I know a bit random - but a weird/funny take on the new Ubuntu colour. (Not that it actually has anything to do with Ubuntu though...)
Showing posts with label operating systems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label operating systems. Show all posts
Gnome 3 has finally been launched after what seems like years! So long in fact that Canonical/Ubuntu has decided to drop it from their upcoming version. But even if you don't want to wait for the major editions to release it in their next versions, you can install it right now.
This is probably one of the biggest changes to the Gnome interface for the past few years, so it's a big change.
Have a look at the following to see how to install it:
http://digitizor.com/2011/04/07/install-gnome3-desktop-ubuntu/
Once again for the thousandth time I've heard someone say "Linux is hard... bash, cron, scripts, emacs, python. bla...bla...bla ...". No matter how much I try, I can't seem to get people to believe me that Ubuntu Linux is easier to use than other OS's. In the recent Ubuntu releases, they've worked perfectly on my hardware - takes 10 minutes in install now and drivers are a non-issue. You don't have to install anything - it just works. 10 minutes and you're done.
I took the plunge... After working solely on Ubuntu for over a year, I decided to install the latest Kubuntu on my main laptop. I've never really worked with KDE much apart from trying it out briefly here and there but never ended up sticking with it as it was always installed on a secondary machine. So, why did I decide to swap? I've have had a few difficulties with KDE before and it seemed a little buggy, but I've become pretty comfortable with Linux, so I was confident that I can sort out anything thrown at me. Maybe I was just too comfortable with Gnome to bother swapping and readjusting to a new environment but I've always been envious of the visual look of KDE... It's probably a bit unfair to call KDE "buggy" - I've always run it in a VM or on an old laptop which hardly had enough power, so this time around, I'm doing it properly!
Cloud computing in the extreme - Is this really the "future"? I'm doubting it a bit in spite of this being the big buzz word in IT at the moment. I've come accross eyeOS (http://eyeos.org/) and the excellent OOS (http://oos.cc), which is a complete "OS" running in the could. In the eyeOS case, you can run it in your cloud. WHAT? Basically, it's a complete operating system which runs on a server somewhere on the Internet, or it can be deployed on servers within a company's network and is accessed via a standard web browser. What are the advantages of this? There are numerous theoretical advantages from security (fewer viruses and better document security hopefully), low hardware requirements for end users and associated cost benefits, instant upgrades to universal accessiblity from numerous devices. So for all the advantages, it seems an obvious direction.
Well, back in the day, this was largely what the IT world looked like - There were servers and dumb terminals which had a network connection and little else. Everything was executed, stored and processed on the server. So what happened? PC became more powerful and useful as standalone devices and so we ended up with disconnected home computers, being able to play video games movies etc. So, it seems as though we're moving back to the "old way"... OK, this time round is a little different as many devices have a 24/7 internet connection and therefore network connectivity is less of an issue, but there are still many applications that don't lend themselves to fully online operating system such as 3D graphical games. Ok, once again, there are exceptions to this rule as I've seen Quake running over the net. But just because it can be done, it doesn't mean that it's ideal. There are plenty of other classes of software that doesn't lend itself to this either.
There wouldn't be the huge amounts of money pumped into this if it wasn't a possibility... Well, I believe it's going to be a mixed world. There will be numerous online apps which we will (and already do) use, but there will always be a need for the "normal" desktop computer. So... will the online operating system become the defacto standard...? I doubt it.
Well, back in the day, this was largely what the IT world looked like - There were servers and dumb terminals which had a network connection and little else. Everything was executed, stored and processed on the server. So what happened? PC became more powerful and useful as standalone devices and so we ended up with disconnected home computers, being able to play video games movies etc. So, it seems as though we're moving back to the "old way"... OK, this time round is a little different as many devices have a 24/7 internet connection and therefore network connectivity is less of an issue, but there are still many applications that don't lend themselves to fully online operating system such as 3D graphical games. Ok, once again, there are exceptions to this rule as I've seen Quake running over the net. But just because it can be done, it doesn't mean that it's ideal. There are plenty of other classes of software that doesn't lend itself to this either.
There wouldn't be the huge amounts of money pumped into this if it wasn't a possibility... Well, I believe it's going to be a mixed world. There will be numerous online apps which we will (and already do) use, but there will always be a need for the "normal" desktop computer. So... will the online operating system become the defacto standard...? I doubt it.
Found a very cool Windows 8 mock-up done in Flash called the "Copenhagen Concept". Hopefully MS can incorporate some of these ideas into the next Windows 8.
