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Thread ID: 77394	2007-03-08 01:49:00	TY:Linux, YW:M$	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
531164	2007-03-08 01:49:00	Open-source software proponents may end up owing Microsoft a big, ironic thank you for finally getting Vista out the door . :p Can you say: "Torvalds?" Since the (late) release of the new version of Windows has forced IT folks in the public and private sector to make some serious plans about their upgrade actions . . . . . . . . . . this could be a favor to Linux . Among international government agencies, (a very important market for Microsoft), the US Transportation Department (USDOT) has already declared a moratorium on upgrades to Vista . . . . . as well as Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer 7 . . . . . while it examines cost and compatibility issues and looks at alternatives, including Linux . According to Information Week, the top technology official at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering grounding Microsoft software in favor of a combination of Google's new online business applications running on Linux-based hardware . "We have discussions going on with Dell," said Chief Information Officer David Bowen . "We're trying to figure out what our roadmap will be after we're no longer able to acquire Windows XP . " Microsoft still has a chance to retain the business, he said, if it could resolve the compatibility problems and make a case for its ridiculously higher costs . This cost of Windows upgrades and proprietary software is also leading to some re-evaluation by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry . Faced with replacing some 400,000 public school computers running Windows 98 or Windows Me (really?), the agency is taking a hard look at Linux and open-source software . These archaic systems will run Linux-based systems quite handily, and with speed that doesn't happen in bloatware like XP or (erp!) Vista! On a micro level . . . . a California school district with 5,000 Windows machines, for instance . . . . . Microsoft is losing ground . Windsor, Calif . , School District IT administrator Heather Carver is migrating most of the district's servers and PCs from a mostly-Windows environment that is quickly becoming obsolete to a new mixed environment that includes PCs running SUSE Linux, Wyse Linux thin-client terminals, and a few of Mac and Windows machines, reports DesktopLinux . com . Carver is also dumping all the Microsoft Office installations in favor of the free OpenOffice . The transition, she says, has been smooth . "One key to all this is that we're using Citrix (as the bridge) to run Windows apps on thin-client terminals . . . . which the adults are most used to . . . . on the new SUSE Linux 10 . 1 servers," Carver said . "The kids, well, they adjust to new operating systems and applications very quickly, so a changeover to Linux is no big deal . " Too early to tell if there's enough of this going on to constitute a trend; you can bet the sales calls by Redmond's reps are doing a little twisting in the wind right now .	SurferJoe46 (51)
531165	2007-03-08 04:00:00	Interesting read.	jermsie (6820)
531166	2007-03-08 04:08:00	I spotted the same article earlier in the week and actually posted the link here on another forum posting last night. For all those forum readers who keep wondering why there are so many people knocking Vista on PF1 forums, well it is probably because aside from reading the very average Vista user experience posts on PF1 there are a lot of similar articles to this on many news sites around the net which all say the same thing- companies are not seeing the value in Vista and are putting more time and resources into evaluating suitable OS alternatives such as Linux. There are a number of councils in the UK that are evaluating various Linux distros to replace Windows.	winmacguy (3367)
531167	2007-03-08 06:11:00	This article is well worth a read 30 Days with Linux Many people, daunted by Vista's hardware requirements and product activation issues, claim on various boards how they plan to "switch to Linux." We spend 30 days using nothing but Ubuntu Linux to find out if this is truly a viable alternative for the consumer. Introduction Complaining about Windows Vista is a national past time on Internet forums these days. Windows Vista "costs too much," "has onerous product activation," "requires too much hardware," etc. These complaints are often followed up by a very simple boast: "I'm just going to switch to Linux (or Mac)." But in today's landscape, how viable is that statment? Is the threat to switch to Linux an empty one, or is it entirely possible? Linux on the desktop has been viable for years, especially for programming gurus who can solve their Linux problems by simply writing new software. It also seems to be viable for “Mom and Pop” end-users who just want a machine to write letters, send email, and browse the Web (although, admittedly, a guru will probably have to set it up for them). consumer.hardocp.com	winmacguy (3367)
531168	2007-03-08 06:30:00	In my own words, I think Bill Gates has built a Pandora's box here . Larger that life and just as resource hungry . . it stomps it's foot and insists that it be given creditability: Consider it's DNA if you will . It's predecessor is gonna suffer a junta via lack of support . It's the big gorilla in the zoo and will be heard as all the M$ frippery has in the past . It is instantly accepted as the newest, safest, most golly-good some OPSYS since ME . People will sell their firstborn child to get a tower with all the bells and whistles just to see the incredible transparent folders . Big businesses will sell off all their old towers just to get new ones . This is gonna make the chip manufacturers and mobo builders and hardware manufacturers and salesmen very rich . We're all gonna live on the moon and eat raspberry tarts with the moon men and watch the full Earth rise on the horizon . NOT!!!!!!!:xmouth:	SurferJoe46 (51)
531169	2007-03-08 09:10:00	Eh? Even the "lower-end" PC still has 1GB Ram?! Geez, why couldnt they have had some real fun and done it on a box like a 2Ghz Celeron, 256 or 512MB Ram.. Onboard Shared graphics... REAL Mid-lower end PCs that there is a supreme abundance of out there in the market Time for me to go read the whole thing now	Chilling_Silence (9)
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