LindowsOS Marches On

alphabet26 writes "I just received Lindow's 2001 Wrap-up e-mail, and it looks like they're still forging ahead regardless of the lawsuit Microsoft filed against them. In the update, CEO Michael Robertson included a letter in response addressed to Bill Gates, and also some screenshots of what the new LindowsOS will look like. He predicts the retail version will be available in the early months of 2002."

hypocrisy in action

[posmon]

and don't you just love the ms bashing comments in the email on the outlook screenshot. if you're going for the microsoft-without-the-schnide-competitive-streak schtick then you've lost it already.

hey

[Zephy]

can anyone say, KDE? Looks unfinished..

Linux+Wine=LindowsOS

[msolnik]

If anything all this is - is some very good Wine work. I very much doubt in the time LindowsOS has been in development they have been able to write a windows compatbiltiy layer or something like it. I would like the commend the Wine people out there they are doing a great job and should keep up the great work. But as for LindowsOS this looks like a ploy to try to get Linux Newbies to switch over because it has some fancy styling and Wine installed. IF they can prove by randomly installing any windows based software that there setup works then I might become a beleaver until then im sticking with my Debian.

Re:As so they should...

[halftrack]

Why do you think Microsoft is what it is? The facts are that they are admirably intelligent. They've got professional, intelligent lawyers who know when there is a chance of getting a lawsuit through. Lawsuits must also make some sense. Microsoft probably figured out that this was the most probable lawsuit. Lindows is probably - I'll say nothing for sure - not a financially strong company. And it being in the U.S. - the U.S. not being one of the cheapest countries to lose or even fight a lawsuit in - doesnt make it easier for Lindows.

(If they ever go bankrupt here's a hint: GPL-dump the code.)

Re:are you sure that's lindows?

[Ami Ganguli]

Indeed. Looks like KDE with a Windows theme. I'd forgotten how ugly Windows is.

The real test will be how well it runs those Windows apps. My cynical half says there's no way he got significantly better windows emulation than stock Wine or CodeWeavers, but part of me really hopes he's succeeded. We'll find out soon enough I suppose.

Re:As so they should...

[garoush]

If I haven't missed something, isn't the lawsuit about the use of the name "Lindows" but not the work?!!

Re:And the point would be...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm

If it took from the begining of DOS/Windows till NT/2K/XP to get fairly stable AND useable with thousands working on it, why not wait a while longer for Linux? I mean Linux has had good stability down for a long while. Discounting it's future completely is poor form indeed.

Right now I'd say Linux is approaching the equivalent 1996 level of Windows NT support/useability. It doesn't support everything but more and more stuff is coming out. The system requirements are going up. The desktop (KDE, Gnome ect.) is getting better. The bonus is that it's not a dead end product. Try getting your USB devices to work well on NT 4. Due to it's open nature Linux keeps moving forward and one can extend it. I'm not saying that its future is ensured or even easy to predict but that's where it seems to be heading on the desktop.

Choices are good. Opensource choices are good. Competition in this space is also good and helps drive inovation. Sure linux has few compelling apps (compared to Windows) now, but given enough time and a growing userbase, it has a better than average shot at improving that situation.

If apps make the platform as you seem to state, then maybe the next big push will be UI and Apps.

Re:are you sure that's lindows?

[xanadu-xtroot.com]

While I'm not going to say you're wrong, you need to take into account that there are M$ spoofing Icon Themes [kde-look.org] out there that even DO put the IE Icon [kde-look.org] on your desktop.

Missing last letters in IE on screenshots??

[dloolb]

Using this link [rogers.com] from a previous post I see something ODD on the IE screenshot. The 'Back' button is spelled "Bac" and 'Stop' is "Sto" all of the buttons are this way on the IE screenshot. Is this to keep copyright lawyers at bay, or is something else awry?

Image Mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

Image Mirror [linuxfreak.org]

Maybe lindows runs from windows itself

[HanzoSan]

it could be running from windows

Re:a still confused lawyer

[Anonymous Coward]

The coffee mug between the thighs reference is based on an actual case. A woman purchased hot coffee at a McDonalds drive through window and placed it between her thighs. She managed to drench herself and apparantly burn herself quite badly.
She sued and she either won or McDonalds settled. I am pretty sure the sum was in the millions. Since then, as I understand it, McDonalds has taken steps to make sure that its coffee is served at a temperature range that should be cool enough not to cause burns.
Obviously, since virtually everyone in the world makes coffee with water that has just boiled, there is a reasonable expectation that hot coffee will be served at a temperature hot enough to cause burns to a human being. Nonetheless, the courts found McDonalds in the wrong for serving the coffee that way.