[GLLUG] Continuing Life for Old Tech

[frank.dolinar at comcast.net]

Regarding Windows 8, and apart from the fact that I think the Metro interface is just plain ugly, here's a reason not to switch... from a post this morning on Slashdot: 

Microsoft Blocks 3d-Party Browsers In Windows RT, Says Mozilla Counsel 

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 10, @08:47AM 
from the embrace-extend-extinguish dept. 

nk497 writes "Mozilla has accused Microsoft of trying to go back to the 'digital dark ages' by limiting rival browsers in the ARM version of Windows 8 . Third-party browsers won't work in the desktop mode, and Metro style browsers will be limited in what APIs they can use, said Mozilla general counsel Harvey Anderson, forcing users to move to IE instead. Mozilla said it was the first step toward a new platform lock-in that 'restricts user choice, reduces competition and chills innovation,' and pointed out that such browser control was exactly what upset EU and U.S. regulators about IE in the first place. Anderson called on Microsoft to 'reject the temptation to pursue a closed path,' adding 'the world doesn't need another closed proprietary environment.'" 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Clay Dowling" <clay at lazarusid.com> 
To: "glluG" <linux-user at egr.msu.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 8:57:28 AM 
Subject: [GLLUG] Continuing Life for Old Tech 

Chic, this article made me think of you: 
http://www.itworld.com/hardware/270936/living-computing-fossils-old-tech-holding-dear-life 

Best piece from the whole article: 40% of all personal computers run 
window XP, a ten year old operating system. I realized after reading it 
that I've got a machine running XP in my basement. I think that 
Microsoft might have hit a sweet spot with XP: it looks nice and is very 
reliable, so there hasn't been much incentive to upgrade. Windows 8 is 
likely to change that, because the OS is supposed to be able to scale 
available services to match hardware capabilities, and administration 
will move from the GUI to the CLI on servers. But for most users, there 
still might not be a lot of reason to switch. 

Clay 
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