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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Alternative Operating Systems > Microsoft Becomes Exciting for the First Time in Years

Microsoft Becomes Exciting for the First Time in Years
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bmankoff
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May 31, 2007, 09:41 AM
 
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm scared about something. Suddenly, in the past few months, I've gotten excited about some Microsoft products, particularly Silverlight, Photosynth and the newly introduced Surface. They seems to all be extremely elegant and mac-like. I don't know if I'm just coming unbound from my mac bias, or if there is really something going on inside Microsoft that is changing things around. Anyway, if you haven't seen these, check them out:

Silverlight: Silverlight
Photosynth: Microsoft Live Labs: Photosynth
Surface: Microsoft Surface
another (better) video about Surface: YouTube - Microsoft Surface: Business 2.0 Demo
     
ghporter
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May 31, 2007, 11:04 AM
 
My first thought about this post is that it's spam. But I don't (yet) really think that's the case. Opinions?

And pray, what does this have to do with Alternative OSs on a Mac?

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Wiskedjak
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May 31, 2007, 11:20 AM
 
Well, the forum title is "Alternative Operating Systems", not "Alternative Operating Systems on a Mac". Splitting hairs, I know.

Are you thinking this may be Microsoft spam?

In any case, I agree with the OP. Microsoft is putting out some nice stuff. Photosynth and Surface clearly show that they are capable of the innovation many here quickly accuse them of not having.
     
mac128k-1984
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May 31, 2007, 11:52 AM
 
Cancel or Allow

I don't think anything out of Redmond could qualify as being exciting. The only thing they're good at is ripping off ideas.
Michael
     
bmankoff  (op)
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May 31, 2007, 04:07 PM
 
sorry, in rereading my post, it does look like microsoft spam. definitely not the case. i'm typing this reply on my macbook while trying to convince my mother to ditch her dell for an imac once the new ones are out.

and as for not being about alternative OSes, sorry. i didn't realize it was about other OSes working on a mac. i really just wanted to get some responses about this topic on SOME forum and decided to try here first.
     
peeb
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May 31, 2007, 04:46 PM
 
It would be no bad thing to see MS do something cool. No harm in having some competition - keeps everyone on their toes.
     
ghporter
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May 31, 2007, 06:07 PM
 
"Old Beige" needs something cool. Vista is pretty, but it's way too hardware hungry at the same time. It is "new" but only in the same way a Bill Blass suit you buy today is "new" compared to the one you've had for ten years... It works, it looks good, but...eh.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
inkhead
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Jun 1, 2007, 10:33 PM
 
Microsoft surface = rehash of technology that has been shown at conferences like TED for the past 10 years. Just like MS showed it, no apps, no available to buy, no real use.

Oh wait, Apple is shipping the technology in their iPhone next month! And gasp! Holds the patents on everything shown in the MS surface demo!

silverlight = maybe, but adobe has flex and other stuff now, nobody is gonna make the switch, with Flash it's already standard, MS will have a hard time getting silverlight on mac.
     
inkhead
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Jun 1, 2007, 10:39 PM
 
I can't wait until they put a "MS Surface" inside a restaurant. Just imagine you set down your phone on the table and out spill all those naked pictures you took of your girlfriend last week.
     
besson3c
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Jun 1, 2007, 11:57 PM
 
I remember seeing a tech demo from a non-Microsoft guy demoing something that seemed exactly like what Surface is now.

I bet this is yet another technology MS just bought out and is selling under their own name.
     
chabig
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Jun 2, 2007, 12:01 AM
 
What a generic-sounding name, "Surface." I'm sure MS thinks its cute, though.
     
bmankoff  (op)
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Jun 2, 2007, 02:23 AM
 
i'm well aware that multi-touch isn't new, and in fact i'm constantly hoping for a new jeff han video or some actual content on the perceptive pixel site, but the fact of the matter is that we're not seeing that technology every day and that is something that microsoft could do. i'm excited about the possibilities for implementation that microsoft envisions and about the fact that they are a company with the means to do it, not just the technology itself.
     
besson3c
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Jun 2, 2007, 12:35 PM
 
How many other Microsoft products were basically just stuff they bought and repackaged under their own name?

I know that Exchange is one... any others?
     
Chuckit
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Jun 2, 2007, 01:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
How many other Microsoft products were basically just stuff they bought and repackaged under their own name?

I know that Exchange is one... any others?
DOS?
Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
SkaGoat
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Jun 2, 2007, 03:48 PM
 
How many Apple products are one that Apple just bought and repacked??

Final Cut Pro
iTunes
Color

Are just a few. There's nothing wrong with that.

MS has been showing stuff like the MS Surface for years, go back and look at last years CES Keynote. It's not hard to believe that MS developed it, they have alot of very smart people working there.

This is the first time it's actually a working production, not just a concept, but actual working hardware.
     
   
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