Some Thoughts

Today am to tackle some issues in the tech world that I may have ignored or was too busy to write about. So, let’s start.

Microsoft extending Windows XP’s retirement day

As most of you may know, Microsoft has announced a couple of months ago that XP will retire next year. This means that the Windows Version will not be supported by Microsoft. Hmm… so, why is Microsoft doing this? It’s because they wanted XP users to ‘upgrade’ to Windows Vista. Well, why is Microsoft extending the service of XP?

I can think of quite some reasons. Here are some of them.

• Microsoft actually realized that Vista      is so messed up and they would want to save their ass by keeping XP alive      while Bill’s gang tries making a better version of Vista or a completely      new OS. This means that Vista will eventually suffer the same fate as      Windows ME.
• There’s just too much demand for XP      that Microsoft would still like to capitalize in it, while Microsoft is      waiting for the next version of the Mac OS so that they can copy it.

Whatever the reason is, I’m pretty much sure that Microsoft will put all their efforts to improve Windows Vista. They also might release a new version of Windows and trash Vista all together. Because rumor has it that Microsoft is already baking up another operating system and this is the successor to Vista.

Now, many people are asking me whether or not I think Vista will eventually go mainstream like XP. I’d say it will, if only Microsoft will admit that they have messed up Vista and put all efforts in making it work like Windows 98SE. I’m not saying Windows 98SE is perfect, but, so far it is one of the more stable versions of Windows that I’ve seen, plus it’s not a resource hog like Vista.

I really wish that Microsoft would be able to produce an OS that will not require users to spend too much on upgrading their hardware just to be able to enjoy all the features of the latest version of Windows. I think this is one of the biggest problems of Vista; it is just too expensive for most PC users to upgrade to Vista. Another is its price, Vista is more expensive than XP.I have a Vista-ready laptop, but I’m still running XP on it. Mainly because my hardware can run XP faster and more reliably than Vista. And why would I run Vista on this laptop is I can run MAC OS in it? After all, I’m using my laptop more for multi-media content creation.

Another news that I would like to touch is the I-Phone issue where Apple is turning the Hacked versions of the I-Phones into I-bricks.

Well as I have written in my previous post here in my blog, the I-phone is sold ‘Locked’. Meaning, you can only use the I-phone if you agree to get a plan with whatever Apple–approved-telecommunications provider.

Now, this is kind of a turn-off for most users who wants to have the I-phone but does not want or need to change providers. So, some people in the net came up with an ‘I-phone Hack’. This is mainly a set of instructions that will unlock the I-phone.

This quickly became a hit. After a couple of hours or so, some I-phone owners have unlock their I-phones. Apple eventually discovered this and so they decided to do something about it. And so, when Apple released a patch for the I-phone, they included codes that will ‘brick’ the hacked I-phones or render them useless.

Lots of owners installed the said patch and in just a few seconds they now have an I-brick. Naturally, users were pissed about this and some of them are actually planning or already suing Apple regarding the patch.

My take on this? Well, I strongly think that Apple will earn more if they ‘opened’ the I-Phone. I’m sure, the very moment that Steve Jobs opens the I-Phone, it will sell more. Who wants to be stuck on a telecommunications provider just to enjoy a phone?

Update:

I-Phone goes to China and Chinese I-Pods

Wow! This is news, Apple is finally releasing their I-Phone in China. This is great, I guess. I agree with what John Dvorak said about this, expect I-phone clones from China. I predict that the clones of the I-phone will be like the Chinese versions of the I-pod. The Chinese I-pods basically look like I-pods only, they do not have hard drives like the real ones and they use Flash Cards. Craftsmanship is crappy and the casing feels cheap. Sound quality is also very poor. Man! If you like the I-Pod buy a real one. If you only want an MP3 player, buy a phone that has MP3 playback capabilities.

Microsoft, Advertising Company

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Balmer, an executive from Microsoft said that Microsoft will be venturing into the advertising industry. I was just thinking, will Microsoft ever be able to stick to one thing for very long? I mean, Microsoft has been venturing into the gaming business with the Xbox, the