Has Microsoft ever come out with anything original on their own?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vtie @ Oct 5 2007, 10:26 AM) [snapback]521711[/snapback]</div>

In the DEC world of RSX-11M we called that a SYSGEN, and it would take all night. I'd set one up before I went home, then check on the print-out in the morning. A few unlucky times the line printer stripped the paper sprocket holes and all of the printing ended up on one black line burned through the paper: "I wonder if there were any errors?..."

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Oct 5 2007, 07:22 AM) [snapback]521706[/snapback]</div>

I phoned Nokia to ask if there was a way to get the latest firmware without access to a Windows computer. The answer was NO! Even though the N800 runs Linux, flashing it using a Linux machine is as difficult as everything else with Linux. I gave up when I was halfway through reading the instructions.

But then I thought to ask what was the latest version, and I found that I was running the latest version. (Note that this is my second N800. The first one was buggy, and so I returned it to Amazon, who replaced it with no questions asked.)

If the problem was bloated web sites, wouldn't the power switch function? Anyway, I don't remember whether the crashes happened when I was on a web site, or playing the included mahjong game.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vtie @ Oct 5 2007, 07:26 AM) [snapback]521711[/snapback]</div>

And if anybody had done that, I would have bought it instead of my iMac. But in the end I am extremely happy with my iMac.

And the N800 is a pre-configured Linux machine, stripped down to weigh 5 ounces and measure 5.5 inches by 3 inches. I bought it largely because it runs Linux, and I am very happy with it in spite of its shortcomings and its crashes.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Oct 5 2007, 07:38 AM) [snapback]521722[/snapback]</div>

I bought SUSE Linux. I still have the whole package and the SUSE Linux 10 for Dummies book. I do not remember why I found it unsatisfactory. As with Linux generally, it may have been my inability to figure out how to get the stuff it needs in order to be a complete OS.

SUSE and Linspire were the only two I actually bought. The others I got as free downloads. Again, I do not remember the problem with SUSE, but I remember being extremely frustrated.

I am sure, as Vtie says, it would be very easy for anyone to market a computer pre-installed with a working and complete Linux. I gather that part of the problem is that some of the necessary codecs are proprietary, and there is a strong feeling in the Linux community that the whole package should be open-source and covered by the GNU license. If it's not possible to write open-source versions of the codecs, then it will be necessary to compromise on the open-source philosophy to the extent of accepting proprietary code.

I think open-source and GNU are fabulous ideas, and it is great that they exist. But since I am not wedded to open-source, and I am willing and able to pay for software that does what I need, and since OS X is Unix, and Linux is basically Unix, I am happy that Apple has done what the open-source community has not yet managed to do: Install Unix/Linux on a computer that I could buy when I did. With my iMac at home and my N800 for travel and my Compaq with Linspire for driving trips, I am Bill-free and satisfied. I hope someone does market a pre-configured Linux machine. But for the present, I am not in the market for a new computer.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Oct 5 2007, 07:24 AM) [snapback]521710[/snapback]</div>

I looked at the web site. I have no idea what the following means:

This is an example of the difficulty of using Linux. I am sure the above is clear as pure spring water to you, but to me it is as opaque as india ink.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 5 2007, 12:46 PM) [snapback]521812[/snapback]</div>

Of course they say no. However, you give up far too easily.

It's command line to do the update with OSX, but it is doable. Instructions are here. That was a quick google search.

There's tons more information at internettablettalk.com.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 5 2007, 12:46 PM) [snapback]521812[/snapback]</div>

Well, if you haven't done it, you don't have to worry about. That's more or less advice to certain hacker elements to disable things that could get them into trouble. I clicked install, didn't even see that message, and everything went fine.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonnycat26 @ Oct 5 2007, 09:51 AM) [snapback]521826[/snapback]</div>

Thanks. I've bookmarked that site, though I'm not sure I'd be able to follow the instructions. As I said, I apparently have the latest firmware, so for now it's not an issue.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Oct 5 2007, 03:18 PM) [snapback]521881[/snapback]</div>

There was an update a few days ago...

Does your firmware have Skype? If not, it's not the latest. The latest has Flash 9 support (instead of 7) and a very, very stable Opera browser.

 

To answer the original question, yes, I think so. Microsoft BASIC, which came out in 4K and 8K versions for my Altair 8800. The BASIC language itself wasn't original, but a complete implementation of it in a very small amount of memory on a relatively limited 8-bit processor was. I had a whopping 8Kbytes of memory in my machine (which really was whopping at the time -- the typical setup was a 256 byte card expandable to 1K bytes!). So I bought the 8K version, which took quite a bit less than 8K, leaving a few K for your programs. There wasn't anything else like it at the time. I wrote a lot of 8080 assembly at the time, and disassembled many parts of the BASIC interpreter. I was quite impressed with the code.

Billy boy wrote it.

Since then, I can't think of any examples of anything original from Microsoft. Pretty much all more of the same, but with better business models to put the originators out of business.

 

OK, MS steals ideas and pushes others out of business. Seems pretty much standard tactics for the corporate world. I can agree that they're better at marketing than programming.

However, Windows (in all it's various forms) has consistently been the platform for compatibility, wide product base (hardware to use it on AND software that runs on it), and flexibility.

Being a musician, I have lots of friends who swear by mac, which had a great early lead in the digital recording and electronic music fields. However, since the mid 90s, I've been able to do absolutely everything that they do on my PC.

Back in the 90s when I used both macs and PCs, I noticed a difference in approach. Mac's idea of "user-friendly" seemed to be to make everything look nice, and when (yes, it happened often) something didn't work, it was nearly impossible to find the solution (I even think some of them didn't have a way to kill a frozen computer without hitting the power button). With Windows (95, 98), I could search through control panel settings and get things working again. I could also customize Windows to work the way I wanted it to work. And a single-button mouse is a PITA in my opinion. I use that second (and third now) button all the time.

Currently, the macs are looking nicer, with OSX, lower prices than usual, and better compatibility. However, now I'm hooked on my Tablet PC (not available in mac flavor). So I guess I'll have to sell my soul to the evil corporation (who's founder gives gobs of his money to AIDS research and schools) for a while longer.

The argument that MS Windows is crappy programming is fallacious: it was (until arguably recently) the best in a lot of ways. Spam and viruses are targeted at Windows BECAUSE it occupies so many desktops, not because it is inherently easier to hack. Macs have had viruses, they just don't make the news because so few people own them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tyrin @ Oct 7 2007, 01:15 AM) [snapback]522365[/snapback]</div>

That argument is fallacious. The multitude of buffer overrun attacks that windows suffered from is DIRECTLY related to crappy programming.