Because this new operating system will be the nail in the coffin for Microsoft. If you think Vista was a downward spiral, think again. Perhaps you’re wondering why I seem to think this will happen. I’ve got a few reasons and I think other alternatives like MacOSX and Linux will fill in the gap that is created by them.

1. Touchscreens

Touchscreen PCs were originally designed by HP waaaaay back in the 1980s. Multi-touch will not matter because it has something in common with those circa 1980 PC’s…it has to be touched.

The problem is, no one wants to touch their PC screen. Think of it…how often do you feel the urge to touch your CRT/LCD? In order for Microsoft to succeed here, they have to make a shift in the way each and every single user computes on a daily basis.

Now I’m sure they’re pointing to IPhone metrics and saying, “but touchscreen is the way to go! Look, the IPhone has it! It’s a huge success…we need to jump on that bandwagon before it leaves the station!” That makes sense until you think it through. The IPhone is a handheld that is already touched…adding touchscreens to it didn’t fundamentally change the operation of the unit.

So when this “fantastic” technology comes out in a few years, Microsoft will have to convince users that PC screens are meant to be petted heavily along with trying to convince users that hardware support is there…and as you know, hardware support is FANTASTIC for Vista so far.

2. Hardware Support

Microsoft’s track record with Vista means that consumers have and will have a vote of no confidence with hardware support. It’s another uphill battle to build confidence in consumers.

3. Upgrade Path

Microsoft has more Windows XP users than it is letting on. Vista isn’t the be all that ends all that they hoped for. This means that when Windows 7 comes out, there will need to be a ‘no hassle’ upgrade path from Windows XP. Upgrading to Vista wasn’t the most pleasant experience many people have had and I know that the Windows XP File and Settings Transfer Wizard was a kick to the groin. If Microsoft drops the ball on this one, it won’t matter how many fingers and toes you can touch on your screen.

Why Alternatives Will Fill the Gap

I think that all of these things Microsoft needs to accomplish to build confidence in their product is a massive problem. How does a single company accomplish all of these things without seeming desperate? It’s a hike that I don’t think Microsoft can make.

In the meantime, you can be sure that since IPhone already has multi-touch capabilities that it won’t be hard for them to push it to OS X to compete. You know that Linux already isn’t far behind with multi-touch technology. The difference is that both Linux and Mac have a good base for the embedded market where these things will flourish. Windows does as well…but the problem is that multi-touch will be a Windows 7 feature…which isn’t out in the embedded market.

Let’s also not forget the other things promised in the past from Microsoft from their new operating systems and these features were trimmed…so it has the deck stacked against it here too as features are dropped like hot potatoes.

Keeping this in mind, where is the innovation Microsoft? How are you going to convince consumers that they need to upgrade in order to fondle their PC screens they’ve been taught not to touch since learning to compute? I think this is more hype than anything else…and it the first hammer strike of the nail in the coffin.

Windows 7 – Touching Places it Shouldn’t originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on May 28, 2008.

1. I am not part of this project
2. I do not collect money or have access to collected money on this project
3. I will not be part of this project as my plate is full
4. I’ve posted a single blog entry about said project that was syndicated at various places around the web…this is normal…there are many sites that mirror YALB such as Swik and the Linux Blog Aggregator.
5. I submitted this single blog entry on Lxer.com who published it
6. Tuxmachines.org also published this same post
7. The project is being tracked monetarily by Linux Today’s editor, Brian Proffitt, and Lxer.com’s editor-in-chief, Don Parris. (why hasn’t Pete went to them on this? Are they part of the scam too?)
8. Ken aka helios is my personal friend and I posted my previous entry as support of his project like any good friend would do.
9. If I found out the project was a SCAM, I’d shut it down. I host lobby4linux.com and could snipe it out in one fell swoop. If anyone has concrete evidence that it is a scam other than pure speculation, please email me devnet at mypclinuxos.com

So Pete is trying to draw major correlation between me and this project so that he can lump me in as part of his theory about it. I wouldn’t normally care, but it seems that he can’t stand up to the criticism he’s getting as he’s disabled comments. The interesting thing is he’s referring to it as comment SPAM when he has captcha enabled…which means he was getting a ton of comments he didn’t like and shut them down. He could also turn on moderation (I have automoderation after a specific time here) so that he could catch the offending spammers and publish everything else. I do that here as well.

See, when I blog, I open myself up to positive perspectives like those from avid readers. But I also open myself up to negative perspectives like those from Mr. Pete. That’s fine..he’s welcome to post anytime on this website’s comment system. He’s welcome to trash any topic of discussion I post about. I’ll never disable comments on any article because I do not have to censor anything anyone says to fit my message or make me appear to be right. If someone has a problem with a post…by me posting it publically, I have opened myself up to what they have to say. People are free to respond as they see fit to whatever topic of discussion I post about. It seems that by shutting down comments to his latest posts, Pete proves that he does not have these standards for freedom that I do.

So bookmark it folks…those two entries in Penguin Pete’s blogs can say whatever they want about the Tux500 project…that’s his right. But trying to lump me in with it is an outright lie. It’s untrue libel and FUD. Those two posts are your helping of FUD for the week. Hopefully, you see past it. Comments are open on this post and I’ll answer whatever questions readers have.

Penguin Pete’s Blog, your source for FUD about YALB originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on April 17, 2007.

Winning Logo

Logo after request for modification from creator of PCLinuxOS

Coming Soon, 2007…is this the final version of the logo?

Just after the project, I pitched an idea in the mypclinuxos.com forums on creating how-to’s for beautifying the desktop which received immediate support and the PCLinuxOS Beautification Project was born. Not only did this team of graphics designers, many of which operate their own web design and graphics companies, make it easy to have fantastic theme sets for the PCLinuxOS Desktop, it also makes them as easy to install as using Synaptic. After install via snyaptic, a quick change in the KDE Control Center, and you’re set!

This team really has outdone what I expected of them…I honestly didn’t think they’d grow to encompass many themes, wallpapers, Beryl Splashes, window decorations, font, icons, etc. for PCLinuxOS and the next coming version .94. But there are so many talented artists in this project that they have made PCLinuxOS fantastic polished distro. Now the solidarity of the PCLinuxOS desktop is conveyed by the overall themes of the desktop making .94 a ‘must see release’

I’m excited to be a part of the development process of PCLinuxOS through the Beautification Project and proud to be a community leader with mypclinuxos.com. So when .94 comes out, make sure you give it a try! You won’t be sorry you did as PCLinuxOS will not only look great, but work out of the box for a majority of users!

PCLinuxOS Reloaded and Rebranded 2007 originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on January 17, 2007.

I’m not extremely concerned with Kanotix dying…I think the community loves it too much to drop it on its head. That’s the beauty of Open Source…one person moves on and another slides in to take his/her place. What really concerns me is the fact that Kanotix is considering switching to Ubuntu for a base. Why would this concern me? Do I have it out for Ubuntu? Allow me to explain…

The most desirable function of Kanotix is that it is Debian based…and therefore can take advantage of all the power of the Debian repository. The head developer commented:

“Since financing Kanotix through donations has proved a failure and I am planning restructuring to a more stable base (be it Ubuntu or Debian will have to show in tests) and I myself regard Debian/Sid as unfortunately not compliant with a more commercial orientation, he (co-developer Stefan Lippers-Hollmann) [aka slh] has left the project.”

One odd part about the first part of this statement is that Kano just donated 100 bucks to ndiswrapper so the donation program must be kind of a success…yet he calls it a failure…I know I’ve never dropped a hundred dollars on a project (can’t afford to do so) and I at most donate 20-50 dollars when I can. Of course, this is me just pointing out something interesting.

The real interesting point is that Kanotix is looking at the Ubuntu base and thinking it might be a viable direction for them. Many of you are saying, “heck yes…Ubuntu’s a fantastic distro” and you’d be right. Ubuntu is doing many good things for Linux in general. However, Kanotix would be moving away from that Debian compatibility that many Linux users enjoy and love…it would also stagnate while moving across that base…and with stagnation of release being one of the reasons that slh left the project, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back for many users.

Given this possible change, one can guess that ideas such as this might be the reason that Stefan Lippers-Hollmann left the project to pursue a new one called sidux. Sidux will strive to remain inside Debian sid and stabilize it. So where does that leave Kanotix? As Kano (developer of Kanotix) points out in his announcement, it looks like Kanotix will be leaving its current base behind…and users inside the Kanotix forums are already voicing opposition to this potential move.

Something to note is that Kano has been pushing since April to move to a different base for Kanotix, posting this sentiment on Tech Patterns forum during that time. Take note of the date on this forum post here. (verified not to be made by Kano, lead developer of Kanotix) So this isn’t a sudden consideration…it’s been mulled over behind the scenes for quite some time now. (previous paragraph was verified to be a forum post that is updated frequently…negates the date on the post and the point of the paragraph so I’ve left it in place with strikethrough and removed the link)

Like I said, it’s really a sad day for a Linux distro I considered phenomenal. If they move to an Ubuntu base, I feel they’ll alienate many of their users and finally be absorbed by Ubuntu…I wouldn’t even be surprised if they brought Kano on as a developer for the project. Of course, this is mere speculation.

I’ll signoff with hope that Kanotix will stay true to its goals and aspirations and that it will not suffer for the current void created by their leaving developer. Hopefully, they’ll stay Debian AND stay in business. Let’s hope that this doesn’t set a pattern for bandwagon jumping of Debian based distros to Ubuntu.

Will Kanotix jump the Bandwagon? originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on December 5, 2006.

1. Nothing
2. Buy Novell

I read some interesting thoughts on the ‘deal’ and even some speculation that Red Hat might have to approach Microsoft to seek indemnification in a similar fashion as Novell did this past week. I think that this is reaching a bit. Red Hat already has indemnification built into their license. Red Hat is comfortable right now posting huge numbers and enjoying the success it deserves. Why it would want to bring itself to Microsoft’s doorstep is beyond me. I see Red Hat doing absolutely nothing about this…business as usual.

But what if Red Hat bought Novell? THAT would be something unexpected…and it would be a major thorn in Microsoft’s side because they’d have to honor their ‘covenant’ with SuSe Linux. Well, ok, they don’t have to honor it…but if they want to look like a good company they would.

Think about it…Sun was actually considering buying Novell not long ago…or there was speculation they were. Oracle has looked at buying Novell. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Red Hat swoop in and buy Novell?

Think about it…SuSe is the #2 player for Commercial Linux. What would Microsoft do? They wouldn’t play tiddly-winks with #2 now would they? Nope. They’d snap up that company and move forward churning profits. I think Red Hat buying Novell would be a Novel idea (pun intended).

What would we think of Red Hat if it snatched up SuSe? I’d say we’d probably champion Red Hat for pulling a fast one on Microsoft. And I highly doubt after acquiring Novell that Red Hat would worry about indemnification from Microsoft. Why? Because then there will be 2-3 major players with vested interests in Linux…IBM and Red Hat. IBM + Red Hat = Don’t mess with us Microsoft. I think things would work out quite nicely after this.

It sure is fun to speculate isn’t it?

What if Red Hat Bought Novell? originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on November 8, 2006.