How the OS distribution model changes and their availability to the end user
The topic of modern operating systems has become one of the most discussed issues for me lately: what's in the news, what's in the kitchen. The release of Windows 8 served as an unexpected catalyst. I do not want to raise holivar on the theme of “tiles”, let's just sort out all this chaos of information and take a fresh look at the modern OS market.
Look first at the mobile OS. Remember how many scandals flared up when manufacturers refused to update the device to the new version of Android, Apple did not add new features to the old devices, Windows Phone - which is updated as it is not clear. Each such event creates an informational occasion in the electronic media, the next wave of holivars and just screams in the comments.
There are many opinions on this matter: someone thinks that buying a device with the indicated characteristics - you have already agreed with everything and got a certain product “as is”, someone is looking for a device with a maximum lifespan, which will be updated, and its functionality will increase during the entire period of use (iOS device, Nexus line, Xiaomi). On android, the situation is such that many top devices receive support from CyanogenMod / MIUI and other teams, but I will not dwell on them, I’ll just note that the popularity of such projects has been growing steadily since the days of Windows Mobile, which means the demand for long-term support for devices and Constant increase in the functionality of devices is among consumers, and it is not small.
')
People are ready to get used to the new interface, moving from one device to another, moving between platforms, installing new firmware. And this also applies to user programs - how many times have we encountered the transition from one twitter client (e-mail reader, etc.) to another, not only when switching between operating systems, but also simply for the sake of new "buns". Also about paid software - with different motivations (convenience / buns / developer encouragement), but we buy it, and then switch to another, perhaps more convenient and also paid. For example, I already have dozens of paid programs on Google Play, the need for which has disappeared due to the appearance of the necessary functionality in the OS itself or more convenient, often free competitors.
Now let's look at the “desktop operating systems” and take a look at the entire market.
For a start I will give some information for thought. Look at these two graphics:
It is not correct to compare them in the forehead, but I draw attention to the different moods that they cause. Around the first - Windows 8 is terrible because it has a small market share. Around the second - “When will the last android come everywhere,” “Well, he recently came out because such a small share in the market” and “The evil manufacturer does not update me.” Also, my thoughts spurred a recent survey at the very Habré - "Are you ready to pay for Linux."
For a long time, I used a desktop computer with Windows, win95 / 98 / ME / XP / Vista, but since 2007 I got into Linux, since 2008, the main OS has become Mandriva, in 2010 I looked at Windows 7 and went to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, which happily lived on my PC until July of this year. For various reasons, the Samsung NP300V5A laptop has become a workhorse for me. And then it began ... Looking awry at oem Windows 7 Home Premium, it was demolished, the hard drive was re-allocated, Ubuntu 12.04 is being installed, the author is sitting over a cup of coffee, and he comes - a small fur animal. The screen blinks backlight, the nvidia card does not work, because inside a bunch called optimus, Fn keys do anything but their purpose. I already warped. Yes, it is cured by running around the forums, searching for various crutches and other shamanism, for the manufacturer smokes on the sidelines and silently points to the 4-color checkbox. Well, okay, once having made all these gestures, they were recorded as a list of commands for the console, and if I again need to deploy Ubuntu on a similar machine, it will already be done by copy-paste in the terminal.
But the experience of such an experience remained, and not everything was fixed, and after a while I decided to put Windows 7 back. But having worked for almost half a year, I repeated the experiment already with Ubuntu 12.10 - all khaki and crutches stood up, but the new unit did not give a feeling of comfortable work. Putting several different DEs - gnome 3 was chosen as the main medium for work. But small shoals crawled out here and there. Then the look was turned to just released Windows 8. I put the Release Preview on the hardware - everything seems to be working and there is no obvious horror. Given that the laptop fell under the share of a preferential update for $ 15 - it was decided to upgrade. Further, it was a shock for me: filling out a questionnaire, I received a discount key and two programs, one from Samsung - to install drivers and proprietary software, the second from Microsoft, which took the money from me, gave me the product key and carefully downloaded the image to me, installing it on the USB flash drive. Reboot - in fifteen minutes the Windows turned around, after another fifteen minutes all the drivers and software from the Samsung were downloaded. Everything works — yes, quickly — for sure. Whether I am satisfied as a user with such a service - very much!
I deliberately tried to go this way as an ordinary user, not burdened with knowledge and not climbing into the wilds, but simply by pressing the “next” button. Compare with Ubuntu - go off. site, I want to download the image - no problem, but when I go to the tab “Install from a flash drive” I was thrown onto some left page, where I need to download a separate program that has a compact list of distributions for installation. The button "download selected" leads me back to the browser, I need to find something on the disk in folders ... Software is useful, but if I am an ordinary user, and I want a big button "download-image-and-copy-to-disk-which-I “I will show you”, which unfortunately is not. As a result, in Windows 8, I saw a system where I was very pleasantly met, took upon myself all the trouble with iron, and I started to work. As for the interface, it was very easy to switch from gnome 3.
In gaming journalism, there is such a term - “justification of expectations.” The Windows user base is huge, and most expected changes at the level of past transitions (XP-> Vista-> 7), but they got a little more and were unhappy. Not because the product is bad, but because "it did not meet the expectations." In GNU / Linux distributions, the interface is crammed very often, but everyone who uses them either gets used to it fairly easily, or sets up a bit of time for themselves (in the case of Windows, Start8 is taken, and you will only see tiles very much). I saw that Microsoft came to the mechanism of updating its operating system, which is adopted from competitors (MacOS, GNU / Linux-distributions), as well as on mobile devices. Yes, this will inevitably lead to situations where application software stops working on a new version of the OS due to the developer’s sluggishness, or because it is no longer supported. But we are experiencing this on our mobile devices. In GNU / Linux distributions and on MacOS, which was generally rewritten from scratch at once (switching to MacOS X), and in version 10.6 it became forcibly 64-bit. And nothing - everyone is alive. So, I urge you to look at Windows 8 as a completely new system, with a built-in emulator of old versions.
We practically did not touch the products of the apple company, but the problems that were described do not concern them - that’s a fact. Microsoft started moving in the direction of their model, Canonical remained to be pulled up - the OS itself is quite on the level and if a person sits at the computer, where it is installed by the manufacturer or a familiar geek - he likes everything, but at the installation and configuration stage the unprepared user will fall into a stupor, and some situations and geeks are clutching their heads. This is not the fault of the company, but rather of iron producers, but I see Canonical as the only one who can change the attitude towards GNU / Linux, not only users, but also iron producers. For example, the author wants a Samsung 9-series laptop - a beautiful piece of hardware, but judging by the Ubuntu forums and the derivatives from the box will not stand there. I am willing to pay $ 100 for a ubuntu-type distribution kit, or some separate proprietary module for ubuntu-based distributions, which will pick up all the specific hardware, hotkeys, and so on. But alas, there is no such thing. In 2008, I decided to solve all the small problems related to the Linux transition with the purchase of Mandriva PowerPack, who should I deposit the money now?
Start small
Look first at the mobile OS. Remember how many scandals flared up when manufacturers refused to update the device to the new version of Android, Apple did not add new features to the old devices, Windows Phone - which is updated as it is not clear. Each such event creates an informational occasion in the electronic media, the next wave of holivars and just screams in the comments.
There are many opinions on this matter: someone thinks that buying a device with the indicated characteristics - you have already agreed with everything and got a certain product “as is”, someone is looking for a device with a maximum lifespan, which will be updated, and its functionality will increase during the entire period of use (iOS device, Nexus line, Xiaomi). On android, the situation is such that many top devices receive support from CyanogenMod / MIUI and other teams, but I will not dwell on them, I’ll just note that the popularity of such projects has been growing steadily since the days of Windows Mobile, which means the demand for long-term support for devices and Constant increase in the functionality of devices is among consumers, and it is not small.
')
People are ready to get used to the new interface, moving from one device to another, moving between platforms, installing new firmware. And this also applies to user programs - how many times have we encountered the transition from one twitter client (e-mail reader, etc.) to another, not only when switching between operating systems, but also simply for the sake of new "buns". Also about paid software - with different motivations (convenience / buns / developer encouragement), but we buy it, and then switch to another, perhaps more convenient and also paid. For example, I already have dozens of paid programs on Google Play, the need for which has disappeared due to the appearance of the necessary functionality in the OS itself or more convenient, often free competitors.
Look at the desktop
Now let's look at the “desktop operating systems” and take a look at the entire market.
For a start I will give some information for thought. Look at these two graphics:
It is not correct to compare them in the forehead, but I draw attention to the different moods that they cause. Around the first - Windows 8 is terrible because it has a small market share. Around the second - “When will the last android come everywhere,” “Well, he recently came out because such a small share in the market” and “The evil manufacturer does not update me.” Also, my thoughts spurred a recent survey at the very Habré - "Are you ready to pay for Linux."
Personal experience
For a long time, I used a desktop computer with Windows, win95 / 98 / ME / XP / Vista, but since 2007 I got into Linux, since 2008, the main OS has become Mandriva, in 2010 I looked at Windows 7 and went to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, which happily lived on my PC until July of this year. For various reasons, the Samsung NP300V5A laptop has become a workhorse for me. And then it began ... Looking awry at oem Windows 7 Home Premium, it was demolished, the hard drive was re-allocated, Ubuntu 12.04 is being installed, the author is sitting over a cup of coffee, and he comes - a small fur animal. The screen blinks backlight, the nvidia card does not work, because inside a bunch called optimus, Fn keys do anything but their purpose. I already warped. Yes, it is cured by running around the forums, searching for various crutches and other shamanism, for the manufacturer smokes on the sidelines and silently points to the 4-color checkbox. Well, okay, once having made all these gestures, they were recorded as a list of commands for the console, and if I again need to deploy Ubuntu on a similar machine, it will already be done by copy-paste in the terminal.
But the experience of such an experience remained, and not everything was fixed, and after a while I decided to put Windows 7 back. But having worked for almost half a year, I repeated the experiment already with Ubuntu 12.10 - all khaki and crutches stood up, but the new unit did not give a feeling of comfortable work. Putting several different DEs - gnome 3 was chosen as the main medium for work. But small shoals crawled out here and there. Then the look was turned to just released Windows 8. I put the Release Preview on the hardware - everything seems to be working and there is no obvious horror. Given that the laptop fell under the share of a preferential update for $ 15 - it was decided to upgrade. Further, it was a shock for me: filling out a questionnaire, I received a discount key and two programs, one from Samsung - to install drivers and proprietary software, the second from Microsoft, which took the money from me, gave me the product key and carefully downloaded the image to me, installing it on the USB flash drive. Reboot - in fifteen minutes the Windows turned around, after another fifteen minutes all the drivers and software from the Samsung were downloaded. Everything works — yes, quickly — for sure. Whether I am satisfied as a user with such a service - very much!
Learning threshold
I deliberately tried to go this way as an ordinary user, not burdened with knowledge and not climbing into the wilds, but simply by pressing the “next” button. Compare with Ubuntu - go off. site, I want to download the image - no problem, but when I go to the tab “Install from a flash drive” I was thrown onto some left page, where I need to download a separate program that has a compact list of distributions for installation. The button "download selected" leads me back to the browser, I need to find something on the disk in folders ... Software is useful, but if I am an ordinary user, and I want a big button "download-image-and-copy-to-disk-which-I “I will show you”, which unfortunately is not. As a result, in Windows 8, I saw a system where I was very pleasantly met, took upon myself all the trouble with iron, and I started to work. As for the interface, it was very easy to switch from gnome 3.
In gaming journalism, there is such a term - “justification of expectations.” The Windows user base is huge, and most expected changes at the level of past transitions (XP-> Vista-> 7), but they got a little more and were unhappy. Not because the product is bad, but because "it did not meet the expectations." In GNU / Linux distributions, the interface is crammed very often, but everyone who uses them either gets used to it fairly easily, or sets up a bit of time for themselves (in the case of Windows, Start8 is taken, and you will only see tiles very much). I saw that Microsoft came to the mechanism of updating its operating system, which is adopted from competitors (MacOS, GNU / Linux-distributions), as well as on mobile devices. Yes, this will inevitably lead to situations where application software stops working on a new version of the OS due to the developer’s sluggishness, or because it is no longer supported. But we are experiencing this on our mobile devices. In GNU / Linux distributions and on MacOS, which was generally rewritten from scratch at once (switching to MacOS X), and in version 10.6 it became forcibly 64-bit. And nothing - everyone is alive. So, I urge you to look at Windows 8 as a completely new system, with a built-in emulator of old versions.
Conclusion
We practically did not touch the products of the apple company, but the problems that were described do not concern them - that’s a fact. Microsoft started moving in the direction of their model, Canonical remained to be pulled up - the OS itself is quite on the level and if a person sits at the computer, where it is installed by the manufacturer or a familiar geek - he likes everything, but at the installation and configuration stage the unprepared user will fall into a stupor, and some situations and geeks are clutching their heads. This is not the fault of the company, but rather of iron producers, but I see Canonical as the only one who can change the attitude towards GNU / Linux, not only users, but also iron producers. For example, the author wants a Samsung 9-series laptop - a beautiful piece of hardware, but judging by the Ubuntu forums and the derivatives from the box will not stand there. I am willing to pay $ 100 for a ubuntu-type distribution kit, or some separate proprietary module for ubuntu-based distributions, which will pick up all the specific hardware, hotkeys, and so on. But alas, there is no such thing. In 2008, I decided to solve all the small problems related to the Linux transition with the purchase of Mandriva PowerPack, who should I deposit the money now?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/163587/
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