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tecworx

Listed below are comments made by tecworx between Wednesday, 8th July 2009 and Wednesday, 8th July 2009.

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Chrome - living in a Google world? 7:41pm on 08 Jul 2009 @ ForMySins

Actually, MS-DOS was created by a company called Seattle Computer Products. The original version was named QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) and first presented in 1979. It was actually based off of CPM. A bit like Linux is based off of Unix, in that you create something that works like the original, is compatible to it (or at least to a certain degree), yet uses different programming code so as not to infringe on the copyright of the original product. It's somewhat of a reverse engineering strategy. Microsoft later bought the product, made some modifications and presented it to IBM as a solution for their IBM-PC. The irony in all of this, is that the company that created CPM (DEC) originally wanted to provide IBM with a trimmed down version of CPM for the IBM-PC, as CPM was already used on certain IBM mainframes. Unfortunately they got into a bit of a spat regarding licensing issues. DEC wanted royalties, but IBM wanted to buy the product outright and pay no royalties. They instead went with Microsoft, who actually provided them with a knock-off version of CPM, but agreed to take a one time fee. The IBM version was called PC-DOS. The further irony in the story, is that the IBM-PC was reverse engineered by other companies who made clones (i.e. Compaq). Microsoft asked IBM if they would have any problem with Microsoft marketing DOS to other computer manufacturers as MS-DOS. IBM let them do it, Microsoft set up a royalty system (pay a license per computer), and that's how Microsoft made it's money. First IBM doesn't want to allow a royalty based system, they Microsoft is allowed to do what DEC wanted in the first place. It ended up back at square one anyway, and Microsoft was the one to benefit, not DEC.
Chrome - living in a Google world? 6:45pm on 08 Jul 2009 @ Rory Cellan-Jones

Mr. Jones, based on your comments here today, I must really say that I believe you to be quite ignorant when it comes to the computer industry. I amazes me that with such comments you are a technology correspondent with a large media organisation such as the BBC. Allow me to elaborate:

1. "the Linux community - if there is such a thing" - You can't be serious with such a comment, can you? Have you been living under a rock or something? That's not just ignorant, but plain idiocy. Just look at how many web sites there are on the Internet dedicated to Linux, or general technical web sites that talk about Linux. Websites that "you" could draw information from and perhaps learn something about Linux. Not to mention thousands of companies around the world that use some form of Linux, mostly on servers. Hmmmm, let's see.... oh yeah, Google uses it... and, hmmmm... yes, Wikipedia does too.

2. "Yes, a defiant and growing minority of users have preferred to live in Macworld" - Defiant? How is it that someone is "defiant" because they have made a conscious decision to use one product over another? You actually want to imply that using something other than Windows represents some type of rebellious behaviour? Again, you display ignorance and idiocy sir. From a technical standpoint, the MAC-OS is vastly superior to anything Microsoft has. As is Linux.

3. "If, that is, they don't want to edit video or play online games or do any of the more complex tasks that this new operating system may struggle to handle." - You really have no clue what's out there, do you Mr. Jones? For your information, there do exist programs on the Linux platform that allow video and sound editing (i.e. Audacity). Furthermore, many online james are Java-based. Since Java is available on Linux, most Java games should work fine (as long as the website script is compatible with Firefox, Opera, or any other browser that runs on Linux.

4. "And, yes, you can already live in a Linux world if you are really determined and quite sophisticated in your computer use - but that is always likely to be a minority pursuit." - The vast majority of users do not understand how computers and software actually work, nor can they install and configure an operating system, let alone install additional software properly. They always have somebody else do it for them. All they really know how to do is point and click, and type (somewhat). People don't even run the security updates in Windows for heaven's sake. They also don't know how to save or load files to/from their internal hard drive, or external media sources. Taking this into consideration, the Graphic User Interfaces (GUI's) that exist on Linux are just as sophisticated (to a certain degree, more sophisticated) than anything Microsoft has in their Windows product lines. The basics are the same; point, click, type, learn how to use an application that you need (email program, browser, word processor, etc.). If I know how to drive a car, then I can get used to driving any car. Cosmetically there are differences, but the basic principles are the same. I'm not trying to learn how to repair the car or perform upgrades, just operate it (from the average driver's viewpoint).

5. ".....how many people will now choose to wait for Chrome rather than upgrade to the latest version of the Windows world." - What the hell are you talking about? Google hasn't given any information as to what their Chrome OS will be capable of. You are creating artificial hype for nothing. The only thing we can ascertain from their press release is that Chrome OS will be a Linux-based OS designed to run on Netbooks. This obviously means that it will have a GUI, but we don't know which one it will be. Usually lighter GUI's are used for such computers. The real question is, can we run many of the popular applications that now exist on the Linux platform, or will separate "Chrome OS" versions have to be created. The bottom line really, is that we have no idea what the final product will be capable of or how it will be configured. To make the statement, that people might wait for a product of unknown capabilities instead of using a product they can actually get their hands on an try out, is again simple idiocy. You can try Windows 7 RC right now for free, and there are numerous reviews about it to give people who haven't tried it an idea about the product. Chrome OS only exists as a project! Where in the world do you get your logic from? You're touting something as if it's one of the greatest things to come around in the computer industry, yet it doesn't even exist yet. Sounds more like Google is paying you to do promotional work.

You mentioned in the 5th paragraph of your article that you are impartial. Well, it's a bit hard to believe considering what you wrote. You act as if Linux is almost non-existant, yet you tout a non-existant (project only) operating system as being the next big thing. From a technical standpoint, my preferences are Linux (mainly Ubuntu) and MAC-OSX. I only use Windows if I have to, mainly to run programs that don't exist on the other platforms, or for which there are no equal replacements. My preferences are based on actually using and understanding the product. You on the hand seem to make comments about things you haven't even tried (in this case don't even exist yet), however use language assumes experience with the product. I am appalled by this article, and I question how the BBC would allow someone such as yourself to work for them and write such non-sense. It's really mind-boggling.

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