Ok so if you guys have been following my blogging you will realize that I am a big fan of Linux, and if Linux could play the latest pc games with ease I would get rid of my Windows Xp altogether. I just have a question is Windows nearing the ends of its life span?

Personally I would think that it will still be around for awhile, but it could see it changing into a more Unix type system. The reason I would ask this question is because now is a time when anyone with a keyboard, a webcam, or a mic could have a fan base of thousands (or millions if you are as business smart as say Kevin Rose or Leo Laporte), and to gain this e-lebrity status would cost you virtually nothing. To have a listener/reader group of 100's would only take you around $20 at most and a little promoting. Also in this day and age we see more and more alternatives to running windows directly like Bootcamp, Ubuntu's Dapper, RealVNC, Parallels, etc...Linux is moving closer to being the new U.S standard. Redhat and other Linux companies like Novell are reporting good quarterly earnings. And finally Vista is looking to be a disaster.

First off I would like to start off talking about windows alternative software. Recently the Ubuntu Dapper software with Xen 3.0 which is used to run different Linux desktop enviroments (i.e: KDE, Gnome, Xfce) can now run Windows Xp (Article Here). What does this mean? Basically it is just one step closer to people moving towards free alternatives to Windows because now a new Linux user can run Windows at the same time (and unlike windows virtual machines, not be so resource intensive). This gives Linux users time to get more familiar with the OS before completley cutting the cord. Also Windows can be run on Apple computers through either Boot Camp (which requires rebooting, OH NO!) and Parallels(which is supported by Apple in their new Ad campaign, and is a virtual machine software). This draws away from revenue Microsoft would be making off partnerships with pc manufacturers because more people will buy Mac's(although I dont recommend that, custom made PC's are the way to go).

Now onto how freeware and opensource solutions are becoming more and more popular. People are now realizing that you can get most software for free through opensource projects and most times it will be better than the coporate software. This I attribute to the bloggersphere/vloggersphere/podcast revolution. Right now anyone can have a voice on the web via a blog, videoblog, podcast (video or audio) and it is basically freemedia and more and more people are doing it and discovering that it can reep great rewards not so much in terms of money but as a use of personal promotion. For example lets say you have a $25 headset and an open source audio recorder and mixer (Audacity) and you own a new hardware review site or any sortof site. Now you can get instant traffic by making a podcast of the latest features on your site or the latest information in your specific field. Just look at Kevin Rose and Diggnation it is free advertising for his company Digg.com (KRose=The man BTW). So we see a departure from corporate software and a look towards opensource solutions. And what is an opensource solution that comes prepackaged with almost every app a basic pc user will need and then some?....Linux. So now people are basically just saying hey this is available for free why do we need to pay this company for it and it is gonna hurt major software corporations.

Now on to what is turning out to be a Vista tragedy. Microsoft's announced object oriented file system WinFS which would replace the current NTFS file system will not launch with Vista. Another big thing for Vista was supposed to be the widget like "Gadgets" which you can currently are available in some forms for windows xp, and basically serve no purpose. Do I really need an analog clock?Nope. Do I need to view a cute little slideshow?I dont think so. Also the new styles you can get for Vista are pretty much already available for Windows XP in the form of themes and what not. They are also heavily resource intensive whereas OpenSUSe a linux distro owned by Novell has better looking effects and options through its XGL and it is not as resource intensive(if you dont know what that means, it means its fast). Oh and Windows Xp SP3 will ship after Vista's release so who is really gonna buy a new OS when they can wait for updates on their current one.

So is the end of Windows as some people have been saying? From my perspective no, but it is a sign that Microsoft should most likely be thinking about changing their company's direction and maybe retooling how their operating system works and how it is distributed.

P.S It was reported on Digg that Microsoft Office Live is running on an Apache/Linux server.