Windows 8: VDI offering?
I was throwing this out there in another group I subscribe to. I can't see the desktop being relevant in two years; the cloud, while it is still in its early adoption phase will lead to talk about why there would be a need to install an OS locally. VDI can be implemented in a private cloud architecture and Windows 8 could be optimized for that platform. HAL 9000 is correct in stating there isn't a real need for another OS in two years. Windows 7 is working fine and there are a lot of XP computers still in use - I know of one solution provider that has a client with XP based systems.
Where is Windows 8 going to fit in IT? Mobility and VDI are the current platforms that are gaining acceptance. Tablet PC's are maturing, and the GDI companies such as Nvidia are making sure they are involved (cf. Toshiba's dual GPU system).
"Slowly developing and improving an OS is what M$ should have done from the beginning of merging the Business and Domestic Platforms together and re-badging the OS instead of leaving it with the same name and just different Service Pack Levels." - Hal 9000
Trying to understand Microsoft in the context of business is aking to understanding the current tax law. I take Hal's statement and add this: when Windows 3.11 for Workgroups was released, it had a "best of both worlds" for the IT community. Whatever your opinion was, I felt it worked fine. Everyone loved the Card File program among other utilities. PC Magazine always had some new utility to make life easier or help with technical support. It was a great tandem. I would have liked to see that port over to a linux kernel and then have MS work on the NT platform for business. Whether that would have led to something or not we will never know. Windows 95 and 98 were less than stellar, but it bridge the way to XP which was a decent OS - hacked like crazy, but it had everything a person needed to do the job. Hal is right; they needed to slowly develop and improve an OS without complicating the issue.
If I download a linux distro from Ubuntu, both the desktop and the server are the same distro; they just install differently. Why should it be any different with a Windows OS?
Also, the distros do update their software (Ubuntu is at version 10 and the older versions are still available and used) so its always available for testing before it goes to production. You can do something similar with Windows update, but it seems to be clunky unless you deploy a WSUS server or use a Windows Intune subscription.
Windows 8 better be something other than another desktop. The era of the Midnight Madness is over.
