Microsoft vs. Open-Source
Microsoft Windows is the world’s only proprietary operating system in mass use that has been built entirely from scratch and is not a derivative of any Open-Source operating system. So, why don’t the bigwigs like Google try to build their own operating system. The rumor is that Google has an OS called Goobuntu ready which is a derivative of Ubuntu, but right now it is restricted to internal use only but knowing Google, they might just try to simplify it and market it to the mass market, but with pundits predicting every year that Linux is going to take over and with it never happening, does Google really want to do this ? By the way, here are some pictures that claim to be screen shots of the Google OS, although I seriously doubt it.
Even Apple left the proprietary way and switched to the BSD based Mac OS X way back in 2001. Is all this because the cost of maintaining an Open-Source derivative much less that building your own OS ? Looking from the outside, it certainly seems that Microsoft spend more money on Windows than Apple does on OS X, but put both on equivalent machines, and the OS-X would give Windows XP more that just a run for it’s money.
After going to an Apple showroom earlier this week, I got a feeling - that Apple focus more on the user’s interaction with the Operating System. I won’t take it away from Microsoft that they spend a lot of money on developing their software but anybody who’s used a Mac will admit that for some reason, Macs are just easier to use. Microsoft sells well with people who know how to get things done on their computers, whereas with the Mac, it sells with those people who want their computers to work for them with minimal effort. Apple’s philosophy appeals to a lot of ‘Non-Geek’ and so it should because even Windows users will admit that Macs are easier to use, sometimes even stupidly so and for that reason, some Windows users start to think of themselves as being smarter than any Mac user.
Why does nobody else follow the Microsoft model and fight fire with fire? Am I saying that Microsoft’s philosophy is flawed ? No ! I’m just thinking and encouraging you to think along !
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First off, I don’t think that the title “Microsoft vs. Open-Source” is justified, Microsoft is not against open source, infact it does have a few projects running as open source!!
Secondly, I won’t believe in Goobuntu till I see it. It seems that everything that can be associated with Google tends to sell like hot cakes. Every day one new rumour or gossip is cooked related to Google, having Google’s name stamped on a fresh rumour seems to be the new fashion!!
Who said Apple left the proprietary way? The interface in their operating system and all the code that they’ve added, its proprietary. Their all applications are proprietary code. And you’ll be hardpressed to find open source applications for Macs, let alone the question of them being decent or users being given a choice!! I’ve not seen any company more in favour of prorietary stuff and closed source applications than Apple, their only association with open source is that they use the free BSD as their operating system core. And I’m not saying that its bad(or I don’t like it), its just that Microsoft is flamed this much since its the biggest fish in the pond, so the tiny weeny Apple, with its 3% market share is able to slip past unnoticed!!
Looking from a point of view, that may seem to be a reason, as since in Apple’s case, all they really have to care about is their GUI sitting on top of BSD core. Any bugfixes etc. done to the operating system by the BSD team can be patched in by Apple in their own copy without much problems, and the good thing is that they don’t have to worry about that!! But looking on the other side, it can’t be really termed as inexpensive. Maintaining an open source application requires(almost) the same amount of time & skill as a closed source application, the only difference is that usually open source developers are not paid for their work, while people working on closed source applications like Windows are paid a fortune!!
But since open source is not a synonym for “free as in beer”, ie., “free of cost” or the common meaning of the word “free”, you can’t say that open source applications require less time to maintain. PHP, MySQL, Apache are good examples of open source applications that take up as much time of their developers as a similar closed source application would take. The only benefit that I see in favour of open source applications(as far as time spent is concerned) is that they can benefit from other pre-made open source libraries etc. which would’ve taken more time had they been built by the developers. Closed source developers can’t generally integrate open source libraries, depending on the licensing terms of the latter.
What’s the use of providing new features when you can’t back that up with good customer service? Apple is not known for its quick response to squash out any bugs or security issues, while Microsoft is famous for their prompt action. Would you expect Apple to spend millions of dollars on an update for to the operating system and then provide it for free? I wouldn’t, but Microsoft indeed do that(ahem, windows xp sp2, ahem)!!
Are you sure? I mean, have you used a Mac yourself? I’ve used OS9 as well as OSX and I still say that WindowsXP is a lot easier to use than a Mac. However, its just a point of view depending on personal preferences, as someone using a mac wouldn’t be expected to say that mac is harder to use than windows!!
And then, 90% of the people can’t just be wrong in thinking that windows is easier & better than a mac, else mac users wouldn’t just consist of about 3% of the desktop market share!! 
Propreitary as in writing the code from scratch. You say XP is easier to use but I found the Mac easier to use even though I was using it on a PC !!
Like it or not, that’s my personal opinion, even if that means I quit geekdom for it.
You mean to say that you were using Mac OS on a PC? Well, I don’t know about that, the OS9 & OSX I had a go on were on an iMac. But then like I said, its just a personal preference, linux users swear the ease of use of the terminal otherwise!!
Dude they are not Goobuntu screenshots. Those screenshots was released last year by some dumb who claimed that Google was making a new OS of thier own. Later he admitted it was done in Adobe something.
Thanks for the confirmation. Did doubt them too.