2290 of 62458 members online
Coffee Machines 720 GetFrank GymJunkie Menu Mania Snow Surf Varsity

Forgot Your Password? Create Account
[quote]
quote:
Information technology managers are beginning to determine how their future plans can accommodate Microsoft Corp.'s next major upgrade of Windows, code named Longhorn, slated for release in 2006.

One question with major implications for agency upgrade plans is: What hardware will be able to handle Longhorn? Microsoft officials say they will answer that question in May, when they are scheduled to meet in Seattle with PC hardware manufacturers.

In the meantime, industry analysts are predicting that Longhorn will need every bit of the power and processing capacity of the average desktop computer in 2006. Some say that could mean a 5 GHz microprocessor, 2G of main memory, a PCI Express bus and a widescreen display. The desktop would also likely need a constant Internet connection.
News source: FCW.com




OOF.

Commence bitching... Now
[quote]
Terminal services here we come.
[quote]
for work maybe... but what about for home?
[quote]
I've heard quite a few stories of large development problems that MS have been experiencing with longhorn.

...roll on Looking Glass from Sun and the 3d desktop environment Wink Razz
[quote]
it seems to run perfectly fine on my computer at the moment but i suppose it is only beta. Im guessin once they get it into alpha or RC1 release then were gonna see problems with video performance Rolling Eyes
[quote]
By 2006 that will be less than the standard PC spec for new PCs which... is what the OS will be designed for, they're not concerned at all.

The biggest thing is that you will need at least 64MB graphics to run the vector based GUI, which is fine, since most new computers now come with that.
[quote]
I have it - it's OK....
[quote]
oh, beta that is...
[quote]
The current versions are early dev versions, not betas - some major things aren't in yet, like the sql based file system. Once all that's added in it'll go slower, but dev versions are slower than releases - there's a load of debugging code in there, when you remove it things go faster.

So, in all, there's no way of telling how the final version will run yet. They can't make the requirements too high, or people won't upgrade.
[quote]
Lets face it, no one will touch it before SP1 is released and by then Microsoft would have tried on some sort of extortion on licensing and the world would have moved to open source desktops, sparking a war between the USA and the rest of the world that will leave us all but skulls in the nuclear ash.
[quote]
LOL@fish boy Smile
[quote]
Nice, Fish Froggy
[quote]
If you think about it, having such a high system requirement is cunning marketing. Most people will have to upgrade to run the new "hot in fashion" OS - and the PC they buy will come with Longhorn bundled, so MS will get huge early market penetration for what will in reality be a totally unecessary OS upgrade. Smile
[quote]
I've thought all along that Bill has shares in hardware companies as well.
[quote]
Unless it does something I really need, i'd not upgrade. Surfing the net and doing my email works fine on a pentium 1/2, who needs a P6 @ 5GHz?
[quote]
*resists saying it*
[quote]
longhorn is gonna be fucken sweet.

especially for programmers.
[quote]
By that time I think I'll just get myself a mac.
[quote]
bennor said:
longhorn is gonna be fucken sweet.

especially for programmers.


Why's that? It's more complex, APIs will be more complex, software will take longer to write, and any software you write will have higher hardware requirements. How is any of that better?

(playing devils advocate a little here)
[quote]
commando said:
bennor said:
Why's that? It's more complex, APIs will be more complex, software will take longer to write, and any software you write will have higher hardware requirements. How is any of that better?


Yes, it is more complex.

No, the API's aren't more complex - everything seems to be more logically named for a start, and have you seen how much there is to the .NET API?

No, software wont take longer to write. Have you read/seen/heard anything about XAML? XAML is an xml based mark up language which can be used to code ui's and even simple programs in a similar way to coding HTML.

Yes, software you write will require higher hardware requirements, but not necessarily more than the operating system will on its own. And with a sceduled release of 2006, i'm sure that the hardware at the time will be up to scratch... every 1.5 years computers get roughly 2 times faster so i think the hardware at the time should be able to cope...
[quote]
i apologise for the shambles with the quote

Neutral
[quote]
also consider the fact that longhorn wont change drastically after it is released, but computers will be twice as fast 1.5 years after it is released...

so if it is initially a struggle for anything but high end computers to deal with, it wont be for long...
[quote]
How many people will bother to upgrade though? My Dad is still using windows 98, because it can do what he wants - email, internet, and microsoft office (an older version). I don't know if i'd bother to upgrade either.

Developing for Longhorn will massively limit your potential customers.
[quote]
This debate happens every major OS release ...

Hardware will support it .... much like plug and play for win 95 (errr very bad example Smile )

Remember .. Windows XP is Microsoft's first 'get it right' OS since DOS 6.22

I dont think the consumer makes the desicions of a way forward ... Microsoft set the spec for the world, Hardware manufacters dev hardware for it and the consumer has to either evolve .... or die ...

so the anwser to your question is .. No they wont loose customers .. in fact quite the opposite ... Its in everyones nature to buy the lastest and greatest ... Humans are a vain species .. look at cell phones ... people as the main populas HAVE to have the pxt phones. ..
[quote]
Sure some people will upgrade, and over time a lot of people will have the new OS. I still think that many, many people won't bother to upgrade though, especially older people, and people who don't use PCs much. That sort of person often doesn't even own a cell phone, let alone the latest/greatest one.
[quote]
commando said:
Sure some people will upgrade, and over time a lot of people will have the new OS. I still think that many, many people won't bother to upgrade though, especially older people, and people who don't use PCs much. That sort of person often doesn't even own a cell phone, let alone the latest/greatest one.


Your average home user will upgrade ... maybe not in the first 2 weeks ... but in the most part over 6 months ...

The average work desktop .. will stay N -1 IE ... XP until LH SP1 is released, this is the most adopted IT model used ... so you see it is in microsofts interests to bring out a Service pack after about 6 months of release ..
[quote]
Mosy people won't upgrade immediately unless there is a significant benefit ...most will upgrade after it's stability is proven.
[quote]
Where i'm working at the moment, doing software development, a lot of the machines are still on Win NT, and like I said, my Dad's on Win 98.

Where's the value proposition for the upgrade? If I upgrade my PC ($1000+), buy Longhorn ($300?), upgrade office ($500?), get broadband, and upgrade who knows what else, i'll be able to do my email, surf the web, and use office. It might look a little prettier, and there's a chance it'll be a bit more secure, but it still does the same thing. Unless there's a really huge benefit, people just won't bother to upgrade.
[quote]
if you have time... download the "lap around longhorn" video from the msdntv section of the msdn website (you'll have to look through the archives)

i think you'll find that it is going to do a whole lot more than just look prettier.

Smile
[quote]
Wow, that was a waste of a 100MB download. It looked like a programming tutorial - interesting, but not that interesting :p I skipped thru it, there was no way i'd watch an hour of that. If I ever get insomnia i'll be sure to watch the whole thing.

C# looks like a ripped off version of Java. M$ got stroppy at having to play by other peoples rules and started their own little club eh?
[quote]
Straight over ones head Rolling Eyes
[quote]
commando said:
C# looks like a ripped off version of Java.


Shocked

is it dark with your head up there?
[quote]
Fishy
[quote]
bennor said:
is it dark with your head up there?


Mr. Green