• jj4211@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Maybe I could see that for Windows server. As more of that market moves to azure, the os matters less.

    I’ve heard rumors that the dom0 equivalent in their azure virtualization platform is now Linux based. They still use an in house hypervisor, but may have moved to Linux as the management stack.

    It’s a long shot, but if Microsoft were moving anything at all, it would be the server product given it actually struggles in market share.

    On the desktop, they just don’t have much reason. They barely evolve the NT kernel so it doesn’t cost them a huge amount. The Linux approach to drivers would completely mess up their driver ecosystem. With the world of modern standby, windows pretty much gave up on long term suspend and instead hibernates, Linux refuses to even try to hibernate with secure boot. The features a Linux kernel brings to the table just do not matter to the windows desktop market. It would be a giant migration expense for no benefit compared to their current strategy of just hosting a Linux kernel as a virtualization guest.

    I mean I would love to use a Linux oriented desktop management instead of Windows shell, but it’s abundantly clear that would be non negotiable for Microsoft, so I’d end up still stuck with my least favorite part of the windows experience even if the kernel were Linux

  • thbb@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    There will not be a desktop anymore before linux becomes the only mainstream OS.

    Witness: android.

    • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      No it isn’t. It’s actually an old theory. Back when Microsoft started their “MS Loves Linux” propaganda, this was the rumour. With all the stuff coming out with .Net, PowerShell, and other tools quickly supporting Linux, that seemed like what was happening.

      Actually, that did kindof happen, which is what Azure Linux is, but without the extensive compatibility layer.

  • Nindelofocho@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    This is bold but actually in a way I think it has a possibility of happening cause Microsoft will figure they can make money from it

  • Acoustic@lemm.ee
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    6 days ago

    Shut up about the “year of the linux desktop”.

    It has been the so called year of the linux desktop ever since linux was a thing.

  • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Mark mine: Microsoft and Windows will be promoted by government and people will lap it up. Linux will be vilified and this will be accepted by the public, at least in the USA.

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

    Yeah that’s not going to happen.

    However, I think Windows will become more and more tied to the Microsoft cloud offerings.

    • palordrolap@fedia.io
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      8 days ago

      Very much this. I can see one potential future Microsoft product being something that is to be installed on a thin client PC sold to consumers for cheap. It will run not much more than a browser in which all apps will load from Microsoft servers, and all storage will be on the Microsoft cloud. And if you miss a monthly payment they’ll basically hold all your files for ransom until you start paying again.

      I can practically hear the Microsoft execs making some very unsavoury noises about that idea.

      As for (admittedly somewhat weak) proof they’re headed in this direction: Wordpad is a useful small program that would easily fit onto a thin client and there’d be room for documents created by it on the limited storage available. It has to have some storage for browser cache after all.

      Wordpad was recently cancelled, and users urged to use Word instead. Which is not free of (further) cost like Wordpad was.

      • razorozx@lemm.ee
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        6 days ago

        Imagine having to PAY to write some prettified text. Killing off some basic and essential software that literally every operating system has seems like such a smart move towards OS dominance /s

      • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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        7 days ago

        That’s not too far from Windows S edition. That more closely mimics the smartphone model, but still allows the Windows app store.

        Wordpad is much more easily explained: They don’t want to maintain it anymore, since that costs money. It was also cannibalizing sales of Word, and often left users frustrated. Frankly, it’s weird that they maintained it as long as they did.

        Now, solitaire becoming a subscription, that’s a blatant cash grab.

        • palordrolap@fedia.io
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          7 days ago

          They could have just renamed it. Wordpad’s Win3.11 predecessor was called “Write”, for example, so that name could have been revived.

          For a long time, write.exe still existed and all it did was launch Wordpad, so they’d only have to reverse that.

          They could also have chosen another name entirely. Or, since they’ve recently added a bunch of unnecessary crap to Notepad, they might as well have merged the two.

          “Confusion” is merely an excuse.

          • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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            7 days ago

            I never said confusion, nor did I say it had anything to do with the name. WordPad development takes time and money with minimal return. It also provides a very minimal subset of the capabilities of Word. People expecting Word capabilities are frustrated by the limitations of WordPad, and are actually happier being told it’s simply not available without additional purchase.

            • palordrolap@fedia.io
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              7 days ago

              It’s a rich text box with a few controls to enable or disable those features at certain points in the text. The whole thing was entirely built from components used elsewhere in the OS, or at least the earlier versions were. One competent employee could manage it in an afternoon; a week at the outside. If Microsoft has let it get so ridiculously bloated that it’s now unmanageable by one person, that’s on them.

              I never said confusion

              People expecting Word capabilities

              Now, why would they expect that?

              See also: Java and JavaScript.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      8 days ago

      Windows will become more and more tied to the Microsoft cloud offerings.

      imagine spending thousand of dollars on hardware only to have dependencies in NSA data center for your own safety, of course

    • 474D@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Truly feel the ultimate goal is to make Windows itself a subscription model

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    So animals evolve towards being crabs, operating systems evolve towards being linux distros?