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After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

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31–40 of 53 posts

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#31
post #18

I don't think this is really a plan to destroy Windows. Sounds more like they're just working on the open source OSs because it's easier to do while the Machine is still largely theoretical. If it does ever come to market, I'm sure they'll end up working with Microsoft in some form to create something together. But that requires all sorts of legal business agreements, which you can completely avoid in the early stage…

Are these going to be expensive server computers? I would think so for the first several years. They must be high-margin machines for HP to throw money at it.

Anyway, what kind of a market would there be for Windows in this market? There's a Windows supercomputer OS but it don't think it's used much, for example.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#32
Who cares what software it runs, the interesting thing here is the memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor. If they manage to bring this to market, it'll really turn around their reputation as a company that's lost its R&D roots and become just another clone manufacturer. That's the bigger strategic move here: creating product differentiation using technology your competitors don't have.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#33

I've never used a piece of software from HP that I've thought was of any quality. We use several of their enterprise development tools where I work, due to an ancient contract and some political contrivances, and nobody is happy with them. And don't even get me started on their printer ride-alongs. It's just a printer, HP. I don't need 10 programs to use it.

What were the enterprise tools?

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#34
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HPUX is light years ahead of Linux on workload management, seriously. HP have an amazing portfolio of OSs, HPUX, OpenVMS, Domain/OS, NonStop, etc. Linux is the lowest common denominator, in 2014 it's barely where these were in 1994...

I think your post needs a use case qualifier. [For some server work] Linux is the lowest common denominator, in 2014 it's barely where these were in 1994... What's the status of nvidia graphics support on all of those systems? Or laptop suspend support?

I'd argue that's the problem with Linux, its trying very much to be all things, to all people, rather than a really good desktop system, a really good server system or a really good mobile system.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#35
post #31
post #18

I don't think this is really a plan to destroy Windows. Sounds more like they're just working on the open source OSs because it's easier to do while the Machine is still largely theoretical. If it does ever come to market, I'm sure they'll end up working with Microsoft in some form to create something together. But that requires all sorts of legal business agreements, which you can completely avoid in the early stage…

Are these going to be expensive server computers? I would think so for the first several years. They must be high-margin machines for HP to throw money at it. Anyway, what kind of a market would there be for Windows in this market? There's a Windows supercomputer OS but it don't think it's used much, for example.

Well if it's as revolutionary as the hype suggests, they could be looking at all market segments. Given that they're working on an Android version, they must at the very least be thinking of its possibilities on mobile.

But you're right on the the server front. If that's the way they're going, then I doubt Windows will get much of a look-in (unless MS make it themselves).

EDIT: I guess a lot of this boils down to whether they'll be going with a standard open system like exists in the current PC market. Or whether they'll be locking the hardware like Apple. If it's the former, then anyone can make an OS to fit.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#36
post #10
post #5

HP-UX? Hps unix variant. It had some good features and some odd issues. One of my least favorite OSs. HPUX did have an add-on (Real Time Extensions?) to allow you to disable processor interrupts on select processors providing almost realtime mainframe(superdome) computing (some system calls were verboten in this mode). Of course a crash would mean a reboot. Grouping processes to processor sets (psrsets) was kind of n…

HPUX is light years ahead of Linux on workload management, seriously. HP have an amazing portfolio of OSs, HPUX, OpenVMS, Domain/OS, NonStop, etc. Linux is the lowest common denominator, in 2014 it's barely where these were in 1994...

> HPUX is light years ahead of Linux on workload management

That's a pretty sweeping claim – can you provide examples?

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#37
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a sad fact that the two dominant OSs these days are a copy of Unix and the bastard child of VMS. I'd love to see some fresh approaches to this old problem.

Oh, the old comparison of Windows NT and VMS. I never thought that was fair by a long shot. Are there some actual real evidence of NT/VMS similarities other than some of the original team members? EDIT: So you "really don't like Microsoft much". Maybe that's all I need to hear.

http://everything2.com/title/The+similarities+between+VMS+an...

The similarities between VMS and Windows NT

DEC thought they were pretty similar.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#38
post #32

Who cares what software it runs, the interesting thing here is the memory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor . If they manage to bring this to market, it'll really turn around their reputation as a company that's lost its R&D roots and become just another clone manufacturer. That's the bigger strategic move here: creating product differentiation using technology your competitors don't have.

I care if it runs a Unix-like operating system. As an engineer, my life is made so much easier when standard Unix stuff is available. And I'm rather miserable when I have to rewrite something to account for the absence of standard Unix stuff.

For end-users, a Unix-like system can be perfectly usable. OS X runs on Darwin, which has slightly less Unix support than I'd prefer, but still waaaay more so than Windows. Ubuntu is, in my opinion, just as easy for the non-technical to learn as Windows or OS X.

Given the benefits to developers, and the absence of a downside for end-users, I see no reason not to root for Unix on The Machine.

Now, it doesn't have to use the Linux kernel, GNU utilities, or any of the other familiar building blocks. It just has to act like systems that do.

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#39
post #33

I've never used a piece of software from HP that I've thought was of any quality. We use several of their enterprise development tools where I work, due to an ancient contract and some political contrivances, and nobody is happy with them. And don't even get me started on their printer ride-alongs. It's just a printer, HP. I don't need 10 programs to use it.

What were the enterprise tools?

I guess hpqc for quality control

Re: After Announcing Plans To Destroy Microsoft Windows, HP CEO Pulls A Gutsy Move

#40

What, its not going to run PalmOS? I think someone should remind Meg that 70% of Enterprises run their infrastructure on Windows. Also, their laptops are terrible. Can they fix the stuff they already have?

They run the computers with screens on Windows. All the servers and rack-mounted stuff is mostly Linux these days, as far as I know.
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