Putting And End To Platform Lock-In

One thing I will never miss from my days in the PC repair business was having to explain to a client that their PC was no longer. The matter goes from bad to worse when there are concerns regarding the expense for people on a fixed income. It can be heart breaking when these individuals use their machines for such things as keeping in touch with family and no longer have that ability. I have donated my own time here as there comes a point where you refuse to leave a person in that position hanging - anything less than providing a solution, even at your cost, is the only moral choice in my opinion.

But sometimes it becomes clear that a platform switch is indeed, in order. Yet trying to get people to switch to a platform that would have prevented the issue in the first place remains extremely challenging at best. Today, I found myself recommending a new Vista box due to specific software needs that would not have been addressed with OS X or Linux. And to be totally honest, while VMWare is helpful for a geek, it tends to lose most people rather quickly as it not a true native running solution. To most people, an application is an application. Trying to set them up with virtualization on the home front is still a ways off.

How I yearn for the day we can get to software being about the user and not the platform. Web based, closed/open source, whatever - let's make it about the end user and less about which stupid platform we are being herded into for once. For the first time in a very long time, I am becoming disgusted with installed, localized applications and find myself hoping Web based apps can pickup where traditional software vendors have failed miserably. But alas, it is not as simple as providing packages for all three popular platforms. Often times providing options for Linux and Mac do not make the same economic sense as it does to provide software Windows. I get this, I genuinely do. And knowing this, beginning today, I am going to be putting extra emphasis on Web apps and will be working to ensure that cross platform solutions gain the recognition that they deserve. It may not be the ultimate solution, but in all honesty, it is proving to be our best hope as security issues and viability challenges continue to be ironed out.

Tags: legacy, linux, os, software, vmware, windows, x

Next Post >

Comment

You need to be a member of Reviews, News, and How To Geeks to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

Comment by bluefish on September 10, 2008 at 7:20pm: Was'nt Microsoft working on a project called farsight to connect all systems ,software and drivers available to all? But still it's Microsoft, on the
other hand Google is working towards web apps and has gos testing (tried it myself) , i think the future is with google and web systems intergration for all
computing using distributed systems suppling each other and correcting problems instantly, developers can merge apps easily into fold , users can load up instantly.
Online gaming is way up, social networking, we all want to connect with each other and run the all the apps , we need crossplatform or an os thats capable of feeding us everything(i'm playing linux w/wine on another box).

Comment by Scott Maentz on September 4, 2008 at 4:10am: It seems to me that we need technology like an enhanced Google Gears that allows us to really use our online apps offline. Maybe this is where Google Chrome is ultimately going? It seems to me that Chrome is the beginning of a web operating system that could eventually run web apps when not connected, on any platform.

Comment by Matt Hartley on September 3, 2008 at 10:20pm: Great feedback all, keep it coming! :)

Comment by Daniel Vining on September 3, 2008 at 9:11pm: While the ever growing popularity of web apps continues to grow, I find it slightly irritating that so many applications are reliant on the internet. I understand and accept that web based programing is in the forefront of the information era's future, however, the need for and internet source is still paramount. WiFi hotspots need to grow from rising novelty to the standard. In fact, the term hotspot needs to be replaced with coldspot. I live in North Dakota where WiFi is most commonly found at a Starbucks in town. Other than that, the only signals you get around here are from other user's unsecure wireless networks. Security threats limit and ultimately prohibit the avalibility of the internet at work. Google Docs at work, not for me. Any streaming site, file transfer site, or just about any useful utility are banned from my works intranet and at times retard my capabilities to produce higher quality work. My point is that for various reasons, there is still a strong need for traditional applications that require you to install the program onto your computer. A more attainable goal for the near future is better cross platforming capabilities.

Comment by Michael Moran on September 3, 2008 at 8:53pm: I agreed with most nearly every comment, but am a little unsure if i completely undersderstand what a web app is. is this like the button creation site type of technologies. I am sure we have just seen the tip of this iceberg of a monster if it is indeed what he is speaking of. The possibilities for the uses for a pc or mac are almost unlimitless for the developer. I don't know if these type of appz will put and end to software as we know it, or not.