Future Platform of Computing

[Razorfish]

Yea I know what you mean, I'm getting tired of Microsoft too. Its not that I don't like Microsoft but their desire to completely run the show isn't neccessaily a good thing. With their big push of Windows 2003 Server and the .NET architecture I'm always looking for alternatives. In Windows, how do you think outside the box when everything literally is a box.

Personally I think the open source community is getting ready to shine. Some of the developments and business strides coming out of Red Hat are looking good (hopefully this SCO thing blows over). Also, IBM seems to be dedicating a lot of resources towards open source. Even small stuff like the release of open web browsers such as Mozilla show us that Microsoft is leader in sales but not in innovation. I write this while using Mozilla Firebird (it kicks IEs ass).

But... 90% of everything is still tied into Windows and IE. For some real cool stuff to happen in the future I think this will have to slowly change. I'm going to say something thats only been said a thousand times: Computer manufacturers and consumers need to see that the alternatives to Windows are truly step above and that the conversion is easy. I find no difficulty with Mozilla or Linux but most consumers don't have or want a background in programming or general computer science.

In my limited experience (compared to other members of The Cellar) thats where I think things are going.