Week Three Readings

"An Update on the Windows Roadmap"

This article focuses on reassuring the customers of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and future customers of Windows 7 that Microsoft really "cares" about the concerns and problems that they have been experiencing since the debut of Vista. I wish I could have read this article a year ago when Vista began to be used at one of the regional Pitt campuses where I was beginning my senior year. So many people had problems, and many students completely avoided the use of computers in certain halls because they knew the systems were Vista.

The article/letter begins by explaining that XP users will receive support until 2014. It goes on to let consumers know that they can still purchase XP until they are comfortable enough to switch over to Vista. I believe that the interesting discussion at the bottom of this article brought up many interesting debates that are going on with switching large companies from XP to Vista. Such as costs, time of training, system support/failure, and the realization that Windows 7 will be released around 2010. I agree with the larger companies, that have the money and the people and want to be competitive should switch to Vista whereas small businesses, libraries, and even some schools such as elementary schools would be best off waiting for the Windows 7. Many of these smaller businesses and libraries don't have the money to update, nor the people to train the staff to use Vista. When a new system is right around the corner, I believe they would be better off spending the money in other much needed areas.

Another interesting part of this letter/article was how Microsoft created a "comprehensive 'telemetry system' that lets us gather anonymous information about how real customers are using Windows Vista, and what their experiences are with real applications..." I would be interested to know those who are more technological savvy than myself whether or not this really helped, or was used for more than just that purpose. The article states that they helped them copy files up to 50% more quickly and were able to diagnose and fix top problems of customers. I would have to agree with the article, because I really do not know much about technology.

Finally, he closes his letter by reassuring that Microsoft Windows 7 will have the same core architecture as Vista so that investments made by users pay off because the Windows will be compatible. I think this is trying to customers not to hesitate (as much as many did) to buy the new Windows 7 when it comes out due to prior experiences with Vista, but rather get them excited about a new, more advanced Windows.

"Mac OS X"
First of all, I must admit that there is a very interesting conversation going on in "Lindsay's blog" about the use of wiki articles for class.

But I will say that this article tries to be objective about the Mac systems that have come out in the past and are set to come out in the future. I'm not too familiar with Mac, only having used one for an art class for one semster, that my muddiest point would have to be what is the "BIG" difference between Mac and PCs? What is the big rave about Mac being so much better, but than this article highlights how many problems they have had with their systems and how many times they have had to change it/make new ones? Just like Microsoft, this article claims that the launch of Mac OS X in March 2001 was recognized as important because of it was realized from the beginning that it was "a base on which to improve." At the customers expense... same as Vista's problems, right?


Muddiest Point: MAC vs PC and the big rave about Mac when this article seems to show that Mac has experienced just as many setbacks and problems with new systems as Microsoft.

"Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide"

1. Freely available system to download from the Internet
2. A clone of UNIX
3. Linux developers concentrated on networking and services in the beginning, and now are focusing on office applications a the last barrier to be solved
4. Well known for it reliability & stability
5. Not only used for PCs but also for other electronic gadgets such as mobiles and PDA's
6. Has everything a good programmer wants: compilers, libraries, development and debugging tools
7. Realized that if Linux was ever to be a important player that they would have to create a system that was more user friendly
8. New system is much different from older complex downloads - you don't even have to type a single character but you still have access to the core of the system when needed (and for those who want to do everything manually, Linux allows you to do that too)
9. Open Source = people can adapt it, fix it, debug it, and then put it back out there so that others can use it. This allows more people working at it and therefore new discovers are made and problems are solved much more quickly than if it was a closed group of programmers working on it.
10. Packages are available to fit most systems so that new users are more comfortable trying it out
11. PROS: free, GPU Public License agreement, runs without rebooting all of the time, security, can add or remove packages to fit customers specific needs, and because so many people are using it and adapting it to their needs - sometimes it only take a few hours before a bug is discovered and fixed.
12. CONS: more people = more opinions so there are many to pick from (can seem overwhelming), not very user friendly and can be confusing for new users, and people question whether it is it trustworthy because it is an open product?
13. Based on GNU tools so it provides a set of standards of how to use and handle the system
14. When asking what one should I install - hardware is the most important factor to consider when deciding if it work correctly on your computer

I used the outline this time for the notes because I feel that I don't have much of an opinion or knowledge on this article since I have never used Linux before (or know of anyone who uses it). Hopefully this will help me get the main points of this article, but I am still looking forward to what others have to say about it or know about it.