microsoft

So according to ZDNet bloggers, Nebooks have become the bane of Microsoft, with Linux driven netbooks taking a huge chunk out of Microsoft's bottom line opportunities and apparently the sole trigger for all the Microsoft layoffs of late.

And, in the same e-mail news report from ZD, Windows kicks Linux to the curb by taking over the netbook market.

Obviously both can't be true. Being a Linux fanboy, I like to think that the second article is simply Microsoft or Microsoft fanboy FUD. The truth, however is likely something between the two.

My daughter has an Asus Linux EEE Pc. I have to say I love it, but it was more technically challenging to get working properly than the typical Ubuntu desktop installation. I can understand how people would prefer Windows XP on a netbook if that's what you were familiar with. Assuming the wireless drivers worked out of the box.

Properly done, Linux is a very easy thing to use, and if you build the hardware yourself you should be able to provide working wireless drivers (for instance) preinstalled. That seems to be a primary problem with what's been available.

I look for Linux netbooks version 2.0 - someone really needs to actually use these things before they ship them. A bit more experience will solidify the product lines.

For me, not a problem - I'll still buy a Linux device over a Windows one anyday. For Linux newbies, you really should offer something with a bit more polish - you do the OS a disservice otherwise.

I have a complaint with a Windows 7 design issue. My complaint is less about the underpinnings and more a general trend I've been noticing.

Shortly after flat panel displays were released, companies came out with displays that were "page view", in other words they were taller than they were wide, for editing documents. In the typical business environment this is a good idea. When you think about it, most web pages are even designed to be vertically displayed. The taller your screen is, the more usable space you have.

Then, digital movies caught on and suddenly everyone needed a screen that was the same shape and ratio as that big silver screen at the local theater. Now, for the average-joe user, by the time they've got a taskbar provided by Windows (or Gnome or whatever) then opened their browser, things get smaller vertically. Add in the file menu, bookmarks toolbar, various plug in toolbars (for those people who can't resist installing the Yahoo toolbar, Google toolbar and don't forget the SearchMyWay toolbar.)

Next thing you know you have 1/2 a screen to display actual data.

Look closely at the screen snippet of Windows 7 and the taskbar. Have you noticed that the taskbar is now nearly double it's original height? Instead of text buttons naming each window, there's a large square icon reminiscent of the NeXT design style. Sure it looks good and is probably very functional, but think about the screen real-estate lost.

Window decorations

Couple that with the window borders as shown here and you'll realize that everything you do will nickel-and-dime you for more of your vertical space. The sides of a window are still somewhat narrow, but the tops and bottoms of the window are increasingly large in a cartoonish sort of way.

Give me a nice thin busybox over that any day. Personally I run a nice thin Compiz / Emerald theme and have a very small taskbar. My second monitor has no taskbar at all so I can do a full maximize. I've even streamlined my Firefox buttons to eliminate vertical space for the navigation buttons and chosen a thin theme.

Some day people may wake up and realize that it doesn't matter if you have a 25" diagonal widescreen monitor, you are still going to feel cramped vertically if things continue down this road.

Where should we maybe be concentrating design? Put the handles on the sides of the window instead of the top, move the taskbar to a vertical bar, make menus pop out from the sides. Keep your widescreen monitors to watch your movies, but to maximize that I think the design needs to take in account where the wasted space is, and where we're running short. Sure, it'll be a paradigm shift in design, but it's the next logical progression.

Just ask Brad Brooks, Corporate VP at Microsoft: "Today we are drawing a line and are going to start telling the real story" about Vista.

Apparently unfazed by all the negative press surrounding Vista, Microsoft has drawn a line. Yeah. Stop saying our stuff sucks. Really, we mean it! Stop it or else!

The problem is, with enough marketing money they can quickly make the average Joe forget how bad it is. And considering that Brooks' resume includes marketing and sales roles with Enron, who knows to what lengths he'll go?

He looks kinda like a vacuum cleaner salesman I once knew.

Thanks to Vermyndax for originally linking this story

ZD is blogging about why many MCSE's can't or won't learn Linux.

The judgement?

"Basically, to learn Unix you learn to understand and apply a small set of key ideas and achieve expertise by expanding both the set of ideas and your ability to apply them - but you learn Windows by working with the functionality available in a specific release."

He goes on to say:

"Put a Solaris guy who’s never used Linux in front of SuSe 10 with a list of complex tasks and [...] he won’t be either intimidated or deterred; and the job will get done because he knows how the tools he needs should work

Computerworld reports that Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the only browser gaining market share, while Firefox and Safari lose.

Personally, I don't buy it. First of all the percentages are so small to be possibly just noise in the sampling method.

But, as someone who controls a large corporate network, I can say that keeping Internet Explorer from popping back up on computers has been a task. Microsoft uses every underhanded method possible to force users to Internet Explorer 8, even though I've already standardized on Firefox. I've had it reappear on Microsoft Update, already downloaded and ready to install, on several workstations I know had previously been told never to offer the update.

How can you not gain market share when you control the OS and can trick average-joe users into installing it?