Homeless in Vancouver

Homeless in Vancouver: Windows 10 is swimming with Linux features

by Stanley Q. Woodvine on October 6th, 2014 at 10:37 AM
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      Microsoft says the Technical Preview of Windows 10, released freely to the public on Tuesday (October 2), is meant to showcase productivity features for business. Otherwise the operating system is unfinished and missing many final features.

      What the Technical Preview is actually about is the almost complete return of the Start menu and the familiar Windows 7 interface, spiced here and there with Windows 8 bric-a-brac, proving to business that Windows 10 will be a safe upgrade their employees will be comfortable with.

      In keeping with the “old is new” theme underlying Windows 10, all of its so-called new features are tried-and-true elements borrowed from other operating systems—some from Apple’s Mac OS X but mostly from the open source Linux operating system.

      New Windows 10 features are at least new to Windows

      Almost all the new features announced for the final version of Windows 10 or on show in the Technical Preview are derivative meat-and-potatoes features long-standard in the Linux and Mac OS X operating systems:

       New feature in Windows 10Original or not
      1.Single codebase across all devicesApple
      2.Start MenuWindows, Linux
      3.Virtual desktops or workspacesLinux, Apple
      4.Cortana intelligent personal assistantApple’s Siri
      5.Universal searchApple’s Spotlight search
      6.Task View (see all open windows)Apple, Ubuntu Linux
      7.Snap View multitaskingLinux
      8.Paste into Command PromptLinux
      9.Ultra High Definition supportApple, Linux
      10.Internet Explorer 12 supports extensionsFirefox, Chrome, Safari
      11.Storage Sense (manage storage devices)Sound like iCloud but might be new
      12.Wi-Fi Sense (auto connect & authenticate)Might be new

      Tech websites have been praising Windows 10’s new productivity-boosting features, notably the ability to set up multiple desktops for different kinds of tasks.

      Virtual desktops, the ability to create multiple custom desktops and easily be able to toggle between then is a very handy productivity feature. Linux has almost always included basic virtual workspace functionality but specific implementations vary between Linux distributions. Apple added the feature as Spaces to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) in late 2007.

      Task View is a selectable view of open windows. In Ubuntu Linux, there are two such functions: the keyboard shortcut Windows key + W enables the “scale” effect which shows all windows from the current workspace. And Ctrl + Alt + Up Cursor shows all open windows and allows the user to select one.

      Apple’s implementation, called Exposé, was introduced in 2003 in OS X 10.3 (Panther). Both Exposé and Spaces have since be incorporated in a newer OS X application called Mission Control.

      Imitation is the sincerest form of GUI design?

      Ubuntu Linux styled to resemble Windows 7.

      Many Linux developers consciously or otherwise have treated Linux as a sort of suburb of Windows. Over the years Linux has fairly shamelessly expropriated a lot of Windows interface elements in order to make Windows users more comfortable with the open source operating system.

      Because Linux maintains a distinction between the operating system and the desktop environment, there have always been myriad ways to make any Linux distribution look like one of several versions of Windows or Apple’s Mac OS X.

      Many Linux distributions have gone to considerable lengths to deliberately mimic specific versions of Windows. Zorin OS is one Linux distribution well-known for offering graphic user interface skins to mimic the look of either Windows XP or Windows 7.

      Now Microsoft has made it that much easier for a Linux distribution to ape Windows 10. In fact, by incorporating so many look-alike Linux features, Windows 10 already looks like a Linux distribution trying to look like a version of Windows.

      Stanley Q. Woodvine is a homeless resident of Vancouver who has worked in the past as an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer. Follow Stanley on Twitter at @sqwabb.

      Comments

      11 Comments

      Paul

      Oct 6, 2014 at 11:59am

      I wish Windows makes it as easy as Linux (Ubuntu) to change the default font.

      I would like a bold, bigger & etched font.

      Christopher

      Oct 6, 2014 at 12:47pm

      Having used OS X, Linux various distros (gentoo being my favorite) Windows, OS2/Warp4, everything here seemingly comes from UNIX desktops and OS2! NOT Linux alone. KDE and Gnome work on BSD, OS X with Xorg, Hurd, Darwin, etc... morons morons everywhere

      CloudLion

      Oct 6, 2014 at 5:14pm

      I hate to admit it... if Virtual Desktops / Work spaces can mimic KDE pager; well I might like Windows 10. If Windows 10 has cool eyed candy... oh no! Then if Windows 10 is free... ah I might find myself using it. OH MY GOD!!!!!

      I'm a big openSuSE -- KDE fan. I did not enjoy the transition from KDE 3 to 4. I've found myself slipping back into the Windows desktop work thanks to KDE 4 and the latest Gnome rework fiascoes. I use multiple monitors. Windows seems to have locked up Multiple Monitor functionality effectively. As I'm typing this... yet again I have to mess with graphics drivers. I'm typing on a mac while I mess with Linux.

      Here I am: sh(ing) driver.x and then I'm:

      make mrproper
      make cloneconfig
      make modules_prepare
      make clean
      <rebooting>

      Then I run the dread:
      aticonfig --initial --adapter=all

      Then I have to mess with the xorg.conf file.

      *sigh* Wasn't this whole xorg.conf and Xinerama thing suppose to be redundant by now? Ah... not yet for some of us. What was deprecated exactly?

      With Linux... I have four monitors that I can't use without Xinerama and a customer xorg.conf. I have to use Xinerama and I find myself having to custom adjust xorg.conf. If I don't there is no full feature functionality in xwindows using a big desktop across four monitors. The full functional desktop lets me drag and drop applications and open folder views between monitors. I can do that in Windows. I'll be honest. I've never tried to run OS X with four monitors.

      There was a short period in time where we had all the bells and whistles working with Xinerama. Those days are gone now. I'm sad. I once sent Keith Packard an email asking us when we might get back to the "Golden Age!" I did not receive a happy or encouraging response. The xorg group doesn't seem to like multiple video card and multiple monitor chatter.

      Oh well there is always beer!

      Sadly... there might also be Windows 10; soonish. Ugh! Why God? If only it was Microsoft Linux. Then I might not feel guilty using it. I don't know why the Linux developer community is multiple monitor and graphics card dysfunctional now. Xinerama is here because someone saw the future. So why deprecate it? Fix it! Is xorg picking up the ball and running? Ah no....

      Sounds promising, won't use it

      Oct 6, 2014 at 6:09pm

      To the future Windows 8.2, er, Windows 10 users reading this -- you're going to love virtual desktops. Can't imagine not having them. It would be like going back to non-tabbed browsing or single, full-screen apps.

      @CloudLion

      I'm with you on OpenSUSE - it's very impressive, especially with a KDE desktop.

      As for multiple monitors, I'm on CentOS 6.5 and an old-ish KDE, 2 monitors of different resolutions plugged in to 1 old 256 MB nVidia card - no problem. 3 virtual desktops, different wallpapers on each monitor and v-desktop, different widgets and icons, etc. on each monitor / desktop - no problem.

      No xorg.conf manual edits or anything required *for me*. Hope that you work out the issue(s).

      CloudLion

      Oct 7, 2014 at 12:32am

      @Sounds promising,'won't use it

      I would post a picture of "mission control" if I could here. Unfortunately I can't. I use four monitors. Two smaller monitors side by side over two larger monitors side by side.

      I abandoned Nvidia video cards with Linux when I moved from a three monitor setup to a four monitor setup. I use two pairs of different sized monitors with two, or more, video cards.

      I have managed to get Crossfire to work in Linux and Windows using on board ATI/AMD graphics chip sets with multiple discrete cards. Crossfire helped more with applications like Gimp in Linux and MS Visio in Windows; than it did for games. As strange as that might seem.

      I originally only messed with Crossfire because I could. Thanks going out to the gurus at Phoronix (www.phoronix.com). They have proved that crossfire works.

      Sad thing... it is much easier to get ATI/AMD crossfire to work in Windows than it is to get it working in Linux. I don't think that there will ever be a realistic, or practical, hope to get crossfire working in the Mac or Hackintosh community.

      Things change in the Linux and Windows community quickly. Sometimes those changes are not for the better.

      I did not realize this was the Georgia Straight website when I posted originally. I worked there... a short time a long time ago; in a galaxy not so far away. That was a blast. I loved every minute of the opportunity. Cheers to the Georgia Straight staff, community, and fans!

      Bourne Shell

      Oct 7, 2014 at 5:21am

      Universal search didn't originate from Apple. Ubuntu introduced it first with Unity Dash search. Apple followed suit with Spotlight.

      whizzkid

      Oct 7, 2014 at 5:32am

      WiFi sense is used in Android.

      RUK

      Oct 7, 2014 at 9:22am

      I have no idea what any of this means, but it's exciting when people know stuff.

      I could show you how to shave down Mikuni carb reeds for a motorcycle, or how to kill and clean chickens...

      Stanley Q Woodvine

      Oct 7, 2014 at 11:16am

      @Bourne

      As I understand it, the Unity interface was introduced in Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)in 2010. Apple's Spotlight search was introduced earlier in Mac OS X v10.4 in 2005.

      (When the electrical grid fails RUK will be seen eating a chicken drumstick wile riding a motorcycle away from mobs of crazed and hungry Linux users.)

      CloudLion

      Oct 8, 2014 at 11:01pm

      @Bourne Shell

      Ah... Search features in graphical user interfaces might actually date farther back than Ubuntu.

      I think we might have to give credit to the Amiga, Atari, and Radio Shack gangs for some ideas relating to finding files in an operating system with a graphical user interface. Unix always had "search features".... if I can remember correctly; Windows 3.11 had some neat options for finding files.

      In fact... the concept probably goes back to the mainframe community. I can't imagine that anyone who built any kind of computer; would do so without wanting a file search capacity.