on-linux/ He used to work for Microsoft and rolled out Windows versions, this new one, Windows 8 is awful. Video game makers are considering a move to Linux, and it looks like Valve Software headed by GabeN is going with a Steam Linux beta soon. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/steam-linux-beta/ Linux Gaming is nothing new, lookie here at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_gaming
Consider these links:
http://www.winehq.org/
http://www.playonlinux.com/
http://wiki.winehq.org/winetricks
http://gametreelinux.com/
WINE won't run 100% of Windows apps but it will run some. PlayOnLinux is a good utility to use to install Windows programs and games that are tricky to install. Winetricks creates prefixes or WINE profiles for each type of trciky install and even Windows components you need to install the tricky ones. It can even install an older copy of, ick Internet Explorer if you wanted for some strange reason.
Rumors have it that EA, and others are considering porting to Linux as well, but that remains to be seen if those rumors are correct. If I ran a software company of any type, I'd seriously consider making ports to Linux of any major selling software that my company makes. Why? You cannot count the number of Linux converts, because it is a free and open source operating system that thousands of groups make distrobutions of and people download the ISO and burn the CD for free and then install next to Windows or in replacement of Windows. There could be over 100+ million Linux users out there, it is an untapped market and writing commercial Linux apps is the next gold rush.
How do you Mac users feel now that Apple abandoned the PowerPC PowerMacs and then the 32 bit Intel Macs and keeps changing Mac OS X so that older software no longer works and you are forced to buy new software? Isn't that what Microsoft is accused of doing? Consider Linux as an alternative. 68K and PowerMacs: http://lowendmac.com/linux/index.shtml Intel Macs: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Miss the dock from Mac OS X? Try Cario Dock: http://glx-dock.org/
Miss the Windows GUI? Try this Windows 7 skin: http://lifehacker.com/5619064/w7-theme-for-ubuntu-brings-windows-7s-familiar-gui-to-linux
Linux is cool like that can change themes and skins to look and feel like any other OS out there. Sort of like having a working chameleon circuit in a TARDIS kind of cool.
Want a free antivirus, I know most video gamers play on their home PC so this Avast Home for Linux is only for home users for free: http://www.avast.com/linux-home-edition Though Linux makes it hard for virus code to run, still be smart and use an antivirus program.
Uh yeah sure you could run an older version of MS-Office like MS-Office 2003 on WINE, but I think LibreOffice would do better and it costs less than a bottle of water to download and install. http://www.libreoffice.org/
Linux Newbies go here: http://thelinuxnewbie.blogspot.com/ It is the blog for you to read.
Join The Linux Rebellion in 2013 to join the fight against the Microsoft and Apple Empires/Monopolies and educate yourself about Linux and educate others as well. There will eventually be a mass exodus from Windows and Mac OS X to Linux when users get tired of the same old pattern of new OS, breaks old apps, forces users to buy brand new apps or stick with older unsupported operating systems.
Consider these links to be of importance:
http://www.linux.org/
http://www.linux.com/
http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:Linux
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
When you have taken all the abuse you can from Apple and Microsoft as I and many others have, you will consider Linux to be a good alternative that just keeps getting better over the years.
I am switching a few friends of mine to Linux, because they got tired of Microsoft and Windows and the problems they always had with them, and want to move on to Linux. So the idea of The Linux Rebellion came to me, to help promote Linux and educate people on Linux. Why be a slave to a mufti-billion dollar mega-corporation when you can become free and use Linux and be a slave to no one? Don't you want your rights, freedoms, and liberties back? Did you ever read those EULAs and Terms of Service agreements? You basically don't own the software and you wave your rights, freedoms, and liberties so they can keep turning profits.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Why Reboots Don't Always Work
Problem is these days in comic books, TV shows, movies and of course computers and software is that rebooting them or rather remaking or starting over from scratch does not always work.
Let me explain this, DC Comics had rebooted their comic book series into all new #1 issues and changed the way the characters look and act and do things. DC had failing sales and decided to start all over again to appeal to the younger reader and new demographics. Problem is people weren't buying comic books because the price kept going up, and digital comic books cost the same as print so there was no savings. If DC had lowered prices on digital comic books they would sell more and make the difference up in volume sales. Instead they rebooted their universe and alienated the older reader in favor of younger ones. The same was done before for the Green Lantern movie and it bombed. Marvel stuck to their guns and kept their comics the same, the Marvel movies well different Hollywood studios hold the contracts for those so they vary. X-Men tried to stay true to the comic books but Wolverine: Origins and X-Men: First Class kind of rebooted or rewrote things and they didn't do so well. Spider-Man's comic books got rebooted with "Brand New Day" to make Peter Parker single and the marriage to Mary-Jane Watson never happened. But Marvel forgot Ultimate Spider-Man was a younger Peter Parker marketed towards a younger market, so they killed him off later on when comic book sales were low. There is a Marvel Now series where the comic books will be rebooted. Good luck Disney/Marvel I hope it isn't another "New Universe" or "M2" flop, but more like a Marvel 2099 or Earth-X success.
Anyway Microsoft rebooted Microsoft Office with 2007 using a ribbon interface that confused users, and then later with Office 2010 got rid of upgrade pricing and limited options. Windows 8 is a rewrite of the Windows GUI as the start menu is now replaced with a start screen and apps have to be rewritten for the start screen. People are still clinging to Windows XP and Office 2002/2003 because that was before Microsoft started to mess with how the GUI worked in Office and Windows, and before Microsoft changed the API calls to break legacy Windows software to force people to buy all new copies of certain software.
Ubuntu well that Unity GUI isn't doing so well, and people want GNOME or KDE back.
I learned a long time ago when developing software to keep the UI and GUI the same, and just make the new version work better, run faster, reduce errors, and reduce crashing by managing memory and resources better. I would rewrite a program but keep the UI/GUI the same to reduce the learning curve of the new version and also to save on training costs and avoid confusion. Those software developers/programmers who changed the UI/GUI ended up with nothing but complaints, errors, crashes, confusion, and a lot of angry users and managers trying to figure out how things got so messed up.
By the way how did that "Total Recall" reboot work? Not so good I heard. Sometimes you have to stay true to the original book for a successful movie, the same for software and technology.
Sometimes the original is better than the remake/reboot or improvements. In DC's case they kept the Batman and Green Lantern books almost the same but rebooted everything else, why? Because the Batman and Green Lantern books sold. The Marvel Avengers Movie stayed true to the comic books but put everyone in modern times and it was a hit. Sometimes you just have to go back to the original when the reboot/rewrite doesn't work like The Hulk movies that failed, in The Avengers it was a different Hulk more like the comic book version or TV series. Had the used the Hulk from the two failed movie remakes it would have been a flop.
Look sometimes the reboot/rewrites work like the Star Trek reboot or the Battlestar Galactica reboot, but not in all cases. Windows ME and Windows Vista flopped because they broke compatibility with legacy apps and made the OS unstable and buggy, but Windows 2000 and Windows 7 fixed that by trying to fix the compatibility issues and bugs so it is more stable. Windows XP and Windows 7 are more popular choices because they are truer to the original Windows that worked great and had the original UI/GUI. Will Microsoft ever learn that lesson, or will they keep repeating mistakes and force the unpopular Windows and Office UI/GUIs on the masses?
Let me explain this, DC Comics had rebooted their comic book series into all new #1 issues and changed the way the characters look and act and do things. DC had failing sales and decided to start all over again to appeal to the younger reader and new demographics. Problem is people weren't buying comic books because the price kept going up, and digital comic books cost the same as print so there was no savings. If DC had lowered prices on digital comic books they would sell more and make the difference up in volume sales. Instead they rebooted their universe and alienated the older reader in favor of younger ones. The same was done before for the Green Lantern movie and it bombed. Marvel stuck to their guns and kept their comics the same, the Marvel movies well different Hollywood studios hold the contracts for those so they vary. X-Men tried to stay true to the comic books but Wolverine: Origins and X-Men: First Class kind of rebooted or rewrote things and they didn't do so well. Spider-Man's comic books got rebooted with "Brand New Day" to make Peter Parker single and the marriage to Mary-Jane Watson never happened. But Marvel forgot Ultimate Spider-Man was a younger Peter Parker marketed towards a younger market, so they killed him off later on when comic book sales were low. There is a Marvel Now series where the comic books will be rebooted. Good luck Disney/Marvel I hope it isn't another "New Universe" or "M2" flop, but more like a Marvel 2099 or Earth-X success.
Anyway Microsoft rebooted Microsoft Office with 2007 using a ribbon interface that confused users, and then later with Office 2010 got rid of upgrade pricing and limited options. Windows 8 is a rewrite of the Windows GUI as the start menu is now replaced with a start screen and apps have to be rewritten for the start screen. People are still clinging to Windows XP and Office 2002/2003 because that was before Microsoft started to mess with how the GUI worked in Office and Windows, and before Microsoft changed the API calls to break legacy Windows software to force people to buy all new copies of certain software.
Ubuntu well that Unity GUI isn't doing so well, and people want GNOME or KDE back.
I learned a long time ago when developing software to keep the UI and GUI the same, and just make the new version work better, run faster, reduce errors, and reduce crashing by managing memory and resources better. I would rewrite a program but keep the UI/GUI the same to reduce the learning curve of the new version and also to save on training costs and avoid confusion. Those software developers/programmers who changed the UI/GUI ended up with nothing but complaints, errors, crashes, confusion, and a lot of angry users and managers trying to figure out how things got so messed up.
By the way how did that "Total Recall" reboot work? Not so good I heard. Sometimes you have to stay true to the original book for a successful movie, the same for software and technology.
Sometimes the original is better than the remake/reboot or improvements. In DC's case they kept the Batman and Green Lantern books almost the same but rebooted everything else, why? Because the Batman and Green Lantern books sold. The Marvel Avengers Movie stayed true to the comic books but put everyone in modern times and it was a hit. Sometimes you just have to go back to the original when the reboot/rewrite doesn't work like The Hulk movies that failed, in The Avengers it was a different Hulk more like the comic book version or TV series. Had the used the Hulk from the two failed movie remakes it would have been a flop.
Look sometimes the reboot/rewrites work like the Star Trek reboot or the Battlestar Galactica reboot, but not in all cases. Windows ME and Windows Vista flopped because they broke compatibility with legacy apps and made the OS unstable and buggy, but Windows 2000 and Windows 7 fixed that by trying to fix the compatibility issues and bugs so it is more stable. Windows XP and Windows 7 are more popular choices because they are truer to the original Windows that worked great and had the original UI/GUI. Will Microsoft ever learn that lesson, or will they keep repeating mistakes and force the unpopular Windows and Office UI/GUIs on the masses?
Friday, August 24, 2012
Applecalypse Now!
Jury awards Apple $1.05B and finds Samsung guilty of infringing on their patents.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/24/3266391/apple-samsung-patent-damages-verdict
But wait there is more!
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/apple-fires-shots-at-all-mobile-competitors-today-and-microsoft-too/2752
Apple is filing lawsuits against all other mobile makers including Microsoft. I mean maybe you remember the Windows XP Tablet in 2002 and Apple copying it for the iPad in 2010? Maybe you remember 1996 Windows CE devices and mobile smart phones before the iPhone? Maybe you remember a company called Palm that had the Palm Pilot and later PalmOS smart phones. Maybe you remember Rim and Blackberry smart phones? Maybe you can remember all kinds of smart phone makers before Apple got into the smart phone and smart tablet market as a Johnny Appleseed Come Lately? Why Innovate when you can Litigate? Why make your devices better than the competition when you can simply sue them into bankruptcy?
Don't get me wrong I own several Apple based devices, but these lawsuits are getting to be too much. There is a lot of prior art that the iOS devices stole, and Apple made their devices popular with a cult following, and then became the most profitable company by offshoring the manufacturing to Foxconn in China and then charging a premium price for their devices.
But what company is going to survive the Applecalypse? Steve Jobs strikes back from the grave with the 'thermonuclear option' http://news.cnet.com/8301-33617_3-57500246-276/jobs-gets-wish-in-thermonuclear-war-at-least-for-now/
Apple even copied a bunch of Android features for iOS 5: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/apple-copies-a-bunch-of-features-from-android-calls-it-ios5-updated/2295 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-ios-5-copied-android-2011-6?op=1 http://androidcommunity.com/apple-knows-no-shame-steals-ics-camera-unlock-for-ios-20120217/
Apple is starting to sue competitors before they start to sue them. What happened to the Classic Apple of out innovate your competition and make a better product and service than they have, instead of just suing them over patents.
I hear Apple will be getting into set top boxes soon, the TiVO area with their own DVR, want to bet they will make their own DVR and then sue TiVO and others over it?
I also heard that Apple wants to make the smart TV market, a TV set with apps built into it, will they sue others who have had this for the past five years or so?
Apple made record profits by switching to mobile devices and making an App Store to sell apps on it. Something other companies had before Apple had it.
If Apple made teapots, they'd take an ordinary teapot worth $15 and stick the Apple logo on it and sell it for $350 and then sue all other teapot makers for stealing their design, and the public would buy millions of Apple Teapots.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/24/3266391/apple-samsung-patent-damages-verdict
But wait there is more!
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/apple-fires-shots-at-all-mobile-competitors-today-and-microsoft-too/2752
Apple is filing lawsuits against all other mobile makers including Microsoft. I mean maybe you remember the Windows XP Tablet in 2002 and Apple copying it for the iPad in 2010? Maybe you remember 1996 Windows CE devices and mobile smart phones before the iPhone? Maybe you remember a company called Palm that had the Palm Pilot and later PalmOS smart phones. Maybe you remember Rim and Blackberry smart phones? Maybe you can remember all kinds of smart phone makers before Apple got into the smart phone and smart tablet market as a Johnny Appleseed Come Lately? Why Innovate when you can Litigate? Why make your devices better than the competition when you can simply sue them into bankruptcy?
Don't get me wrong I own several Apple based devices, but these lawsuits are getting to be too much. There is a lot of prior art that the iOS devices stole, and Apple made their devices popular with a cult following, and then became the most profitable company by offshoring the manufacturing to Foxconn in China and then charging a premium price for their devices.
But what company is going to survive the Applecalypse? Steve Jobs strikes back from the grave with the 'thermonuclear option' http://news.cnet.com/8301-33617_3-57500246-276/jobs-gets-wish-in-thermonuclear-war-at-least-for-now/
Apple even copied a bunch of Android features for iOS 5: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/apple-copies-a-bunch-of-features-from-android-calls-it-ios5-updated/2295 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-ios-5-copied-android-2011-6?op=1 http://androidcommunity.com/apple-knows-no-shame-steals-ics-camera-unlock-for-ios-20120217/
Apple is starting to sue competitors before they start to sue them. What happened to the Classic Apple of out innovate your competition and make a better product and service than they have, instead of just suing them over patents.
I hear Apple will be getting into set top boxes soon, the TiVO area with their own DVR, want to bet they will make their own DVR and then sue TiVO and others over it?
I also heard that Apple wants to make the smart TV market, a TV set with apps built into it, will they sue others who have had this for the past five years or so?
Apple made record profits by switching to mobile devices and making an App Store to sell apps on it. Something other companies had before Apple had it.
If Apple made teapots, they'd take an ordinary teapot worth $15 and stick the Apple logo on it and sell it for $350 and then sue all other teapot makers for stealing their design, and the public would buy millions of Apple Teapots.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Science and Techology Predictions by 2037
Predictions in the next 25 years. 2012 to 2037.
A change in energy to solar power and fusion based power.
The fusion based power will use water for fuel and hopefully end our dependence
on carbon based fuels. Space based solar power will provide cheap and clean energy, fusion energy power plants will help launch space ships. If the US government refuses to do this to fund social programs, private and public corporations will do it for record profits.
Civil Rights the GLBTT same sex marriage bill will pass
federal legislation and at a federal level have equal rights for GLBTT people. The USA will give up the traditional marriage definition for a more modern one. Generation-Y took control of the government to pass the laws.
People will be leaving religion having lost their faith
because of a bad economy, because of attacks on religions, because many
religions didn't support same sex marriages, and also because people have
become more materialistic than spiritual. There is a worship of science and technology instead.
Thin computers are in, have become so miniaturized that they
resemble pieces of paper but a bit thicker. The screens are flexible and
respond to touch and voice. A smaller smart paper device that is more rigid
will replace the mobile phone. Work on the neurochip, a computer implanted in
the human brain is in process that allows people to think instead of type on a
touch screen will revolutionize the computer industry.
Many Dotcom companies will have ultimately failed because
they had broken business models. Very few will have survived. Many moved to
parts in Asia for lower taxes and cheaper labor with
hosted servers in the EU and USA
for customers there. The Internet has changed to the Ultranet that is a managed network but restrictive on what one can do. Some hacker groups make their own Darknets to host pirated materials that are near anarchism on rules, there are proxy servers on the Ultranet that allow access to Darknets, and governments keep trying to shut them down.
The USA
and EU suffer a great depression, there is a great collapse of the global
economy. It is caused by a moral collapse, a social collapse, a cultural
collapse, and the USA
going into deep debt so that the US Dollar is basically worthless once it is no
longer used to trade for other currencies. There will be an effort to use the
Euro instead, but the new standard will be a bushel of currencies from more stable nations called the Global Unit or GU. Some people
and nations will use the Bitcoin instead as a global currency. The US Dollar
will be replaced with the Amero as Canada,
Mexico, the USA
and other nations in North America, Central
America, and South America form the
American Union in order to save local economies, mirroring the European Union. Many groups will leave the USA and other nations to start their own pirate nations.
Since most 'smart' jobs got offshored to India,
India leads the
world in science, engineering and technology resource and patents. The economy
in India booms.
China also has
a booming economy as most manufacturing jobs have been moved there. They found a partnership in Asia with other nations, research done in India, manufacturing done in China, distribution to most of Asia without import taxes.
Due to climate change, the middle of the USA
suffers droughts and turns slowly into a desert. The USA
isn't able to produce enough food for the rest of the world. There is starving,
until someone develops floating cities on the ocean and bodies of water and floating farms to control the
environment under a climate controlled dome to grow food better. Some farms are put into climate control domes with water pumped in because of droughts.
As Generation-Y takes over, marijuana is legalized and taxed
like tobacco. Since more people are killed by automobiles than guns due to
being intoxicated by alcohol, marijuana, and other things computers take over the
driving of automobiles for most of the population. As a result there are less
automobile accidents. But since people are dependent on technology they think less and are more emotional because of mood altering drugs.
Computers go to 128 bits, Moore's
Law is broken as computers cannot advance fast enough due to limits in quantum mechanics and the law of thermodynamics but will go from 64 bits to
128 bits. What we know as Windows no longer exists and Microsoft develops a
brand new operating system called Singularity written in C Sharp that has been
under development for a long time. Apple reinvents the Macintosh OS renamed Mac
OS 128 or iOS 128 that drops 64 bit support and develops new Macs and iOS
devices using 128 bit technology. Linux moves to 128 bits with a new 128 bit
kernel. The Nanochip will replace the Microchip on a much smaller scale using less power.
3D printers are all the rage now that they are affordable.
First there are plastic printers and then metal ones. It revolutionizes small
businesses by just printing out 3D parts using plastic and metal to make things
out of to keep costs down.
Space Travel is commercialized, there is a vacation resort
on the Moon, but time there is limited because it is expensive and getting
resources to the Moon is costly. There are attempts to travel to Mars, but
until fusion power plants are developed it won't be a reality. using water as
fuel in fusion power plants will use the exhaust to push a ship in space. There
will be asteroid mining for materials, and food and water put in orbits around
the Sun near Mars, Jupiter, and the Asteroid belt like we have "gas
stations" today in case people run out.
In the USA
some states will want to secede from the Union, this
will lead to a second civil war. Due to the federal government's out of control
spending and bailouts, due to lack of funds to fight crime, due to the loss of
rights freedoms and liberties for security and wars, there will be many states
leaving the USA
to become their own nation with their own currency. There will be many battles
over it on land and at sea. Some people will go crazy with bath salts and be
like zombies that the others will fight in a zombie uprising. The result is
either a reformed third world USA,
or separate states with a better economy.
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