Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Monday 12 March 2007 07:03 \__
>
>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Sunday 11 March 2007 20:33 \__
>>>
>>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>> __/ [ Mark Kent ] on Friday 09 March 2007 16:34 \__
>>>>>
>>>>>> John Locke <johnlocke98513@xxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>>>>>>> On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:47:03 +0000, Roy Schestowitz
>>>>>>><newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Desktop Predictions for 2007-2008
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>,----[ Quote ]
>>>>>>>>| 1. Apple will license Mac OS X to OEMs this year (2007) while Vista
>>>>>>>>| sales are still sluggish.
>>>>>>>>|
>>>>>>>>| 2. Mac OS X sales will surge wildly and end up accounting for up to
>>>>>>>>| 25% of all new PC shipments by the end of 2007.
>>>>>>>>|
>>>>>>>>| 3. Emboldened by Apple's success, Sun will push GNU/OpenSolaris
>>>>>>>>| to corporations in 2008. The system will probably be called "The
>>>>>>>>| Liberty Desktop".
>>>>>>>>|
>>>>>>>>| 4. Linux will be seen as "ready for the desktop" once desktop
>>>>>>>>| diversity becomes the norm. Linux will dominate the low-cost
>>>>>>>>| desktop segment thereafter.
>>>>>>>>`----
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think that the Google Goobuntu project might be very significant.
>>>>>>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/31/google_goes_desktop_linux/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> These guys have the resources to make a huge impact in the Linux
>>>>>>> world.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The article is good, but I wouldn't say that there's anything hard to
>>>>>> use in Ubuntu now, let alone needing further development. Maybe the
>>>>>> register reporter just wants it to look exactly like Windows.
>>>>>
>>>>> DiBona explicitly said that they would not make Goobuntu public. Then
>>>>> again, over a year ago at a conference, Brin stubbornly dismissed
>>>>> rumours that Google were working on an Office Suite. Fast forward 2
>>>>> years...
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In the world of media, spin, circumlocution and so on, a denial is
>>>> worth, well, several column inches of speculation, anyway!
>>>
>>> I wonder if they hid their intentions or simply had a change of mind. At
>>> the time (when I blogged it), Google cooperated with OpenOffice quite
>>> closely and even sent its engineers over.
>>>
>>
>> Maybe their intentions were not fully determined at that time, but I'd
>> say for sure that if they're getting deeply involved in a project like
>> openoffice, it's not for the good of their health...
>
> Consider this:
>
> Google: Media Play or IT Investment?
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| In my opinion (as well as others'), its office productivity software
>| lacks the breadth and width of the market leader. Schmidt hinted at
>| Google's preference for open source software [OSS] so maybe it can
>| come up with some better way parlaying Sun's OpenOffice than last
>| year's PRware (OpenOffice still falls short of Microsoft's
>| ubiquitous products).
> `----
>
> http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070307/28878_id.html?.v=2
>
> Yesterday I saw a blog item suggesting that Google should buy OpenOffice (if
> that's possible at all). I think they could get the best of both worlds...
> Web-based and Open Source software, of which they have been doing a lot
> recently (usuaully proprietary, quite sadly). I don't think they'll ever do
> this though. OpenOffice weakens the cash cow of Google's big rival and foe
> (Yahoo aside). They could assist OOo without ownership. They have helped
> Firefox by promoting it in their SERPs.
>
I cannot see a day returning where there is value in applications such
as OpenOffice. Microsoft know very well that the game is up, and are
desperately trying to squeeze another round of lock-in from their
customers, but as you can see from the general feedback, nobody is
impressed this time.
Google are doing fine by offering web-hosted applications - they get the
hits for their advertising revenues, and have enough USP/mindshare to
draw in the customers. Conversely, Microsoft's awful reputation is
getting in the way of any other successes - perhaps they need to split
themselves up, rebrand the good looking bits and give them a chance of
success on their own. A Microsoft search engine without the MS logo all
over it might be more successful, say.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
