Windows 7 as “Linux killer� How times have changed!

D

Dark Star

ex-Mod
Microsoft makes for an unlikely David, and Linux an even unlikelier Goliath — but here we are. A few years ago, Linux was positioned as the “Windows killer.†Now, as Microsoft is ramping up its efforts in the netbook market, Windows 7 is being positioned as the Linux killer. Interesting that Microsoft is being cast as an underdog here, albeit one with about 70% of the netbook market.

This sounds to me like lowering expectations. Not that I’m knocking Linux on the netbook. Far from it — I’ve been a big believer in the concept since Asus released the Eee PC back in 2007. However, Microsoft still has many advantages in the netbook market — it’s just that its advantages are in its market share, marketing muscle, and strong position with OEMs, rather than technical.
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Source : Windows 7 as “Linux killer� How times have changed! | Community, Incorporated | ZDNet.com | Windows 7: The Linux killer
 
gotta spread reps :(

compare win7 with popular linux distros, they fit in a single 700mb CD vs. win7 on 3+ GB DVD not to mention the 700mb includes you default office/apps/tools which win7 lacks. linux and its apps install within 4GB of disk space and take less than 512mb RAM to boot.

even tho it looks like win7 still takes 15 GB or so on disk for a fresh install and nearly 1 GB RAM to boot to desktop, i gotta agree it is a threat to linux but only the desktop not for server side/enterprise/highperf applications but even that may change.

what linux needs is a polished UI with lots of bling to attract innocent bystanders :D and KDE4 is the best hope right now...
 
vishalrao said:
gotta spread reps :(

compare win7 with popular linux distros, they fit in a single 700mb CD vs. win7 on 3+ GB DVD not to mention the 700mb includes you default office/apps/tools which win7 lacks. linux and its apps install within 4GB of disk space and take less than 512mb RAM to boot.

even tho it looks like win7 still takes 15 GB or so on disk for a fresh install and nearly 1 GB RAM to boot to desktop, i gotta agree it is a threat to linux but only the desktop not for server side/enterprise/highperf applications but even that may change.

what linux needs is a polished UI with lots of bling to attract innocent bystanders :D and KDE4 is the best hope right now...
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Dont tell me havent heard of the smaller builds of win 7 that users have made for EEE netbooks etc?
Last i know, shripad was using one and was pretty happy..:eek:hyeah:
As for netbooks, yes linux has a large market here, but this wil be till the time netbooks are basic in hardware, were're already seeing ones with huge hdds, next wil be soem decent processors..and you'l have windows dominance again..:p
 
According to some news reports i read, Windows 7 is going to ship in one Netbook edition, which is one issue MS will have to address as it cannot let the netbook market go away to linux!

Things should get clearer in a few months.
 
@PM: actually no, can you link to some info? like how much RAM/disk these lite builds take? what features are dropped?
 
alsiladka said:
According to some news reports i read, Windows 7 is going to ship in one Netbook edition
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yes, i was watching that mark russinovich video about win7 and they are trying to be coy about "minwin" but if i heard it right they have already "refactored" the bits in win7 into minwin+additions... they've split things like kernel32.dll into 2 components, one inside minwin the other external one forwards some requests to the minwin layer... not to mention their embedded versions...

so i wouldnt be surprised if they come out with a lightweight build of win7 for netbooks soon...

see Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7 | Going Deep | Channel 9
 
Lightweight Windows 7 pre-Beta on Eee PC 1000H looks very promising - Engadget

Heres the torrent

Windows.7.Beta.Build.7000.LiTE (download torrent) - TPB

- It has a lower resource consumption than the full version, using just over 300Mb main memory when idle¹ - less than Windows XP SP3!

- This solution is ideal for installation on Netbooks, such as the EeePC or MSi Wind. Total install size is just under 5Gbs, making it much more feasible than Vista.

- The following has been deemed unnecessary and stripped out:

* Speech & Native Language Support.

* All additional languages.

* Inbox & Premium Inbox games.

* Windows Media Centre.

* Music & Video samples.

* Windows Search.

* Tablet PC features.
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theres a lot more to remove like unnecessary drivers and lots of other features..

This is just the build i found on a casual search, i bet there are more radically reduced version out there on eee forums..
 
Dark Star said:
^^Whatsoever it won't be as light as Linux..Consider Gos and Dreamlinux full blown XFCE and E17 :p
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:rofl:
Who cares abt light or heavy, all I care abt is fast and slow, if its snappy enough and all programs run well, then i dont care if it utilizes 100% of my ram too..
 
Dark Star said:
^^Whatsoever it won't be as light as Linux..Consider Gos and Dreamlinux full blown XFCE and E17 :p
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Why won't it be as light as linux? While comparing, i will compare with a descent and feature packed linux distro, and not a bare bones one. I have not used the distos you spoke of. I have only used OpenSuse and ubuntu. Both were as snappy as Vista was. And Windows 7 is much much snappier than Vista.
So for me, i would suggest my friends to use Windows 7 on their netbook if it does come out in a netbook edition or even if the normal editions work well on a netbook.
 
even tho it looks like win7 still takes 15 GB or so on disk for a fresh install and nearly 1 GB RAM to boot to desktop, i gotta agree it is a threat to linux but only the desktop not for server side/enterprise/highperf applications but even that may change
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Beg to differ. I just installed the public beta, and it takes up exactly 9gb of disk space, and just about 350mb of ram on startup. Opensuse 11.1 with KDE 4.1 took up about 330 mb in comparison. I hate to say this, but microsoft has done pretty good work on windows 7, and it "may" end up as a linux killer unless some distro radically changes, and makes Linux easier to use when compared to windows.
 
^^Whats the usage after installing all applications,, I hate to say but Windows doesn't comes with any utility s/w like Office Suite, Graphics Ed, and others..

Though 350 Mb is really good :)
 
you installed 32 bit? and how much physical RAM do you have? looks like win7 is "dynamic" in its RAM usage... according to your numbers, it is very impressive indeed.
 
Yup installed 32 bit. I have 2gb of ram and I agree that the actual ram usage will be a bit higher. But then its definitely better than vista. I'll try installing basic applications (antivirus and all) and get back with more accurate numbers.
 
Dark Star said:
I hate to say but Windows doesn't comes with any utility s/w like Office Suite, Graphics Ed, and others..

Though 350 Mb is really good :)
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We can still get all the OSS apps for Windows :eek:hyeah:.
So that shouldn't be an issue. :hap2:
 
If MS keeps it cheap wouldn't mind getting it.
Lets hope the "Linux Killer" doesn't have as many varieties as Vista and is cheaper that it was priced else I think that would be a major Win 7 killer. :no:
 
it’s just that its advantages are in its market share, marketing muscle, and strong position with OEMs
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Ahem, if that's still the case, well then...

I'd contend times have not changed much, if at all then :)

Why do we even care what the OS is, the hard part for me has always been finding an app that did the job.
 
Dark Star said:
^^Whats the usage after installing all applications,, I hate to say but Windows doesn't comes with any utility s/w like Office Suite, Graphics Ed, and others..

Though 350 Mb is really good :)
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All of them are available for windows arent they?:S

Just 10 min more of installation time else if you make an unattended install, even less..
 
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