Re: "stable" platforms

>

Chris,

I'd like to start by stating that you do provide very lucid explanations.  I'm
going to have to be more careful with my wording as to more accurately convey my
thoughts and try not to be like the perpetrator in the movie "Seven" just 
pouring
my thoughts out in no discernible order. ;-)


>
>
> IBM won't be making a play for the consumer market. There's no money in it
> unless they get into consumer software and IBM isn't likely to do that.

I don't think that IBM is that adverse to the consumer market.  With stated 
plans
to derive an ever increasing portion of revenue from software, an opportunity to
engage in an OS war may prove very lucrative.  Even with the hardware at a penny
profit.  Look what it did for a company that wasn't even in the hardware 
business
<g>.

> I am not exactly sure what picture you are painting. Java allows
> applications to be written independant of what platform they are running
> on. The Java workstation would have some very simple built in
> configuration to handle the display and keyboard. PCs running various OSs
> would use the same configurations they use now, but one of the
> applications they are running would be a Java Virtual Machine that would
> interpret the application shipped to it from the network and make requests
> of the local OS. Nothing new here.

The point I was trying to make is that certain utility functions now 
incorporated
into an OS could be replaced by a utility purchased on the open market.  In my
example, the "Device Manager" then could behave/look/feel totally different from
one shop to the next.

The same Pandora's box that would allow the application market an even playing
field would also be open to system level utilities.  My question is how do we
deal with as many device manager et. al. applications should they proliferate
like word processors?

The commercial market is a lot of boxes.  Currently the same ones being sold on
the consumer market. Just by looking around my client sites and seeing who
actually "needs" a PC, I would venture that 1/2 could be NC's, maybe more.  And
if a browser IS your desktop, that's a big hit to Microsoft.  Unless it's their
browser.

Maybe our difference in view could be that I envision a JVM as more than just a
browser with the ability to serve up applications.  JAVA applications IMO could
grow to the point that, like drivers provided by the component manufacturer, 
your
CPU/MB provider could be the issuer of a kernel and at this point the questions
would be "Who's Microsoft?"  I feel that this is the scenario that has Microsoft
doing what they can to win the browser/JAVA war.

> Now, let's suppose Microsoft controls the display. What OS will the
> display require? Since MS has done such things before, isn't it likely to
> assume that they will implement controls which give NT servers an
> advantage over the AS/400?

This question also reinforces my view that the desktop war was not "over" in
1996.  If the browser is the desktop, the battle is still raging.

Imagine if you will that one could purchase a PC and along with the choice of
video cards, drive capacity, etc. you also had a check list of files systems
(FAT, NTFS, HPFS) which are JAVA based and independent of OS.  You don't need an
OS to deliver video, the JVM would handle the driver.  The browser (anyone's
browser) would be your desktop. A JAVA based keyboard handler? Sure why not.  
All
these would erode the OS.  Server side, without the Microsoft logo in someone's
face all day long at the desktop, Microsoft might actually have to compete on
merit.

And yes, if Microsoft has the OS, you can bet they'll try to make you have all
the other services, including the browser, with their logo.
 P.S. In your case I'll cut back on the cheeky comments. Or use more emoticons.
I was just kidding out porting OS/400 to the desktop.  It does fine right where
it's at.  Except for when my PC locks up and I'm giving it the three finger
salute, I can't help but wish a little...


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