On Wed, 26 Oct 2011, Jason Hsu wrote: > That seems to be the trend. The new Ubuntu with Unity is designed to > work on desktop computers AND mobile devices. Windows 8 is supposed to > offer the same capability. > > But why is it necessary for an OS to work on both desktop computers AND > mobile devices? What's wrong with having one OS for the desktop and a > different OS for a mobile device? I think we want the same core OS but with different GUI. The laptop typicall has less memory, less HDD and smaller screen than the desktop, but we want compatibility and similarity -- we don't want to have to relearn everything learned on one machine when we use the other. If the laptop version of the OS works better within the limitations of laptop hardware, and it sets up all of the laptop features properly (power management and WiFi, especially), then that's great. It's about getting the configuration right and dealing with restricted resources -- not a different OS, just a different version, possibly a different installation CD and different installation process. > I haven't heard anyone complain about the new Unity-based Ubuntu on > mobile devices, but many have complained about how it works on the > desktop. Allow me to be the first. I have it only on a Netbook and I hate it. > For all the talk about the desktop going away, I can't see that > happening. How can you do serious work on a mobile device? I see > mobile devices as something you use to quickly look something up or send > a quick message. Mobile devices just don't have the basic ergonomics to > support serious work, like working on your tax return or writing a major > report. The way I like to do things is with a cental desktop machine that can be accessed from a lot of other machines (desktop, laptop, handheld) and that can also access other machines (cluster, supercomputers). It's like having my own cloud. I use ssh and VNC to access that machine. Mike