Comments on: Stepping out of my comfort zone http://blog.naget.com/2009/03/stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone/ The chronicles of naget BDFLs and friends Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:58:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Sam http://blog.naget.com/2009/03/stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Sam Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:47:33 +0000 http://naget.com/blog/?p=53#comment-34 Yeah, I *really* would have liked to see some support for Ogg/Vorbis/Theora/Flac/whatever. Somewhat related: As of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2, they offer OpenDocument Format support (the format that OpenOffice uses) with the option of making it the default type to use. I know that Windows will probably never follow the package management scheme, but I think one area of interest could be a public API for hooking your application up to Windows Update. That could alleviate a lot of projects having to implement automatic update features themselves. Another addition could be integrating Add/Remove Programs with the Microsoft website---they could host (or point to) software on the server, list it in Add/Remove Programs, and allow you to select and install whatever looks interesting. It doesn't require them to adopt a new model for the management aspect, just some patches to existing software and a place to host stuff. I think they're interesting ideas. :) Yeah, I *really* would have liked to see some support for Ogg/Vorbis/Theora/Flac/whatever. Somewhat related: As of Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2, they offer OpenDocument Format support (the format that OpenOffice uses) with the option of making it the default type to use.

I know that Windows will probably never follow the package management scheme, but I think one area of interest could be a public API for hooking your application up to Windows Update. That could alleviate a lot of projects having to implement automatic update features themselves.

Another addition could be integrating Add/Remove Programs with the Microsoft website—they could host (or point to) software on the server, list it in Add/Remove Programs, and allow you to select and install whatever looks interesting. It doesn’t require them to adopt a new model for the management aspect, just some patches to existing software and a place to host stuff.

I think they’re interesting ideas. :)

]]> By: Dane http://blog.naget.com/2009/03/stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Dane Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:50:34 +0000 http://naget.com/blog/?p=53#comment-33 You pointed out a fairly big issue I have with Vista (or Windows in general). The fact that it lacks pre-installed software to handle a lot of known file formats. Codecs are also a gripe, and I expect all possible media formats to be handled by Vista automatically and Windows Update - alas, this is not the case. You know, I never actually had these niggles until I used Ubuntu for a few months. I guess, as Windows was all we knew... we took all this crap as our due. :P When Vista does work, it works very nicely. But it needs a bit - and sometimes a lot - of work to... work. :P You pointed out a fairly big issue I have with Vista (or Windows in general). The fact that it lacks pre-installed software to handle a lot of known file formats.

Codecs are also a gripe, and I expect all possible media formats to be handled by Vista automatically and Windows Update – alas, this is not the case.

You know, I never actually had these niggles until I used Ubuntu for a few months. I guess, as Windows was all we knew… we took all this crap as our due. :P

When Vista does work, it works very nicely. But it needs a bit – and sometimes a lot – of work to… work. :P

]]> By: Sam http://blog.naget.com/2009/03/stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Sam Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:02:06 +0000 http://naget.com/blog/?p=53#comment-31 I don't know if this post is a review of Windows Vista or a commentary on historical approaches to design. It started out as a review, and I really didn't mean to lose focus of that... but that's just the way things are! I guess if you want to make any conclusion from this, it's "more of the same + improvements." :p I don’t know if this post is a review of Windows Vista or a commentary on historical approaches to design. It started out as a review, and I really didn’t mean to lose focus of that… but that’s just the way things are! I guess if you want to make any conclusion from this, it’s “more of the same + improvements.”

:p

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