I know windows 10 might be something of old news to you, and you may question why I am making a post about windows on a nix fourm.

I think it might be worth talking about because it raises a couple other possibly deeper questions about the direction of tech.

First of all, most people are still using older windows models (xp or 7) and windows vista/8/8.1 have failed to get a foothold.
Its clear to see that this puts a strain on microsoft, trying to provide support for releases it would rather leave in the past. Do you think that the struggles microsoft is having with its monsterous user base is going to help the adoption of unix/linux/other systems?
Also what is it about users that they will remain on older operating systems and not adopt newer models?

Also taking a step back from windows for a second I was reading how worldwide sales of home computers are dropping. Are we moving away from home desktop computers to mobile devices? Everyone seems to be optomising for the tablet these days is that really the direction that tech will take?

Those are just some things you can think about. Feel free to add in your personal thoughts on windows 10 or the future of PC's and technology. I am looking forward to your responses.

I don't see Windows 10 affecting Linux/BSD users, it's just a windows 8 with a start menu and multiple workspaces. I think things will remain the same, the ones using windows will remain using windows and I don't see Linux/BSD users adopting Windows except if extremely necessary (Adobe Tools, etc).

It's normal that the home computer sales are dropping, you can run most recent operating systems in a 2008/09 with a good performance for the average user. Also, a lot of people that used computers just to navigate in facebook and make calls in skype opted for tablets.

I don't think that Windows 10 will make some kind of "revolution".

I'd like to expand on this:

(17-07-2015, 06:48 PM)strang3quark Wrote: a lot of people that used computers just to navigate in facebook and make calls in skype

and I know that strang3quark was using this to support the point that tablets/phones have received increased adoption for, well, many years now, but it's this mentality that makes Windows 10 somehow indirectly benefiting Linux/BSD by it's changes somewhat false.

To those of you who don't want to read all of this, here is my point I'd like to make:

A large percent of computer users simply do not give a shit. They just want their web browser to take them to Facebook, or their app take them to Instagram. We no longer use computers to solve problems, we use computers to communicate (Okay, so that in itself is a problem that computers have solved, but look around, thats all we use them for anymore).

But to go more in depth, The reason why tablets and mobile phones exploded is that they are dead simple to use. Every person I know that owns an Apple iDevice, from my 13 year old sister to my 86 year old grandfather, knows how to use it, without reading any documentation or even having some tutorial. It just works.

Well, most, if not all of us here know that Apple devices have that user experience, so why bring it up? It happens with Windows too. But perhaps a bit differently. Windows XP/Vista/7 all share a similar desktop environment and that environment is de facto. It grew on people. Windows XP was probably the most widely used version of Windows ever and it burned a user experience into the public's brain. They expect their computer to have a taskbar on the bottom, with all their open windows and some icons. They expect windows to have 3 buttons, they expect there to be a menu button on the bottom left.

It's what they're used to.

With this, many of your questions can be answered:

(17-07-2015, 04:50 PM)Houseoftea Wrote: most people are still using older windows models (xp or 7) and windows vista/8/8.1 have failed to get a foothold.

(17-07-2015, 04:50 PM)Houseoftea Wrote: Also what is it about users that they will remain on older operating systems and not adopt newer models?

Because it's what they are used to.
Like I said, most users could not give less of a shit about their machine. They do not care if they're still on Vista, or 7, or hell even XP (Even though its been EOL for over a year now...). All they know is that it works, and it takes them to facebook, or youtube, or whatever. It just works for them.
And again, that same mentality, "it just works for them", is why mobile devices are so god damn ubiquitous. Because they just fucking work. I have NEVER ran into a problem with my iPhone or Nexus 7.

Of course this does not apply to all users. No, of course not. There are many many many people, just like us, that care what OS they use, or know whether or not their software is up to date. Those people might feel an incentive to try Ubuntu out, or ask a question about Linux, because they know that Windows' beloved desktop environment is "changing".

So could Windows 10 being "different" help out Linux/BSD? Well, yeah, of course, but that question can be applied to practically every OS out there. What I'm trying to get at is, people use what they are comfortable with, or what they are used to. If they don't like it, they either deal with it or take the time to find an alternative. They also use what they use because they know it works. Some people still don't know that XP is no longer maintained, but they still use it because it is what they have, and it works. Some people don't know what iOS is, but use it because they know it works. Thankfully the nature of iOS allows for automatic updating of apps and the user is notified of new releases.

So in the end, people tend to use what they know, which could be anything. Easy to use iOS, deprecated XP, or some custom Linux/BSD system.

Do not post about Windows, check the rules http://nixers.net/showthread.php?tid=4.
Sorry.