No shock at all - the plan was always for a new OS every two or three years.
What happened was MS's Trustworthy COmputing drive in 2003 - which stopped development of Vista dead in its tracks for 18 months while they effectively re-wrote XP to create SP2.
Then they had to re-start Vista using the things they learned during that process.
XP released mid 2001
SP1 mid 2002
SP2 early 2004
Vista Jan 2007
Win 7 Nov 2009
Win 8 (prob) Nov2012/Jan 2013
I actually have to confess it was solely dx10 that originally moved me off xp to vista, and then by matter of necessity to windows 7.
I'm happy with this for now though I'm quite fond of my current setup.
Hi there
"Who let the dogs out !! Woof Woof !!".
You must have had really bad luck or be using really strange hardware.
I'm not sure that if you are happy with Windows on a desktop why you would want to bother with Linux - except possibly as a learning tool -- but as a SERVER Linux is usually awesome.
You can pick any of these 3 for example - just install the minimum packages --- or even just install from a LIVE CD and it should work "Straight out of the box".
SUSE,
FEDORA,
UBUNTU.
There are a load more but those 3 should work just fine from a live CD.
What you WILL have to learn -- and this might come as a bit of a steep learning curve to people only used to Windows and its GUI - is how to use the command line and how to create and run scripts -- not too difficult --we aren't talking about fully fleged developers programming complex C++ code etc etc.
A Linux server is incredibly easy to set up and once it's up and running you can leave it up for months or even years -- I don't bother to update stuff at all on my server until I decide to install a newer release of the OS -- and even then I don't follow every release.
But to re-iterate you MUST learn the command line since things that are started automatically in Windows such as the network interface need to be handled by YOU in Linux such as IFUP / IFDOWN commands etc. (Interface) . You can automate some of these commands -- once you get the hang of it it's not hard either.
Incidentally once your server is up and running you don't even need to keep a screen connected to it - you can enter commands from a remote terminal - for example a Windows laptop.
Cheers
jimbo
It just depends on what you are used to.
I have to get my friend (he uses Arch Linux) to help me with my Ubuntu problems (he hates Ubuntu).
I have to help him when he has Windows problems.
Linux and Windows can both be recalcitrant when it comes to d-r-i-v-e-r-s.
In Ubuntu and Fedora, some of the config files have different names and/or different locations.
I'm not sure whether SUSE resembles either of those two, or if it does things it's own way too.
I just installed the latest version in a VM, but I haven't "wandered" around the file system.
CentOS is probably a better bet for server operations (Fedora is too "bleeding edge").
I have been using CentOS 6 in my Networking course and it seems solid.
This blog from a reputable source only repeats what I have been saying: If you think MS is having a hard time killing off XP, wait until they try to kill off Windows 7!
Report: Windows 8 'Largely Irrelevant'
- by John Lister on 20111209 @ 01:17PM EST | google it | send to friends
- Filed under Business | Microsoft | (related terms: metro, idc, upgrade, system, reasoning)
A leading tech analyst firm has predicted Windows 8 will fail to make a splash among ordinary consumers. The reasoning is that the most prominent new feature in Windows 8 is unlikely to be interesting enough to entice users to upgrade.
The unflattering prediction comes from IDC, which has published a list of 10 predictions for 2012. The comments are only a matter of opinion and are thus largely speculative, however, they carry considerable weight with financial investors.
Metro Interface Not Attractive To Most Users
Writing about the new edition of Microsoft's operating system, IDC didn't say simply that sales would be poor. Instead, it went for a more comprehensive negative outlook.
"Windows 8 will be largely irrelevant to the users of traditional PCs, and we expect effectively no upgrade activity from Windows 7 to Windows 8 in that form factor." (Source: cnet.com)
IDC's comments are based on the fact that Windows 8 will feature a new interface known as Metro, though most users that own a desktop, netbook, or laptop-based PCs have the option to revert to a more traditional set-up found in previous versions of Windows featuring the Start Menu.
Windows 8 Metro Designed for Mobile Use
Metro is designed to work equally well both on touch-screen devices, such as tablets and even the larger smartphones. It's also said to work well on traditional keyboard-and-mouse desktop and laptop PCs.
To support touch-screen use, Metro is based around large on-screen "tiles" rather than the previous small icons, similar to what is used in the iPhone.
The Metro tiles can be dynamic, so that a tile linking to, for example, news services could change rapidly and frequently to include updated headlines rather than just static text or images, as with Windows 7 and earlier graphical interfaces.
Windows 8: Other Changes Less Dramatic
While IDC hasn't gone into detail about its prediction, it is apparently relying on reports that some beta testers find Metro to be unsatisfying when used with a keyboard and mouse.
IDC also appears to be reasoning that users who turn off this feature in Metro will find Windows 8 looks remarkably similar to Windows 7.
While there are a host of changes in the new system, they may not be as dramatically obvious as in previous Windows revisions. (Source: techeye.net)
There may well be substance to IDC's reasoning and predictions. However, even if relatively few people upgrade to Windows 8 on their existing PCs, Microsoft is likely to enjoy a significant revenue spike from the sale of new computers running the new operating system.
Is it possible that they designed 8 almost entirely for touchscreen use?
I haven't gotten there yet so haven't seen it for myself but it will take something spectacular to pry me off of Win7 which is perfection as far as I'm concerned.
But there are those who will argue with featherlight and instantaneous, mostly who haven't tried 7, have a factory-bloated or tweak-ruined install or prefer XPired.
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