Posts by mmeier

Re: Too Little Too Late

I do not see much financial harm done by Apache or PHP. The Apache runs just fine under Windows as does PHP. Choosing between them is often a "what do we run also" question. If i.e Sharepoint is part of your setup you'll more likely use IIS and a ,NET language

One could argue that mySQL eats a few MS SQL Server licences and/or into Access (more into the latter) but if I NEED a full sized RDBMS with Triggers, Stored Procedures etc the competitors are Oracle, DB/2 and Sybase.

And while MS would gladly sell you a Visual Studio they have included the IIS with all server versions of Windows (and quite a few non server ones) since NT4. And the Dev Environment always was an "enabler" not a cash cow. The full versions are costly for a hobbist but small money for a professional developer who makes money with it. OTOH most hobbist can do well with the free version.

Re: Too Little Too Late

As soon as you use the stuff in the office / in BYOD the "can understand MS Format fully" element comes in. Not "almost" not "mostly" but "100 percent as the original". Been there, done that, thought about MARVing the customer.

Re: Too Little Too Late

BYOD mostly means iThingy or Windows these days and this will likely grow since BYOD get's more formalized currently and the question is more and more often "will it integrated with the company network/security setup". Getting a Win8 tablet pc "in" is easier in 90+ percent of the companies (that already run/use Windows Authentification) than doing the same with an Android. iOS being the "one with paying customers" gets some support at least. Helps that there is only one manufacturer...

And outside a few very powerful units - BYOD can not replace a classic desktop. Legal reasons alone make sure of that since a "computer based workplace" needs to follow "da rules" and a 10'' touch tablet does not. And once you start looking for the needed docking stations etc - welcome to the Intel / Windows (or MacOS) world. And as much as I like a good tablet pc for meetings, presentations and similar customer events - for programming and larger writting jobs it gets snapped into the docking station connected to two big monitors and a keyboard. And that is a HUGE 13'' Convertible with a top end keyboard etc.

OS is "whatever fits the needs and infrastructures" and "whatever runs the software I want/need". Both in companies and in most peoples privat lives. Computers are tools for about 98 percent of the end users, they do not want a DIY system that needs experiments/trials to get a software/hardware running or one that is no longer supported 12 month after introduction (Hi Samsung, Bye Samsung)

Proprietary API are not a problem as long as they are well documented and long term stable. Say "will be supported at least from 2003 to 2014". Unstable API (and ABI) that change every year or so are a LOT more problematic since they require a constant re-work. Windows, Solaris (and I assume MacOS) keep API, ABI and driver models static at least two major releases often more (Win8 kicked XP driver support IIRC)

Re: Weather

For me it is the other way round. Give me a

Kill the stupid useless start menu

button or I'll skip the update.

Re: Too little, too late.

Strange, offline works fine here for the privat box (Win 8.1). I get a warning but than I am running locally. And yes, my privat unit is a live user.

Re: If you got a computer you don't buy Windows 8.

At least both systems you refer to are equally old when it comes to software quality. The Note is equal to 2005 Windows XP Tablet edition.

Otherwise: Thanks again for showing what happens when a "Journalist" gets a fanatical bend (Anti Win8 in your case). Bad examples are always needed

Re: New Wheeze

How many hardware is that and how old is that hardware? Driver model in 8 is the same as in 7 so any hardware that has a Win7 driver will work.So "a lot" is IMHO quite unlikely and "some older stuff the manufacturer does not care about" more the truth

Hardware that still uses a XP driver will die. That was well known for some time and the XP driver model was "for backward compatibility only" fpr quite some time now. So that is a problem of the hardware manufacturer not that of Windows.

And the chance of getting hardware to run under Win8 to it's full capacity is A LOT bigger than getting it to run at full capacity under that funny DIY OS some fanatics try to force on users.

OBTW: Good news from Munich - LiMux is "under consideration for replacement"

Re: New Wheeze

If you do desktop or even client-server software - Why bother with more than one platform? Windows ist 90+ percent of the client market and the paying rest in MacOS. If needed one can go Java and take the Macs with little extra effort but mostly even that isn't worth it.

Re: If you got a computer you don't buy Windows 8.

Ah the old problem of Trolls being to slow witted to use a stylus/pen. That's why they can not use standard software on a tablet pc.

Re: Ye cannae 'ave my sweet, sweet Aero!

Ceterum censeo Aero esse delendam

The code sown with salt, it's users scattererd into a diaspora or brought to the circus and it's developers cruxified along Microsoft road

Just to be sure

Re: Are the Windows 8 probems insurmountable?

And now we take a short look at the typical Lenovo customer and find - BUSINESS

And with that knowledge we look at what Business IT likes best - Minimum possible amount of different systems in client and server environments

So guess what Business, that is to a larger degree on Win7, will prefer. Not because of good/bad but simply because of easier to work with

Since the PinguBoys claim to be smart it should be very easy for them to figure out how to order a system without Windows (Easy with Dell, Lenovo etc). Even Windows/Solaris fans like me found out the secret a decade ago.

Re: If you got a computer you don't buy Windows 8.

(Almost) right on the digitizer (The Note series has a Wacom) but according to Wacom:

http://www.wacom.com/en/gb/creative/intuos-creative-stylus

there is a pressure sensitive stylus out.

Re: Waiting to see what Nadella does

By mid 2014 that "non seller" will have 10 times the desktop market share of Linux, twice that of MacOS. Definitly a baaad thing - if you are into Penguins or rotten fruits

Depends IMHO. If you use the box "for work" than you need MS Office/Professional if you use the MS suite and that contains Outlook. That works the old way as would Notes

If you use the box "purely privat" - how many people use a dedicated mail client and how many of those used the MS supplied one. Because that latter group is the only one that is "forced" to use the Modern-UI version now.

Re: New Wheeze

@Fuzz:

Installed programs are

MS Office (Excel, Word, OneNote, PPoint, Outlook)

Eclipse IDE

Firefox, Chrome and IE

UML Tool

Notepad++

Various small tools (GIT, Zip, Wintail, Terminal, FTP,... say 10-15)

GIMP

TOMCAT and Glassfish

ORACLE DB (local) and maintenance stuff

Around 30+ "regular use" tools. All fit nicely on the Modern start screen. Alternatively I could pin them on the desktop or taskbar like in Win7. Works fine on the "desktop" (Actually a convertible in a dock + 2 attached monitors) and on the tablet (same convertible)

Re: New Wheeze

A P4 processor? That where the things where they recommended a 16A fuse as a minimum requirement for a single core and a "hardwired to the next nuclear plant" for the 900 series dual cores IIRC.

For a home server there are more modern, less power hungry systems available in the 300€ (new) range. And if you need serious computational power a core-i based system will deliver at less power consumption.

Re: If you got a computer you don't buy Windows 8.

In certain applications that support the pen and without OS support for Handwriting recognition etc.. As opposed to Windows (since XP) and the Samsung Version of Android for the Note series where it works everywhere, has an OS internal support for HWR and a ton of support software, some part of the basic system.

Oh and it needs a battery unlike the S/P2s WACOM pen.

Re: So much negativity.

IF it done right that an AR glass with the right add ons (And no - GG is NOT the right one) can be very useful for police work by taking away a lot of the grunt work. I doubt the stuff will fit in a glass, more likely a combination shoulder cam / head display (the shoulder cam IS in test in some police departments). But that could dramatically speed up taking testimony at a traffic accident, doing the base recordings / pictures etc.

AR in general, again if done right (No device dependency, no 3G needed) can be a nice add on. Why take my computer out of the case if I want to read while on the train? AR projection through a low power PAN in my field of view and maybe voice (or a simple BT "mouse") for minor navigation and be done. AR because I would like to see my surroundings when outside of my home (so VR is out).

Re: "Handy" - WTF

Actualy Homo Sapiens Germanensis did not choose (or use) the word. Mobiltelefon is the term.

It is only Homo Egoboosterensis and Home Incrowdis that use "Hääändy". And there are debates wether those (together with Politicus and MBAensis) really belong to the Homo group, some scholars putting them in the Pan group.

Re: old tactics that fail in 2014

MS does not have to "price competition out" - Just ask IBM

MS has the revenue stream to test the water for a few years and then continue selling what works and drop what does not. So expect Surface/ARM to die by 2015 and both XBox One and the S/P2 to gain at least a black zero on the hardware sales. With X/1 the business is licences/games and S/P2 is a shwocase/establishing a price base tablet pc device so black zeros are good enough

As for WP - they just have to keep selling them AND delivering updates/security patches like they currently do and Samsung will do their work for them by quitting support for even premium models after about 12 month. There already is a grumbling about that and many people do not see CM as a solution, even less when companies like MS and Apple offer longer support terms

Re: Monopoly still pays....for now.

What Monopoly? There is none and there has never been one. Macs are older than Windows, IBM had OS/2 for quite some time, Atari/Amiga/Acron offered good systems and there is always UNIX that actually was marketed as a client OS by SCO, SUN, Interactive... for some time. Same for Office Suits (StarOffice, AmiPro etc.) and other tools.

Ultimately all theses alternatives failed the ultimate testing tool - the end user! The companies dropped the ball, some (Atari and Commodore are good examples) multiple times by not having a good marketing and actually refusing to SELL products they had ready and customers demanded because "That is not our business segment" (Unix-equiped variants of their systems, ATX Transputer system etc)

Simple:

Most companies use (customizable) 3rd party software that either exists only for the MS platform or requires MS software for various tasks. Sure, they software company will port to mySQL and OO - IF you pay them! And since what you want is not the mainstream solution but individual stuff - you pay A LOT of money. So the CTO stays with SQLServer and MS Office since that is the best short/mid term investment.

Add in stuff like certifications for certain software etc. and you get the picture.

Re: I want Windows 7 back because I prefer to be slow!!!

And the problem with that is?

Since our customers had a limited "roll in" of Win8 units last year we have some experience with END USERS and Win8. And the typical end user has no problems with Win8. They get a Modern UI start screen with their 5-10 programs as icons and use that. Most find it faster/easier than the Menu and at least as useable as the "Icon on desktop/taskbar" setup from before. The applications are the same they had on Win7 so no change there.

Most users do not care about the OS, they care about the software packages they use. If those are present, easy to find and work - they have no problems. If they work on a light, mobile unit that takes less space than a notebook - mobile workers like it even more. And ticking off check boxes / filling forms with a good pen support works fine and fast.

And nurses / (some) fire fighters / barbers(1) (All 3 year formal job training in germany) are those workers that CAN join a union OR blow the 1 percent of their income on booze and hookers. They will get the same amount of representation facing their employers.

A union not only needs to exist, it must be capabel and willing to DO something for them. The german union responsible for the non industrial workers (and that would include IT) isn't capabel of the first nor willing to do the latter. So why join?

(1) German police officers are Beamte, they have the ultimate job security

Re: Propaganda wins

If you get a good union than it will negotiate decend (not great, just decend) deals with the bosses most of the time. Every 10 years of so there'll be a few days of strike but with a well filled war chest that's no problem. In between the union provides legal counsel, sits on the workers counsil and most of the time you actually CAN get in contact with your functionary and he WILL make a best effort to help you (i.e your rating in a multi-stage pay scale). Been with the IG Chemie for quite some time, worked nicely.

On the other hand you can get a union like germans VERDI. They cost you 1 percent of your income and than they will do nothing for you unless you work for a big US company. There they will ACHIVE nothing for you but at least use you for publicity stunts. And Verdi functionaries wonder why they have lost almost 1/3 of their premium payers since the moloch was founded...

Re: Unions are generally devices to give jobs to union leaders

Good unions are a good thing to have. Bad unions are a waste of time and money. Too powerful unions are the equivalent of the mob:

From the real life experience of a co-student with a certain car manufacturer and the IG Metal:

"If you want a students job here you must FIRST join the IGM". Those who refused never got in.

Generally IG-M is, like all IGs, a good union. In the case of that car manufacturer they had allowed to get too powerful since it was easier to give in during the years where german buyers where to stupid to realize the crap the company produced was unsafe at any speed.

Re: They're playing to the dummies in the market...

A good tablet pc is both a useable 12-13'' notebook AND a tablet. Add a BT keyboard/mouse and in no time you have a notebook even with variable distance between screen and keys. Dock can be nice to turn it into a full scale workstation. OTOH if I nedd a device for presentation and note taking - just the tablet part and a Wacom or NTrig stylus and go.

Granted, the software must be there from stable note taking and presentation to desktop style office suits. But if they are - a tablet pc replaces notebook and tablet

Re: About time...

Multiscreens usability depends on what you use the unit for. Most of the time in "electronic legal pad" mode I view/edit a document "full screen" even on the 12 and 13'' Windows units here and use tabs to switch between documents and the taskbar to switch between programs. Multi-Windows come into use mostly if I use electronic post it and notification windows.

Re: stuck in the mud.

The big irony is that Apple had a nice stylus based PDA with a, for the time, quite decent HWR (Newton) and likely could bring out an iPen device with better usability/quality and long-term updates than the Note series is.

As for the screen casting - well that is the Miracast standard so basically anyone could support that. Windows tablet pc of the current generation (at least the core-i) do so. I agree it is brilliant (I use the older WIDI standard a lot). Biggest benefit is that there are WIDI/Miracast receivers that act as a HDMI In device for even a non-smart TV or a monitor (or even a beamer). Just plug in the smallish box and go

Re: Size of a piece of paper

HTML may or may not work. But at least for me most of the reading on the tablet pc is PDF and Word/Powerpoint stuff formated to DIN A4. And for that having a unit that can display it automatically at 100 percent is nice. I can zoom etc. but I do not have to.