Could Microsoft Release a Desktop Linux?

Megalith

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“MS-Linux? Lindows? Could Microsoft release a desktop Linux?” ZDNet’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols doesn’t believe the idea is that far-fetched, as Redmond has recently embraced the open-source software by letting Linux companies use its patents for free, releasing its own distro, and relying on the OS to power its cloud-computing service Azure. The editor believes that Windows 10 is so buggy and costly that Microsoft “making the Linux kernel the heart of its desktop operating system” would make a lot of sense.

Why do this? Because Microsoft still invests billions in developing Windows, while it brings less and less revenue to company. Remember when Microsoft claimed Windows 10 would have a billion users in a few years? Not happening. Microsoft could save some serious coin by making the Linux kernel the heart of its desktop operating system. What about all those Windows programs? Sure, if everyone had to port their applications to Linux that would stop most ISVs in their tracks. But who says they need to port them?
 
I've been speculating that a desktop 'Azure OS' has been coming for a while now. Windows 8 and 10 have been a disaster and the recent update issues indicate that the Windows team is having serious difficulties just maintaining the product.

Windows isn't their profit center any more. The money and talent is on the Azure side of the company, and they're Linux-oriented.
 
Penguin ANGRY!
tenor.gif
 
Heh, would definitely be the year of the Linux Desktop! It could be feasible. Have a hand holding version for the general user. If they go that route, they should make a Linux Subsystem for Windows that could be installed on a standard Linux system. That would make the techies like me happy. I do most of my general computing/programming on Linux and just use Windows for games and the occasional Photoshop session.
 
That would be such a massive slap to the face of a lot of people.
I have never been brave enough to try linux, though i am not really that happy with Microsoft - android and what ever other OS platforms.
 
If they can find a way to get windows games and applications working with Linux. ....then it might have a chance.

And by working I mean without compatibility bugs and without any performance loss that is of any consequence.
That part would be relatively trivial. Wine has been reverse engineered for the most part so imagine what would happen if MS just redirected their windows10 team to work on WINE? look at dxvk, funded by valve and bam, the most recent beta is great


I have been saying for some time, MS should just drop windows and provide a DM that is windows-like. It's not outside of the realms of impossibility as they have already given up on windows
 
That part would be relatively trivial. Wine has been reverse engineered for the most part so imagine what would happen if MS just redirected their windows10 team to work on WINE? look at dxvk, funded by valve and bam, the most recent beta is great


I have been saying for some time, MS should just drop windows and provide a DM that is windows-like. It's not outside of the realms of impossibility as they have already given up on windows

Its a good idea, I've thought of that too. I think the only problem will be getting a high level of compatibility.

Honestly, I'd love it. I skipped win8. I only installed 10 because I thought DX12 would be a necessity by now. I am still missing 7 and its 2 years later.
 
That would be such a massive slap to the face of a lot of people.
I have never been brave enough to try linux, though i am not really that happy with Microsoft - android and what ever other OS platforms.

It's not particularly hard, if you've been using the appropriate applications. Before Windows 8 came out I was using Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre Office, Octave, g++, jEdit, Eclipse (TI's version -> Code Composer Studio), etc. All these applications also run natively under Linux so the change for me was really very easy. I set my system up to dual boot with Devuan Linux (with the Mate desktop). The only things that keep me using the Windows partition is games and Photoshop.
 
If MS did this it would be best if they took their AzureVM and ran Linux over top of that. Have their Linux OS as the primary then Win10 running on the side in a Citrix like config. It would chew a bit more ram and maybe a few CPU cycles. But let’s face it at this point most of our ram sits idle and so do the CPU cores the performance drop would be minimal at worst.
 
So.... how effective will their "embrace, extend, extinguish" mantra work with Linux?

Sounds like quite the task.
 
If they can find a way to get windows games and applications working with Linux. ....then it might have a chance.

And by working I mean without compatibility bugs and without any performance loss that is of any consequence.
With a VM and GPU passthrough they would be really close with minimal performance hit. That doesn't account for the security gained by sandboxing the game or app either. A Linux core with Windows/MacOS/Android VM for whatever app is running should remove lots of comparability issues.
 
If they drop support for old win32 systems, maybe, truth to be told, one of the biggest why there are a lot of issues with the Windows kernel now is the achingly painful way to have it backwards compatible with old programs.
 
LOL.
Try making an OS people want to buy, not this crapshot Windows 10 with a perpetually evolving version that uses us for beta testers with updates nobody wants.
They know how to nail it, they already pulled it off then chose to produce crap despite everyone telling them they dont want it
Now they wonder why the shit hit the fan?
Fuck me.

Give us a gaming OS with a shelf life like before, then we can look forward to the next great OS in 6 years or so.
Remove the spying, make it look nice and allow us to configure it!
Thanks.
 
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That part would be relatively trivial. Wine has been reverse engineered for the most part so imagine what would happen if MS just redirected their windows10 team to work on WINE? look at dxvk, funded by valve and bam, the most recent beta is great


I have been saying for some time, MS should just drop windows and provide a DM that is windows-like. It's not outside of the realms of impossibility as they have already given up on windows
And they'll f*ck up their Linux or DM with every update
 
Could Microsoft do it? Probably. Would I use it? Hell no.

Why not?

If it replaced the NT kernel OS they're currently running you may not have a choice. Their updating process would have to be a magnitude better as a result of switching to the Linux kernel and a better file system. NT can't last forever, such a scenario just isn't realistic. It's already well past it's use by date.

Microsoft is already one of the biggest contributors to GitHub, I personally see this as a natural progression. Really no different to Apple switching to the Intel platform.
 
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How well does the Linux kernel handle bloat and spyware?

A shit ton better than Windows. Just look at MacOS, you can remove malware literally in 5 mins flat with one package and no damage to system files malware should never have access to.
 
Embrace, Extend....uh... Exfoliate. Windux gives you smoother, younger looking skins!
 
Embrace, Extend....uh... Exfoliate. Windux gives you smoother, younger looking skins!

EEE doesn't work with open source. You can't outspend or buy out a platform that isn't solely dependent on profit and shareholders to survive.
 
Why not?

If it replaced the NT kernel OS they're currently running you may not have a choice. Their updating process would have to be a magnitude better as a result of switching to the Linux kernel and a better file system. NT can't last forever, such a scenario just isn't realistic. It's already well past it's use by date.

Microsoft is already one of the biggest contributors to GitHub, I personally see this as a natural progression. Really no different to Apple switching to the Intel platform.
Microsoft is welcome to try but the whole point to use Linux for me is to avoid Microsoft and to take away their monopoly. I also have no problem with the way Linux works right now but I certainly have a laundry list of problems I have with Windows 10, and none of those problems are going to be solved with a Microsoft Linux. Android uses the Linux kernel and their updating process doesn't even exist. There's seriously no way to update your Android OS without hacking it or praying for the manufacturer to release an update. I want all forms of corporate greed away from my Linux OS.
 
I want all forms of corporate greed away from my Linux OS.
Unfortunately corporations are part of this Capitalist economy that we have in the Western world. There's really no escaping it. Besides, most of the biggest contributors to Linux are big companies that include Intel, Red Hat, IBM, Samsung, Google, and AMD.
 
Where's the haters at now?

If you want to know how to game on Linux, get started with other Linux stuff or whatever. Just ask me your question and I'll help you out ;)

Btw, Windows replacing their micro kernel with a monolithic Linux kernel has very big technical hurdles. There's far better ways to do it. But the writing's on the wall. Windows has a limited lifespan. People are fed up with this shit like build 1809.
 
Microsoft is welcome to try but the whole point to use Linux for me is to avoid Microsoft and to take away their monopoly. I also have no problem with the way Linux works right now but I certainly have a laundry list of problems I have with Windows 10, and none of those problems are going to be solved with a Microsoft Linux. Android uses the Linux kernel and their updating process doesn't even exist. There's seriously no way to update your Android OS without hacking it or praying for the manufacturer to release an update. I want all forms of corporate greed away from my Linux OS.

Android's updating process can in no way be compared to the updating process under desktop Linux. The updating process under desktop Linux is as close to perfect as you'll get and Microsoft creating a Linux distro doesn't make open source any less open source. If you want to avoid a monopoly, you're not going to avoid it by sticking with the NT kernel and all the issues that come with it.
 
LOL.
Try making an OS people want to buy, not this crapshot Windows 10 with a perpetually evolving version that uses us for beta testers with updates nobody wants.
They know how to nail it, they already pulled it off then chose to produce crap despite everyone telling them they dont want it
Now they wonder why the shit hit the fan?
Fuck me.

Give us a gaming OS with a shelf life like before, then we can look forward to the next great OS in 6 years or so.
Remove the spying, make it look nice and allow us to configure it!
Thanks.


while i understand most gamers use windows, please do not call it a 'gaming os'

back when i was starting out, i took for granted the organisational superiority of the 95 GUI in comparison to its predecessor (3.1), which was similar to its contemporaries (file menu bar, at least, for both 3.1 and mac OS classic).

humanity has yet to appreciate just how much this UI gave us the ability to evolve, or even devolve.
 
They somewhat have that. You can install Linux BASH and use a lot of the Linux tools. It's in the Windows Features checkbox area.

I switched to that on all of my systems.

I've used it and personally I find it pretty crappy. In comparison to a proper Linux distro, WSL is still fairly limited. The IO performance is downright hopeless and I don't really find anything requiring a GUI terribly reliable.
 
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