Re: Apples and Oranges

HAMs have a problem with anything that might possibly use electricity in a modulated form, whether or not it affect SW etc.

Take a look around the Reg forums and all you'll see is anecdotal bollocks about Powerline networking (usually allegedly belonging to someone else) which is CLEARLL the cause of all their poor, poor troubles. It's the equivalent of asking a Parish Council if they'd approve of somebody building any form of manufacturing industry in "their" area - 100% guaranteed, they will vote against. Because they're all a) retired and b) the kind of tosser who stands for a parish council in the first place.

Okay, HAMs aren't quite that bad but they are amateurs with some very dangerous opinions about what causes RF signal modulation and usually no training in proper testing and frequency analysis.

It's like asking trainspotters to comment on a proposed motorway extension.

Pissalyzer

Genius. I'm bloody well inventing that.

We (me and the g/f, not a delusional "we") recently found when buying a bedroom set that a decent quality small panel was actually more expensive than a similar quality 32" panel.

Re: already does?

My understanding is the new OS X will install these during sleep time

I don't think you mean the same thing by "sleep" as I do in the context of a computer if yours has stuff installing through it.

Re: Watch out, Microsoft

incoming - iPatch Tuesday.

Hmm. Possibly too piratical.

Re: Wow

"ultraflops" "inhell" - You're conforming perfectly to a certain stereotype so far.

Here's a test - name the company that publishes Visio.

Of course, I don't doubt that you can name it, I'm just testing which of the "downs syndrome facsimile of funny" spellings you use.

Re: Kindle Fire looks obsolete

You're assuming that the consumer gives a damn about "open" or even knows what it is.

I would suggest that those criteria apply only to a tiny minority of consumers and that when Amazon start showing off the Fire on the UK/EU front-page, they'll start selling those Fires to consumers who are happy to shop with Amazon and recognize Google only as a search engine.

Re: Open Source

You're assuming that the major costs involved in ownership of software are licensing. I have to say, I find that extremely unlikely.

In particular, the major SAP cost is the millions you need to spend on consultants to make it even approximate working with any non-SAP system.

I'm not saying OSS might not be cheaper. I'm just saying that "free" doesn't always mean you save any money.

Re: @Sander van der Vaal

Yup. It's not fantastic but it's probably comparable to running a development environment on a four year-old Macbook.

So if there's all this fragmentation which makes it harder to develop for why is Android still much cheaper to develop for then iOS?

Because it doesn't require you buy a Mac which is overpriced to start with, and then spend yet more money on the requirements to develop software on that Mac.

Apple make way more than their 30% protection money from iOS developers.

PC

A Mac is still a PC. If there is a virus that a Mac can be infected with, then the claim was patently false advertising.

Re: Yummer will be a big Balmer

that's so logical.

Re: Balls.

There are no tat shops in Avebury and only there's only English Heritage tat at Stonehenge.

You're thinking of Glastonbury.

Re: problem?

bored?

Gotta be a reason you're posting about a thing you don't care about and which is already dead, according to you.

Right?

They didn't. Technically. They said "we're launching a new thing, show up and find out" and then they let the internet do all the hyping.

I didn't see any MS ads anywhere for Surface before the event.

Re: Yay

I It was liked the black bar. It kept your thumb off the tiles when scrolling. It gave a clear view of where to find the App List. It was tidy. Clean.

The WP8 homescreen looks like a cluttered mess.

Sure, the features are good (especially MicroSD support) and I don't much give a damn about not being able to upgrade my November 2010 phone to an OS that makes it runs like a three-legged dog but really, despite all the retarded comments about wasted space we got from fandroid trolls, it was clean. It was simple. It was minimal.

This is just a mess.

Re: HP and Dell?

but from what I always heard

Really? From a bloke in the pub? From somebody on the Internet?

I can't tell you exactly what HP pay for each Win7 copy because that's not openly available information. HP negotiate their price and regard it as a closely-guarded trade secret. So do the other OEMs.

I can tell you that the company I work for has more than 50,000 PCs worldwide and we pay just under $10/u on volume licensing. I can also tell you that the more licenses you buy, the lower the cost drops. $5 is a very conservative estimate when you're talking about millions of units.

Re: HP and Dell?

The rumor is that MS will be charging full price ($85) to OEMs for WinRT.

Oh for fuck's sake, not this FUD again.

HP don't pay $85 for a Windows 7 license. They pay bulk discount rate and the final figure is normally $5/license. Dell are the same. Asus and Lenovo and all the other OEMs? Oh yeah, those too.

Dave's Computer Building Services of 19 Nadger Street, Choad might well pay $85. No actual player does.

Re: BAU for MS then?

"The reason for buying Windows is to run Windows programs."

What's the justification for buying Android? A deep and abiding love of FOSS*? Around here, possibly. Everywhere else in the Universe, probably not. A pants-tightening slavish love of Google? No, or there'd be a market for Chromebooks.

It's cheap and doesn't crash as much as the last version? Yeah. Now we're getting somewhere.

If MS deliver an experience that's price-comparable and doesn't crash at all (you can hate on WP7 all you like but it's rock-solid stable, as a controlled hardware/software platform should be) then the criteria change.

At that point, it's not about "is it cheaper" but about "does it work with my other stuff".

Your other stuff may be 100% Android/linux but you have to admit that's an edge case. And Android tablets and phones do not integrate all that well.

That sort of leaves the field there for the taking, barring only Apple Cultists who will always buy Apple anyway.

*For highly flexible values of FOSS

Re: I don't get the fuss

768GB SSD?

Well yes, although it will cost you the Netherland's entire Armed Forces budget if you do.

And I don't carry an ethernet cable and have never been unable to find one on a client site. They pay you to work, not knock one out over how shiny you laptop is and therefore, they find you a bloody cable.

Re: The last time Microsoft decided to go it alone with hardware...

Barry is still butthurt that Microsoft make money on the 360 now and haven't had their multiplayer network pwned.

Poor Barry. Not much resale value on a PS3 these days, huh?

Re: Curious...

I agree.

On the other hand, they did make noises about an ebook reader and they've climbed into bed with Barnes and Noble, so something in that vein might not be an unreasonable expectation.

Re: @dogged

@Paul Shirley - I imagine they think they can sell devices, and as mentioned, Nokia Maps is actually making money already, based purely on Microsoft's licensing of it.

They may be wrong. If so, that's how it goes but really, I see so much hate for attempting to make a good decision. Just because it didn't support your (not specific your, just generic your) favourite mobile OS doesn't make it the enemy.

And it doesn't make Elop a trojan horse, either. I've tried to show here how the decision looks when you don't have a vested interest and aren't either a) consumed with hatred toward a particular company* or b) a fanatical cheerleader for some technology you feel a need to define yourself by.

*DISCLAIMER - alright, I'll freely admit to a hatred of the Cult of Apple but that's not relevant to this discussion so it doesn't invalidate anything here.