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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
With Microsoft embracing Linux ever more tightly, might it do the heretofore unthinkable and dump the NT kernel in favor of the Linux kernel? No, I’m not ready for the funny farm. As it prepares Windows 11, Microsoft has been laying the groundwork for such a radical release.
I’ve long toyed with the idea that Microsoft could release a desktop Linux. Now I’ve started taking that idea more seriously — with a twist. Microsoft could replace Windows’ innards, the NT kernel, with a Linux kernel.
It would still look like Windows. For most users, it would still work like Windows. But the engine running it all would be Linux.
Why would Microsoft do this? Well, have you been paying attention to Windows lately? It has been one foul-up after another. Just in the last few months there was the registry backup fail and numerous and regular machine-hobbling Windows updates. In fact, updates have grown so sloppy you have to seriously wonder whether it’s safer to stay open to attacks or “upgrade” your system with a dodgy patch.
Remember when letting your Windows system get automatic patches every month was nothing to worry about? I do. Good times.
Why is this happening? The root cause of all these problems is that, for Microsoft, Windows desktop software is now a back-burner product. It wants your company to move you to Windows Virtual Desktop and replace your existing PC-based software, like Office 2019, with software-as-a-service (SaaS) programs like Office 365. It’s obvious, right? Nobody in Redmond cares anymore, so quality assurance for Windows the desktop is being flushed down the toilet.
Many of the problems afflicting Windows do not reside in the operating system’s upper levels. Instead, their roots are deep down in the NT kernel. What, then, if we could replace that rotten kernel with a fresh, healthy kernel? Maybe one that is being kept up to date by a worldwide group of passionate developers. Yes, my bias is showing, but that’s Linux, and it’s a solution that makes a lot of sense.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by sfm on Wednesday September 18 2019, @04:19PM (6 children)
So the long term goal is to write M$ a "check" every time you open Excel
Doesn't this also mean your computer is a brick if not tied to the Internet?
(Score: 2) by ilsa on Wednesday September 18 2019, @04:53PM
It wouldn't surprise me if Satya Nadella allowed a little drool to escape every time he saw a Chromebook.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by meustrus on Wednesday September 18 2019, @05:06PM (1 child)
Yes.
Yes.
There seem to be three forces driving this. The first force enables the other two.
1. Microsoft lost the battle for phones. The only way to stay relevant is to make a product that works on competitors' devices. The easiest way to do that (and this isn't just for Microsoft) is to make everything a "web page" app in HTML/CSS/JS. And of course you will want a server to do the heavy lifting that would drain the battery, as well as provide a consistent experience across devices.
2. People like their old software, but Microsoft wants to sell them new software. Solution: only sell the software as a license, force people to pay periodically to renew the license, and justify it by giving them "free" updates they don't want.
3. All that juicy personal data has just been sitting around on client computers. If you really want to monetize that personal data, and why wouldn't you, there needs to be a reason for users to send their personal data to your servers.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday September 18 2019, @08:49PM
See, what I read was:
1. Beat your head against a wall.
2. Beat your head against a wall.
3. Beat your head against a wall.
;)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Interesting) by EJ on Wednesday September 18 2019, @05:30PM (1 child)
Microsoft wants to go back to the days of mainframes where your "computer" is just a screen and input device(s).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by gtomorrow on Wednesday September 18 2019, @06:30PM
As much as there's no lost love between me (and my computers) and Microsoft, they are hardly the only corporation wanting to return to the thin clients era.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 18 2019, @09:12PM
Yep, subscription is where it's at, baby - look at what that business model has done for IBM!
Seriously, though, looking across the spectrum of potential customer/victims, do you think you're more likely to collect $700 one time, plus the occasional bogus $150/year maintenance fee, or... $15 per month in perpetuity?
Of course they're going to do whatever makes them the most money, and they've reached a level of performance that's acceptable to most potential subscribers on the "cloud" model, so they're going to be pushing that, hard - freebies to schools, low cost student home licenses, etc. hoping to keep people locked in from cradle to grave.
🌻🌻 [google.com]