Neutered Longhorn - Yawn
So the news came out Friday of last week that Longhorn is officially scheduled for release in 2006. Most people expected as much, but that wasn’t the “interesting� part. The “interesting� part is that Microsoft has decided to release Longhorn without WinFS, the vaunted new file system that was supposed to give users an easily searchable file system, so you would no longer need to remember where you put things.
While WinFS is definitely a “nice to have�, it’s not on my list of things that I need my OS to do. LookOut or X1 or any number of other utilities can take care of that for me.
To be honest, as a regular computer user, there’s not much that Longhorn is supposed to do that I am at all excited about.
Windows 98 could do almost everything I need a computer to do, except it wasn’t stable. In fact, my parents are currently running on Windows 2000, and are totally happy with it. They were happy on 98, and I had to force them to upgrade to a more stable OS when they got a new machine a few years ago. Will they want Longhorn? They don’t even want XP.
My biggest complaints these days are performance related, and if Microsoft is true to form, Longhorn won’t be giving us any performance improvements, when compared on the same hardware with XP. Is there enough in Longhorn that truly enhances the user’s computing experience to make the performance hit worth it? I seriously doubt it.
I’ve done all of the performance optimization that I can on my current machine, including turning off unneeded services, and the tips provided here, and I still feel like XP is just well, sort of sluggish. This computer, an Athlon 2200+ with 512 Megs of RAM doesn’t feel appreciably faster than a 300 Mhz Celeron machine I have at home with 196 Megs of RAM running Windows 98. Why is that?
While I’d never advocate using an older operating system, I find it frustrating that at the breakneck speed at which hardware performance improves, upgrading to the latest version of Windows virtually guarantees you will see similar if not poorer performance than you did on the previous OS.
MS, you don’t need high-end processors and video cards to make Windows look better than the Fisher-Price look it currently has. There’s nothing I hate dealing with more than Mac zealots, but when they argue that OS X looks better than XP, I find myself looking at my toes.
Come on, Microsoft. Improve the user’s experience by making an OS that can keep up with its users. If you’re really “betting the company on Longhorn”, you might want to figure out what Longhorn is supposed to be all about.
What’s scary is that I’m a Microsoft fan and I feel this way.
Can You Outsource Your Own Job?
Is it possible to outsource / offshore your own job? It seems a developer posted to Slashdot claiming to have done so, according to this article in the India Times. While it appears that this could work beautifully for a developer, I guess a Software Test Engineer such as myself would have a much harder time trying to swing something like this. Plus, it just feels wrong to me. But hey, it’s ingenious, if nothing else!
Thanks to Mike’s List for the link.
My Current Favourite Song
Right now I’ve got “bitches” by Rory Blyth in heavy rotation on WinAmp. While it’s not notable that I’m fixated on a song, it is notable that the song is by someone who is more known for his writing and speaking in the technical world (and who happens to work for Microsoft now) than he is for music.
This makes me realize I should get my act together and post some of the recordings I’ve played on.
Thanks Yves for pointing to the direct link to download it from Rory’s site.
One Year Entropy Rule Valid with XP?
A concept that I knew and applied in years gone by to Windows 95/98 recently came up on a blog I enjoy written by a Tablet PC aficionado, called Tabula PC. In a post discussing different challenges he’s facing at the office, Peter Rysavy mentions his desktop PC at work is approaching “that one year mark of entropy�:
“My work desktop is slowly disintegrating. Outlook had to be reinstalled several times, IE is shaky, and the whole thing is super slow. No, it’s not spyware - it’s just approaching that one year mark of entropy.”
Note that I’m making an assumption here, but I’m guessing that he’s on either Windows XP or at least Windows 2000 at work. Peter, I invite you to confirm that. Anyhow, here’s my question:
Does the once generally agreed upon concept - that after about a year of use Windows needs to be reinstalled from scratch - still hold true in the world of Windows XP? I realize I don’t have the readership to really start this discussion, but hopefully someone will pick up the question and pose it in a forum much larger than this.
Vacation Time!
We’re going to Mexico for a week, to the Mayan Riviera. I’m so glad Fran nagged me into looking up how many frequent flyer points I had - who woulda guessed I had enough!? (Well, I guess she did, but that ruins the expression.)
Here are some photos of the resort we’ll be at. See you all in a week!
