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Please, spare me.
Moving on.
Update: Microsoft confirms that the 7.0 thing is rubbish. Raf has the details.
Discuss this Article 69
Hey, kernel and NTFS versions don't rise in in lockstep with Windows versions. Windows 7 will probably have a 6.x version of the kernel and version 3.1 of NTFS.
Just a guess of course.
BEGINTRANSMIT
Carbonform lifelings of earth! Hear my words and tremble! It is I, Commander T'Plak, the Grand Righteous Mufta of the Trans-solar Alliance, weighing in with my own personal opinion of infinite regard!
The kernel number has ramifications you petty organic creatures cannot possibly comprehend! The number chosen may well determine the fate of the universe and all of space and time! Also, whether or not my planet may continue to run MS Works 2 in compatibility mode!
So take heed, cellular life-beings. Do not tamper with what you do not understand.
ENDTRANSMIT
Where is the sillyness. To make myself clear what made paul go batty and have to make this post. Was there another article?
@Jonny
Yeah, there was an article posted somewhere that said MS might bump the kernel version to 7.0. Despite the fact that they've already commented on it being 6.1
Paul, it probably would have been helpful for your readers to tell us what you're referring to...
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/20/windows-7-to-also-be-version-7-...
This looks more like a Twitter update. Paul, did you open the right window when you wrote this? You should re-org all of your task bar icons so you always know which application you are in.
--tayme
OT: Followup to comment in closed topic
The highly discounted Office Ultimate for college students is still available at http://www.TheUltimateSteal.com and offers (in the US) Office Ultimate for $59.95.
There are similar programs in 14 other countries. Click the flag icon in the upper right corner to select the other countries' programs.
Now back to figuring out why Paul wrote this on his way to play paintball for his son's birthday.
@mike, all:
Don't forget that they also have the DreamSpark program for developers in college and high school too.
https://www.dreamspark.com/
Looks like they finally added Windows Server 2008 to the mix too. It used to be only 2003 that was offered.
OK, this is soo off topic, but I need your attention. I have also sent an email to Paul on this, hope he can pick it up among all the trillions of mail he gets:
Today the EU parliment is passing of a new telecommunications bill. It will be finally closed on May 5. The initial intention of the bill was to increase competition between broadband and telecom operators/providers, with means such as regulated right to retain your mobile phone number when switching operator and so on. However, lobbyists representing the media business has managed to get additional writing in there. Two of the major acts are:
1. The right of any operator to deny service to individuals found guilty of usining the Internet in a non-conformative (very vague what that really constitutes, but file sharing is one example) way, WITHOUT a legal trial!
2. The right of any operator to restrict access to web sites or services at their own discression.
This will undoubltely lead to a serious censorship of the Internet. Any operator could be pressured by a government or business to deny service to an individual. That means no access to the Internet, no mobile phone, no landline phone. You would effectively become a sedond rate citizen without the possibility of getting your cased tried in court. Also, at the discression of the operator, you could be denied service as they see fit. There is no suggestions on how this would be monitored, who would make the decision or who decides what is correct behaviour or not. We are talking about the move towards a totalitarian society, much like what is going on in China. That is not an exaggeration!
Furthermore, giving operators the right to restrict access to websites and services opens up for a new complete business model. What we will see emgerge over the next couple of years is a model much like what today's cable/sat TV providers offer. You subscribe to an Internet access with a certain speed, and depending on what you pay, you will get various levels of Internet access. So you want ADSL 25MB with the Internet Banking (our bank), News (our selected news) and Social Networking (our service) options? OK, that's 25$ a month. You need access to the Apple web site, and a movie rental service? Well the first one is not in our package, and the other is part of our standard offer, using our own service. Paul Thurrott? Who's that? Your *own* web site? Wouldn't think so pal!
Combine this with newly passed passed bills in Sweden, such as IPRED (the right of any copyright owner to obtain a court order that forces operators to give the copyright owner the privacy information based on a suspect IP number), FRA (the right of the military to monitor all phone and email traffic), the upcoming IPRED2, and so on. And then whe have the world famous ACTA that stipulates stupidity such as giving customs personell the right to browse the contents of your MP3 player, all in the hunt for those who illegaly share copyright material. It seems the world have forgotten about starving children in third world contries, wars and human tragedy, and joined up to save the records labels and media companies, like it's threatening the world. Where's the balance?
OK, I understand that anyone would see this as a serious case of over-reacting, but really (and I am dead serious here) not many anticipated a totalitarian society and the horrors of the concentration camps when woting for Hitler. If this bill is passed in the EU, you guys will be next. Rest assured. This is the end of the Internet as we know it.
References (safe sites):
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/058-52901-089-0...
http://www.iptegrity.com/
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I'm under the impression that the major/minor version that the OS reports doesn't necessarily need to be the same version number as the kernel. I believe all Microsoft is doing is leaving the major/minor version that the Win32 API reports as 6.1 so that all apps/drivers that are dependent on the major version being 6 will not blow up. I think the kernel could very well be 7.0.
@AOD:
This has already happened. Rogers and Bell (Canada's 2 biggest providers) turn off access to any user that picks up a virus or trojan that causes network congestion, and they certainly don't like it when pedophiles search for pics of robertsjoe's underage winky online.
Comparing this to Hitler is about as ridiculous as Joan Rivers calling Annie Duke "Hitler" on Celeb Apprentice. I'd be suing her a$$ for defamation of character. (Does the Anti-Defamation League ever speak out against one of their own?) Of course, that show is just the lowest-of-the-low for "reality" shows, but whatever.
Would you rather have restraint on the Internet, or do you want NAMBLA playing sides with the Tamil Tigers, while hiding behind free speech? You can't have it both ways.
@AOD:
Censorship isn't going to kill the Internet.
Advertising is what killed newspapers and network TV. It's also strangling the Internet as we speak.
"Advertising is what killed newspapers and network TV. It's also strangling the Internet as we speak."
I thought that YOU were killing the internet, Wae. You spend all that time in the basement torrenting Three's Company and clogging up our tubes.
Yeah and anyways, MS has said Windows 8 or whatever it'll be named will be NT 6.2 and now NT 7.0. There's never gonna be an NT 7.0 for the forseeable future.
Because Paul prematurely closes threads to shut off debate, I'll have to respond here to those who say the new office file formats are open and there is other office software that is "reasonably compatible" with office, yet hasn't gained traction.
1) "reasonably compatible" is not enough. Anything less than 100 percent is a deal breaker for users. An alternative word processing program simply is not worth the effort -- for users -- if it's going to cause (even minor) glitches in your documents. This is a chicken and egg problem - you can point to the lack of viable alternatives, but then how can those alternatives develop with the albatross of lack of compatability around their necks. They can't.
2) "open" file formats that are controlled by MS are not truly open. That's what the new Office formats are - controlled by MS. A true open standard is something like HTML or AAC - not controlled or originated by one company.
Look, I will admit that MAYBE the new office formats could develop into a true open standard, actually utilized by multiple office programs with full interchangeabilitiy. But we are far from that right now.
I like Commander TPlak.
Anyone seen the new Get A Mac ads? They are a hoot.
Here is the article Paul was referencing:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/20/windows-7-to-also-be-version-7-...
>>Almost anyone who has been following the development of Windows 7 knows that it's currently kernel version 6.1. But all that could be set to change, at least if an obscure MSDN page is to be believed.
In a page describing device installation with the Windows Driver Kit, the documentation shows "Msft.NT.7.0" being used as a label to specify drivers only for use with Windows 7.<<
Since debates now cross threads......
"How can you validly criticise the registry by labelling it a "fundamental problem" when, by your own admission, you don't even have a good understanding of how it works? Is this really what passes as debate around here?"
Is it hard to understand that a corrupted centralized "massive database" can take down an entire Windows installation? I KNOW this happens, I've seen friends deal with it many times. It does not take an expert to see that the decentralized approach is more robust.
"Registry failures/corruptions are extremely rare instances on modern versions of Windows. The built-in recovery tools in Vista and 7 now make registry problems a thing of the past in 99.9% of cases. Windows is also has a much more modular design, meaning key subsystems are less interdependent and that means fewer and less damaging crashes and higher system stability. But you won't hear Mac fanatics being honest about such things, that's for sure."
I will. I'm actually interested. If things have improved on Windows great, but some objections remain. The .plist approach seems simpler; I don't need special tools, the files are ASCII files tagged with the program name. Find the file for app X, delete it, done. There are a few special hacks to do to add functionality via .plist editing, but these are rare and not needed by users.
"That said, no operating system can guarantee 100% reliability, yet, I find it grossly irresponsible that Apple commercials claim that Macs are immune to viruses, don't require security patches and don't crash. After all these flat out lies and distortions, the iCabal, with straight faces, shamelessly criticise Microsoft for lying. This is the infantile rubbish that passes for debate day-in, day-out in the Mac world."
Then I flunk the iCabal test. Macs crash. Security patches are needed by every OS, and OS X has some special issues that come from the open source roots of much of the code. People browse the code, find the patches that Apple hasn't applied and find vulnerabilities. If OS X is ever really hacked, I think this is how it will be done. However, let's look at the strange thing we "the data". There are no examples, ever, anywhere at any time of a propagating virus "in the wild". None. There are laboratory tests and theoretical vulnerabilities by the score, but no issues in the real word. Yet. I realize that much is swept under the rug in the Apple commercials, but as many have said here with regard to the Microsoft Ads, they are advertisements, not technical seminars.
This is cool. Soldiers are getting Zunes!
>>U.S. Military Buying iPhones and iPod Touches for Use in the Field
Apple gadgets are proving to be surprisingly versatile. Software developers and the U.S. Department of Defense are developing military software for iPods that enables soldiers to display aerial video from drones and have teleconferences with intelligence agents halfway across the globe. Snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan now use a “ballistics calculator” called BulletFlight, made by the Florida firm Knight’s Armament for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Army researchers are developing applications to turn an iPod into a remote control for a bomb-disposal robot (tilting the iPod steers the robot). In Sudan, American military observers are using iPods to learn the appropriate etiquette for interacting with tribal leaders.<<
Oops. http://www.newsweek.com/id/194623/output/print
UNHACKABLE!!!
>>Typically sheathed in protective casing, iPods have proved rugged enough for military life. And according to an Army official in Baghdad, the devices have yet to be successfully hacked.<<
cesjr, the formats are open enough that OpenOffice can see all they need to do and work with the document format with 100% compatibility. Office 2007 SP2 will also support the ODF format natively. In addition, the OpenXML/ODF translator is available, truly negating any file format considerations. http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net/
Now it's just up for the others to build a better mousetrap, which they have not done yet and don't seem as though they will in the near future.
@waethorn
Sorry if this has already hit you, but honestly if no one over-reacts, then we're on a highway to 1984. If we're not there already. I just had the debate with my wife. She thought I was rediculous when I suggested the next step being cameras in our homes (for "our safety"). But honestly, when the bill is passed where where you? We need to stand up now. Who decides if your posts on this blog is in line with current policies? Just because you do not commit crimes today, who's to say that what's OK today is not a crime tomorrow?
I am not silly referencing one of the many paths to a totalitarian society. If people were reading more they might learn some from history. Germany, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe. Gestapo, KGB, Stasi. It came creeping on. Everyone watching everyone. Everyone an informer. Come on, it's going on right under our noses. China, North Korea, Iran - the list goes on. As always no one thought it could happen. Europe is up next. France want to control the Internet for some 65 million people. They are driving this move, with the eager backing of media moguls.
I am sorry for Paul. Same old posters spending most of their time posting silly and harrassing comments to each other. Probably should go somewhere else, where people are serious. At least this thread has not wound down to a M$ vs. Apple catfight. Yet.
@"Angel: - "At least this thread has not wound down to a M$ vs. Apple catfight. Yet."
That sentence alone is provocation to get that battle started. Why the dollar sign in the Microsoft abbreviation?
--tayme
I didn't know the iTouch and the iPhone shared the Apple history for being UNHACKABLE.
Actually, the Office 2007 formats were going to be an ISO standard, but cetain companies moaned and moaned until they got THEIR "standards" accepted instead.
"A true open standard is something like HTML or AAC - not controlled or originated by one company."
Sorry, but the HTML is governed by the W3C, and AAC is still owned by FraunhoferIIS and it's offshoots.
@AOD:
If you wrote "Someone should kill the president" on a site that resides on US soil, expect to have your house raided.
@tayme
:) yeah, that was a provocation - I admit. The $ sign is used variably, but sometimes just to emphasise that the MS abbreviation is referring to MicroSoft and not something else. It is not always used as a condesending remark. But sometimes it is. Read it as you want, but I wanted to paint them as equally bad - or good, thus not taking a stance.
Angel Of Death.
Maybe, just maybe this kind of nonsense is what happens when a billion or so people rip off copyrighted material, and claim that it's perfectly "right" for them to do so.
"I didn't know the iTouch and the iPhone shared the Apple history for being UNHACKABLE."
They aren't. None of them.
"the Office 2007 formats were going to be an ISO standard, but cetain companies moaned and moaned until they got THEIR "standards" accepted instead."
I wonder what Oracle is going to about OpenOffice now that they own Sun.
Ever since T'Plak infused me with his genetic material in order to breed the new Galactic Savior, I have felt different. Calm. Serene. Able to bend steel with my bare hands. Waethorn may resent the coming of his little brother, but I now grasp the importance of my role in history. And to think, just last week I was dancing topless at the bar by the airport.
I am glowing. The larval symbiont of T'Plak grows within my womb, bathing me in splendor. I am the Earth Mother. I am Eve and Mary and Donna Reed, all in one. Touch my belly and feel the pure essence of life emanating from it.
I am transformed. No longer am I merely "Waethorn's Mother"- those words are inadequate to express my new unified identity. Henceforth, I am Waethorn's Mother the White, Interstellar Bringer of the Starbaby.
I'm going to go get business cards printed.
@Gorath
Yeah, maybe. But you risk opening up an infected wound with that comment. I honestly don't think that "culture" (mostly made up of copyrighted material) should be free for everyone, but at the same time if a billion people think it's right, then isn't it right? But most often a very few decides for the masses. Just ask the billion or so oppressed Chinese.
"I honestly don't think that "culture" (mostly made up of copyrighted material) should be free for everyone, but at the same time if a billion people think it's right, then isn't it right?"
You have to ask yourself (or others) if it's important for those copyright owners should protect EACH AND EVERY single copy of their product/work from theft, or if there is an amount that should be considered "acceptable loss". Then you have to ask what that amount should be, and who should govern it.
@waethorn
"If you wrote "Someone should kill the president" on a site that resides on US soil, expect to have your house raided."
Case closed!
BTW - you aren't on US soil writing that are you? I guess I'm on the list as well now. Last seen on the way to a secret CIA prison in a country light on human rights.
Hey, Angel, I'm not saying I agree with what's happening, I'm just pointing out how jackasses thinking they have a right to illegal content could be responsible for destroying the internet as we know it.
And no, if a Billion people think it's right, it does not make it right.
To use an abstract example, what if an entire town of people decided that you were a perfectly valid target for burglary.
That doesn't make it "right".
If that town was an entire country, it still isn;t right.
and on and on.
Waethorn, I like your idea of "acceptable loss".
I believe it has been used in retail for years, termed as "leakage"
However, the amount of piracy going on was anything BUT "acceptable" loss.
"you aren't on US soil writing that are you?"
*I'm* not on US soil, but this site is.
If someone actually did do that and quoted you, you could be arrested for conspiracy and/or as an accomplice to murder. You can be sure that you'd disappear quickly and quietly though. That's assuming that you fall under US law or in a country that accepts a US request for extradition.
Of course, the US gets death threats against their president all the time. You only have to look at private militia parties in their own country, as well as groups in the Middle East that dance around a burning effigy.
"Advertising is what killed newspapers and network TV."
WTF? When did network TV ever exist without advertising (outside of state-supported efforts, that is)?
Wae, you've lost your mind. Again.
"I believe it has been used in retail for years, termed as "leakage""
....or "breakage" or just "loss". In many companies, there are teams of people that minimize that, and still consider any loss unacceptable.
In a local grocery store location that belongs to a nation-wide chain, there is a team of people that monitor the amount of food that is stolen by employees or customers alike. ANY person that is found to steal anything is charged with theft. Employees are also subsequently fired on the spot. There is no amount of theft that is acceptable. Loss by natural means (expired/spoiled food, or broken package due to accident) doesn't count - that's the only "acceptable" amount. They have inspectors at the end of the night that check for proper receipts from employees that purchase anything during their shift (some employees buy groceries during their break). Any discrepencies are questioned until they can get resolved with the original cashier. If the cashier conspires to create a fraudulent charge that diminishes payment to the store, the cashier is fired on the spot also.
That store has a "zero-tolerance" policy. Many grocery stores around here are the same.
"When did network TV ever exist without advertising"
Since PVR's, digital downloads, and TV-on-DVD became so popular. TiVo: have you heard of it?
@gorath
We could thow this back and forth for an eternity, so let's agree to disagree. I do believe in the majority rule. You view this from your moral standards. Why wouldn't it be OK if the entire town/country thought it was OK? You could turn it on it's head. If your moral standards said that it would be OK to drink and drive, but the majority though the opposite, then the majority rule would apply. Who decides what is OK and not? I'd say the majority. And those with money & power...
@lotsamystuff
"WTF? When did network TV ever exist without advertising (outside of state-supported efforts, that is)?"
In the fine country where I was born and raised (Sweden) we have something called Public Service TV. Paid by a sort of tax (you could turn this into a "freedom of choice" question all you like, but we're talking about a low fee) and free of commercial and political pressure. It has the purpose of serving the contry with unbiased information, education and entertainment. Not a commercial in sight, and it has been a blessing. Bits of everything for everyone. It doesn't cover all your wishes I admit, but it's a good refuge when you get sick of flipping through endless commercials selling products so amazingly good that they are only sold by phone orders and not available in regular stores. God, I'm ranting...
@Angel of Death
"outside of state-supported efforts, that is"
Please read the posts you are commenting on!
I'm no worse than I can admit my own mistakes. ;)
@AOD "Who decides what is OK and not? I'd say the majority. And those with money & power"
What you are essentially saying is that truth/morals is subjective. Basically "If it feels good, it's ok". There is still a huge number of people who actually believe that truth and right/wrong is actually defined outside of what we personally may think (i.e., is absolute). That is where you disagree. Taking morals into the subjective space is what has caused a lot of problems in societies today.
Angel of Death.
If my moral standards allowed me to drink-drive, then plainly, my morals allow me to take no consideration at all of harming others. (they don't, incidentally, I never have, and never will drive whilst drunk).
Drinking and driving can lead, directly, to the death or injury of anothe person.
Where things turn to more shades of grey is in inconsequential matters, such as picking one's nose.
Picking one's nose does no harm to oneself, or others, but can be perceived as a "big no-no".
Matters such as that, are clearly dependant upon people's own decisions.
Obtaining copyrighted material through illegal means, however, leads to the owner of that work, and several people in/directly involved in it's creation not being paid for his/their work.
Taking someones creation, of which they expect payment for, illegally, is not a "grey" subject.
It IS wrong, pure and simple. You are denying someone the opportunity to earn a living.
@gorath - "Picking one's nose does no harm to oneself, or others, but can be perceived as a "big no-no"
Actually, many germs and bacteria can be spread this way, so if you must pick you nose...kindly wash you hadns and use some Purell. :-)
--tayme
"Public Service TV" and "free of ... political pressure" is an oxymoron right there. You can't say that and also talk about government restricting Internet usage as a bad thing. Anything provided by the government is subject to pressure by political forces in power at that time. BTW, we have PBS, which is the same thing. And no one would claim that they are not free of political pressure.
And as much as I hate to agree with lotsa, he is right. Advertising certainly is not what has killed network TV. It's what makes it possible. It's what makes this forum possible, Google, etc. Other things, like you mention wae are what is eating away at network TV. However, advertising WILL penetrate further in to those markets as well. It has to for it to be a viable concern. Content costs money, and no one will directly finance all of that content. It has to come from indirect ad dollars.
