Soo Windows 7 has been buzzing around the Internets for a few months now and finally beta 1 has recently hit the torrent sites.  Additionally, Microsoft announced a public beta 1 release but happen to pull it due to “high demand“.  There has been some squawking about Windows 7 Beta 1 benchmarks performing faster than Windows XP and Vista, but I’m sure all this nonsense will stop once the bells and whistles are included.

I personally think it’s humorous how Windows 7 was named.  Microsoft claims that this new operating system is the 7th Windows version, at least according to their internal code versions.  The internal versions they’re going by doesn’t make any sense to me.  For example, Windows 95, 98, 98SE, NT, and ME, all counted as version 4.0.  Windows 2000 internally was NT5.0 and XP was version 6.0.  Now perhaps this shows how much of a thorn Vista is in Microsoft’s side, but taking into considerable the vast difference between 2000 to XP and XP to Vista, shouldn’t Vista be 7.0?  Instead, Microsoft made Vista as version 6.1 which completely throws a monkey wrench in the entire version sanity.  Vista has been a car wreck since day one, they even have to disguise it as another operating system in their commercials as a controlled experiment.  I mean seriously, this is almost as bad as Hyundai not putting their emblem on the front of the new Genesis.  Well okay maybe that’s a bad analogy, at least the Genesis is a decent car.  In any case, Windows Vista should be 7 and “Windows 7″ should be “Windows 8″.

Finally, I think Windows 7 is what Vista SHOULD have been.  It took Microsoft 5 years to progress(or lack thereof) from XP to Vista.  So in reality, it took Microsoft 8 years to progress from XP(October 25th, 2001) to Windows 7(Holiday season 2009).  This of course is assuming Microsoft stays on track with their release time frame.  Well I think that’s enough griping, here’s some links to first impressions:

PC World
ZDNet
Computer World
Tech Review Source
Chron

According to this article over at The Reg, hundred’s of users on forums have reported endless system reboots after installing the recently released Windows XP Service Pack 3.  Personally, I have installed Windows XP SP3 on 3 PC’s and so far so good.  I’m 3 for 3 and hope I don’t run into this issue.  Most likely the users complaining about this issue have some sort of driver installed on the PC that’s conflicting with an update part of the Service Pack.  You would think, with all the beta’s and release candidates of this SP that they would of caught it in time before release.  Oh well, Microsoft can’t win for losing.

Microsoft yanked the release of XP SP3 at the last minute due to compatibility issues.  Many users have been refreshing the newest downloads page on Microsoft’s Download Center often to see when it officially was released.  Refresh no more because it’s not coming until further notice.  Apparently the compatibility issue affects Microsoft’s Dynamics Retail Management System(RMS).  Additionally, Vista’s SP1 also seems to affect the software as well but that’s long been released.  Again we wait at the whim of Microsoft.

Microsoft has officially announced its upcoming online product to be released later this year(possibly 2009).  In an effort to compete with Google Docs, Microsoft has released a private beta test for their upcoming online office suite.  Codenamed “Albany” the suite includes Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live Mail, Messenger, and Photos client software, along with Windows Live OneCare.  According to the announcement, this online package may very well be subscription based.  But no news was released in regards to how much it will cost.  This suite will also have a media based version that you can pickup at retail channels such as Best Buy and according to the article, Office will only be able to save documents online via a plugin.  So it’s not quite as online as they tout it to be.  Especially since Microsoft products seem to break frequently.

Finally!  Microsoft has announced the previous release dates are correct for the release of XP Service Pack 3.  Until now, these release dates were just rumors, now they have been confirmed.

As I reported yesterday, “The much anticipated release of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 is to be released to Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) on April 21st.  XP SP3 will then be available for download from Microsoft Update, Windows Update site, and the Microsoft Download Center on April 29th.  June 10th, XP SP3 will be available via automatic updates.”

The much anticipated release of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 is to be released to Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) on April 21st.  XP SP3 will then be available for download from Microsoft Update, Windows Update site, and the Microsoft Download Center on April 29th.  June 10th, XP SP3 will be available via automatic updates.  Sources: Neowin.net Arstechnica.com Technewsworld.com

Service Pack 3 has been reported to include a total of 1,073 fixes according to Wikipedia.  The update also allows XP to be installed without a product key and run until the end of the 30-day activation period without a product key.

These dates have NOT been confirmed from Microsoft as of the writing of this article.  So there’s a chance that these dates could be off.  This will be the last Service Pack for the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft as reported.  June 30th, 2008 was announced as the last day XP can be purchased for new PC’s.  After this date it will only be sold to OEMs installing on subnotebooks or UMPC’s until June 30th, 2010.

I keep seeing more articles and blogs about the failure of Windows Vista.  I can’t help but think about what is going on behind the scenes right now at Microsoft.  What are the collaboration idea’s flying around the conference tables.  How far into Windows 7 are they really in terms of the source code and do they still have possible alternatives on the table to change or scrap it.  Is it really going to come out in 2010 or are they just blowing smoke up every one’s asses to try and retain market share.

For the longest time, the PC markets have been divided.  You either owned a Mac or a PC and the software was not interoperable between them.  Recently, Apple has an operating system that not only handles their own apps but also has the ability to run Windows and Windows related applications via virtualization software(you could also dual boot).

Here’s what I think:

Microsoft should create their own Linux distribution.  Yes!  It’s a crazy idea, not new, but it can work and I’ll tell you why.

• Almost every other operating system besides Windows is based on some sort of Unix or Linux flavor.  If Microsoft’s operating system was also on this same infrastructure they would have a lot more alliances.  The open source community will be able to find, fix, and patch security holes to help collaborate with Microsoft’s support team.  Of course all these new patches would have to be verified and released by them “officially”.  Software would be interoperable across all platforms, Linux flavors and Mac’s alike. 
• Hardware manufacturers are still having driver issues with their hardware working properly in Vista.  See the Creative Labs and Nvidia forums.  ATI’s hardware seems to have less headaches judging by the amount of complaints.  But then again, Nvidia also has more market share so take that for what it’s worth.  This will also give the driver teams less overhead as they only need to make Linux based drivers, not to mention they’ll have the open source community behind them.
• Software publishers, same thing.  Even with the release of Vista Service Pack 1, it broke a few software packages.  Granted, no where near as many XP Service Pack 2 during its release but still notable.  Again, they will have the open source community behind them to find/solve issues and work ’s.  They can still charge for licencing and deter pirating with some sort of activation like Microsoft/Adobe.(the activation system is a bit buggy too but that’s for another article).  Windows/Critical updates will be similar to the update system in Ubuntu.  Simple and streamlined.
• Microsoft has released the virtualization Hypervisor feature in Windows Server 2008.  Modify and port this feature over to their Linux distribution as a virtualization layer similar to Wine.  It should have the ability to run not only Windows operating systems but also Windows based applications on the fly.  No need to run it within a virtualization program as the Hypervisor layer will be integrated into the operating system and you can open the programs as if you’re in Windows.
• Microsoft’s Enterprise sector will have to slowly be revamped to work under this new infrastructure.  Windows Server and it’s features will have to ported over but once it’s done once then everything can be modular like Mac’s Leopard and server counter parts.  SQL Server and Exchange, same thing.  But all of this, including Windows Server versions, SQL Server, Exchange, etc. SHOULD all work under the Hypervisor feature just like it does now in the Windows Server 2008 version.  This will help smooth out the transition over to the new operating system structure.
• I’m sure there’s a lot of other things I can’t think of or I’m missing but would like further input on this from the Open Source community.  How would this community feel about Microsoft converging into them?

Yes, it’s an enormous change for Microsoft.  But, they themselves said they wanted to be more interoperable.  It doesn’t get much more interoperable than this.  Microsoft Linux 2012 or Winux has my vote.

The most basic foundation of an operating system is its kernel.  A kernel is the core of an operating system that manages the most basic operations, such as the processor load across applications and communication between hardware/software components.  This is where Microsoft falls short and has been for a long time. Microsoft’s kernel’s have always been bloated, by including every feature out of the box trying to compensate for every type of user in existence. This is where modular kernel’s and operating system infrastructures can really shine. There’s been talks about the upcoming Windows 7 kernel and how it’s going to be shrunk in size. Less footprints thus speeding up the operating system is the key to performance and this is how Vista should have been in the first place.

Apple has not had this problem before(at least not as prominent) and for obvious reasons. They use the same kernel infrastructure throughout all their products, from the Mac OSX, to iPhone, down to the iPod. Their process is much more simple as they cater the kernel around the user and not the user around the kernel. This makes the operating system more responsive as the user only enables or installs what they need to use.

Quoted from this article: “It all started with Mac OS X, the multi-core, multi-processor platform officially released in 2001. Based on “Mach,” a university Unix research prototype, Mac OS X represented a clean break with the computer industry’s uniprocessor past. The modular new OS allowed Apple to condense its core task management function into a tiny computing kernel.

That kernel has proved easily adaptable across the entire Apple product line, from highly complex servers all the way down to the relatively simple iPod Touch. Such modularity allows Apple to add whatever functions are necessary for each product environment — all while maintaining cross-product compatibility.

That kernel has proved easily adaptable across the entire Apple product line, from highly complex servers all the way down to the relatively simple iPod Touch. Such modularity allows Apple to add whatever functions are necessary for each product environment — all while maintaining cross-product compatibility.

By contrast, Microsoft has held on to an OS tethered to the 1980s, piling additions upon additions with each upgrade to Windows. With last year’s arrival of Vista, Windows has swollen to 1 billion bytes (a gigabyte) or more of software code. The “Mach” kernel of the Mac OS X, however, requires less than 1 million bytes (a megabyte) of data in its smallest configuration, expanding modestly with the sophistication of the application.”

There’s deeper underlying plans going on at Apple. Apple is like any other profitable corporation. It’s like an animal that detects weakness and attacks. Microsoft’s Windows Vista is the weakness and their most profitable sector is the Enterprise. Apple will seize this opportunity and attack Microsoft’s Enterprise market share. Granted, Apple has been planning this before Vista even came out, but they’re going to be much more aggressive now. The new Leopard operating system is more Enterprise friendly not to mention it has the capability of running Windows apps out of the box. Apple recently introducted Leopard based servers attacking Microsoft’s server market. Finally, Apple’s first generation iPhone was tuned more for consumers than it was for corporate users. But Apple has recently announced the 2nd generation will compete directly against Blackberry’s. They are attacking from every angle, to pull as much market share away from Microsoft as possible in the shortest amount of time. Beta versions of Windows 7 will probably be out by Q4 08 or Q1 of 09 which will stir more interest back to Microsoft.  The clock is ticking and the OS wars wage on.

Technewsworld.com has an interesting article that brings up a few valid points in regards to Microsoft’s previous and current operating system path(s). For the most part, it’s nothing we don’t already know. Windows is becoming a bloated piece of crap. The article talks about how it takes Microsoft too long to introduce new versions of Windows, and when they do, it takes too long for it to become stable. Quoted from the article: “In the development of Longhorn (Vista), Microsoft came to the conclusion that Windows had become too big and complex, forcing a reset back to a known good code set based on Windows Server 2003 — and this is a large part of the reason that Windows Vista delivered primarily incremental improvements”. Nice conclusion Microsoft, you guys figured that out all by yourself? Or was it when you realized Vista needs at least 1GB, 2GB recommended, to actually be usable for everyday consumers?

Anyways, Microsoft has probably been bashed enough with Vista. It’s time to learn from mistakes and move on. Next up, Windows Vista Service Pack 2(SP2) has not been announced yet by Microsoft. But I doubt it’s going to do much for Vista’s performance unless the kernel is seriously revamped. I’d be impressed if it included a watered down client version of Hypervisor, which is the virtualization software that’s included with some Windows Server 2008 versions. Judging by Microsoft’s track record, I predict SP2 for Vista will be out around late 2009, early 2010. Unless they allocate more resources to their Windows updates department I don’t see it coming out any earlier.

According to this article over at The Inquirer, there’s two groups having hissy fits over the In re Bilski case. These two groups are the End Software Patents (ESP) and the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The case is set for a rehearing on May 8th 2008 in which may change the history of software patents. Previous court rulings have diminished some of the boundaries of what can and cannot be patent software wise. To my understanding, patent’s are exclusive rights on inventions or works for 20 years. Shouldn’t that include the hard work of programmers that developed certain techniques and algorithm’s of their software?

So here we have a list of another top Linux distro list.  I can’t help but notice that Ubuntu is practically repeated FIVE times throughout the Top 35 list.  That’s right, five different versions of Ubuntu.  Does the world not have enough? I mean I completely understand having choices and multiple flavors of something. But 5 different flavors of the same thing in a Top 35 list? Okay maybe I’m overracting because I haven’t had my coffee this morning yet, I do like Ubuntu, it’s a cool operating system!

Let’s face it, antivirus software is not that effective. Even with the best antivirus software with the most up-to-date pattern/virus files, there’s viruses, adware, and spyware that still come through. It’s not until after the fact that it’s already on your machine, duplicating itself, infecting other programs, the registry, and/or the Windows startup sequence that the antivirus software tells you that you have a virus. Then, most of the time it says it found a virus but can’t clean or quarantine it. This usually results in rebooting into another operating system(or recovery console) to delete the virus manually. Tech Bitzhas an article that explains this epidemic in more detail, with a graph that shows how much malware detections have increased since 1985. I don’t particularly agree with this graph, it seems to be skewed mainly for 2006-2007, but that malware detection increase happened before that.

Adobe annouces a web version of Adobe Photoshop called Photoshop Express.  They have integrated a watered down version of Adobe Photoshop to be used within a web browser.  According to Technewsworld.com this service will be offered to the public for free. Apparently this service allows up to 2GB of user uploaded images for editing. Additionally, Adobe will offer an online gallery to share your uploaded and edited images with other users on the internet. I think this is a pretty cool idea considering how expensive the Photoshop software is. Maybe they will offer a more advanced online version of Photoshop for a subscription fee. I can see this taking off for artists, web developers, and marketing departments alike.

According to this article over at the Wired blog, Mozilla announces Firefox 3 will be final in June. Beta 4 just recently came out and it’s a solid browser. Check out the article for more info.

The successor to Microsoft Windows Vista, also known as, “Windows 7″ will be a modular based operating system.  Now Windows Vista is already modular, somewhat.  You have different versions of the operating system, Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, each with its own features.  The lower end versions are all upgradable to the higher end versions.  Windows 2008 works in a similar fashion except it has the server manager that allows you to apply different roles to each server.  Each one of these roles can be looked at as a different ‘module’ that installs to the operating system.

What’s really going to bake your noodle is that there’s rumors these “modules” for Windows 7 will be subscription based.  Meaning, you don’t pay for the operating system like you currently do but you pay for each product and module of the that product that you will use.  I’m not sure if this is good or bad for the consumer yet but it will work in Microsoft’s favor to assure a solid revenue stream coming in.  I presume this will also help prevent against piracy.

I don’t know about any of you, but I think I pay for enough subscription based services in my everyday life.  I don’t want to be paying Microsoft on a monthly basis just to use my damn computer.  I’m waiting for someone to author a book titled “The Rise And Fall Of Microsoft”.  Because I think if this platform makes it to consumers, Linux and it’s distributions will take the PC world by storm.  That is assuming it doesn’t do so BEFORE Windows 7 hits store shelves.