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The Future of Operating Systems

Lionheart

SOH-CM-2014
Have you ever wondered what an OS will be like in 10 years?

Have you wondered what they will be capable of, how fast will they be, what they will be able to offer?

With the mess from vista where people were basically forced into using it, and with it being 'non-user-friendly' which has been publically stated by Microsoft executives, the public distrust in Microsoft has, in another way, opened the possibilities of 'being king of the mountain' in the Operating System (OS) world to be available to other groups, such as Mac and Linux.

Already, in countries such as China, Linux is the mainstay, as well as pirated copies of Windows. It seems that people can only afford so much for a basic OS, so the public go where they can afford it.

Here at the Sim Outhouse, we are united by Windows, only because it runs FS2004 and FSX and CFS 1, 2, and 3. But perhaps the day is coming with other OS systems will be able to run similar games (well, these sims), and we will be able to choose what ever we wish for as a OS.

Being one that has taken a step into the land of choosing a new OS (for other things aside from FS), I have found Mac OSX to be incredible. It boots up faster then XP (I love XP, so for me to say this is alot), and it has the coolest little features. I am overwhelmed by it and only wish it could run FS9 and FSX.

Second, I use business software for business, (as well as media for playing music and podcasts, yes, I am a podcast freak or geek and hope to make my own podcasts someday). I purchased Windows Office a couple of years ago, and loved it, but couldnt afford the full package, so I have had to live with a basic version all this time. Well, Apple seems to know what people can afford, and offer 'one' (1 as in one) Office suite called iWork, and it sells for $79.00. Pretty cool compared to $250.0. And, the iWork programs (there are 3 programs in the suite), interact with each other, meaning if you become fluent in one, the other runs quite similarly).

Now, get this. MS Office was available for Mac, (and still is) but at a hefty cost of over $400.00 a copy. They recently lowered it to $250.00. (Four hundred dollars! Dang.. Does money grow on trees?)

Now my point is not to promote Apple, but to see that there are options. Options give you an alternative route. If a supplier starts to 'pull things on you', do you wrong, mess with your way of life, and they think that no one else offers what they have, they will have a power over you... But if you have options, you can say, 'Hey! take a hike man! I'll just go with this group.'

In checking out Mac, (well, becoming addicted), I have now become interested in OS systems. As a matter of fact, my Nephew was over the other day, about 15 years old and a brilliant kid and will be what will make America in the near future, if not already), was asking me.. 'What does it take to make an OS?' I hadnt been talking to him at all on these things. It was a question from out of the blue, so he had been thinking on it already for some reason.

So I wonder if the world of one main OS on the top of the mountain is about to become 'many OS's all over the world. What if a new sensation of multiple OS's occur. Remember when we only had a couple of Net Browsers? Netscape was one of the only ones..

Now with the kids of today growing up on computers, learning computer languages in grade school instead of college, by the time they are 20, surely they will have ideas for better OS systems that will be far more faster, better, complex, and perhaps even more simple then we had ever imagined....

Think of it... Being able to go with a OS that is half the cost of 'another' that does 3 times more, and for $15.00 more, you can have it on 3 other computers in the same house...



Affordability, easeability, functionality, and sweet freedom.... Freedom to choose. No more 'buy this or else we wont cover you, and you have no where to go.... '


Now.... Dream of what an OS will be like 10 years from now.....



Bill
 
So I wonder if the world of one main OS on the top of the mountain is about to become 'many OS's all over the world. What if a new sensation of multiple OS's occur. Remember when we only had a couple of Net Browsers? Netscape was one of the only ones...

Man, I hope not. :hand: I guess you don't remember the 1980s, when there was MS-DOS, PC-DOS, Commodore 64, Apple IIe, Macintosh, and Commodore Amiga, all at the same time! Windows 1.0 and GEOS also entered the scene; if you were a software or peripheral developer, you either had to write software and/or drivers for each operating system; or settle for only a small segment of the PC market.

By making Windows so ommipresent, it has greatly reduced the amount of effort while greatly increasing the amount the customer base. And consumers don't have to worry whether or not their purchase will work with their system.

I used to have fun with the challenge of transferring stuff from one computer and operating system to another; and mastering each. But, it was a terrible way to get anything done; we have taken for granted how easy it is work with only three main OSes (Windows, Unix/Linux, Mac); which also have a high degree of interoperability.

I have heard for years that Unix/Linux will take over Windows; but it is even more user unfriendly than Vista. At some point, you have to go to a command line; and when you do, that's it for "user friendly."

As long as MacOS only comes bundled with a Mac PC, their market will be limited. Don't get me wrong, its a great business model and a great machine. But simply put, Macs are expensive, and there is a limit to how much you can dig under the hood, and change things around; forget building one cheaply from parts.




I think the biggest problem with Microsoft in general is that for years, their business model has been to release new versions that have more features than the previous version; and by doing so, expecting users to run up in droves to snap it up. But, I think they started to hit a limit much like the "sound barrier", starting with Windows XP, the latest versions of Office, and FSX:
  • It gets harder and hard to control the source code, and integrate the various pieces, as well as maintain compatibilty with previous versions, as the software base gets larger and larger. You start seeing more instances of pieces being left out (the bridges in the first release of FS2004), incompatible code or bugs (where should we start), and less compatibility with previous versions.
  • Most users are perfectly happy with their current version of Windows, FS, Office, etc.; and are not breathlessly waiting for the next release. They are even dreading the point when MS pulls support for their current version; forcing them to upgrade almost at gunpoint.:sniper: Many users are still grappling with, or never use 50-90% of the features in the current version.
While we thought that supersonic travel and trips to the space would become no big deal; we found out it wasn't quite that easy, and very expensive no matter what we tried. I think the same thing is happening with computers; they already do things so well for us; and I think MS and many others in the computer field have no sense of direction about where to go from here. Just throwing in more hardware and features doesn't cut the mustard anymore; especially when it also introduces more bugs and less backwards compatibility.

-James
 
well the way i see it, MS has only really crapped out on a couple of OS, windows 2000 and vista, W95 was good, W98 was good, WXP is great. Just because they dropped the ball with vista doesnt mean that everything else they'll do will be the same. Which the good things which people have said about Windows7 so far backs up :wave:

Also it'd be a nightmare to have several different mainstream OSs, compatability nightmare!!! just think, if theres huge differences in FSX retail compared to FS SP2 .. now what if each OS handeled something slightly differently? :faint:

Want cheaper prices?? keep stuff as simple as possible for developers of code. Also you dont have to update with every version of word etc .. i still use office97 and it does the job just fine ... failing that theres wordpad .. failing that theres tons of free stuff on the web that does the job.

:)
 
well the way i see it, MS has only really crapped out on a couple of OS, windows 2000 and vista, W95 was good, W98 was good, WXP is great. Just because they dropped the ball with vista doesnt mean that everything else they'll do will be the same. Which the good things which people have said about Windows7 so far backs up :wave:

Stiz


Very true! I cannot believe they could do two horrible OS systems in a row.


Also it'd be a nightmare to have several different mainstream OSs, compatability nightmare!!! just think, if theres huge differences in FSX retail compared to FS SP2 .. now what if each OS handeled something slightly differently? :faint:

Stiz

If you think about it, having Windows XP and Windows Vista, you alreay have two OS's. Though they are similar and share code, they do have their differences, such as easability.

In the past, groups that made OS's didnt do their own compatability setups for other files, etc. Apple now has this, with the ability to 'Save As' in Windows formats, such as DOC files, spreadsheets (XL) and alot of programs are available that run in Mac, and there are programs that make/allow Windows based programs to work fine in Mac also.

With that, I am sure in China, they have Linux and Unix systems/programs that can work/interact with most all (I dare say it 'all') Windows programs already.



Hefner,

I agree on your point with Mac. I think they need a version of Mac OSD for builders. A software pack that one can get and put on a regular PC. The time has come. There are already thousands that do this daily, making computers and putting Mac OSX on it, but they are not covered by Apple, so its 'experimental' if you would.

Their hardware is also getting hit with the market wanting their computers but not Mac OSX. They are purchasing G5's and Mac Book Pro's and putting Linux and Windows on them.

Its a wild market of lots of variations in demand. Right now, the world is hurting monetarily. They cannot afford $400.00 and $250.00 for a program that basically makes a Document or Spreadsheet file. Office GL is openware and does the same thing now, totally free.


But to get back on topic, I see a 'new world' of OS's coming out, that can interact with each other fine and will have races in performance and features like we have never seen before....




Bill
 
well the way i see it, MS has only really crapped out on a couple of OS, windows 2000 and vista, W95 was good, W98 was good, WXP is great. Just because they dropped the ball with vista doesnt mean that everything else they'll do will be the same. Which the good things which people have said about Windows7 so far backs up :wave:

Actually, that proves my point. With Windows 2000, Microsoft made too many changes to a complicated code base in trying to intergrate NT and Windows 95 to get it right. XP introduced new features, but also fixed the bugs and things Windows 2000 messed up. FS2002 introduced new features, but also fixed bugs in FS2000; which I believe was the version that introduced the major changes from previous versions of FS. Vista introduces new features; too many changes to a complicated code base, and bombed. Windows 7, like XP, will introduce a few new features, but will mostly clean up the mess from Vista.

I believe XP and FS2004 were also the first versions to offer service packs; while some SP added new features; many if not all contained bug fixes. And even they broke things sometimes, and reduced compatibility (Acceration, anyone?)

But to get back on topic, I see a 'new world' of OS's coming out, that can interact with each other fine and will have races in performance and features like we have never seen before....

But that is also my point. It is no longer the user pushing for these changes; it is part of a policy of "planned obsolecence" to keep users upgrading indefinitely. As you pointed out; money will be tight for awhile, and consumers are saying NO! to new upgrades.

We even breathed a sigh of relief here; realizing we have a few more years to wrestle more out of FSX and FS9 instead of having to gear up for the next version.

-James
 
We even breathed a sigh of relief here; realizing we have a few more years to wrestle more out of FSX and FS9 instead of having to gear up for the next version.

-James


Oh man yes... lol..

I was like, 'Why do we always have to reinvent the wheel if its working fine.. Why not just improve 'it' and add things to it, instead of totally rebuilding/redesigning it'

Just the other day, I was toying with just making FS9 models again. I am tired of the issues of making planes in FSX. Even on my own computer, it still isnt running fluid. Things still jitter, jump, blank out, turn pink, disappear, turn into a group of parts.. And this is the best I have ever seen it run. The parts code for it could have been kept the same, but that too was changed, redone, redesigned. Why?

ooops.. you got me going.. arrghh..

<--- smacks self.
 
I certainly hope Apple, Linux and any others don't fold. What a mess this world would be if there was only Micosoft and their OS. It's bad enough now that MS is forced on us..... especially for our beloved sims, let alone the OS that's needed to run them.
 
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