I don't get it, why is this on the front page? None of the arguments make any sense. The "Windows is getting terrible" aspect is not an accidental or uncontrollable phenomenon, it's a result of deliberate strategy to onboard all Windows users to Microsoft's cloud just like Apple and Google did. There is no single reason ditching Windows for Linux would help MS in any way.
Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
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Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#212I'll consider switching to Linux when the GUI becomes as configurable as Windows 10 or earlier. For example, this is my taskbar layout: https://i.ibb.co/1GqKH27L/taskbar-layout.png To my knowledge, it's not possible to achieve anything like this layout on Windows 11, Linux or Mac. I did try it in various Linux distros a few times but frankly got sick of navigating the maze of window managers et cetera. I think someth…
Have you heard of trayplayer?
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#213Besides of the advantages and disadvantages of Linux and/or Windows on this, the problem I see on a Microsoft Linux distribution is not the Linux part, but the Microsoft one. The problem that is driving away users are the company policies, not what the OS can or not do, they were mostly OK with how things were in previous version. So putting the Microsoft policies in a Linux desktop will probably have the same result…
Agreed; the ads and OneDrive and such are not mistakes. They're in Windows because they make money.
The icloud/google ads are worse IMO. They are impossible to remove once you fill up icloud.
Try filling your icloud photos to fill up your space, then try to figure out how to download them all and clean your space efficiently, or don't care it's 100% full, remove any icloud ads.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#214I remember talking about this 10 years ago. Not as a prediction but as a sensible business move for MS. What is the value in the Windows client now? The consumer side seems like more of a liability. The parts that make money don't need to be in their own operating system. Just like the browser engine no longer made sense, does the OS make sense?
They could release all their point and click enterprise tooling on top of a Linux based client. That would be plenty of work but I'm sure enterprises would love to be able to fully manage Linux and Windows machines. Then they could just phase out their own kernel.
People point out that the NT kernel is better in several ways to Linux. But that's not really what is important to a company, it's the effort vs value. Linux is so good at running win32 apps now that a moat is drying up. MS could contribute to that effort, and benefit from the Linux development ecosystem in general.
It probably won't come to pass.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#215I looked through the Windows SDK header files recently due to reasons, and there are very few additions since Windows Vista. MS isn’t actively developing the core functionality of Windows anymore.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
NT is hybrid kernel, it has microkernel features, particularly with drivers if I understand correctly. But that said, I didn't say either were "good", I said that NT is "arguably better". ETA: I reread my comment; you're right, I actually said that NT "isn't bad at all". I stand by what I said mostly though; that doesn't imply it's "good" necessarily, just that it's arguably better than Linux.
NT is a monolithic kernel and "hybrid kernel" is a pure marketing term. You can move functionality out of the kernel into userspace or not. There is no in-between. I also don't get why people claim NT is "better." Linux is a modern kernel under very active development.
The graphic stack in NT is done in a microkernel fashion, it runs in kernel space but doesn't (generally) crash the whole OS in case of bugs.
There are a few interviews of Dave Cutler (NT's architect) around where he explains this far better than I am here.
Overall, you have classic needs and if you don't care about OSS (either for auditability, for customizability or for philosophical choice about open source), it's a workable option with its strength and weaknesses, just like the Linux kernel.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#217The "Microsoft Tax" is often cheaper than the "Linux Engineering Salary." While Linux alternatives exist, they require "assembly"—integrating LDAP, Kerberos, DNS, and config management (Ansible/Salt) to do what AD does out of the box. Most businesses don't want to be in the business of maintaining their own identity infrastructure. They want a utility. Between Group Policy’s granular control over the endpoint and the…
You’re thinking apples and oranges. Remember that every K-12 student for the last decade is getting it done on the cheapest low bid Chromebook possible. They are true pieces of shit, too-down managed by barely qualified people and yet the kids persevere. That’s the baseline. Windows is an evolution of 1999, slowly shifting to the shitty cloud based model. It is the worst of both worlds. It’s like Peoplesoft in comput…
K-12 american student...
I am quite certain there are zero of those devices on my German school neighborhood, or the school on my home district back in Portugal.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
All of those Linux workloads are running on NT.
Are they? Not a single one of the other public clouds runs Windows at it's core... As far as deployed operating systems go, Windows is in the extreme minority .
Yes they are, on top of Azure Host OS.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windowsosplatform/a...
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#219This guy is in for a disappointing future since he seems to be unaware that Windows is more than than the consumer editions. Revenue from Windows Enterprise (which has management tools like Active Directory and backwards compatibility with non-game apps needed for large corporate deployments) and Windows Server (needed for Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Server, etc.) is still in the billions and there's nothing on t…
His take is that for consumers Microsoft will abandon windows in favor of Linux. He predicts Linux will get better. And windows will get worse in development and support. And so Microsoft will give up on windows. And that worsening trend plus abandonment plus Linux improvements will cause Microsoft supporting Linux. The probability of each event happening is high enough. But the probability of all three happening at…
Hardly, SteamDeck will get those Windows games, that game developers write using Visual Studio on Windows, because they push Proton instead of making the studios interested into native ports.
Re: Prediction: Microsoft will eventually ship a Windows-themed Linux distro
#220I don't disagree with the overall point. I do want to say one thing though. > As a professional programmer, I no longer consider Windows a viable option for serious work. Please get over yourself. There's plenty of actually serious programming work being done on Windows. > If you’re a programmer who’s used to Windows and you think I’m being overly harsh, I encourage you to spend a couple weeks in any other operating…
There is a certain current that equates being a developer with UNIX, as if the software for other platforms materializes out of fairy wishes from management.