The March of Slime

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Microsoft's latest policy.

 

Should it befall that you need a copy of Windows 7, move fast.

[Compdude787 916]

Microsoft's latest policy.

 

Should it befall that you need a copy of Windows 7, move fast.

They should have at least kept selling Windows 7 until Windows 10 is released. But they can ditch 8.0 and nobody will care. Windows 8.1 is more like a glorified service pack for 8 than an entirely new version of Windows.

[Easy Bakes 253]

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

[Jazzmaster 716]

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

 

I'd imagine so, considering people are willing to upgrade their iPhone every single year.

[hym 358]

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

 

Apple and Google are forcing Microsoft into a faster development cycle.  Microsoft had originally intended that Longhorn (which became Vista) would begin the era of once-a-decade OS releases.  It is now having to look at maintaining 2 year release cycles just to keep up with what its competitors are doing.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

 

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

 

Apple and Google are forcing Microsoft into a faster development cycle.  Microsoft had originally intended that Longhorn (which became Vista) would begin the era of once-a-decade OS releases.  It is now having to look at maintaining 2 year release cycles just to keep up with what its competitors are doing.

 

 

Why are people letting themselves get gamed like this?  Who needs an entirely new OS every other year?  No one, that's who!  It's embarrassing that people line up for this garbage.  I'm seriously considering a switch to Linux.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

 

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

 

Apple and Google are forcing Microsoft into a faster development cycle.  Microsoft had originally intended that Longhorn (which became Vista) would begin the era of once-a-decade OS releases.  It is now having to look at maintaining 2 year release cycles just to keep up with what its competitors are doing.

 

 

Why are people letting themselves get gamed like this?  Who needs an entirely new OS every other year?  No one, that's who!  It's embarrassing that people line up for this garbage.  I'm seriously considering a switch to Linux.

 

Well, if you do and you choose Ubuntu you will have a couple of choices on upgrades:  You can go to an LTS version (e.g. 14.04) which remains in full support for five years or you can upgrade every 6 months.  New release upgrades are available in April and October of each year, and getting from 14.04 to 14.10 for example is a simple process of simply allowing it to happen.  Takes about two hours, so you could do it overnight.  New stuff just comes along gradually.

 

Upgrading from an LTS version five years later means essentially making a new installation medium, saving your user stuff, and doing a new install.  It also means a slam-bang introduction of new features.

 

Originally, I went the LTS route, but soon decided that I wanted something from one of the intermediate releases, so did a full upgrade to one of the intermediate releases.  Painful, once.

 

To decode the version numbers they are simply the year and month of the release.  They also pick a fancy name for it.  I don't bother with the names because most of them are rather silly.

 

In case you want to experiment, here's the link.  You can download the ISO, check it, make a DVD, and try it without risk since the trial runs only in memory.

[hym 358]

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

Apple and Google are forcing Microsoft into a faster development cycle. Microsoft had originally intended that Longhorn (which became Vista) would begin the era of once-a-decade OS releases. It is now having to look at maintaining 2 year release cycles just to keep up with what its competitors are doing.

Why are people letting themselves get gamed like this? Who needs an entirely new OS every other year? No one, that's who! It's embarrassing that people line up for this garbage. I'm seriously considering a switch to Linux.

People freak out for the latest iPhone and iOS release, so this isn't surprising.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

 

 

they truly think that every one will want to switch opertating Systems every 2 years?

it ususualy takes big companies that long to get every one switched from one to another

Apple and Google are forcing Microsoft into a faster development cycle. Microsoft had originally intended that Longhorn (which became Vista) would begin the era of once-a-decade OS releases. It is now having to look at maintaining 2 year release cycles just to keep up with what its competitors are doing.

Why are people letting themselves get gamed like this? Who needs an entirely new OS every other year? No one, that's who! It's embarrassing that people line up for this garbage. I'm seriously considering a switch to Linux.

People freak out for the latest iPhone and iOS release, so this isn't surprising.

 

D'you mean they are in favour or against these updates?  If its not broken, new editions of operating software only serves to churn the market and sell hardware to people who don't really need it.

[Jazzmaster 716]

But that extra 1/4" of screen size and half-second reduction in loading time for my Facebook app really makes the new $600 phone entirely worth it!!!

 

In all seriousness though, consider me a member of the "upgrades infrequently" camp.   I have no real desire to switch over from Win7 since it does everything I need.

 

Seriously, that's all I care about in any technology purchase.  If it has extra features that might come in handy fine, but it needs to do what I actually need it to do.  If it can't do that, it's not the right toy for me.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Good points.  But what happens when some tried and true app you've used for years sometimes gets bent out of shape?  This often happens when the entire platform undergoes an upgrade.  One of the things we always did when I was a software chair, was to ensure that any proposed 'bending' was thoroughly understood and approved by the clients.  Sometimes this took a bit of real selling.

 

I recall one instance when the vendor discontinued a library call system that had been in use for over 20 years.  It was obsolete as far as many users were concerned, but management is ultra-conservative when it comes to change that might cost a few bucks.  This change required going from magnetic tape program libraries to disk.  You should have heard the screaming.  Every job stream that used the old call had to have its JCL edited, often by hand replacing 80 column control cards with new/different ones.  From that, you get the idea of about when this was.  Management attitudes never change.

[hym 358]

D'you mean they are in favour or against these updates?  If its not broken, new editions of operating software only serves to churn the market and sell hardware to people who don't really need it.

 

In favor.

 

Like it or not, we are moving towards a world of "software as a service" and rapid update cycles with incremental improvements.  Apple and Google release new phones and operating systems every year.  (Android used to be on a 6 month development cycle.)  I have a Nexus 7 tablet.  Android Lollipop is releasing for it on Nov. 12th.  Lollipop hasn't even officially been released for my tablet and I am already running the Lollipop-updated versions of Chrome, GMail, the Play Store, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Play Newsstand, Play Music, Google+, Hangouts, and Play Movies.  Just this week, Google announced that it is nearing release of a redesigned Calendar app and a new Maps app.

 

This is the type of competition with which Microsoft must now contend.  A new operating system every few years isn't going to cut it anymore.  Even Microsoft Office isn't immune.  If you look at Office 365, Microsoft's online office suite, Microsoft has built a system of incremental updates and new features into the service.  Microsoft is still considering the idea of killing installed versions of Office entirely in favor of moving everyone to Office 365 and formally dropping the concept of version numbers.  (That alone should tell you how radically different tech leaders are expecting the world to be in the next few years.)

 

We are moving towards a world were there are no version numbers.  Instead of running "Windows 7," you run "Windows."  Instead of running "iOS 8," you run "iOS."  For those of you who use Google Chrome as your desktop web browser, how many of you are aware that Google has released 22 new versions of Chrome in the past 22 months?

[Duke87 1,070]

Ay, the death of a thousand updates. I swear, it's a curse. Used to be, you bought something, that was it, there it was. Stayed the same forever. Now it subtly changes every few weeks.

 

If this addresses security issues, that's one thing, fine. But when you go changing around how things work, you may find that some users do not consider the change to be an improvement and really wish they didn't have to install the update that changed it.

 

Used to be that if a video game had an exploitable glitch that made finishing a level easier, you could rely on continuing to exploit it forever. Now, you can bet it will be patched away. Where's the fun in that? Something is definitely lost there.

 

 

Of course, taking something that should be a one time purchase and turning it into a subscription is perhaps in a way an ingenious profit machine. Imagine for a second if you had to pay a monthly fee to continue using Windows. You'd probably end up paying a lot more for it than you do now.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, who is surprised?  Ubuntu users get updates about twice a week or more often.  Usually bug fixes, with the big changes reserved for the semi-annual update in April and October.  For example, I got updates for SSL the day before the panic hit the press.  It wasn't until the next day that I understood why.

 

Because much Linux-based software is in such little pieces, it is easy to update it.  However, you do need a good system like the Synaptic Package Manager to make sure you have all the dependencies covered.  I have a lot of custom development stuff loaded, and as a result I get more updates than the average mail/internet user.  Without the proper tools, this would be a real mare's nest.

 

Oh, and for IOS and Android users, welcome to the Linux world.