Gartner Analysts Warn That Windows Is Collapsing

[d0b33]

I am pretty sure about it. It is happening, people are evolving to be smarter. Perhaps not at the pace a lot of us would like... and perhaps backwards in some places (Utah...Texas....jk).. but it is happening.

I think the growing popularity of sites like myspace and facebook make it clear who the future majority will end up being, I read an article that even though we live in the information age more people are actually less informed than before.

 

[Glordit]

i just compare firefox usage worldwide to internet explorer usage world wide and although firefox (free and open source) is widely used it is still IE that comes out on top for whatever the reason might be.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

albeit windows will eventually need to evolve and enter some sort of realm of open source. cuz renting modules aint the answer either.

I have tried... IE 7, FF & Opera
Opera for me is the best!!

Opensource ftw!! Too bad it's not widely compatible, if it was I would have ditched windowzzz for a much smaller OS years ago. I can't because most of the app's/games I use/play won't work dam you MS for making a standard and over charging!!

 

[w1z4rd]

I think the growing popularity of sites like myspace and facebook make it clear who the future majority will end up being, I read an article that even though we live in the information age more people are actually less informed than before.

You are welcome to your opinion.

 

[Skeptik]

Outdated opinion? I just gave you a perfect example, you give me "outdated opinion". OS software not OSS software (one too many softwares) still
is only good for basic email, webbrowsing and basic wordprocessing.
OK it runs a few games too - some dedicated, some under WINE but
most APPS do not run under Linux, and Linux is not consumer (average person) friendly. Windows and Mac OSX still are.

Anyway I couldn't find a decent OSS subtitle renderer and creator/editor
for Mac OSX which worked like it should. I had to buy one.

I still can't get anything better than Final Cut Pro to edit video or create effects.

Gimp 2 still sucks compared to PhotoShop.

So I dunno, as someone there on Slashdot said, if Linux programers and contributors can focus on making the setup and interface average Joe friendly, so that people consider Linux a viable and user-friendly alternative to Windoze, maybe then companies like Adobe, AutoCad, Corel etc will
start writing for Linux. Linux is too geeky at the moment.

Spot on. We can't just WILL Linux to work . We would all like to see more competition, and OSX is leading that game. If only they would open it up to other machines.

Linux is just not ready and is too fractured to succeed at the moment.

I'm also worried that some fanboyz will not even listen to those that see the many faults in Linux.

 

[nocilah]

OSX from Apple runs on a Unix kernel.

at the end of the day the avg user doesnt give a fig what OS they are running as long as what they are using is easy.

the amount of $$$ spent today on M$ training by fat corporates will ensure M$ popularity for a very long time.

the childish naivety of the cyber janitors (aka admins) is doing very little for the popularity of linux as well as what Skeptik has mentioned. Linux comes in too many flavours ensuring its dilution.

 

[fskmh]

Spot on. We can't just WILL Linux to work . We would all like to see more competition, and OSX is leading that game. If only they would open it up to other machines.

Linux is just not ready and is too fractured to succeed at the moment.

Who is "we"? Are you really "WILL"ing Linux to work? Seems like you've already made up your mind.
Please define fractured.

I'm also worried that some fanboyz will not even listen to those that see the many faults in Linux.

You think your bias is not showing? Do you even have something to back up the "many faults" remark?

 

[fskmh]

OSX from Apple runs on a Unix kernel.

at the end of the day the avg user doesnt give a fig what OS they are running as long as what they are using is easy.

Please define "Unix kernel". Do you even know if it's monolithic or microkernel? Yes, run to Wikipedia now to get a clue. Kthxbaai.

the amount of $$$ spent today on M$ training by fat corporates will ensure M$ popularity for a very long time.

the childish naivety of the cyber janitors (aka admins) is doing very little for the popularity of linux as well as what Skeptik has mentioned. Linux comes in too many flavours ensuring its dilution.

Again with the "janitor" remarks but no substance. Many of the distros that you Linbashers harp on about are not for desktops, they are niche distros for routers etc. If you look at the smaller group of actual desktop distros, the "many flavours" fall into a small number of distinct sub-groups that use similar FSHs and package management.

 

[nocilah]

Please define "Unix kernel". Do you even know if it's monolithic or microkernel? Yes, run to Wikipedia now to get a clue. Kthxbaai.

and i dont even care.

Again with the "janitor" remarks but no substance.

sure

anyways i am gonna do REAL work now on my crappy OS that makes me a fortune

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Same thing was said when ME was released... Microsoft is still here.

And yet the same thing was said of OS/2... and yet some banks still use it. ME is dead as a doornail.

Problem with M$ is that they've got a lot of eggs (Office, Project, Visio, etc) in one basket (Windows) and they won't be able to diversify due to their closed-source, lock-in nature should they decide to port their applications over to Linux.

Besides, should that happen, they won't have access to undocumented system calls. (Remember the hoopla when it emerged that M$ uses undocumented system calls for their applications?)

Interesting times, indeed

 

[Winga]

I was given stats a few years ago that MS operating systems are used on 98% of the worlds computers. It might be a bit outdated but I'm quite sure nothing much would have changed. It's the old David and Goliath story.

Maybe windows is collapsing, I'm not in a position to debate that fact. What I do know is that MS will not sit back and just let it happen. They have near endless resources and will know exactly what their opposition is up to and what changes are taking place in the market. How do you think they got where they are in the first place. Heck if they see something good they either buy the company out or steal the application anyway.

Always look at the bigger picture. Take our economy. Although we are insignificant to world standards, do you think the likes of Old Mutual. Anglo and Billiton are going to wake up one day and say hey, screw Microsoft, we going to use Linux because it's a better OS? Imagine the cost to retrain personnel, reload millions of PC's and then run the risk of the attachments and software not being compatible with the rest of the world because they still running windows? (Try sending a Word Perfect or Quatro Pro file as an e-mail attachment and see how many people can open it)

And therein lies Microsoft's strength. They have the numbers and all they have to do is maintain that dominance.

 

[fskmh]

I was given stats a few years ago that MS operating systems are used on 98% of the worlds computers. It might be a bit outdated but I'm quite sure nothing much would have changed. It's the old David and Goliath story.

Here's a link that's been bandied around in threads similar to this one:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
Small numbers by percentage, but non-negligible inroads are being made there.

Always look at the bigger picture. Take our economy. Although we are insignificant to world standards, do you think the likes of Old Mutual. Anglo and Billiton are going to wake up one day and say hey, screw Microsoft, we going to use Linux because it's a better OS? Imagine the cost to retrain personnel, reload millions of PC's and then run the risk of the attachments and software not being compatible with the rest of the world because they still running windows? (Try sending a Word Perfect or Quatro Pro file as an e-mail attachment and see how many people can open it)

The retraining of personnel and reloading of PCs depends on the merits for each company or organisation. It may not seem like an option for everyone but it's better than having no choice in the matter at all.
As for the level of training, the level of some of the replies before yours in this thread, are pretty underwhelming in technical knowledge and insight. IMO Windows "training" is mostly ingrained conditioning. This isn't really a Windows-specific observation, it's just that Windows is what many people get exposure to first.
I agree w.r.t. the bigger picture. Yes, some people are choosing an alternative to Windows. Whether it's because "Windows is collapsing" or they regard it as better or less patent encumbered is academic, it is happening.

And therein lies Microsoft's strength. They have the numbers and all they have to do is maintain that dominance.

No dispute on the numbers argument. The inroads being made into those numbers are ongoing and non-negligible however.

 

[w1z4rd]

I was given stats a few years ago that MS operating systems are used on 98% of the worlds computers. It might be a bit outdated but I'm quite sure nothing much would have changed. It's the old David and Goliath story.

Maybe windows is collapsing, I'm not in a position to debate that fact. What I do know is that MS will not sit back and just let it happen. They have near endless resources and will know exactly what their opposition is up to and what changes are taking place in the market. How do you think they got where they are in the first place. Heck if they see something good they either buy the company out or steal the application anyway.

Always look at the bigger picture. Take our economy. Although we are insignificant to world standards, do you think the likes of Old Mutual. Anglo and Billiton are going to wake up one day and say hey, screw Microsoft, we going to use Linux because it's a better OS? Imagine the cost to retrain personnel, reload millions of PC's and then run the risk of the attachments and software not being compatible with the rest of the world because they still running windows? (Try sending a Word Perfect or Quatro Pro file as an e-mail attachment and see how many people can open it)

And therein lies Microsoft's strength. They have the numbers and all they have to do is maintain that dominance.

You seemed to have missed out how Microsoft Windows beat the dominant OS contendor in the market... Apple.

Jobs put to much effort into style , and not enough into functionality, which is why Microsoft Windows beat it in the market. Business will go with that which makes the most business sense to use.

 

[milomak]

the simple fact of the matter is that MS will still be around for ages because people know no better.

if all you use you computer for is email, surfing the web, watching some multimedia, viewing pics then Linux should really be what your are using. Why? Every app you use in Windows is more than ably covered in Linux. And you don't need to be using the latest hardware.

What someone said above is the truth in some respects. The message is not spread. But here is the thing. I think generally the attitude is that Linux is not meant for people who are not willing to understand how things under the hood work. Will this mean that Linux will never be dominant on the average desktop? Very likely. But it doesn't mean there won't be a large enough base of users to take it seriously.

There is then the hardware perception. There are problems here. But those are hardware manufacturer specific. See how a provider like nvidia co-operates with linux without issue. of course if the number of people hardware manufacturers think use linux increases than support grows.

But I can say my Winfast TV2000XP Expert TV Card works without me needing to do anything. I installed my cheap Logitech Webcam after install but installing it was a breeze.

If however you use your computer for gaming and serious multimedia apps in the audio-visual space, I don't know whether linux can work for you as that is not my space.

So after such a long essay, Linux is different from Windows yes. If you are not willing to learn something different from what you know, it is not for you.

 

[milomak]

You seemed to have missed out how Microsoft Windows beat the dominant OS contendor in the market... Apple.

Jobs put to much effort into style , and not enough into functionality, which is why Microsoft Windows beat it in the market. Business will go with that which makes the most business sense to use.

I can only think that Job's deliberately thought he wouldn't win a business market fight. the Mac makes no sense on a cost effectiveness basis for a run of the mill business.

 

[w1z4rd]

I can only think that Job's deliberately thought he wouldn't win a business market fight. the Mac makes no sense on a cost effectiveness basis for a run of the mill business.

I kinda get the feeling that Vista is Microsofts, "Lisa", and that Windows 7 will be their "mac"... perhaps a little bit too little too late.

 

[Skeptik]

You seemed to have missed out how Microsoft Windows beat the dominant OS contendor in the market... Apple.

Jobs put to much effort into style , and not enough into functionality, which is why Microsoft Windows beat it in the market. Business will go with that which makes the most business sense to use.

Phew, you are going back a human generation or two there. I'm not sure it's even relevant. MS bought an O/S and had good timing. They were business-like when Apple were inventing. The first spreadsheet was running on a Z80 processor, not a 6502.

Of course the Appl style/functionality thing is my long-held argument.

Businesses (big) don't like risk, so they go for 'industry standard' software, which is not Linux. They also need software which is compatible with their suppliers, subsidiaries, partners, clients - again, not Linux.

the simple fact of the matter is that MS will still be around for ages because people know no better.

if all you use you computer for is email, surfing the web, watching some multimedia, viewing pics then Linux should really be what your are using. Why? Every app you use in Windows is more than ably covered in Linux. And you don't need to be using the latest hardware.

What someone said above is the truth in some respects. The message is not spread. But here is the thing. I think generally the attitude is that Linux is not meant for people who are not willing to understand how things under the hood work. Will this mean that Linux will never be dominant on the average desktop? Very likely. But it doesn't mean there won't be a large enough base of users to take it seriously.

There is then the hardware perception. There are problems here. But those are hardware manufacturer specific. See how a provider like nvidia co-operates with linux without issue. of course if the number of people hardware manufacturers think use linux increases than support grows.

But I can say my Winfast TV2000XP Expert TV Card works without me needing to do anything. I installed my cheap Logitech Webcam after install but installing it was a breeze.

If however you use your computer for gaming and serious multimedia apps in the audio-visual space, I don't know whether linux can work for you as that is not my space.

So after such a long essay, Linux is different from Windows yes. If you are not willing to learn something different from what you know, it is not for you.

People DO know better, they just can't do much about it.

It sounds like you were surprised that your TV card worked - ask yourself why and you will have the answer why Linux is not used more.

I've met people who actually prefer to tinker with the software/OS and find Apple too easy. As odd as that sounds, it's true. The one button mouse just flummoxed them

Linux is not too difficult, it's just buggy, labour intensive, severely incompatible - and as halicon put >> "too dilute".

 

[Winga]

We sometimes tend to look at everything from an enthusiast perspective. Many people hate M$ almost as much as we do Telskum so we jump at the chance to pull their software to pieces and go to great lengths to hype alternatives. The geeks and techies of this world unfortunately make up the minority and MS doesn't care what we think.

They care about selling operating systems and other forms of software that are going to make them rich and continue to do so. They have discovered the best way to do that and they not straying from the formula. The fact that they now releasing the source code for some of their software shows they know the markets and sentiment is changing. Granted they had a lot of pressure from the EU but they could have strung the courts out for years if they wanted to.

I have never managed to get into Linux but can believe its a great OS. The problem I have with the Linux community is that those in the know feel they belong to an exclusive club and are just downright rude to n00bs asking questions on the forums. Replies like RTFMN don't go down well with a new user even if he/she should read the manual. Ubuntu has gone a long way in changing attitutes. Long live Mark Shuttleworth!

 

[milomak]

microsoft has the advantage of holding a large portion of the desktop market. so even if their market share had to fall 70%, any positive word of mouth from the next OS would dwarf any of the other competitors.

 

[The_Techie]

Interesting...

 

[milomak]

Phew, you are going back a human generation or two
It sounds like you were surprised that your TV card worked - ask yourself why and you will have the answer why Linux is not used more.

A result of what I had to go through to get it to work under windows actually. For instance on windows you have to make sure that your soundcard drivers are installed first. that wasn't the case in linux. worked on first boot.

on windows i would have to load the nvidia drivers. rebbot. load the soundbalster drivers. reboot. load the tv card drivers. reboot. then run it.

EDIT: It strikes me how arrogant it is of you to assume that other OSes cannot perform simple tasks like that more simply than a Windows OS.