Dell and the Google PC...

Uh Oh, maybe this is good, maybe not. I've been rootin' for a Google PC for a
year or so... I was hoping for a new gen PC and a new gen OS to give MicroSmurf
some market competition... they've got the bucks. Well I got one part of my wish
sort of... Dell is building "Google-equipped" PC's... on an MS OS... could be worse
I suppose. At least some are trying. For those who may have an interest here's a
link.

BTW one-hundred million computers with "Google-inside" is nothing to sneeze at.
100,000,000 PC's.Quite a coup actually.

Thanx,

Victor K.

[edit on 26-5-2006 by V Kaminski]

Sounds like the McComputer

Thank you for your 4 word reply. Any reason why it's sounds like a McComputer, to McYou? McMe? I have mixed feelings and was hoping for a complete new non-Microsmurf OS. Apparently this possibility is still being considered. I'd love for folks to have a computing platform alternative that doen't require any of the vagaries involved in the other OS's. Non are "friendly" and "network secure" enough for many who'd like to find alternatives that are not less capable. One day, perhaps...

Thanx for your reply,

Victor K.

I wouldn't mind a reasonable alternative either.
I tried linux, but it wasn't 100% compatible with my MOBO, and I also hate undoing 'tarballs' when windows does it (downloads) so automatically, 'click here to download, whereas Linux one must enter code
Just kept running into problems and found myself stuck on what one assumes simple things to do (or was it my hardware?).
There is a reason why most computers still use windows, the alternative is too geek.

I'd give a google OS a spin.

But, windows is still the most versatile.

You bet, I concur 100%. No alternative to MS OS's yet that doesn't have the complex configuration issues and relearning an OS in a non-MS way.... Seems even Apple may be doing some MS stuff this year allowing an MS OS ported to their BSD-like kernel... even Apple is a liitle funky to work with unless one is already an "Apple person" and/or bucks up enough to get what you need.

I actually like MS OS's ever since FileMan in Win3.1, and especially since Windows Explorer in '95 OSR1, my favorite bit of Microsoft is the driver stack, the WHCL is enormous. The least favorite, would be the non-stop, never quite patched, security features and "improvements".

We're 5 years on in XP and security problems are not decreasing rather they are increasing. Vista, not much new of value without the postponed WFS long-addressing and no extensible firmware layer either. Now they may have lost the Veritas based storage management stuff from Symantec too.

I'm glad our small servers for mail and http are on a BSD variant, 213 days since the last restart, and that was because of an extended power failure, can anyone say that about any MS product?. Perhaps, but I doubt it. In fact if I'm not mistaken Open BSD has only had one maybe two minor security flaws in the last decade. (Likely inpart to it's extremly funky locked down, defaults).

Yup I'd give a Google OS a test drive... some Russians may have a surprise or two in the next 6 months or a year. Two friends who are European IT dudes say there is some chit-chat of an "all-Russian" OS software solution. Microsoft deserves competition...

Thanx for the welcome reply Toadmund,

Victor K.

[edit on 28-5-2006 by V Kaminski]

I use suse 10 which is a pretty good alternative but not quite as easy to use as windows. If you have some technical knowledge and a search of the internet you can do everything and more on linux that you can do on windows.

Getting DVD's to play on linux is a bit of a long winded job but I have sorted that out, also bare in mind that windows will noit play DVD's without installing additional software but makes it much much easier to do.

I have dual boot on both my laptop and PC and mostly use linux but occasionally I do have to switch back to windows for some things. I think given a few more years and much much more support from hardware manufacturer Linux will be serious competition to windows but not yet.