Even this forum looks better in Edge, the new Windows 10 browser

Hey John
Good for you, I am in the same scenario basically, bones and muscles pretty bugg@rd, but the brain is still just fine, despite thumping the hell out of it for the last 70+ years. I still think that the old adage about "who you know" still stands in certain scenarios, BUT "WHAT YOU KNOW" is a bl@@dy site more useful for most of the people around us. We can resolve issues they wouldn't even dream of, cos we have been there, and done it all before ???? So it doesn't surprise us at all.

We still have a lot to bring to computing from our vast and long standing experience, if they would just believe us that we actually REALLY DO know what we are talking about ?

Us GREY's RULE, but they (the rest) just don't, or will not realise and accept it ?
 
Hi Everybody.
Just to return the thread to topic, Microsoft had better hope that windows 10 is a success as they have just announced (July 21st) a net loss of $3.2 billion much of which has come about through its smartphone operations. Microsoft has attempted to become a major player in that market alongside Samsung and Apple and seemingly not succeeded.

Market annalists now expect Microsoft to further withdraw from that market and concentrate on its core pc software market through Windows 10. However, with Google already "hacking chunks" out of Microsoft through their operating system(s) marketed via Android and its Chromebooks, Many annalists are wondering just where the future is going to be made in regard to Microsoft.

Come back Bill Gates all is forgiven (LOL)

Bill
 
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wholbr said:
Hi Everybody.
Just to return the thread to topic, Microsoft had better hope that windows 10 is a success as they have just announced (July 21st) a net loss of $3.2 billion much of which has come about through its smartphone operations. Microsoft has attempted to become a major player in that market alongside Samsung and Apple and seemingly not succeeded.

Market annalists now expect Microsoft to further withdraw from that market and concentrate on its core pc software market through Windows 10. However, with Google already "hacking chunks" out of Microsoft through their operating system(s) marketed via Android and its Chromebooks, Many annalists are wondering just where the future is going to be made in regard to Microsoft.

Come back Bill Gates all is forgiven (LOL)

Bill
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Considering the fact that I don't have a mobile phone, that's the least of the worries for me. A few more phones should disappear off the earth and the driving around where I live could actually be come pleasurable again!

As far as Google Android OS goes, it's crap. I have one of their tablets, well an ASUS actually. The OS is S-L-O-W, and clumsy. Sure it's for those that don't want a full blown OS, but to do anything on it that's reasonable other than playing card games and checking email, I wouldn't put much more towards it.

Keep in mind too that Microsoft saw this loss too as they changed their focus too from other markets and have put their eggs back into the OS. Windows 10 has proven to be quite stable and far better than even the venerable Windows 7. Right now my main machine, the one that I run Trainz on, use MS Office and other products on, runs the pre-release builds. Other than some more recent graphics driver glitches, that appear to have gone away with the more recent build, it's been very stable and a true pleasure to use.

John
 
JCitron said:
snip~ As far as Google Android OS goes, it's crap. I have one of their tablets, well an ASUS actually. The OS is S-L-O-W, and clumsy. Sure it's for those that don't want a full blown OS, but to do anything on it that's reasonable other than playing card games and checking email, I wouldn't put much more towards it.

Keep in mind too that Microsoft saw this loss too as they changed their focus too from other markets and have put their eggs back into the OS. Windows 10 has proven to be quite stable and far better than even the venerable Windows 7. Right now my main machine, the one that I run Trainz on, use MS Office and other products on, runs the pre-release builds. Other than some more recent graphics driver glitches, that appear to have gone away with the more recent build, it's been very stable and a true pleasure to use.

John
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Hi everybody.
Apologies to John and everyone for bumping this thread but I have been busy over the last few days and therefore my Trainz time has been limited.

John, I do not believe that the main challenge to Microsoft comes from Google’s Android system as obviously that is aimed at the tablet and phone market. In my posting at #22 of this thread I was thinking more in terms of the Google operating system (Google OS) as distributed through its Cromebooks which have become increasingly popular throughout the world.

Certainly here in Europe and I also believe in United States along with the Far East, schools and colleges have adopted Cromebook’s and the Google OS on the grounds that the lightweight laptops are more versatile and cheaper than the iPads that they are replacing. With “everything” carried out online and stored in the cloud it does not matter if the child or student destroys their Cromebook by falling down with it or droping it down the toilet, as for less than $150 next day they can be up and running again from exactly where they left off. The foregoing is also becoming an increasing attraction for business users which is where the threat to Microsoft is apparent.

However, in the business community Microsoft still have an edge by way of its MS office suite which has been the backbone of business document software since the mid-nineties. That stated, Google are now challenging Microsoft’s stronghold by way of its Google Docs software brought forward in conjunction with Google drive for an “all cloud” solution to office team document sharing and storing.

Within all the above, some forum members may ask “what does this have to do with N3V and Trainz”. Well, with Microsoft already stating that Windows 10 will be distributed to Windows 7 and eight users free of charge the incoming revenue from the release will obviously be extremely limited as undoubtedly 7 and 8 version users make up a very high percentage of the overall total of Windows OS users.

In the above, Microsoft’s main financial strategy cannot be based on anything other than advertising through its browser and sales of its revamped and increasingly cloud-based MS office suite for its main revenue income. However, browser advertising is dominated at present by Google and anyone can only imagine how difficult it will be to turn people away from the “I’ll Google it” attitude when it comes to browsers.

The foregoing only then leaves Microsoft with the ever-growing gaming market. That stated, it is a market which is very diversified ranging from low-cost android and iPad type games to the expensive console gaming market whose huge range of software products can be seen on any high Street.

Between the above is the PC games market dominated so much by Steam and its download system in recent times. It is to be seen if steam and its gaming system can bring forward a PC market large enough to sustain and once again make profitable Microsoft and Windows.

It was stated in the media and by market analyst at the end of 2014 that 2015 would be the battle of the three OS systems, Google, Microsoft and Apple. With Apple through its huge profits expected to launch a worldwide sales drive of a re-vamped Mac system the predictions of the media and analysts are certainly coming true.

The outcome of the above will be as important for N3V and its Trainzers following as will be the good sales of T:ane.

Bill
 
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Maybe the cost of the Chromebooks being low is impetus to push them in colleges and universities, as e-book readers, however, my experience with them is enough to chase me away from them. The ones I tried, and of course I never paid attention to the model numbers, were slow and annoyingly slow just like the Asus tablet I have which runs the Android OS.

So performance wise I don't see these as being a real competitor.

John
 
John, in my high school, the chromebooks they had were not that slow, and were quite decent. Although they were a bit useless with some pages in the internet that a regular old PC could handle.
 
Hi everybody.
John, with regard to your comments in relation to the speed of Cromebook’s posted at #25 of this thread, it is generally accepted that the only thing which governs the speed at which Google OS operates through Cromebook’s is the speed of anyone’s Internet connection.

There are no apps whatsoever in any Cromebook with the exception of the operating system as everything including any program users are running is held on or passed through the Google servers. Cromebook users then operate any program entirely within the cloud which will govern the speed at which data is passed between the user and the server by way of the speed of the Internet connection, or at least that is what I have been informed.

Zeldaboy, as you state in your posting at #26 of this thread the original Cromebook’s did at times have problems in dealing with heavy graphical pages on the web. However, I believe the latest models with upgraded hardware do handle web-based graphics pages with very little problem.

I do not personally own a Cromebook at the present time, I did however have a chance to operate one which belonged to the company over a few days while I was in Staffordshire a few weeks ago and found it a very enjoyable experience. On an evening at the hotel it was excellent in running BBC iPlayer which is notoriously heavy on hardware even pushing my own Windows-based laptop at times.

The problem with PCs in schools and colleges has always been that they have to be a permanent fixture within class and lecture rooms and therefore a considerable ongoing cost to the teaching establishment who has to own them. There is also the problem of power consumption and heat when 20 or 30 PCs are all operating in a class or lecture room. Most educational establishments here in the UK certainly do not wish to install air conditioning in a now environmental conscious world.

When iPads came to the market it immediately consigned the school-based PC to the dustbin. Cromebook’s are now doing the same to the iPads by way of being much lower cost for students to purchase. Just like its forerunner the iPad, it produces no heat, many do not have fans running within them and are therefore silent. They also have the benefit of not requiring antivirus or other security of any type (with the exception of the Internet connection) and are very light in weight.

Only at the end of last year Microsoft refused to acknowledge that the Google operating system was in fact by definition a true operating system as defined against Windows. The foregoing suddenly changed when in April Microsoft placed a cloud-based version of its office 360 software on the Google OS system to be accessed via its Cromebook’s. That action went on to make many wonder whether the left hand at Microsoft is aware of what the right hand is doing (LOL)

However, the above does demonstrate that Microsoft are at last fully embracing cloud operating systems even if it means at present it has to be on someone else’s platform. It is a very quick “bounce back” following the failure of its Windows-based surface system on tablets and smartphones.

Do not get me wrong, I do not believe that Microsoft are “down and out”. I do believe however that they need strong executive leadership to take them out of “the Fog” of where they are now and arrest the financial nosedive which has taken hold in the last few years.

Bill
 
As per your (cut down) comments below, and I have to say as a long time (and disenchanted with Microsoft) software developer for Windozzzze, I really do love to see them getting stick, and failing to monopolize everything they just think they will get into, oblivious of how many other software developers they may put on the dole queue etc by pushing them out of business because everyone assumes that the M$ software stack must be best.

I have looked at Windows 10 (but only relatively briefly) for sure, and have to say, and most unusually for me, that is appears to have potential as the (qualified) best I have seen out the Windoze stable in a very long time, but as you say, technology is moving on rapidly, bypassing the desktop and therefore total M$ domination.

M$ have been on top of the tree for far too long, and it is about time they were really hurt by other competitors, and Google is certainly one that has the wherewithal to do so. More power to Google's elbow as far as I am concerned :hehe::hehe:
Ian

Thankfully now retired and not worried any more what M$ might chose to do that would potentially harm/destroy own my software business :cool:


wholbr said:
Hi everybody.
.....

Only at the end of last year Microsoft refused to acknowledge that the Google operating system was in fact by definition a true operating system as defined against Windows. The foregoing suddenly changed when in April Microsoft placed a cloud-based version of its office 360 software on the Google OS system to be accessed via its Cromebook’s. That action went on to make many wonder whether the left hand at Microsoft is aware of what the right hand is doing (LOL)

However, the above does demonstrate that Microsoft are at last fully embracing cloud operating systems even if it means at present it has to be on someone else’s platform. It is a very quick “bounce back” following the failure of its Windows-based surface system on tablets and smartphones.

Do not get me wrong, I do not believe that Microsoft are “down and out”. I do believe however that they need strong executive leadership to take them out of “the Fog” of where they are now and arrest the financial nosedive which has taken hold in the last few years.

Bill
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High everybody.
Chopperaddict, with regard to your comments posted at #28 of this thread, I would have to agree with you that the Microsoft Corporation undoubtedly did see itself as unassailable until recent years. The corporation’s monopoly of the IT industry and the extortionate prices charged for its software products together with the uncaring attitude it displayed towards its suppliers has gained it many enemies in the commercial world.

All the above stated, in its early years Microsoft through its founder Bill Gates was a great innovator who by its Windows software put a PC in every home and brought computing power to millions worldwide and thereby changing fundamentally the way we live. However, many would argue that its years of dominance in the IT industry also sowed the seeds that have brought it to the most precarious commercial trading position since the formation of the Microsoft Corporation.

In the years just prior to and after the millennium, Microsoft’s “we are unassailable” attitude gave the corporation a seemingly commercial tunnel vision which brought about a discounting attitude towards the likes of Steve jobs at Apple and Googles formation through Larry Page along with Sergey Brin. No one in those years would have believed that a handheld music player namely the iPod and a web browser placed on its own Windows platform, would be the foundations of commercial organisations which now outstrip Microsoft in innovation, commercial performance and profitability.

Microsoft will undoubtedly not be in the predominant position they once held at least in the foreseeable future and quite probably never again. Many argue that the Microsoft windows system now looks dated due to the boot time required, it’s continuous need of system maintenance, heat dissipation needs and it’s continuous and the seemingly unsolvable ongoing security issues are drawbacks named amongst many other issues.

The Microsoft Corporation’s attempts to move its Windows platform onto portable devices has brought it to the loss-making financial position it now finds itself engulfed in today. Windows has never looked “at ease” to anyone who has seen demonstrated or tried a smart phone or tablet running Microsoft’s surface Windows system and therefore the worldwide sales have been nothing short of disastrous.

In the battle of the operating systems, meaning Google, Apple and Microsoft many believe (including myself) that Google through its Cromebook’s has the initiative to develop and lead the market by way of one hundred percent cloud-based user operation. However, analyst argue that no one should discount Apple with its reported hundred and ninety billion offshore profitability funds using that capital to relaunch its Apple Mac system very much along the lines of Google with its Cromebook’s and cloud availability. Microsoft are also reported to be now looking along the same lines for its future development although many would see it as coming late to the party.

Although none of the three named above are admitting to any coding development, it would seem that they are all working on having one operating system that would be applied and integrated into smartphones, tablets, laptops and known large screen systems. Depending on the device you open the operating system with, various levels of the system will be available to the user. Application developers will also be encouraged to write their programs on the above lines.

So, with applications such as Trainz if you open the application on a smart phone perhaps you will be able to just drive on any route you have developed, as it is held available for use in the cloud. If you opened Trainz on a tablet you would then be able to not only drive on your route but also set out scenarios/sessions. If you then opened Trainz on a laptop or a large screen set up you would then be able to build and develop your route also. The laptop or large screen set up need be no better than today's Google lightweight Cromebook’s in terms of hardware, so gone will be the days of expensive PC gadgetry, as all that will be needed is good broadband speed and all the rest will be handled through one of the big three’s servers in the cloud.

Many analysts see the above prospective developments as undoubtedly the biggest change in computing technology since the invention of the PC and Windows system. It will be for the executives and development teams at Microsoft to prove that they are still at the forefront of innovation and bring forward an operating system equal or better to that of their competitors.

Interesting times in computing, to which we are all privileged to be able witness.

Bill

Posted from the 20:22 Derby to Bristol Temple Meads HST service at the end of a long day.
 
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