Longhorn Preview 587
itraor writes "PC World has previewed Longhorn, not the first one out I guess. Among the few noted features is that Windows now offers translucent UI, finally catching up with Apple. "
A list is only as strong as its weakest link. -- Don Knuth
RE Apple (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:RE Apple (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't remember the last time microsoft showed ANY innovation of its own. anyone?
Re:RE Apple (Score:5, Funny)
I don't remember the last time microsoft showed ANY innovation of its own. anyone?
Clippy?
Don't forget the xbox... (Score:3, Interesting)
Seems to work pretty well...
Alternate reality Apple (Score:3, Funny)
You know, if this happened, they might actaully turn a profit! See this [yeald.com] alternate-reality business page to find out what this would be like. Imagine if Apple made a device called an "ipod" and made money on it. Pretty far fetched, huh? As for me, I'm sticking to 8-tracks. This "ipod" idea is pure scifi.
'Microsoft likes to make profits. Apple only recently started following that business model
Re:Alternate reality Apple (Score:4, Interesting)
'Microsoft likes to make profits. Apple only recently started following that business model.'
Your post:
Yes, Apple has never turned a profit.
You go off on some tangent claiming I said they have NEVER turned a profit. Please learn to read.
Apple's most recent losing year was 2001. They had a couple good years before that. Before that, they were consistent dogs. For reference:
http://www.stockselector.com/earnings.asp?symbol=
So, yes, their recent 3 1/2 year period of profitability is nice. But Microsoft is the king of business, even with an inferior product. So, guess what? My comment about management having their head up their ass is accurate.
Re:Alternate reality Apple (Score:4, Funny)
Apple survived mainly because their rivals were horribly inept at marketing.
And let's be clear on one thing... when I say rivals, I mean rival, and I mean Commodore. Atari, nah... they had a half baked 16bit computer that wasn't going anywhere.
But the Amiga, that had a lot of potential. If you were around back then, and got a chance to play with the Amiga 500 that sold for... what... 299? And got a fully multitasking OS that just sailed along on the same hardware that the early versions of MacOS could barely get up and wheeze on, you knew they were on to something.
Unfortunately, nobody else did, because Commodore couldn't market condoms to sailors on shore leave.
History (Score:4, Insightful)
proprietary hardware.... Apple is only begining to get their head out or their ass on that one
Actually, no.
Apple tried the open platforms thing in the 90s. Tried it quite honestly. (Ever hear of CHRP/PREP?) It was a business disaster. Apple's business model since at least the late 80s has been inextricably based on their hardware sales, and an alternate business model would be hard to find. Their volume isn't enough to support themselves on software the way Microsoft does, plus lacking monopoly power they can't just set arbitrary prices on their software and expect it to be paid. In an open platform environment, this business model doesn't work anymore.
This aside, there are no indications whatsoever that Apple is dropping "proprietary hardware" now. What they are doing is dropping the PowerPC chip and Open Firmware in favor of the Intel Pentium chip and BIOS. The latter two things are absolutely not more "proprietary" than the former two. Meanwhile the "proprietary" aspects of the Macintosh are fairly certain to perservere and Apple has been indicating OS X will continue to run only on Apple hardware. Apple hasn't said they're going to an open platform. Don't assume they will.
Re:RE Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason MacOS could do what it could back in the day, and look so much better than, er, DOS, and er, win 3.1, was because it was on proprietary hardware. It was *perfectly* optimized for the system it ran on. If they had've pulled a MS and made their OS run on peecee's, they would've lost. Plain and simple.
Logo (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Logo (Score:5, Funny)
-Jesse
Re:Logo (Score:5, Funny)
> minutes and put back to being opaque. Such innovation!
Maybe, but luckily your boredom will be cured two minutes after that [slashdot.org].
Re:Logo (Score:5, Insightful)
That's because there wasn't anything else to talk about. From TFA:
"But it doesn't yet exhibit any breakthroughs in productivity, or promised features such as security improvements and smarter connections to handheld devices."
Everyday, Longhorn seems to be more like XP with a new look.
Re:Logo (Score:5, Insightful)
Longhorn may be behind the times in many ways, but there's more to Longhorn than eye candy. You just have to look beneath the surface. I don't think we'll be getting any in depth reviews until the OS is launched.
Re:Logo (Score:3, Insightful)
Could this statement possibly be any more backwards? The next sentence in the article actually clarifies the issue that there will need to many more improvements to inspire people to upgrade, but this particular snippet of words is decidedly poor.
You don't need a 64-bit computer to pull of at least half of the eye candy effects in this 'new OS'. There are e
Re:Logo (Score:3, Interesting)
That's because there's not much else there (Score:5, Interesting)
And every time, before shipping, features slowly fall away, the release date slips, and eventually we get... a new GUI to learn and a new set of bugs and security holes. The GUI is usually about all they *can* talk about safely.
But the article discusses other things as well. Such as the new way a user can install drivers without being Administrator and opening up a zillion security holes. Now that's advanced. After all, it's only been possible in *nix for a couple of decades.
Re:That's because there's not much else there (Score:5, Insightful)
Where in UNIX can an ordinary user install drivers into the kernel?
Differs from my experience (Score:4, Insightful)
There is a LOT of difference in functionality between them and an XP box (or, for the most part a 2000 box). Not just the look and feel, but usability, ease of just plugging in devices and having them work, photo browsing in the interface, ease of networking etc. etc.
There are differences, big ones as they move up the OS tree, stop being so flippant.
Finally catching up with Apple... (Score:4, Funny)
...in 3 to 5 more years.
Zing!
Re:Finally catching up with Apple... (Score:5, Insightful)
Linux: Finally catching up to Windows... in 3 to 5 more years!!!!
(note: If you're about to mod that as troll, lighten up.)
Re:Finally catching up with Apple... (Score:4, Funny)
So, I guess Linux will be catching up to Mac OS X in 6 to 10 more years!!!!
I can hardly wait!
Re:Finally catching up with Apple... (Score:3, Informative)
Composite managers are Xorg extensions that change the underlying way Xorg draws to the screen, not cheap hacks.
And the quality just gets better ... (Score:3, Interesting)
And who said Slashdot doesn't have quality control ?
The Book of Apple, Chapter 8... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:The Book of Apple, Chapter 8... (Score:4, Informative)
Copland was insane precisely because it wasn't a technical goal but a marketing attempt to say "We'll address every visible fault in our product all at once." Apple did actually salvage some ideas (like a color GUI, CHRP, and ATSUI) but those small changes were almost unnoticable when coupled with the big changes Apple was promising:
article text, for those who don't need 1,000 ads (Score:4, Informative)
The newest versions of the next Windows add graphics sizzle and more search features but lack visible productivity enhancements.
Scott Spanbauer From the August 2005 issue of PC World magazine Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2005
The most recent build of Longhorn--Microsoft's next Windows--has some impressive visual touches, including the kinds of translucent objects found now in Apple's OS X, and more powerful ways of finding files. But it doesn't yet exhibit any breakthroughs in productivity, or promised features such as security improvements and smarter connections to handheld devices.
We tested the 64-bit version of the latest code released to developers (Longhorn build 5048) and have also viewed demonstrations of a subsequent build. The first beta version of the operating system is due for release this summer.
Over the last several years, Microsoft has touted Longhorn's trio of significant innovations: a graphics engine dubbed Avalon; a technology called Indigo that enables programs on different computers or devices to communicate; and an indexed, searchable data storage layer called WinFS. But when faced with a self-imposed release deadline of late 2006, Microsoft decided last year to pull WinFS out of Longhorn, promising to release that component as an add-on at a later date.
So what of the two remaining Longhorn design pillars? A new desktop theme called Aero is about the only sign of Avalon graphics in our pre-beta. Turning mundane buttons, window frames, title bars, and icons into animated, 3D-rendered, and sometimes transparent objects, Aero brings the Windows interface to life. Indigo, which supports enhanced Web services, won't be visible to end users.
But even though WinFS is now out of the mix, Microsoft has taken advantage of file attributes in the NTFS file system already available in Windows XP to make Explorer better at ferreting out documents according to author, camera model (for photographs), or genre or album title (for music files). The operating system lets you create virtual lists based on these attributes so that, for example, you can see every photo on your system or all Microsoft Word files, regardless of where they are stored and without having to explicitly search for them.
Longhorn will also do a better job of connecting to smart phones (Microsoft wouldn't indicate whether the phones would have to run the company's Windows Mobile operating system), cameras, and audio players, improving their integration into Explorer and making file transfers and synchronization more consistent across device types. Still notably absent from the Longhorn builds we've looked at are new versions of the Internet Explorer browser (even though Microsoft has said it is close to releasing a beta of IE 7) or any other bundled utilities. Gone, for the time being anyway, is the desktop sidebar that lurked in previous preliminary versions of Longhorn.
And in spite of announced planned enhancements such as monitoring of outbound data (Windows XP's firewall watches inbound traffic only), protection against malware, a new type of restricted user account, and a secure startup scheme to ensure that a PC hasn't been tampered with, Longhorn so far has the same minimal security toolbox as Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
Though security remains an unresolved issue, build 5048 brings Longhorn's graphical user interface into sharper focus.
Catch-Up Eye Candy
The new Avalon graphics engine includes a programming interface that permits Microsoft and third-party software makers alike to write applications that put the latest and greatest graphics cards to work rotating, texturing, and fading windows, as well as making menus, title bars, and other elements translucent--finally enabling Windows to catch up to Apple's OS X, several years after the fact.
We managed to activate a subset of these features in our copy of Longhorn build 5048, and they're certainly welcome refinements (see top screen). Nevertheles
Re:article text, for those who don't need 1,000 ad (Score:5, Insightful)
This message courtesy of: Adblock and RemoveIt Permanently.
Re:article text, for those who don't need 1,000 ad (Score:3, Insightful)
Mmmmm (Score:2)
Catching up using eye candy? (Score:5, Insightful)
Looks like it will cause some nastyy readability problems. Apple uses eye candy in OS X for a reason! the windows suck down to the dock so you can see where they went. The active window has shadows to let you know its the active window. Users change with a cube flip because its easier on their brains. I'm afraid that this would do nothing but chew up processor resources with crap that I don't find useful. Expect a lot of eyecandy-disabling apps to come out very quickly.
Readability problems (Score:2, Insightful)
That is a good point. There is a reason that in the "paper office", stuff is not printed on translucent or transparent paper unless there is some specific reason. I've seen these menus, and they are much less readable. It is like the problem with "Aqua", with its unreadable very-low-contrast buttons. Is this a case of Microsoft copying the "look" without the "feel" with less-than-optimal results?
Re:Catching up using eye candy? (Score:5, Informative)
You mean like the disabling apps in the Control Panel? Like System -> Advanced -> Performance (Visual effects, processor scheduling, memory usage, and virtual memory)?
Re:Catching up using eye candy? (Score:2)
Re:Catching up using eye candy? (Score:3, Funny)
Oh my God (Score:5, Interesting)
I thought, when I first saw that Mac OS X release, that no one would ever make a clumsier, more overdesigned OS theme. Microsoft seems to be doing their absolute best to prove me wrong with every single release, reaching new heights of gangly ugliness with first "luna", then "avalon"...
Everything is just "piled on" (Score:5, Insightful)
In the screenshots it appears there's no difference made between menus and toolbars anymore.. the menus just kinda blur into them. Icons are different sizes. Different sized toolbars just smudge into each other and look messy. There seems to be no thought put into it.
Microsoft never ceases to amaze me. The company has billions of dollars (and they don't get it by writing checks I know) but they supposedly have some of the "best minds" out there.. and yet their products and interfaces are so scrappy? I know being Microsoft isn't easy.. they've got to be compatible, they've got lots of products to integrate.. lots of hardware to support.. but heck, can't they at least get decent interface design? It's not like it's a billion dollar job. Even people working for nothing, like the xfce people, do a better job.
Hardware support, political games (Score:3, Insightful)
Dangers of "best minds" (Score:3, Informative)
> it by writing checks I know) but they supposedly have
> some of the "best minds" out there.. and yet their
> products and interfaces are so scrappy?
I work for a large company, and was fortunate enough to work on a high risk project, one whose failure would have meant financial ruin for the company. Knowing this, they spent lots of money (both in salary and in opportunity costs) to get their "best minds" on the project. This was nearly a
No word on XAML (Score:2, Informative)
Headlines running together in my head (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Headlines running together in my head (Score:2)
Re:Headlines running together in my head (Score:3, Informative)
A virus does not rely on any vulnerability in the platform to propogate. Instead, a virus attaches itself to an executable and spreads itself when the executable is launched. So, by definition, Longhorn will be as vulnerable as XP to a virus. And Linux 2. will be just as vulnerabile as Linux 2.. And OSX 10.4 will be as vulnerable as OSX 10.3. As long as you can run binary content, your platform is vulnerable to viruses.
Now worms are another story, since they'r
Re:Headlines running together in my head (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm going to say this isn't totally true - A failure to meaningfully seperate write an
Re:Headlines running together in my head (Score:2)
Looks like they've got their focus... (Score:4, Insightful)
And in spite of announced planned enhancements such as monitoring of outbound data, ... protection against malware, a new type of restricted user account, and a secure startup scheme to ensure that a PC hasn't been tampered with, Longhorn so far has the same minimal security toolbox as Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
Though security remains an unresolved issue, build 5048 brings Longhorn's graphical user interface into sharper focus.
Soooooo, little development with respect to security, but more colourful icons. Super.
The golden trifecta (Score:2, Funny)
Better luck next time.
New Features (Score:2)
None of this really matters (Score:2)
Yes, I am sure some will buy it for the eye candy, but I am not sure if there are that many people that will just jump up and upgrade, especially with the DRM and all the other junk that will be in
Inside Joke? (Score:2)
Haha! Get it? "Windows" with a "transluscent" UI?
And just when I thought Windows usage couldn't get any murkier, too...
Not a Troll (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll I'm looking for from a home-OS is for it to be easily compatible with my usual web/mail and games software. Windows has never let me down on that score.
I'm sure there are plenty of MS horror stories, but personally I have yet to experience them.
Spam zombies. (Score:3, Insightful)
And many of the people who have Windows at home and are spam zombies are also fairly happy with Windows. Until it becomes too laggy.
The average Windows user would not care how many viruses/trojans/worms were on his computer as long as it seemed to be performing okay for what he used it for.
Meanwhile, there are bot nets out there with 10,000+ compromised Windows machines on them.
The issue isn't what you are happy with. The issue is whether you are b
Product vs. service, support: Not a Response (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not a Troll (Score:5, Interesting)
For me, it's Longhorn's vector-based approach to the UI. While everybody's busy giggling and snorting at the 'eye-candy' at Longhorn, the reality is you'll be able to use it on monitors with > 3,000 pixels in width without having to use a microscope to read the text. You'll be able to resize windows etc to suit your needs. I also really enjoy the idea of using the system's GPU to offload the graphical stuff. Almost like having another processor in your machine.
I'm amazed that all the M$ bias around here has blinded everybody to this little detail that's going to be a big fucking deal in the not-too-distant future. Certainly Linux is going to have its own implementation of this feature set. Everybody'll be waving their arms and cheering then.
Re:Not a Troll (Score:4, Informative)
Vector based graphics, offloading work to the GPU? Linux has its own implementation of this featureset now. It is called Cairo [freedesktop.org], and it works right now. GTK+ is going to be using it very soon, and SWT already makes use of it for their "advanced graphics" system. If you want Cairo rendering of GTK+ right now, use the cairo-gtk [cairographics.org] theme engine and associated themes.
Is Cairo fully integrated in yet? No, development is still in the works to port things over to Cairo (but work on both Mozilla and OpenOffice is already underway as well). In a sense then while the backend has been hammered out (Cairo) the full end to end functionality is till in the works. Then again Longhorn is still a ways from release as well.
This does mark an interesting point though: Linux is not playing catchup with Windows on this one, they are running pretty much in parallel. Similarly Beagle is in parallel or ahead of WinFS. I know all the Mac people will complain that their both playing catchup with OS X, but let's take this one hurdle at a time. In terms of new features Linux is playing head to head with Windows these days, and considering how far behind they were when they started (or how far behind they were even a year or two ago) I would take that to mean that Linux will be running ahead of Windows and only a little behind OS X in another few years.
Jedidiah.
Bells and Whistles (Score:2)
Major point: Please can that excellent windows icon with the bell and whistle casually draped over it be the new 'Microsoft' icon on
Minor point: I could have sworn Windows had transparent and non-rectangular windows at least as far back as win2000, which is before OSX -- hey! Who are you guys, and why am I being handcuffed? And what do you mean, 'ideologically incorrect speech'? There's not even any such crime! Put me down! Put me doowwwwnnn...
This is a review of build 5048... (Score:5, Interesting)
Beats me why they suddenly reviewed it super late out of the blue, because it's not really like Slashdot is posting a really old news article either here.
And here I was thinking they were having an early beta 1 review, whose release is due this month.
Reviewing alpha quality software should tell a lot of IT people here about how useful a review like this is. Beta 1 and 2 should be far more interesting in seeing where Longhorn is heading.
Transclucent UI in windows (Score:5, Informative)
o x-composite is still slow like hell...
o e17 will us software blending...
*sigh*
Re:Transclucent UI in windows (Score:3, Funny)
Oh no, if Bill Gates reads this, somebody will get fired ;-)
Re:Transclucent UI in windows (Score:4, Insightful)
I know the article and summary make it sound like this is the difference, but it's not. The key difference in this regard is that all windows are composited the same way, as if they had transparency, whether they do or not. (i.e., the compositing model is like what Mac OS X has always had.) This basically means a faster UI when using all kinds of crazy effects, and the enabling of new effects. Something like Apple's Expose is virtually impossible to do with out a graphics system like Quartz or Avalons.
In other words, they're catching up with Apple in capability, but it's yet to be seen if what they do with it will be anywhere near as good.
(IIRC, e17 uses the same kind of model; it's kind of like Mac OS X pre-10.2/Quartz Extreme.)
This is an oversimplification, but at least not as bad as the one in the article.
Halo effect (slightly OT) (Score:3, Informative)
Why should I upgrade ... (Score:2, Interesting)
And does the eye candies slow the machine down? Or maybe not since Intel and AMD would have spanking new processors by release time (end 2006 or 2007?) and maybe 1GB RAM as minimum for satisfactory performance.
Honestly, now with 512 RAM on a brand new notebook (P
Leopard before Longhorn? (Score:5, Interesting)
Perhaps 2007 will see a 3-"L" competition on x86 -- Longhorn, Leopard, & Linux.
Re:Leopard before Longhorn? (Score:3, Interesting)
My bet is that 2006-7 will be a Microsoft vs. Microsoft competition: 98/2000/XP/2003 vs. Longhorn. My bet is that Longhorn will pull forward less users than XP did.
huh? (Score:2)
OK to be fair... (Score:3, Interesting)
I realize that if I want all my pictures in one folder I could just put them in one folder instead of scattering them all over the machine, but for me it would be nice to have the virtual folders show files from ALL of my machines at once.
So congratulations Microsoft, I have found a feature that I would like. if I still used Windows. I wouldn't upgrade to get it mind you, but I would at least know there was something I couldn't do on XP that I could on Longhorn.
Re:OK to be fair... (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes - i said manually enter meta data... look at the previous screen shot.
That means that i can type "2005 yesemite vacation" 89 times in 89 "get info" windows... versus that clumsy old way of putting 89 files into a folder called "2005 yosemite vacation".
hellz yeah - sign me the fsck up!
This HAS to be a joke. I know MS is slipping, but these sophmore-year computer science assignemnts are being touted as "improvements" to Windows.. i cannot believe it.
this is all, of course, a moot point if you're a Mac os X 10.4 user, where i have about 15 actual, useful virtual folders that track things like "all my
the worst part of this article is what doesn't happen - the editor does NOT take MS to task for their sad-ass new features that are trivially implimented or years past old-hat on other operating systems - and point out that if this is all we can expect, we're in for a shock. And that shock could be major problems at microsoft.
Windows vs. cell phones (Score:3, Interesting)
(And before someone jumps the gun - I use *nix at home, but I'm forced to use Windows at work)
TSOD (Score:3, Funny)
Mystery of the computer industry (Score:5, Insightful)
There is one thing I can't understand: why is Windows so ugly ? Why are non-Apple computers so ugly (yes, Sony's and IBM's PCs are ugly too) ? Why are MP3 players so ugly ?
Is it really that high-tech firms are full of dorks without any taste ? Is the difference with Apple the fact that Steve Jobs decides, and the guy actually has good taste ?
I am not joking, this is really something that puzzles me.
--Go Debian!
Re:Mystery of the computer industry (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it's because different people have different tastes.
sounds like the upgrade from Win95 to Win98 (Score:5, Insightful)
minimal new features? check.
lots of hype about features that won't be included? check.
said hyped features to be included later? check.
main upgrade is fancy windowing? check.
requires more cpu/ram? check.
One big advantage Longhorn has is the addition of DRM. I say advantage because this basically gives MS rights to control what software is on your computer. The advantage is theirs, not yours. What does DRM bring for the customer?
I don't really see a reason to upgrade. Of course, most of the people that adopt new operating systems don't actually buy the new operating system, they buy a computer and get what's forced upon them. Eventually everyone will upgrade when MS DRM model decides anything older than Longhorn is an unregistered piece of software. Just wait, it's coming.
Re:sounds like the upgrade from Win95 to Win98 (Score:3, Informative)
Win98 came with the desktop enhancements that you could get on Win95 by installing IE 4. Stuff like that abomination known as Active Desktop (remember the "push" technology fad?), more useful stuff like being able to drag items on the start menu, plus all the explorer windows being integrated with IE.
catch up to Apple's OS X (Score:5, Informative)
- Windows is catch up to Apple's OS X.
- All the features that would sell an OS upgrade have been pulled to meet the release date.
- Same as XP with a kewler user interface.
- Only advantage over Apple's OS X is the hardware support.
Pimped out (Score:3, Funny)
There's a really working class guy who made good running a car repair shop. They've got a great reputation and do solid work. So he's moved into an upscale neighborhood, bought an older house that needed some work, and he's fixed it up. But he didn't just relandscape and update the paint job, he is seriously pimping it out. It's all very nicely done and high quality, but it's done with no eye for aesthetics. If a three tier $4500 marble fountain with an 8 foot radius is good, then four of them in a front yard that's 50 feet wide is even better!
From what I hear the inside is pretty much the same concept.
That's what these screenshots make me think of.
Eye candy already available on Windows (Score:4, Informative)
Windowblinds allows you to skin your apps. FX allows you to do transparency and 3-D effects for min/max. And you can use their icon program to change all the icons.
It is a lot of fun, although I still use windows classic most of the time.
It's a review of the limited winHEC build (Score:5, Informative)
I wouldn't give creedence to any LH review until the upcoming Beta in late August.
Don't be too hard on the UI right now... (Score:5, Informative)
For comparison, here are some links that illustrate the evolution of the Windows XP UI:
Whistler preview [winsupersite.com]
Another Whistler preview [winsupersite.com]
Yet another Whistler preview [winsupersite.com]
Whistler beta 1 [winsupersite.com]
Beta 1, another build [winsupersite.com]
XP Beta 2 [winsupersite.com]
XP RC1 [winsupersite.com]
Same old MS? (Score:3, Insightful)
Focus on the fluff. Ignore the substance.
Microsoft has yet to announce minimum Longhorn system requirements, but for PC buyers seeking insurance that a new system will run Longhorn, the company advises getting 512MB of RAM and a "modern" CPU--more than Windows XP needs.
Yet another hardware upgrade required. XP was supposed to run on a PII 300MHz with 128MB RAM. By extrapolation, you'll really need 1GB or 2GB of memory and a P4 3.2GHz just to run it comfortably.
I suppose it's too late, but (Score:3, Insightful)
--don't require users to run as admin. Go after sw companies that put out software such as games that require users to run as root.
--allow users to easily "su to root" for installs, reconfig, etc. Don't require a logoff/logon.
--use the 3d for something useful, like letting users run at 1280x1024 but have everything be sized as if it were 800x600. Try giving a person with bad eyesight an lcd and telling them they should run in 1280x1024. It has to be easy to change.
--never let the user lose control. I hate it when the interface hangs up and you can't do anything. This happens when printing, programs screw up, accessing some media, etc. Fix that.
--restore the uninstall information when doing a system restore. I might be wrong on this, as I've only used it on one system, but it seemed to restore uninstalled programs, but they couldn't be uninstalled again. BTW system restore is the main reason I bought xp for home. Improve that.
--a decent command shell. Hey, just port bash over, it'll save both of us some time.
--easy to use equivalent to ln -s
--easy way to schedule when the computer logs someone off automatically, and is locked from use for certain times of the day. This is for kicking the kids off the computer automatically, and preventing them from getting on in the middle of the night.
--a reasonable price.
Wheres the future? (Score:3, Interesting)
I know that some of this stuff IS rocket-science (well computer science) and no-one was going to get there over-night but 10 years ago I certainly didnt think that I would have learned to have touch-type before decent voice recognition was integrated into the OS...
It really feels as if the true innovation in IT has stalled...however its much more likely that it has just been strangled to death by patents.
"Low Rights" IE backwards (Score:4, Informative)
Give us a strong sandbox in the browser, and you won't need to run the browser in a weak one.
And the future of Linux is..... (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a thread here on Slashdot right now about the future of Linux. It links to Gobolinux. Here is what it says. Yea this is user-friendly.
----------------
Installing programs from source
If you are used to compiling programs in Linux, you are aware that it is mostly a three-part process: prepare the sources (configure), compile them (make), and install the files generated by the compilation (make install). The process is basically the same in GoboLinux. However, it requires additional setup in the first step, in order to prepare the sources to compile targeting the GoboLinux directories, and additional actions in the third step, so that files installed in
GoboLinux fetures a series of scripts that automate this process. They are:
* PrepareProgram
* SymlinkProgram
* CompileProgram
PrepareProgram and SymlinkProgram are wrappers to the first and third step of compilation as explained above (the second step being simply running 'make'). CompileProgram is a higher-level wrapper script, that wraps the process as a whole: well-behaved autoconf-based programs can be compiled with a single CompileProgram command.
Setting up the sources: PrepareProgram
The PrepareProgram script does two things. It creates a directory hierarchy for the program under
The syntax for the PrepareProgram is:
PrepareProgram [ -- ]
Passing a program name and version number is mandatory. These names are the ones used in the directories under programs. For example,
PrepareProgram SuperFoo 1.0
creates the directories
The second task performed by PrepareProgram is to prepare the sources. Since there isn't a standardized format for distribution of source-code tarballs in the free software world, there is no way to implement completely automated preparation. Fortunately, the popularization of the GNU AutoTools brings us closer to such a standard.
PrepareProgram, in this second step, will detect availability of preparation tools and perform one of the following:
1. If the program includes a 'configure' script generated by GNU autoconf, PrepareProgram will run it, passing the necessary options (mainly --prefix, --sysconfdir) as well as any additional options requested by the user in the command line (as ).
2. Some authors develop their own 'configure' scripts, but due to the popularity of GNU autoconf, design a command line interface similar to that used by this program. PrepareProgram tries to detect if a non-autoconf 'configure' script accepts at least the --prefix option, and use it.
3. If unfortunately the program does not feature a standard preparation script such as 'configure', the PrepareProgram will, as a last resort, scan for hardcoded paths in the Makefiles and attempt to modify them. Given that this automated process can be highly error-prone, PrepareProgram avoids being "automagical" and asks for the user's assistance: it asks the user for permission before attempting modifications, it saves backup copies of all Makefiles, and displays a summary of changes to the user. (Note: If the user is sure the modifications will be correct, all interaction can be suppressed passing the --batch option to PrepareProgram.)
In short, PrepareProgram can be considered a wrapper to 'configure'. Instead of running, for example,
~/superfoo-1.0] configure --with-shared=yes
you'll run
~/
Re:Rob Malda - EDITOR EXROARDINAIRE!!! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Microsoft Longhorn... (Score:5, Interesting)
I guess I just have vastly different aesthetic tastes than the Windows UI designers. Sucks to be me.
Re:Microsoft Longhorn... (Score:3, Insightful)
Indeed it is subjective. I recall being amazed at OSX's animated taskbar at first glance; my friend (a Microsoft fan) was less than impressed to say the least. I believe his comment was, "it's just flashy, but offers no practical benefit". I think he may have been correct.
Thing is, now he's ecstatic about Avalon (words like "cool" and "sexy" flow freely) for the exact reason he snubbed OSX. Go figure. I guess whatever "camp" you happen to be in also influen
Re:Microsoft Longhorn... (Score:2, Funny)
*ducks*
Re:Microsoft Longhorn... (Score:3, Interesting)
If you don't believe then just make a simple test. And please, before bashing remember that I only dispute the GPU usage (meaning that Apple does not use GPU for visual effects), and not how many users does that in reality (except me and some people who wanted to know if 3D is effective for FX tricks).
Test
Start terminal and then top.
Set dock to maximize on mouse over and start dragging your
Re:Hardware Translucency in Linux (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Hardware Translucency in Linux (Score:3, Insightful)
1. When I'm stuck on my powerbook with 1 monitor and I need to be able to see a webpage or source file when I'm coding and there isn't enough desktop realestate for all of the open windows.
2. When you want some kind of floating data. ie- uptime or load averages or whatever that are floating above everything or stuck on the desktop... like a screen tattoo (like that program stattoo by Panic [panic.com]
any other use (translucent menus, translucent windo
Walk before you can run (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Walk before you can run (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, we solved that already. It's called xorg.conf now.
Re:Walk before you can run (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course it should be noted that on my most recent attempt to use linux as a desktop OS I for some reason decided to use Gentoo, so I guess that if things didn't work right it is thus wholly my fault for trying to use Gentoo...
Re:Hardware Translucency in Linux (Score:4, Informative)
http://udu.wiki.ubuntu.com/XEyeCandy?highlight=(Di stroSpec) [ubuntu.com]
Re:Hardware Translucency in Linux (Score:5, Funny)
Hardware Translucency in Linux (Score:3, Interesting)
Well X.org bought you real (as opposed to simulated) translucent windows and soft drop shadows as of 6.8. Getting it to run at a decent speed requires a decent graphics card and preferably an NVidia one as their drivers provide Render and Composite acceleration.
Not that I think that translucency in all windows is a good move - it's just visual clutter. Like fading in and fading out menus, it looks cool but it gets in the way. I dis
Yesterday's news (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft, as part of its goal of cutting down Slashdot dupes, has decided to ship Longhorn pre-infected. Don't worry about it.
Re:Translucent UI? (Score:3, Funny)
NeoThermic
Re:Translucent UI? (Score:4, Insightful)
Still using a 14" CRT set to 800x600, so the one thing not to waste is screen real estate. Nicely positioning half-overlapping windows makes no sense here. Maximised windows, and a fast+easy way to switch between them, does. I happen to like a Windows-style taskbar for that purpose, but that's just personal preference.
Now when I have a window maximised, I can see some uses for translucent UI elements: how about a window that stretches until the -real- bottom of the screen, and a half-transparent taskbar on top of that? Or make the 'always-present' scrollbar on the right side of a window translucent, and use the full screen width for content display? Or use a translucent window for an always-on-top app that you may run from time to time. So basically, a way of maximising the amount of info displayed on a given screen area.
But a more interesting question: are the added GUI complexity (+bugs) and system requirements a good trade-off considering that small gain in usability? My guess:
90% of users: no
another 9% of users: probably not, maybe later
remaining 1% of users: yes, perhaps
Oh wait, Longhorn does this by default and builds the whole GUI around the concept? (note questionmark, I haven't tried/seen any Longhorn stuff myself). Great! Makes as much sense to me as that 'integrate browser with desktop'-debacle.
And then there's the pounding on security issues lately. Priority #1 now? When I see MS pouring all that coding effort primarily into eye candy, I expect Longhorn to have a hard time gaining acceptance once it's released.Re:Transparency (Score:3, Interesting)
Remember HP Dashboard on Win3.xx? It was a CDE-ish panel for Win and OS/2. They included alot of the HP NewWave object goodies, and WORKING desktop pagers. Borland/Starfish bought this, and now 'tis gone.
I have been trying out "True Launch Bar", which threatens to turn XP's Explorer into Kicker. The nag banner is enough for me to reject it, though.
Also, h