HP denies that they are making an OS to rival Vista, but, they do acknowledge that they are developing software that would bypass some of its functions altogether. HP formed the “customer experience” group nine months ago in an effort to give customers a quick and easy alternative to certain applications. The team is focusing on touchscreen technology where users can watch movies or view pictures.
While HP will not go as far to say that they are developing a complete OS, Business Week claims to have sources that say employees in their PC division are doing just that. A Linux based OS could be “simpler and easier for mainstream users”.
Phil McKinney, chief technology officer in HP’s PC division says the idea is a possibility, but HP is not funding a massive move away from the Windows ecosystem:
“Is HP funding a huge R&D team to go off and create an operating system? [That] makes no sense. For us it’s about innovating on top of Vista.”
Intel and Dell have also recently made strides away from Microsoft, with both promoting Linux based systems for their netbooks.
Is it Vista’s armor that is starting to fade or the idea of an OS having such a large role in general?
I’d say that our needs are changing, things are moving online for numerous technical and ease of use reasons. If they can run a browser and whatever else they’ve found that people need, then that’s all the OS will have to be useful for.
Running programs on your own computer might become the way people approach manual transmissions in the US. There is a small group still using them, however most others just don’t really care, and so an automatic works just fine for them.
In my opinion, the role of an OS is changing, and it’ll be up to Microsoft to change with it.
Vista is Junk. 3 Months ago I bought a brand new Dell Laptop from Dell. It shipped with Vista and straight out of the box it would lock up and crash! Finally ended up wiping the hard drive and installing Linux. Havent had a problem since!
Jiff
http://www.privacy.cz.tc
It was exactly like that with XP too for me, all of my XP computers used to crash once in a while, some even crashed alot of the time, or even all of the time. My Vista however, has barely ever crashed. It’s not that bad, learn to live with it!
“It’s not that bad, learn to live with it!”
Are you kidding? Why should a tool that I spend 8-12 hours a day be something I should “learn to live with”? I’m going to use something that works well and does what I want. At work, that’s XP, which is decent (no business with any sense would move to Vista), and at home it’s Linux. I don’t have to “learn to live” with anything, I have a choice.
It’s DELL COMPUTERS THAT GARBAGE !!!
I personally don’t understand the hate that Vista gets. I built a new computer back in March, and threw Vista (Ultimate) on it, and it’s run like a dream ever since. I like the bundled apps (I find Photo Gallery pretty damn useful), and while there’s a bit of an adjustment from XP, I haven’t found anything that substantially more work to do on a daily-use basis than before.
Well, assuming you have top-of-the-line hardware (not just new, you need the fastest, most powerful machine) Vista is pretty much as good as XP… or at least not significantly worse. But on anything else, it’s a total dog and has absolutely nothing that makes it desirable over Windows (at least not for me).
I use Linux with is improving at an order of magnitude faster than Windows and is way more powerful and flexible.
I think the title of this article is a little misleading. OEM partners have always been innovating on top of the OS. In fact this form of innovation and value-add is highly encouraged by Microsoft as it helps to grow its ecosystem. How is this, in any way, related to Vista’s “armor”?
OEM partners being businesses, will try to address different market needs as much as they can, which explains why some of them will try to ship PC with linux. Whether these linux machines are making them money, one only need to count the number of partners who have recently pulled their linux offerings off their product line (lenovo being one of them).
Taking netbook as an example; despite linux netbook being “easier to use”, Acer best selling aspire ONE netbook has consistently been its Windows version.
So back to the question; how does this show that Vista’s armor is fading? Not at all! Windows is a platform and Microsoft is selling platform and growing ecosystem. The large pool of developers on Windows and its OEM partners have always been Windows’ strength. And with Vista’s Windows presentation Foundation(WPF) , silverlight and its development tools as well as its suite of online tools, it has been easier than ever for developers and OEM partners to innovate on top of the OS.
If you ask me, Vista’s “armor” is growing from strength to strength.
Keith Nakamura
Vista is fine. Its all hype by the linux community. Most people have issues with the changes in Vista from XP.
I have been running vista since RC and its just fine.
That’s impossible. There are not enough Linux users in the world to create that much bad press. Linux users are still a small minority. There are certainly people who have never heard of Linux, but nevertheless criticize Vista. The real problem is the way Vista works. It’s bloated, hogs memory, and slow. It only works well on top of the line computers.
What has this got to do with armor? It sounds like HP are just coming up with more bloatware to add to their current repertoire of crapware pre-loaded on machines.
The computer industry has always had cutthroat pricing wars. Cutting Vista (or any paid OS in general) allows prices to fall even further.
Also, most techies talk bad about Vista, but when average users are exposed to it without preconceived notions (yes, the Mojave experiment that everyone disses) they like it. Sure this may be because “average” users are idiots, but the point remains.
I must contradict this comment about people liking Vista. Last week alone I met 3 people who got laptops with Vista Ultimate, and 3 with Vista home on computer purchased from Best Buy. All HATED Vista: Performance very slow, crashes randomly, numerous restarts required. One person asked me for help on downgrading from Vista because his sister is at her wits end with it. All of these are basic users. 1 of these returned the computer to Best Buy because of Vista. I don’t know if Best Buy Took it back (its not Best Buy fault technically but you get the idea. Computer World just published an article of the newest iTunes triggering the blue screen of death with an ipod plugged into a Vista machie with Itunes 8 installed. Sorry, but I’d say this indicates Vista STILL has issues. The biggest one being it is a HUGE performance hog and only a techie like me knows how to get the performance at more acceptable levels. That is not acceptable to a general user. Hence people actually bringing computers back to the purchase point at worst, or hiring someone (and paying money) to help them downgrade. As the Mac AD says: Ask not what Vista can do you for, but what you can buy for Vista. Its a funny ad, but its to the point.
The Mojave experiment was a joke, the people didn’t use vista, the watched a salesman run through a 10 minute pre-planed demo. You could make any recent OS look good doing this. The many complaints, driver issues, and speed problems that people had since vista’s launch are much more noteworthy that that pr campaign. I am not saying vista is all bad, but it had a rough first year.
I would not have said this three moths ago as I was searching for a decent laptop for recording music, but I took the plunge and bought a PowerMac. I’ve never looked back. I hate going to work and using a Windows-based PC (I develop games and thus have no choice).
You cannot believe the ease of use, the development environment (xCode) isn’t bad, and recording my band playing is a dream. Plug in, record a rack, turn it off. BTW, a comparably powered WinXP (or Vista) machine was at least 50% more money than my very expensive PowerMac.
For recording, Mac is the cheapest by a long shot.
@mikey
I’d love to see those prices then. Everywhere I’ve looked, the exact opposite is true.
Here you go. Remember, no Dell laptop (or any other) can possibly do recording. I’ve tried and once you have 3-6 tracks going, the machine grinds to a halt.
http://www.rainrecording.com/1-877-MIX-RAIN/store/home.php?cat=108
http://www.pcaudiolabs.com/daws_mobile_opt.asp?Cat=comp
What? Why are you bringing Macs into the discussion?
Simple, one of the main reasons that I went to a Mac was Vista. Finding a WinXP laptop was next to impossible. I wasn’t going to waste 2-3 days wiping a harddrive and installing Linux to find that I couldn’t do any audio recording. Installing WinXP on a newer machine brings up visions of incompatibilities and driver issues. After 10 months of thinking hard about it, I finally bought a Mac.
Yea but your comment has absolutely nothing to do with the news article.
My guess is that they are working “instant on” technology like Dell is releasing this week or next. Base linux with a browser and network functions.
Ok no hype just experience. I am a experienced Network Admin and Developer. I am running Vista 64 Ultimate to get use to it and learn it. I also cuss it on a daily basis.
Simple things such as disabling a network connection. I have to go hunting 3-5 clicks way to re-enable it? Why? If I know enough to disable the connection why can’t I re-enable it from the same box? Doing things in Vista takes twice the effort as XP.
Vista Back-up what is up with this? Does Microsoft actually think users will backup 250GB of junk every time, or just pictures? I just want to back specific directories Microsoft! And Yes I know what I am doing, I’m not confused! They themselves said they did this because users are too stupid to protect themselves. Hey Microsoft how about a Advanced option in the menu? What If I am a developer and just want to backup my EXE’s and Dev projects dir?
Because of this backup safety feature I went without any non manual backups until I found programs that work on vista to burn to DVD.
How about program support? Am I the only person on the planet with a 64 bit processor? (Is/Is not) Microsoft’s fault? Who cares who’s fault it is, it doesn’t work!
You want to see what Linux is like? Run Vista 64! It feels like Linux where I can only run some unsupported guy’s half finished beta program that he wrote in the 9th grade, because Microsoft has strong armed so many vendors they refuse to make Vista 64 bit stuff. Hey maybe only a handful of vendor’s actually make Vista 64 bit drivers so you can roll your own drivers like Linux too! Welcome to LinVista!
My worst fear is Microsoft is rushing the next Windows roll-out. I am concerned that after all the hair pulling and learning, Microsoft will radically change the organization of the Interface and options due to the public’s reaction. This will end up wasting all the time and money I have spent leaning this piece of flotsam.
One plus to Vista I have not hard crashed it yet, and some of the programs seem a little more stable (especially when they crash on vista.) It’s nice to run my SQL VM’s with 3 gig+ memory and have some left over. However since over 1/4 the programs I do own will not run, I feel justified in saying this is no great achievement.
If it where not for the fatal knowledge Microsoft WILL KILL XP and my Customers will be getting the next Gen of desktops in the next year or two. (Lets be realistic any large Org will not dump years of windows experience, and will just shift to Linux. The only thing supported worse than Vista is linux!) I would Format the Hard Drive, throw holy water on it, and Buy XP-64
P.S. Apple people so you don’t feel left out your hardware is too expensive!
What is up with everyone veering right off topic today? How has this got anything to do with the article?
I think that many of the crashes users experience originate from “value added” crap HP, Dell, and Gateway add to their systems. In my opinion HP will just make things worse. The fact is they want to install there own branded apps with up sell potential. For instance all those stupid trial games that come on a HP box. If HP really wanted to make Vista more stable they’d stop installing all their own junk at factory.
My newest computer had lots of problems until I did a complete wipe of the OEM Vista installation and installed Vista Ultimate 64bit. I have not had any problems since except my animated desktop crashes. This isn’t a big deal since explorer itself keeps working.
I don’t like the Core 2008 explorer. I’d rather have the old layout since that is what I am used to. I wish there was a way to turn off the fancy interface but there is none that I know of.
I love vista! only guys with outdated or crappy hardware have problems with it..
I have a work machine that is Vista and it isn’t exactly overpowered. It has a dual core 2.13 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. The machine works fine for everything I need which is Outlook (I wish I could use Thunderbird, but I have to support users with Outlook so I have to use it), Firefox and a Remote Desktop or two and some other administration tools open. I’ve never had a BSOD and I only restart it when I do it for updates. It’s very stable and plenty fast. At home I run Vista 64 on my desktop, and that machine flies, but that machine is also pretty top of the line. It’s never crashed on me and I’ve never had a problem with any programs. I also run a dual boot XP/Vista laptop which isn’t too powerful either and it runs Vista fine. Although it did BSOD when playing a few games, but that was obviously Nvidia’s fault with poor drivers. Since then the drivers have been updated and the machine has never had a problem. Everyone bad mouths Vista, but I’ve never had a problem with it on any of the machines I’ve run it on.
I’ve used Vista on machines with as little a 1 gig of ram and an ancient video card. Works well for me. The only problems I’ve had are with early Nvidia drivers. No crashes, no difficulty in understanding the GUI, no problems with any aspect of operation except an occasional problem with poorly written shareware that I’ve tried. For those of you who would rather try an overpriced Mac or downgrade to XP, more power to you just stop the whining. PLEASE.
For all of the babies out there crying about compatibility between the Windows and Linux platform, I have a box of tissues for ya. All OEM’s can try to push an alternative operating system all they want but it’s not going to change anything. Windows will always be the dominant operating system even thirty years from now. If Linux had a chance at becoming commonplace on the desktop it would of have happened by now.
Also I can pretty much guarantee all the Linux users here that cry about having a ‘choice’ are the same people who don’t contribute to the community and just leech off others. It’s okay, I’ll leave a box of cookies out for all of you so you can feel better.
vista is not actually that bad right now. i use it on my laptop because thats wat it was shipped with. but if i build a pc ill definitely go linux or xp. idk personal preference i guess ppl are entitled to have that right? well obviously microsoft and the companies that support them dont think so. but its always nice to see ppl defend them while they keep shoving crapware in their faces. ppl saying that linux will not become common place are blind. linux is spreading more and more even getting support from large companies like dell. the key to the change will be in the new generation who will grow up knowing they have a choice and won’t have years of os transfixation clouding their judgement and they’ll make the choice based on which is better. anyone with common sense and experience with the different os will know which will win.
Im glad to read about this but think it would be too much of a loss leader to start with, I cannot imagine it taking off short term – Dont know if they will be able to justify the brunt of launching this
Fair enough. the original article simply meant to me that companies and people are fed up with Vista hype and I wanted to add a non-linux perspective.