Linux is already viable. Just get beyond the learning curve and you’ll be fine.

“Please stop this crap about how immorale MS is and how they shouldn’t be allowed to make money etc.”

Yes, it’s perfectly moral to sell the buggy P.O.S. know as Vista and then fix it, but you must pay the price for that. That’s moral? M$ has made more than enough money that they could easily afford to give Windows 7 away. They actually LOST money in a quarter for the first time in 23 years. Don’t tell me they can’t afford it.

“Linux is free and is therefore great. (until it crashes that is)”

If and when it does crash, you simply pull out the DVD you made of your system and restore everything back the way it was. Takes about 25 minutes. If the PC itself tanked, just restore to a different PC. Try that with Windows. I never said Linux didn’t crash or is perfect, but it certainly gives the user far more control of their PC than Windows ever has, does, or most likely ever will.

“My best idea for Windows 7 – make the 64bit version fully 32bit app compatible.”

Windows 7 is the last version of Windows that will be available in both a 32 and a 64 bit version. Everything after that is going to be 64 bit only. I’m not certain if there will be a 32 bit version of Server 2008 or not.

“Even if you need to use a virtual box. Because of lazy programmers, most people would see benefits with several GB of ram. the 32bit = 4GB limit is actually a limit these days.”

If you do use a VM it takes twice the amount of RAM to run the OS as a VM. Also, running it as a VM does not allow it to directly interface with the hardware in the same way it would if it was installed on the real machine itself rather than as a VM.

I’ll wait and see what happens. I still run XP as do most of my clients and I don’t see that changing until the new OS develops a track record. Many of my clients are limited in terms of new OS adoption by third party software that simply won’t run on Vista or Windows 7. The vendors/developers of these products are not even trying to port them for Vista at this time and I doubt they will for 7 until it is proven stable and functional.

My issue with this website is that in my opinion it’s a bit of a front. In order to make up the millions of DVDs for Win7 and get it out there by October 09 they really have to finalise the code any day soon.

So even if you were to give them a great idea, would they even have the time to get it in there?

My best idea for Windows 7 – make the 64bit version fully 32bit app compatible. Even if you need to use a virtual box. Because of lazy programmers, most people would see benefits with several GB of ram. the 32bit = 4GB limit is actually a limit these days.

I’m sure just like Vista Starter or Home Basic, the lowest-end version of Windows 7 will cost like $100+. I didn’t mind XP Home or XP Pro, 2 editions is fine, but Vista’s 6 is asinine. Let’s home Windows 7 doesn’t follow the same pattern. I think people (end users and IT people alike) are getting REALLY sick of M$’s B.S.

Personally, I run Linux. It’s free, as is the software, and I get the full version of it. I encourage everyone to switch as there is nothing that you *NEED* Windows for that can’t be done faster, cheaper and better in Linux.

If Windows 7 costs more than $80, it may be a tough sell outside of OEM’s.