Whose for Mix/PDC 2008 ???
One of the coolest thing about Microsoft is they being both Designer and Developer friendly(or atleast they are trying to be !!!)
Microsoft has recently announced the next MIX and PDC events to be organised in 2008.
While MIX basically targets designers and web-developers, PDC is for (desktop)developers. For those who wanna attend the MIX session, hurry up, Microsoft is giving an early registration concession of 200$ whcih is little less than 20% of the total(1295$) fees. On the other hand, nothing much has been said about PDC, apart from it being held in Los Angeles, CA during 27th-30th Oct 2008. BTW, MIX would be conducted during March 5-7 2008 in Las Vegas, NV.
I’m really excited to hear the keynote and to know the latest offerings from Microsoft Reasearch, are you ???
Microsoft – What happened to Longhorn concept???
I remember seeing an awesomely kool looking video of Longhorn(now Vista) back in 2002-2003. It had features and GUI enough to push back Apple way behind the current game. For those who are not getting even a slightest idea check the video below.
[ youtube=http://youtube.com/w/?v=Tf29haATORQ]
So where are the features showcased during PDC-2003? Why Microsoft had to settle for something less and name it Vista? And why the features that resembles Mac? Why, Microsoft Why? What happened to Longhorn concept?Well, I’m still searching for the answer. Few points that come to my mind are:
- Business Strategy.
- People not ready for it.
- Microsoft is still working on it.
- More features = More resources
- Not enough usage.
It could be Microsoft’s business strategy to first commercialize Vista, a rip-off of the longhorn concept, get the jargons Aero, Yukon, Avalon etc. out, and then release the main product. It could be like releasing Windows 2000 first and then XP(which is built over 2000).
This could be partially true. If you remember Tablet-PC, which was popularized by Microsoft way back in 1993. There wasn’t much appreciation from the general public and Microsoft had to wait for almost a decade for it to get commercialize.
The initial promise of Microsoft of a new File System, called WinFS was pulled off from Vista due to several reasons. Microsoft has to throughly test the whole new OS after integrating all the features. WinFS wouldn’t have finished by the deadline set for Vista’s release.
Well, I don’t need to explain much. Vista itself needs around 2Gb to work smoothly(512Mb minimum, but will minimum work for us?). A high level of UI presentation would mean a lot more that 4GB of RAM that the current 32-bit architecture won’t support.(Ahh i remember my old days when i begged my dad for 8Mb of RAM 
).
Yep, seriously, this could also be a reason. These features may look awesome to some, but for some it would be a time waster. There are a lot of people who change their start menu to the way old Win95/98/2k style and don’t prefer the xp/vista style. They feel comfortable in their old style zone. Pumping in all the frills may not be the update that they are looking for.
Well, all’s well that end’s well, i believe that Microsoft is not dropping the Longhorn concept, and would bring it back in the upcoming Windows7/Vienna.
What you say?
gOS – linux for Google!!!
We all love Google for all the advanced web-apps like Gmail, Gtalk, Google Reader etc. Now, here’s a little tux here to whet your G-appetite. Its the gOS which is a linux distro which is made to be :
- Google-optimized.
- User-Friendly.
- Of course, free and open source.
So, how does it work ? Easy as pie is how it works !! Its easy to operate for the average user. Here’s what the gOS dev team has to say about it :
# An alternative operating system for the masses : “Our idea is to be a simple, user friendly, beautiful desktop for normal people”.
# Out of the box, just works! : “We’re creating an OS ecosystem that is complete. We come with all the software you need to browse the web, email, instant message… Play movies, music, and connect to iPods… create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, images… out of the box. Plug and play! ”
# Bring on Google and other wonderful applications : ” We recommend Google for just about everything… Gmail, Gtalk, Calendar, Maps, Docs and Spreadsheets, and more. We’d like to welcome you to the idea that Google already is your “operating system.” “
The OS has an desktop integrated search box and everything Google can be accessed right from the desktop. 
Hmm…. I have a good feeling Google is going to acquire this project or something. Thats what Google does, right ? Buy companies. lol 
