Paul Overby wrote: > But the future of home desktop computing belongs to the game cubes, > playstations and Xboxs of the world. With a few handhelds thrown in there > some place. I disagree. Console gaming just isn't set up to take over the other functions of a computer. Here's my reasoning: the personal computer has been so wildly successful up until this point because of its versatility. Common tasks for all manner of users include: - E-mail sending and receiving - Web browsing and publishing - Word processing (writing letters and simple documents) - Desktop publishing (anything from long technical books [LaTeX] to greeting cards [PageMaker]) - Playing and authoring music - Playing and creating digital video - Graphic design (from Grandma to TaylorCorp's best designers) And on, and on, and on. The system that really comes out on top, assuming something is done with Microsoft to return fairness to the marketplace, will be the one that integrates all of these tasks in some consistent fashion that allows for new tasks to be integrated at any time. We need a system that is easy for end users to use, easy for hobbyists to hack on, and easy for developers to extend. Let's take that from last to first: - Developers create the new 'killer apps' that start out in the professional sphere and move into the home later. Consider CD authoring, graphic design applications, e-mail, etc. - Hobbyists take the apps apart, poke at them, try to break them, put them back together, and report their findings. In an ideal world, the developers listen intently. Then the hobbyists figure out other ways of doing things. - End users hear about the cool new things you can do with this beige box (or titanium slab) and they want to try it. Eventually it becomes part of their life, if the tools are good enough and easy enough to figure out. Linux certainly fits for the developers and hobbyists. End user stuff is... getting there. But it certainly isn't there yet, and it never will be if the projects keep following Microsoft for user interface suggestions. The GUI can't be just something tacked onto a CLI if it's going to do its job. Integrated with a CLI, of course, is a different matter. And here's why the GUI/CLI debate will always rage between hobbyists and end users: GUIs show you what you can do, but they can't show you what hasn't already been thought of. CLIs allow you to give the computer explicit instructions. GUIs ask: "Can I get you something to drink?" CLIs let you say: "Go get me a beer." :) That should be enough for y'all to chew on for today :) -- Pacem in terris / Mir / Shanti / Salaam / Heiwa Kevin R. Bullock