HP said to be considering making its own OS to counter Vista
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 12th 2008 2:17PM
posted September 12th 2008 2:17PM
HP unsurprisingly isn't ready to touch this one in any sort of official way just yet, but BusinessWeek is reporting that at least some folks at the company are "exploring the possibility of building a mass-market operating system," which would be positioned as an alternative to Vista. That OS, as you might have guessed, would be based on Linux, although BusinessWeek's sources say it "would be simpler and easier for mainstream users." By all indications, however, this so-called "skunk works team" within HP doesn't seem to have moved much beyond the brainstorming stage, and HP is sticking strictly to its official line that it is more interested in "innovating on top of Vista," with HP chief technology officer Phil McKinney even going so far as to say that the idea that it's funding a huge R&D team to go off and create an operating system "makes no sense."[Via Electronista]
People are saying it's a bad idea, But how do we know this. A hardware vendor like HP has to have the courage to do this and put some pressure on Microsoft for a change.
Yeah, like that's going to work.
It will be called PCL5, and it will work quite well......until it is upgraded to PCL6. Then the ice caps will melt.
+1 HP !
This should not be allowed. HP has the worst freaking software on the planet. Has anyone ever tried to install one of their network printer software packages. Even if you go through and get rid of the crap contained within it still takes an hour to install. I would equate their operating system to take two days. Not too mention their drivers and software is crap! Ugh.. Please Do Not Allow This to Happen.
Right! This reminds me of how the small guy puffs his chest out when there's a man in the room. Dell would be so happy with that move! Microsoft isn't even raising their eyebrow on this one. Trust!
Linux is linux, it's inherently complicated with around a dozen install package formats, weird names (Nautilus, gaim-devel, guifications...). It's just not the operating system for an end user unless the use of Command Promp is removed from it. I'm talking about a typical end user who's used to Microsoft's click-and-run environment, and Linux in any sahpe or colour can't seem to part with that Shell command. As long as that lives and the softwares lack have a 'human' nomenclature (look at KDE's obsession with K) and a unified software installation procedure for all linux, it's nowehere taking down on Microsoft.
I recently gave Apple OS X Leopard a try on my Dell and in fact Apple maintains an aesthetic look and feel to it's operating system. Program installation and uninstall is as simple as pasting or deleting the folder from the "Applications" folder. Now even a child can do that. The use of shell is almost obsolete. The softwares have a standard installation procedure and the control panel clearly defines it's use. No unnecessary information.
If Linux can do that, it can find itself home, else it's still Microsoft and Apple for home use. Power users and developers please don't get annoyed with my views, you know you can do it because you know what's going on inside the system and you can troubleshoot. My comments are concerned with the end users with limited technical knowledge.