A repeated argument of mine gains strength and gets somewhat augmented as the president of Sun Microsystems speaks out. He recently predicted the diminish of the personal computer, which slowly gives way to on-line services.

The majority of the applications that will drive the next wave of innovation will be services, not applications that run on the desktop. The real innovation is occurring in the network and the network services.

In essence, the Personal computer becomes a host. Looking at an alternative direction, data itself, as well as an O/S and applications, can be accessed via the network (network boot) or even from a pocket-sized device. Whether that path will wind up catching on or not — this we are yet to discover.

The little ‘object’ on the left has the most responsibility. The laptop may act as merely a relic, a host.

The idea of “Web-based everything” is not far-fetched. As we already see complex, JavaScript-based HTML Editors, maybe documents and spreadsheets will turn Web-based in the near future. Physical output can be printed from the browser, resulting in rich, high-quality layout as we approach Web 2.0 (some would argue 1.5) and CSS 2 (and higher). If you are inclined to think that the idea is preposterous, have a look at a complex Web-based mail client that relies heavily on several Web technologies which are available and are properly supported by all major platforms.

There are many more state-of-the-art examples, which embrace that approach of complex AJAX-reliant design, e.g.:

• Managing To-Do Lists On-Line – scheduling moved on-line
• Remote Data – user data managed on-line
• Interactive Design – Web-based applications that are highly interactive

Longhorn beta – recent screenshot

ANY must have wondered why the latest version of Windows, namely Windows XP, dates back to the end of 2001. Moreover, one might ask, why has it been so fragile and susceptible to attacks? Service packs were merely a plaster that covered up a variety of loopholes. Monthly security patches did not help credibility either.

Spherical desktop – experimental demo

It turns out that Windows is a collection of component stitched together rather poorly. A Wall Street Journal article reveals that Windows Vista had to be re-built in a simplified manner, some would say “from scratch”. The name of that article, quite surprisingly and yet not out of the ordinary, is “Battling Google, Microsoft Changes How It Builds Software“. As mentioned earlier today, Microsoft surely recognise Google and respect their status as the main rivals. On the contrary, Microsoft CEO still refuses to openly express fears due to Linux. From the WSJ:

REDMOND, Wash. — Jim Allchin, a senior Microsoft Corp. executive, walked into Bill Gates’s office here one day in July last year to deliver a bombshell about the next generation of Microsoft Windows.

“It’s not going to work,” Mr. Allchin says he told the Microsoft chairman. The new version, code-named Longhorn, was so complex its writers would never be able to make it run properly.

The news got even worse: Longhorn was irredeemable because Microsoft engineers were building it just as they had always built software. Throughout its history, Microsoft had let thousands of programmers each produce their own piece of computer code, then stitched it together into one sprawling program. Now, Mr. Allchin argued, the jig was up. Microsoft needed to start over.

Related Vista/Longhorn items:

• Competition:
  • Novell: Vista to Drive User to Linux
  • Vista Perils
  • Evolve or Die
• Performance:
  • Windows Vista Hogs Resources
  • Spherical Desktop
• Looks:
  • Microsoft Steal the Mac GUI? Again?
  • XP + New Colours = Longhorn
  • Microsoft Battles Screenshots
• Others:
  • Windows Command-Line Interface Delays
  • Longhorn: A Trainwreck?

Update: a more profound article on the subject appeared in The Register the following day.

recently came across a fantastic Linux-based, pocket-sized machine which boasts several desireable features. The name of the device is the GP2X. It has a dual CPU and a 720×480 pixels display. It is capable of running games such as Quake, play music, and store photos, among other things. Overall, it sounds very promising and goes for the price of 125 British pounds (approximately $190).

As Palm have decided to migrate to Linux, I can’t wait to see what they have in store.

HERE appears to be no perfect way to protect oneself from hard-drive crashes. Physical problems, which arise time after time, are always uncalled for, so backups are the best way to prepare and become immune to disaster.

This morning I woke up to find my home computer frozen, having heard suspicious rhythmic noises coming from the box. The hard-drive was dead indeed. The ‘knuckle’ noises confirmed it. Although I have my data stored in three seapare locations, I will still need to find a replacement, then restore programs and settings. It has only been 12 months since my previous hard-drive died.

There has been a fair bit of fuss about Microsoft’s use of Open Source software. In the past few days, I have come across numerous articles describing how Windows relied on some BSD network components in the early nineties. Above all, the incorporation of Open Source software for Message Passing Interface (MPI) in their server software makes many among the Open Source community bitter.

In a move that shows just how far Microsoft Corp. has come, and how pervasive open-source software is in certain areas, the software powerhouse is, for the first time, including open-source technology in one of its shipping products.

Related item: Software Communists – referring to software patents

N previous write-ups, I was repeatedly referring to modern computers that cost no more than $300 in western countries. See, for example, Expensive Developers, Cheap Hardware or Dirt-Cheap Computers. I was also once referring to the death of commercial software due to Open Source software (OSS) and pre-loaded operating systems, wherein not much user intervation or skills are required. Plenty of software gets bundled, which makes the O/S base very self-contained. So how much cheaper can computers truly get? There was some chattering about $100 computers last year. It now turns out that Intel’s cost of chips (processors) is $40 per unit.

Published: September 13, 2005, 11:18 AM PDT

Though Pentium 4s can sell for up to $637, Intel’s average cost for making a chip comes to $40, according to a report from analysts In-Stat.

The report doesn’t consider expenses related to design or marketing…

Let us remember that inexpensive computers are a big step not only towards penetration into poor homes. This can make the difference between a business with 100 workstations or 2o0 workstations, where both options may equal in term of the total cost. IBM recently suggested that Linux TCO is 40% lower than that of Windows. As Linux continue to mature, this large gap in terms of cost should continue to increase.

One can easily identify case studies where a company greatly benefits from a saturation of low-cost machines. Google, which is a Linux ‘poster child’, can afford to distribute and operate very many servers which crawl the World Wide Web. Had it not been for OSS, where would they be? One might add the fact that OSS is significantly more effective in terms of performance once compared with alternatives. It is sometimes difficult to get those facts heard, however, as it take funds to launch a propaganda.

Skype are to be bought by eBay in a strategic move which aims to ease comminication between sellers and buyers. Perhaps it will also enable real-time voice auctions.

eBay’s chief executive said:

By combining the two leading e-commerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the net.