HP makes a bold move

elvis_presley said:
I think that the press and industry commentators are totally misreading the situation, as Alistair has here. I predict the WebOS that ships with HP computers will be more like those "instant-on" BIOS linux distros that some PC manufactureres shipped with a while ago. People don't make the decision buy HP products and then decide what OS to put on them, they make the decision to buy a Windows PC and then decide who to buy it from.

Those instant-on linux distros are awful - I have one on my motherboard, and by the time it's enumerated the onboard devices and got you to a desktop, it's actually quicker just to boot Windows 7 from a decent HDD.

The interopability argument is pretty weak as well - in today's world of converging standards, platforms are becoming more and more OS agnostic. It's easier to get Windows 7 to talk to a WebOS printer, than building an entire WebOS-on-PC ecosystem that then talks to the printer.

HP remains MS's biggest ally on the server side of things, and that won't change any time soon. WebOS is a million miles away from becoming a desktop replacement for Windows, and with HP's main customers being corporates, even if WebOS does ship as a default boot OS on the HDD, 99.9% of these corporates will just wipe it.

Kudos for HP for trying something bold, but I see this working about as well as Wave did for Google.
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This is also my take on it. I think Alistair is reading what he wants to read...
 
Won't buy a Samsung ever again, and as for Lexmark - if you give me one for free you'd better deliver it. I will use it until the cartridges run out, then you can collect it next to my dustbin.
 
HP has got the cash, so I can definitely see WebOS becoming their desktop OS for phones, notebooks, tablets and desktops & use Linux for their Enterprise server OS. Just imagine how much they will save with licencing fees payable to Microsoft, or even use WebOS as a bargaining tool when negotiating new licence fee structures with Microsoft in the future. The end result : HP will save a ton of money. So put that savings into paychecks for WebOS developers and you're on a very good track.

I think Microsoft has lost the "cool company to work for" tag. Nowadays it seems all the really bright graduates are trying to get in at Google, Facebook and Apple. Microsoft needs to inject their top management structure with new blood, but I don't think ol' Steve will willingly leave. Very sad, cos I don't think Steve is the right man to make Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 happen.
 
Interesting thing are coming our way.
The idea of phone, tablet, laptop and printers living in perfect harmony is very appealing.
To me their devices are more like RIM's Blackberrys.
 
"The US$130 billion company, the world's largest hardware maker" ??? Thats a massive lie. Of the big computer makers, if we are looking at market cap, Apple is worth $323 billion. Over double the size of HP!
 
HP is being bold. if it works Microsoft will easily loose >30% of their global market share. Schweeet
 
BayCityRoller said:
Hope they know what they're doing, because over the years, I had 2 of those 5610 4-in-1 Officejet printers, and neither of them would scan even simple docs. properly. Used to shrink the pages so you couldn't even see the text. Must've been Windows OS causing the problems all along !?
Since moving over to Lexmark, what a pleasure in comparison.
Don't ever think I'll bother with HP again, no matter what they make, or how good it is.
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Not a printer issue nor a Windows issue. It's all settings. ;) The machine does what it's told. Simple as that. GiGo...

adrianx said:
Different strokes for different folks.... I will never touch Lexmark again. It all started with my cartridges drying out* within 3 months and the poor support for Linux was the last straw for me. My HP printer just works.

*I printed about 3 or 4 pages of text - that's all.
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Lexmark is HORRIBLE, not only is their ink systems ancient and hardly ever really improved over the last 5 or so years, but their cartridges are expensive, and don't get me started on spares for these things...

elvis_presley said:
The problem with HP printers is their legendarily expensive running costs. I've moved to Brother in both my SME office, and at home. The nice thing about them, is that the drum and toner are separate, so you don't have to buy the WHOLE assembly each time like most other lasers in their pricerange. Every 4 or so refills you buy a new drum for that colour, which isn't that expensive. Running costs are 1/2 to 1/3. And as printers they work great; zero issues. It's almost as if they care about giving their customers a great solution rather than trying to screw them over as much as they can.
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HP is one of the cheaper printing systems available today and even their ink systems have well priced cost per copy rates. What model Brother do you use so btw? And what's your copy click per month?

Do keep in mind repair costs and spares availability, of which I noticed that the HP is one of the best at when it comes to the SOHO and SME markets.
 
So HP is not the worlds largest hardware company in either sales numbers or market valuation
 
hp always could run another desktop operating system.
it's called linux.
why they now have to introduce yet another semi-proprietary os tailored for mobile devices is beyond me.
please for the sake of all that is good can we (developers) not have to learn yet another set of api's and toolchain for yet another platform.
 
elvis_presley said:
People don't make the decision buy HP products and then decide what OS to put on them, they make the decision to buy a Windows PC and then decide who to buy it from.
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I, do! I buy a HP ML360 server and install CentOS. Works great! Why would one consider a "Windows PC"? I didn't think of Microsoft related products, when making the decision, as Microsoft products is no longer needed here.
 
Jon Rubenstein was on Engadget show yesterday; he said that the machines won't actually boot up in PalmOS, they'll actually run in a window, on top of Windows.

So everyone was wrong! It's not an OS replacement, it's just a way to integrate other PalmOS devices more deeply into Windows.
 
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