Intel and Microsoft dump $20m on researchers to avert software crisis
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft, in particular, has been viewed as a laggard in the race toward
| multi-threaded applications. When told by Intel of the shift toward
| multi-core chips, Bill Gates remarked, "We can't write software to keep up
| with that." Gates then urged Intel to continue producing faster processors as
| it had always done. "No, Bill, it's not going to work that way," Intel vice
| president Pat Gelsinger responded.
|
| Now it would seem that Microsoft realizes the severity of the software issues
| ahead, which must please Intel since it relies on improved software to create
| demand for its latest and greatest processors. To its credit, Intel has been
| funding a variety of programs around multi-threaded software and has issued
| some developer tools.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/18/intel_microsoft_berkeley_illinois_funding/
Recent:
Parallel Computing`s Already Here
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's Craig Mundie is right. Parallel computing is going to change
| everything about computing, but his timing is off. Thanks to Linux, it's been
| here for years.
|
| The future is today.
|
| [...]
|
| It's not just video though. Supercomputers are made up of MPP arrays of
| hundred or even thousands of ordinary Intel or AMD chips running Linux. The
| current top supercomputer, the IBM Blue Gene/L system at the Lawrence
| Livermore Lab, can hit 478.2 teraflops (trillion calculations per second)
| with its tens of thousands of PowerPC processors running Linux. Indeed, 85.2
| percent of the fastest 500 supercomputers in the world run Linux.
|
| Besides doing things that you won't notice in your day-to-day life, like
| busting down the human genome into smaller and more comprehensive pieces and
| getting weather prediction closer to a science than an educated guess, almost
| every time you watch a movie with digital special effects you're seeing
| Linux, multicore processors and parallel processing at work.
|
| Autodesk's Linux-based digital visual effect program Flame, for example, has
| been used in movies from the children's movie "Charlotte's Web" to the
| re-launch of James Bond in "Casino Royale" to swashbuckling in "Pirates of
| the Caribbean: At World's End" and, of course, science fiction thrillers
| like "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." At the lower end, programs
| like Autodesk Maya are also available for Windows and Mac OS X.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Infrastructure/Parallel-Computings-Already-Here/
How The GPL Can Save Your Ass
,----[ Quote ]
| If you are the multi-billion dollar IT industry you stick you head in the
| sand and just keep making cars. It is after all, not your problem. That seems
| to be the attitude of almost every company with a vested interest in the
| computing market. There was a recent announcement indicating Intel and
| Microsoft have put up $10 million to fund research in parallel software. Hah!
| I'm going to laugh harder this time HAH, HAH! Ever here the phase pissing in
| the ocean, well this is more like throwing a match into the sun. We need
| more -- much more.
|
| [...]
|
| Second, the entire in industry must co-operate and be involved. We need
| everyone working on this problem. The best minds in high performance
| computing have been at it for quite a while and it is time to turn up the
| volume. Fantasies of telling your R&D guys to get on it are not enough.
| Trying to corral your Intellectual Property (IP) with trade secrets and
| patents is wishful thinking. The rocket scientists (and plenty of other smart
| people) have been working on this issue for a long time. You don't have the
| time to waste trying to expand your IP fiefdom. Instead start thinking about
| what happens when the next generation of products is of absolutely no
| interest to your customers.
|
| Third we need to respond quickly. There is no time for IP agreements,
| posturing, and NIH ego trips (Not Invented Here). We need leaders to
| recognize the scope and magnitude of this challenge and act. Before too long,
| it will not be unreasonable to have four or even eight cores in a desktop. A
| workstation or server may have double this amount. It would sure be nice if
| my software could effectively use all these cores.
|
| [...]
|
| Using the GPL will immediately remove issues that would normally choke such
| an important undertaking. First, the any IP barriers get pushed aside and
| everyone can cooperate openly
`----
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/5379
Related:
Windows Trying to Catch up!
,----[ Quote ]
| Win folks starts cloning with this pathetic attempt to recreate XGL with
| this Yod'm 3D! The 3D Window Manager on Windows from CrystalXp
|
| [...]
|
| Too slow, the desktop bar keeps on jumping out of place and on top
| of all that it doesn't come with decent uninstall feature!!
|
| Advice Don't do it, want a professional cool looking and FREE O/S
| get yourself Linux otherwise stick with your Windows Explorer!!
`----
http://www.mjama.com/mjama/blog/index.php/2007/04/26/windows-trying-to-catch-up/
Desktop dreaming
,----[ Quote ]
| There are Linux users that have little use for productivity suites, and
| depend instead on a simple text editor, which has all the functions any one
| man or woman could need, and makes files that everyone can read.
|
| [...]
|
| Critics like to pretend that free software lacks innovation. This assumption
| is given credibility on the desktop because we can't imagine a different
| universe until we have stopped playing catch up with Windows, and have caught
| a significant share of the Windows market on the desktop.
`----
http://tuxdeluxe.org/node/265
This eWeek [on Servers]
,----[ Quote ]
| I asked Jason about Windows Server's newfound security: "The first time
| I heard about this new feature," he said, "I thought it was clearly a
| response to Linux.
|
| Windows Server 2008 isn't quite there yet, according to Jason's tests.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2134429,00.asp
Analyzing Microsoft’s OS by Linux Standards
,----[ Quote ]
| Nevertheless, after the install and basic setup, it seemed to work okay.
| Due to the size of the install DVD, I was expecting a full-featured OS
| complete with good burning software, an office suite, etc.
| What I got was entirely sub-par.
| No decent cd-burning software was provided,
| and I found that to get one, (Nero) I would have to pay extra.
| Wow. With Ubuntu, I could get K3b for free, with the benefit
| of it being open-source too. If that wasn’t bad enough, I noticed that all
| images, fonts, and the desktop itself seemed skewed.
| Hmm. Must be missing the display drivers. But before I contacted Gateway to
| protest that the included OS didn’t come with display drivers, I decided to
| browse it a bit more(after all, display isn’t a huge deal for the moment).
| Now, I’ve seen XP in use before, so I had a general idea of how it was
| supposed to work. After awhile, it dawned on me that my machine wasn’t
| cutting it: I needed those drivers! The sound, wifi, display, and some
| aspects of the MoBo and touchpad were either not operating to their full
| capacity or not working at all. Now Ubuntu (my main OS) did sometimes need
| drivers, especially for tv-cards and the like, but I had never had so many
| necessary driver additons. Geez. And this is the OS that came with the
| machine!
`----
http://truefire.wordpress.com/2007/10/06/hello-world/
Update: Trying To Dodge The Microsoft Tax
,----[ Quote ]
| I've been wanting to replace my clunky desktop tower for a while with a nice
| new laptop, running Linux of course. So I'm looking for a new laptop and I
| don't want to buy one with Windows pre-installed because I will only be
| deleting it instantly.
`----
http://adventuresinopensource.blogspot.com/2007/12/update-trying-to-dodge-microsoft-tax.html
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
,----[ Quote ]
| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
`----
http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
Intel overwhelmed by EU complaints
,----[ Quote ]
| So many charges, so little time.
|
| Intel Chairman Craig Barrett appears overwhelmed by a European Union
| investigation into the company's actions. Earlier this month, European
| Competition Commission officials busted open Intel offices in Munich, hunting
| for documents related to alleged price fixing with retailers. That raid added
| to an existing EC investigation into Intel's business practices.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/02/22/intel_barrett_eu_gripe/
,----[ Quote ]
| He alleges that the company has engaged in monopolistic conduct in the CPU
| market by “threatening, coercing, and bribing customers to refrain from
| dealing with Intel’s major competitor, Advanced Micro Devices”.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/21/inquirer-named-intel-writ
Microsoft, Intel and Dell: The Tech Love Triangle
,----[ Quote ]
| It is becoming well known that Microsoft have achieved their current market
| share status by making major computer manufacturers sign licensing deals, so
| as to distribute a copy of Windows with every computer sold. What many people
| don't realise, is how difficult it is to get a computer from the
| manufacturers without Windows.
|
| [...]
|
| This is first-hand experience of the power of Microsoft's monopolistic
| practices, and it really does annoy me. It seems not so long ago that I
| praised Dell for their support, but along with Microsoft, they have now lost
| a customer entirely.
|
| Needless to say, we are now looking to buy a system from a local shop with no
| OS.
`----
http://blog.raisingwaves.com/index.php?entry=entry071120-003039
|
|
