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Not high – just misinformed
By sparky | July 1, 2008
Recently, I saw the following on the cover of a computer magazine, which had the latest release of ‘Ubuntu‘ on it’s monthly DVD:
Now, apart from the general ‘hype’ around anything that’s meant to be able to ‘kill’ or be a ‘better’ alternative to Microsoft’s latest operating system, the idea that this particular version/distribution of Linux has the ability to put Vista to death is just absurd.
I had the oppertunity to use Vista for a time – partly as a feasibility study for my work, and partly out of my own self-interest to see what progressions / changes Microsoft had made to it’s OS.
My own personal criticism’s were that it required too much memory and drive space, and was quite a ‘bloated’ operating system in general. Now, of course, this is in light of the ‘average’ technology that is still kicking around for 90% of the populace. From that perspective, to call Ubuntu 8.04 “The Vista Killer”, would maybe be accurate. But even I, a linux user, find it a bit far fetched.
Windows is still the primary operating system being suppored by a large percentage of products – with Apple’s ‘Mac OS’ coming in second place. Adobe is a good example of industry software that is only supported on those two major operating systems.
Linux does have it’s open source ‘alternatives’, (and admittedly I’ve not spent much time in using or even trying any large number of these) but even I don’t believe that all of these are in a position yet to be used widely by industry. Don’t get me wrong, I have every faith that there will one day be open source software that is usable by various industries – but this isn’t the reality we live in. Not yet.
Sometimes I just wish that consumer-orientated publications could be a little more ‘balanced’ in their approach – and marketing. Considering the criticism’s I found with Vista, Windows 2000 could be percieved a “Vista-Killer”. So could the latest Mac OS. So could Dos.
It all comes down to what part of Vista (in this case) that you’re not liking, and want a ‘better’ alternative to.
I suppose, ultimately, it’s all subjective.
Topics: Hype, Linux, Windows | 3 Comments »
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 am
It’s all about selling copies, and a big claim like that sells more copies than the headline “Better than vista but still unfriendly!”
As a result we will always have rediculous hyperboles and advertisements for bathroom scum cleaner stating “This may be th most important commerical you see all day”. It’s rediculous but it’s all marketing.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I s’pose I’ve just never really embraced ‘marketing’ as a justification for misguiding.
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Well, justification is a subjective thing. Without misguiding hyperboles nothing would ever get sold – trust me on that.