First of all I am migrating my systems to Ubuntu Linux, I am eating the dog food I am talking about. I've used Linux off and on since 1995, and Linux has been out since 1991 when Linus Torvalds first released it to the public. I just converted my Acer Laptop from Windows 7 Home Premium to Ubuntu Linux 12.10 AMD 64 bit version. My PC, a custom built ATX system will dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu just in case I need Windows for some application but I am not going to Windows 8.
I am learning the built in C/C++ compiler GCC for Linux using NANO for the command line, and GEdit for the GUI GNOME editor. They both highlight my code and show me the structure. No more Visual Studio, as I switch to Mono.
Apple claims there are and estimated 66 million Macintosh users, 27 million of them running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. According to the Linux Counter there are an estimated 63 million Linux users in the world. According to Netcraft over 200 million Web Servers run Linux with Apache, and Microsoft Windows Server with IIS only runs 97 million web servers. Windows 8 sales are slow, reaching 4 million users so far, which is slower than the rate of Windows Vista or Windows ME when they came out.
What is the deal with Windows 8? Microsoft changed the way that the GUI worked removing the start menu and adding a start screen which they got sued over the name Metro, called it Windows 8 GUI, and now call it the Modern GUI. With the Windows 8 Surface Tablets Microsoft wants to take a bite out of Apple, and the cheaper Windows RT tablet based on ARM instead of Intel processors won't even run Legacy Windows apps, but it is a twin for Windows 8 that has people confused. The Microsoft Surface is to the Apple iPad, what the Microsoft Zune was to the Apple iPod. The Windows 8/RT Surface Tablet is the New Coke of Microsoft Windows, and people are asking for the Classic Windows GUI back already.
Yes corporations are finding problems with users learning the new Windows 8 Modern GUI, it has a high learning curve and in many ways it is confusing. Rolling out a Windows 8 upgrade has many hidden costs, training costs are through the roof and converting custom applications to the Modern GUI is time consuming and very costly as well. The Modern GUI is really designed for touch screens and mice and trackballs and trackpads don't work with it too well. So to be upgraded to Windows 8, the corporate PC has to have the monitor upgraded to a touchscreen for best results as well.
From the corporate rumblings they are giving Microsoft 1 to 2 years before they consider a migration to Linux and free and open source alternatives to Microsoft software and products. Linux can have any GUI you want, just install a new GUI and then choose it when you log on. There is Unity with Canonical's Ubuntu or you could replace it with GNOME or KDE. If you want a more Classical Windows look try MATE, if you want a Mac OS X look and feel with a dock try Cario Dock, you can use more GUI enhancers and even custom skins to make Linux look like whatever you want it to look like.
Need to run legacy Windows apps? Consider QEMU for running and old version of Windows in a virtual machine. Another free virtual machine is Sun/Oracle's VirtualBox. Of course VMWARE has Linux client and servers as well.WINEHQ is an environment to convert Windows libraries and API calls to Linux, it is not an emulator but attempts to run Windows code on Linux. WINE is not 100% Windows compatible but can run a lot of the older software under certain conditions.
Why Linux over Windows? It has better security than Windows will ever hope of having. Linux has a lower overhead than Windows and it runs faster. The Linux kernel can load modules in and out of memory as needed to save memory and CPU cycles for modules not accessed frequently automatically while Windows loads a ton bloat of services, memory resident programs, toolbar apps, updaters and has such poor management that it can cause system crashes and blue screens of death.
Why Linux over Mac OS X? Well in order to run Mac OS X you need an Apple branded computer, a Macintosh, and those are always expensive. You can run Mac OS X on Non-Apple branded computers, PC Hardware as a Hackintosh, but you are breaking the terms with Apple and the software laws which is risky. Linux is free to download and install and use, and like Mac OS X it too is based on Unix standards. Linux will run on almost any PC as long as it has driver support for all of the hardware, which happens to be more driver support than Mac OS X itself and also more driver support than Windows 8 or Windows 7. In fact your old PC computers can be given new life by installing Linux on them. Recently Linux dropped Intel 386 support, but it still supports Intel 486 and up PC computer processors and AMD chips and has been ported to many different processor types as well. You still need a Mac to write iOS apps for the App Store and you need XCode to submit apps to Apple's app store along with a $100 fee for a developer's license. Linux is not that picky.
Android phones and tablets are based on Linux technology and Linux mobile devices have been out since before Apple got into mobile devices as PDAs, cell phones, tablets, and other embedded devices. A lot of the patents, copyrights, trademarks, and IP that many companies claim to hold where developed by the Linux open source community first and dating back as far as 1991 with the original Linux, that was designed to be portable to different platforms. Linux pre-dates Mac OS X, Windows 95, the 32 bit OS/2 2.0, and many others.
I don't see a "mass exodus" to Linux any time in the future, but I do see home and corporate users migrating to Linux because they are tired of Microsoft's tricks and failures, and don't wish to pay Apple's high prices, and look for something more reliable and lower costing for them.
By all means a majority of the market develops software for Windows, and after that develops it for Mac OS X, but ignoring Linux at this time and phase would be foolish. You have to consider it at least a third system to consider using and developing on.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Dealing with trolls and women in technology
Hacker News had a discussion on this a while ago.
The original blog was taken down either by 'hackers' or the original person.
She had claimed at Hacker News (and the tech world in general) that there is a sexist, misogynist attitude towards women as well as harassment, douchbaggery and other things. I feel sad for her that she experienced these things, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Now I have known women in technology that are experts in what they do, they are knowledgeable, they learn new skills easily, and nobody would deny them a place at a conference or meeting or group to discuss issues. We should not discriminate by gender or any other thing.
What this woman experienced is trolls, they exist on the Internet and in real life. Call them bullies, sociopaths, egomaniacs, people with emotional and psychological problems that take things out on others. You might have known some in high school or elementary school, the very same grow up to become adult bullies.
The thing these bullies or trolls did was target her because she wasn't an expert in her field, even if she came up with the idea and helped organize the event, what these bullies or trolls did was called "bite the n00b" in which a n00b is a new or inexperienced person who is just learning or has basic knowledge in a subject. There exists a small fraction of the hacker community that considers itself 'elite' or '733t' and then picks on and bullies the part that is not 'elite'. "Did your mommy buy you a 'puer for your birthday?" they used to say in the 1980's when a new user signed into a BBS and barely knew what they were doing. I was in the part that believes "information should be free' in that everyone should have the chance to learn and share the knowledge and information on how computers and technologies work
Now she is an organizer and a planner, and she did come up with a new idea. We need more people like that, and we should not discourage people when they come up with new ideas and lack the experience in the area. We need to be inclusive and not exclusive. Yes she is a blogger and writes 'disruptive journalism' that uses negativity to get attention. Nothing wrong with being a blogger, free speech and all that. Just that we hold people responsible for their free speech these days as well as their actions, behaviors, and words.
Not everyone had dealt with her fairly. Was it because she is a woman, or was it that she lacked knowledge and experience in cryptology? Either one is an unacceptable reason to treat her that way. I think part of the problem is that hackers are not held to standards of behavior and courtesy. True most hackers have a code of ethics or morals that they developed over the years. But I am talking about the small minority that doesn't seem to have a code of ethics or morals and just has anarchy of ethics and morals. True most had dealt with her fairly and wanted to hear what she had to say, but didn't do anything to stop the minority from trolling and bullying her.
Throughout my career I trained and tutored people in learning how a computer works, how to use an operating system, how to program, how to use databases. Not just as an employee at a company, but in college and universities, and on my own free time. In 1986 I was at the University of Missouri Rolla (Now Missouri University of Science and Technology) and pledged a fraternity there. I studied Computer Science and saw that there were few women at the university (I think that has changed since then). There was a woman in my Pascal class that was struggling, and I tutored her to help her pass an upcoming class. Other members of my fraternity had tried to ask her out on dates, and they were stunned to see me on campus and in the student center having conversations with her. Now I wasn't dating her, I was tutoring her, I was treating her like a human being.
My point is that we would be better off helping people who are inexperienced or struggling in computers and technology rather than harassing them, bulling them, trolling them, or even asking women for dates. If you want to date a woman, find a dating site or something, don't turn Hacker News or a forum or your hacker event into a dating one. Part of being a hacker should be being a professional that is willing to help out others and not bully or troll them.
It isn't just women who are targeted by bullies and trolls, it is men as well. In some of my former workplaces I was bullied and harassed because I would not go to happy hour and get drunk with coworkers (I don't drink or use drugs, and I have a family that needs my help at home) or that I didn't join in on the politics or trying to force a coworker to quit by harassing and bullying them and withholding important information from them. You see I believe in helping people out and not doing those harassing and bullying things to them. It happens more often than you think, and it is not the majority but more of the minority of people who do it.
Yes it is important to discuss, and yes it isn't just women who are the victims. We need to have an empathy for others so that we don't do these things. We must not form social kliks and only include an inner circle of elite people and shut out and bully and harass the rest. I think learning Critical Thinking can help in this area. It should be taught in grade schools on up to high schools and be in college and universities (it should already be there in higher education) that not only would help people treat other people as human beings, but also allow people to learn and grow to become better people and learn areas of technology and science.
The original blog was taken down either by 'hackers' or the original person.
She had claimed at Hacker News (and the tech world in general) that there is a sexist, misogynist attitude towards women as well as harassment, douchbaggery and other things. I feel sad for her that she experienced these things, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Now I have known women in technology that are experts in what they do, they are knowledgeable, they learn new skills easily, and nobody would deny them a place at a conference or meeting or group to discuss issues. We should not discriminate by gender or any other thing.
What this woman experienced is trolls, they exist on the Internet and in real life. Call them bullies, sociopaths, egomaniacs, people with emotional and psychological problems that take things out on others. You might have known some in high school or elementary school, the very same grow up to become adult bullies.
The thing these bullies or trolls did was target her because she wasn't an expert in her field, even if she came up with the idea and helped organize the event, what these bullies or trolls did was called "bite the n00b" in which a n00b is a new or inexperienced person who is just learning or has basic knowledge in a subject. There exists a small fraction of the hacker community that considers itself 'elite' or '733t' and then picks on and bullies the part that is not 'elite'. "Did your mommy buy you a 'puer for your birthday?" they used to say in the 1980's when a new user signed into a BBS and barely knew what they were doing. I was in the part that believes "information should be free' in that everyone should have the chance to learn and share the knowledge and information on how computers and technologies work
Now she is an organizer and a planner, and she did come up with a new idea. We need more people like that, and we should not discourage people when they come up with new ideas and lack the experience in the area. We need to be inclusive and not exclusive. Yes she is a blogger and writes 'disruptive journalism' that uses negativity to get attention. Nothing wrong with being a blogger, free speech and all that. Just that we hold people responsible for their free speech these days as well as their actions, behaviors, and words.
Not everyone had dealt with her fairly. Was it because she is a woman, or was it that she lacked knowledge and experience in cryptology? Either one is an unacceptable reason to treat her that way. I think part of the problem is that hackers are not held to standards of behavior and courtesy. True most hackers have a code of ethics or morals that they developed over the years. But I am talking about the small minority that doesn't seem to have a code of ethics or morals and just has anarchy of ethics and morals. True most had dealt with her fairly and wanted to hear what she had to say, but didn't do anything to stop the minority from trolling and bullying her.
Throughout my career I trained and tutored people in learning how a computer works, how to use an operating system, how to program, how to use databases. Not just as an employee at a company, but in college and universities, and on my own free time. In 1986 I was at the University of Missouri Rolla (Now Missouri University of Science and Technology) and pledged a fraternity there. I studied Computer Science and saw that there were few women at the university (I think that has changed since then). There was a woman in my Pascal class that was struggling, and I tutored her to help her pass an upcoming class. Other members of my fraternity had tried to ask her out on dates, and they were stunned to see me on campus and in the student center having conversations with her. Now I wasn't dating her, I was tutoring her, I was treating her like a human being.
My point is that we would be better off helping people who are inexperienced or struggling in computers and technology rather than harassing them, bulling them, trolling them, or even asking women for dates. If you want to date a woman, find a dating site or something, don't turn Hacker News or a forum or your hacker event into a dating one. Part of being a hacker should be being a professional that is willing to help out others and not bully or troll them.
It isn't just women who are targeted by bullies and trolls, it is men as well. In some of my former workplaces I was bullied and harassed because I would not go to happy hour and get drunk with coworkers (I don't drink or use drugs, and I have a family that needs my help at home) or that I didn't join in on the politics or trying to force a coworker to quit by harassing and bullying them and withholding important information from them. You see I believe in helping people out and not doing those harassing and bullying things to them. It happens more often than you think, and it is not the majority but more of the minority of people who do it.
Yes it is important to discuss, and yes it isn't just women who are the victims. We need to have an empathy for others so that we don't do these things. We must not form social kliks and only include an inner circle of elite people and shut out and bully and harass the rest. I think learning Critical Thinking can help in this area. It should be taught in grade schools on up to high schools and be in college and universities (it should already be there in higher education) that not only would help people treat other people as human beings, but also allow people to learn and grow to become better people and learn areas of technology and science.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A farewell to Intel
The PC Era is dead, we are in the Post-PC Era or some call it the Pro-PC era. Intel played a role in the PC era and the X86 based processors. They are even used by Macintoshes now. But all of that could change.
Intel almost had a monopoly until IBM had Intel sign an agreement to have AMD make chips in case Intel could not meet up with IBM's demand for them. Even PC maker used Intel chips, and later on AMD made them cheaper and brought in low cost PC systems as a result. Then AMD made 64 bit processors and licensed it with Intel. The X64 processor was born, and so was multiple core processing and hyperthreading. The PC was no more, it had evolved into the UberPC and software has not quite caught up yet.
Apple used Motorola 68000 and later on with a deal with IBM and Motorola joined the PowerPC alliance with them. It was to challenge the Intel threat and make better processors. Apple had their PowerMacs and CHRP systems based on the PowerPC chip. In 2006 Apple went to Intel chips because IBM could not keep up with Apple's demand and favored the many video game consoles that used PowerPC chips like the XBox 360, Playstation 3, etc. Apple converted their Mac OS X operating system to Intel chips and then later on dropped PowerPC support.
All looked well for Intel, they even bought out a few companies like McAfee. It seemed that only AMD was their real threat and it was struggling to survive.
But the mobile device era came about, along with it came the ARM chips. The ARM design can be licensed and then the ARM chips can be modified and then made cheaply. Apple uses them in the iPhone, iPod, and iPad, Microsoft uses them in Windows 7 Phones and Windows RT tablets, and suddenly some Dotcom companies found out that ARM based Linux web servers in a cluster is cheaper than buying Intel based ones.
Apple makes the A5 chip based on ARM designs and outsourced the manufacturing to Samsung. The very company it is suing over Android devices that also use ARM chips. Apple has plans, you see, to switch their Macintosh series from Intel chips to ARM ones like the A5, and has bought out a chip making company. Learning from the failed IBM Motorola Apple alliance, Apple wants to make their own ARM based chips. This would be a move away from Intel and force users to buy all new apps yet again for ARM based Macintoshes and end support for Intel based Macintoshes. It would also end the Hackintosh era where people modify Non-Apple Intel based PC systems to run the Intel based Mac OS X. Apple would kill two birds with one stone there. Take the iOS/iPad technology and use it for the Macintosh series.
Microsoft of course has Windows RT and would counter with more Windows RT devices. It has the same GUI as Windows 8, but runs on ARM devices and does not run Intel legacy programs. But if Microsoft pushed it more, they could push Intel based Windows 8 devices and Windows 7 and under devices out of support and end of life.
AMD is licensing the ARM design and will be making ARM chips soon. They anticipate selling more ARM chips. There are many computers like the Raspberry PI that show an ARM based computer for less than $100 can be a good seller. ARM chips use less power, and use a smaller size, and run cooler than the Intel/AMD X86-X64 chips. In a culture that wants to fight climate change the ARM chips are very trendy.
Need I say Linux, AROS, HaikuOS, and other operating systems are being ported to ARM platforms? We might be seeing the start of the ARM Era.
The PC isn't really dead, it has evolved to the UberPC, the old PC standard is the one that is dead. The old PC standard of 32 bit only, Intel X86, Legacy Windows/DOS, single core processor, non-hyperthreading, 32 bit addressing (3.5 Gigabyte RAM limit), and legacy 16 bit mode are over. 64 bit processors are in with multiple cores, hyperthreading, legacy 32 bit mode, RAM over 4Gigabytes (64 bit addressing). The UberPC or PlusPC, whatever you want to call it is the next step in PC evolution.
But somehow with ARM, less is more. Less instructions, less power consumption, less space, less overhead, less expenses, and a lower price tag. Sure an ARM chip won't run at 3.5 Ghz, yet, but unless you are playing really detailed 3D video games it does not matter. ARM chips are being modded for more cores, more hyperthreading, and of course faster clock cycles, and a 64 bit mode. So we might be seeing ARM Macs, ARM PCs to go with our ARM mobile devices.
What will Intel do if companies start using ARM chips instead of Intel chips? Will it end up like Sun and the Sun SPARC chip and get bought out, will it end up like MIPS and get bought and sold? Intel's best bet is to support third party operating systems like Linux and show why Intel chips run Linux the best, Intel needs to modify low end chips like the Atom to compete with ARM chips. Intel has to, as matter of fact, change their business model and business plan.
Intel almost had a monopoly until IBM had Intel sign an agreement to have AMD make chips in case Intel could not meet up with IBM's demand for them. Even PC maker used Intel chips, and later on AMD made them cheaper and brought in low cost PC systems as a result. Then AMD made 64 bit processors and licensed it with Intel. The X64 processor was born, and so was multiple core processing and hyperthreading. The PC was no more, it had evolved into the UberPC and software has not quite caught up yet.
Apple used Motorola 68000 and later on with a deal with IBM and Motorola joined the PowerPC alliance with them. It was to challenge the Intel threat and make better processors. Apple had their PowerMacs and CHRP systems based on the PowerPC chip. In 2006 Apple went to Intel chips because IBM could not keep up with Apple's demand and favored the many video game consoles that used PowerPC chips like the XBox 360, Playstation 3, etc. Apple converted their Mac OS X operating system to Intel chips and then later on dropped PowerPC support.
All looked well for Intel, they even bought out a few companies like McAfee. It seemed that only AMD was their real threat and it was struggling to survive.
But the mobile device era came about, along with it came the ARM chips. The ARM design can be licensed and then the ARM chips can be modified and then made cheaply. Apple uses them in the iPhone, iPod, and iPad, Microsoft uses them in Windows 7 Phones and Windows RT tablets, and suddenly some Dotcom companies found out that ARM based Linux web servers in a cluster is cheaper than buying Intel based ones.
Apple makes the A5 chip based on ARM designs and outsourced the manufacturing to Samsung. The very company it is suing over Android devices that also use ARM chips. Apple has plans, you see, to switch their Macintosh series from Intel chips to ARM ones like the A5, and has bought out a chip making company. Learning from the failed IBM Motorola Apple alliance, Apple wants to make their own ARM based chips. This would be a move away from Intel and force users to buy all new apps yet again for ARM based Macintoshes and end support for Intel based Macintoshes. It would also end the Hackintosh era where people modify Non-Apple Intel based PC systems to run the Intel based Mac OS X. Apple would kill two birds with one stone there. Take the iOS/iPad technology and use it for the Macintosh series.
Microsoft of course has Windows RT and would counter with more Windows RT devices. It has the same GUI as Windows 8, but runs on ARM devices and does not run Intel legacy programs. But if Microsoft pushed it more, they could push Intel based Windows 8 devices and Windows 7 and under devices out of support and end of life.
AMD is licensing the ARM design and will be making ARM chips soon. They anticipate selling more ARM chips. There are many computers like the Raspberry PI that show an ARM based computer for less than $100 can be a good seller. ARM chips use less power, and use a smaller size, and run cooler than the Intel/AMD X86-X64 chips. In a culture that wants to fight climate change the ARM chips are very trendy.
Need I say Linux, AROS, HaikuOS, and other operating systems are being ported to ARM platforms? We might be seeing the start of the ARM Era.
The PC isn't really dead, it has evolved to the UberPC, the old PC standard is the one that is dead. The old PC standard of 32 bit only, Intel X86, Legacy Windows/DOS, single core processor, non-hyperthreading, 32 bit addressing (3.5 Gigabyte RAM limit), and legacy 16 bit mode are over. 64 bit processors are in with multiple cores, hyperthreading, legacy 32 bit mode, RAM over 4Gigabytes (64 bit addressing). The UberPC or PlusPC, whatever you want to call it is the next step in PC evolution.
But somehow with ARM, less is more. Less instructions, less power consumption, less space, less overhead, less expenses, and a lower price tag. Sure an ARM chip won't run at 3.5 Ghz, yet, but unless you are playing really detailed 3D video games it does not matter. ARM chips are being modded for more cores, more hyperthreading, and of course faster clock cycles, and a 64 bit mode. So we might be seeing ARM Macs, ARM PCs to go with our ARM mobile devices.
What will Intel do if companies start using ARM chips instead of Intel chips? Will it end up like Sun and the Sun SPARC chip and get bought out, will it end up like MIPS and get bought and sold? Intel's best bet is to support third party operating systems like Linux and show why Intel chips run Linux the best, Intel needs to modify low end chips like the Atom to compete with ARM chips. Intel has to, as matter of fact, change their business model and business plan.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Alternatives to Windows 8
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.
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.
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.
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