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Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

neil.computer

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Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#41

Post by ekianjo »

nroets wrote: post #4

Microsoft had the dominant consumer operating system since the 1980s. Using that advantage (and not innovation and quality !) they were able to grab substantial chunks of other markets: Word processing, commercial compilers, cloud computing etc. Next up is digital assistants and advertising. What is the alternative for average consumers ? Chrome books ?

> What is the alternative for average consumers ? Chrome books ?

The answer is obvious if you care about what the article is about. It's Linux. ChromeBooks are controlled by Google whose entire business is ads, so they can't be trusted either.

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#42

Post by moooo99 »

pojntfx wrote: post #25

Just use Linux. It's really that simple.

Its not like this is the solution for everything. It's not even about ease of use, its mainly about the availability of software. About 80% of the software my colleagues use on a daily basis is not available on Linux (not including MS Office, although LibreOffice is definitely not a sufficient replacement) Sure, this is an issue of users in an enterprise environment, but your average PC user is more likely to use the same OS he is using at work rahter than trying anything else.

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#45

Post by ddek »

pojntfx wrote: post #25

Just use Linux. It's really that simple.

My laptop runs two SSD’s: 256GB with Manjaro Linux, and 512GB with Windows.

My profession dictates I use .Net and SQL Server, so I anticipated using the windows drive most. I ran i3 on the Linux side, and used it mainly for hackier projects using more interesting languages than c#.

Quite soon I realised I could run .Net Core and SQL Server on Linux. Bastard as it might be, my main DB on Linux is SQL Server.

After this I found I didn’t need to spend any time in Windows, except for gaming (Linux gaming has improved, but it’s not great).

I installed Gnome alongside i3, and I’ve been flitting between the two based on my use case. Both are fantastic.

Linux does well when it forgets about Windows and MacOS. i3 is a great example here - it’s the archetypal ‘power user’ environment.

Gnome was the real surprise when I switched to it. I always remembered it as an ultra slow, half polished experience that typified the Linux experience. Great features (multiple desktops for example), introduced long before Apple invented them but absolutely done to death. I remember having a 16x16 grid of desktops.

Maybe it’s that my laptop right now is... quite quick, but default Gnome might just be my favourite modern OS. There are quirks - organising the apps screen is too painful to be worthwhile, but search is good enough. Wayland makes for a super smooth UX - Windows scale, slide and fade seamlessly.

I’d say I prefer my completely unmodified Gnome to MacOS and Windows. It’s the first time I’ve used a Linux DE and not thought it to be a cheap copy of the ‘big 2’. It’s doing it’s own thing, and doing it well.

So yeah, if you want IMO the best OS in the world right now, get Manjaro architect and install Gnome (I prefer the default Gnome to the preconfigured version). You’ll find issues - but remember Mac and Windows aren’t short of their own.

P.s. wayland has some GPU limitations - it’s great and improving rapidly, but it’s not fully mature yet. I also haven’t tested it on a shit PC yet - but I might try that tonight.

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#46

Post by sterlind »

jeena wrote: post #28
pojntfx wrote: post #25

Just use Linux. It's really that simple.

I kind of agree, with distros like Ubuntu you get the Windows convenience and most of the people just use a browser for everything nowadays anyway.

Eh, that's true for many consumers, but a lot of software still uses Windows and doesn't fit in a browser. For my hobby, I use Fusion 360, which makes heavy use of the GPU for rendering and simulation stuff. It does not support Linux.

So I use NixOS, run Windows 10 in KVM and use VFIO passthrough to give my VM a graphics card. This way I can use Linux for writing code and Windows for rich apps. It also shields me from the practical downsides of NixOS (limited software compatibility, lots of hair-pulling) since I can just use Windows if I'm in a bind.

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#47

Post by dragandj »

speedplane wrote: post #29
scarface74 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple never wanted the enterprise. Hardware sells to the enterprise are low margin, require babysitting and they require backwards compatibility forever. The computer market is dwarfed by the mobile market. Don’t forget that Apple became more successful than Dell in the early 2000s selling iPods of all things not by trying to compete in the enterprise.

> Apple never wanted the enterprise. Hardware sells to the enterprise are low margin, require babysitting and they require backwards compatibility forever. I agree with much of this, except the idea that enterprise sales are low margin. Once you lock in an enterprise customer, the cost of switching to another provider becomes a large barrier. Your margin is dictated largely by the cost of your product, minus the cost…

Your acquisition costs are higher too, since you have not only to undercut your competition, but to be lower than competition - switching cost...

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#48

Post by netsharc »

ekianjo wrote: post #37

> And, Apple has lit this torch. Too bad this ends on this line. So you recommend trusting another corporation over Microsoft to be virtuous over the long term? The only OS you can truly control is well known, and it's Linux.

Apple, trust us, but we'll pull that app if your tyrannical government says they don't like it (referring to the Hong Kong protest map app). We'll put our data center in China since that's what the Chinese government ordered! Emojis of 2 men (or women) holding hands? Can't see them in Indonesia.

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#49

Post by cpach »

scarface74 wrote: post #23
zerop wrote: post #12

I have been seeing this MS vs other debates since decades. Why Linux has not been able to come up with a consumer OS. Why Windows or MAC only rule in consumer OS space?

Apple never wanted the enterprise. Hardware sells to the enterprise are low margin, require babysitting and they require backwards compatibility forever. The computer market is dwarfed by the mobile market. Don’t forget that Apple became more successful than Dell in the early 2000s selling iPods of all things not by trying to compete in the enterprise.

”Apple never wanted the enterprise”

Are you sure? See e.g. IBM who use hundreds of thousands Macs https://www.computerworld.com/article/3452847/ibm-mac-users-...

Re: Microsoft Advertisement Inc.

#50

Post by Nextgrid »

z3t4 wrote: post #31
Nextgrid wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux user experience is awful and there’s no pressure to improve it; unlike in a for-profit company there’s no common objective & leadership that unite all the people building the Linux desktop. Doesn’t help that there are dozens of competing desktop environments so a lot of effort is duplicated and wasted.

Ubuntu is very user friendly. Competition is good for the consumer and result in better products.

Tell that to my friend with whom I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out why Netflix wasn’t working on a brand new Ubuntu install. Had to enable a repo and install an extra package through the terminal. I can do it but there’s no way a normal user would figure that out on their own.
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