Major Threat to Internet Explorer Dominance

[Rubber Duck]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050929/BUSINESS/509290346/1007


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The $100 laptop computers that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers want to get into the hands of the world's children would be durable, flexible and self-contained.......

......Within a year, Negroponte expects his nonprofit agency, One Laptop Per Child, to get 5 million to 15 million of the machines in production, when children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa are due to begin getting them......

....Among the key specs: A 500-megahertz processor -- fast in the 1990s but slow by today's standards -- by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and flash memory instead of a hard drive with moving parts. To save on software costs, the laptops would run the freely available Linux operating system instead of Windows.


Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

 

[DomainMoon.com]

i think microsoft corp. has to think about it.

 

[Gerakus]

Yeah because we would end up with lots of kids experts on linux lol... that would be fun and interesting... in the other hand would help linux community.

I really hope they success on that... cross fingers :O.

But anyway if this represents a threat to microsoft, they would probabbly donate 15 million of licenses to stop the future... and probabbly would be tax deductible.... so they win twice... sight damn big corps...

 

[Rubber Duck]

Yeah because we would end up with lots of kids experts on linux lol... that would be fun and interesting... in the other hand would help linux community.

I really hope they success on that... cross fingers :O.

But anyway if this represents a threat to microsoft, they would probabbly donate 15 million of licenses to stop the future... and probabbly would be tax deductible.... so they win twice... sight damn big corps...

The kids who get these machines in the first year is only the tip of the iceberg. They are looking to do 10 times that amount in the second. The effects could be huge.

First off people are going to start to ask why laptops and accessories are so expensive. Computer manufacturers are really taking us to the cleaners in this area, but this migh bring some reality to the sector.

Yes, it will give lots a chance to sample alternate operating system, but also open access software. The browsers will almost certainly be Firefox and Email application Thunderbird. Even with IE 7.0 Microsoft has a lot to prove. Even if they did want to provide free licences to all they would be hard pushed to find out where all the machines had gone.

OK, when these kids get into the work environment they will find it hard to escape Windows and Office, but web-browser choice is much less of a problem. I have Firefox and will not readily go back to Internet Explorer, even if it is better. I have had a good experience with Firefox and trust Mozilla to push forward to the next step, whatever that is. Hell, it does what I want which Internet Explorer didn't. It makes me feel a little bit of independence and a bit of a rebel!

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

 

[FineE]

... OK, when these kids get into the work environment they will find it hard to escape Windows and Office, but web-browser choice is much less of a problem. I have Firefox and will not readily go back to Internet Explorer, even if it is better. I have had a good experience with Firefox and trust Mozilla to push forward to the next step, whatever that is. Hell, it does what I want which Internet Explorer didn't. It makes me feel a little bit of independence and a bit of a rebel!

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

Or their employers may find Linux and open source a more cost effective solution. One of the advantages of MS Windows in the work environment today is that the staff are already familiar with MS Windows.

 

[ForumDomains]

Let me ask you a question - if Windows was an open source product would you prefer using it against Linux?

 

[Rubber Duck]

Let me ask you a question - if Windows was an open source product would you prefer using it against Linux?

Yes, of course, but most employees don't really use Operating Systems, they use applications. The real question is whether there is much difference between Office and open source. In my case, I would have to stick with Office as 100% compatibility is essential for my business, but this is unlikely to be true for most in the developing world.

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

 

[ForumDomains]

Let me ask you a question - if Windows was an open source product would you prefer using it against Linux?

This is the essence of the discussion. All MS applications are tightly integrated with Windows OS. And this is done intentionally.

Well, so long the answer of the above question is "of course", so far Linux will not be a serious alternative to MS Windows on the PC market! After all, MS can always reveal the source (or parts of it) and smash any competition should they think it is about to become a serious threat.

 

[QuantumBeam]

wha....... :-O

 

[Rubber Duck]

This is the essence of the discussion. All MS applications are tightly integrated with Windows OS. And this is done intentionally.

Well, so long the answer of the above question is "of course", so far Linux will not be a serious alternative to MS Windows on the PC market! After all, MS can always reveal the source (or parts of it) and smash any competition should they think it is about to become a serious threat.

The point is that Microsoft have a new competitor with whom at the moment they have no intention of competing with. To compete they will have to give licences away to the Third World. This is certainly not currently part of their business plan.

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

 

[ForumDomains]

The point is that Microsoft have a new competitor with whom at the moment they have no intention of competing with. To compete they will have to give licences away to the Third World. This is certainly not currently part of their business plan.

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

The point is that MS has thousands of competitors.

After the IBM, Lotus Notes, Novell, Netscape, etc challenges, the biggest one they'll stumble upon is Google. Google is about to create their own web-based OS. That will be the end of MS era... if they do not open the source.

 

[Rubber Duck]

The point is that MS has thousands of competitors.

After the IBM, Lotus Notes, Novell, Netscape, etc challenges, the biggest one they'll stumble upon is Google. Google is about to create their own web-based OS. That will be the end of MS era... if they do not open the source.

Well, it will make a pleasant change to see Bill sweat a bit for his fortune!

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon

 

[namewaiter]

Wow Dave ... 5 posts and no talk of IDNs ... I'm proud of you!

btw ... Don't really think Bill sweats .. he's a robot afterall

 

[Rubber Duck]

Wow Dave ... 5 posts and no talk of IDNs ... I'm proud of you!

btw ... Don't really think Bill sweats .. he's a robot afterall

Getting my fix here:

http://www.idnforums.com/

 

[cooljeba]

since the release of Firefox I don't use I.E damn I don't like I.E with FF i really feel i have taken back the web. I also happend to get my hands on the I.E beta that leaked on to the net but trust me it has nothing much to offer. Opera is very innovative but this FireFox won't let me use any other browser :cheeky:

..:: peace ::..
Jeba

 

[Rubber Duck]

since the release of Firefox I don't use I.E damn I don't like I.E with FF i really feel i have taken back the web. I also happend to get my hands on the I.E beta that leaked on to the net but trust me it has nothing much to offer. Opera is very innovative but this FireFox won't let me use any other browser :cheeky:

..:: peace ::..
Jeba

Don't know why? I have run Firefox simultaneous with Opera and Firefox. I still use IE as Firefox won't let me open two accounts on the same site.

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon