The trouble with AI is not that it will somehow turn into Skynet. The problem is 1) the pollution of the web with reams and reams of AI-generated slop, making real information harder and harder to find, and 2) perhaps rather more importantly, the idiots who are happy to burn the planet in pursuit of a slightly better slop machine.
As for Windows, its future is probably a subscription desktop in the cloud that you pay MS a monthly fee for. Which, y'know, can absolutely get in the sea (if there is any sea left when the AI data centres have finished with it).
You would do well to watch the entire WAN shows as I do. Luke and Linus were talking on the WAN show from a week ago, on the previous Friday to last, that they were talking about looking into using AI for their Tier 1 one easy calls, as I said in my previous message. It was anything above Tier 1 easy stuff, that they want a human still in the mix.
The reality is, the use of AI to simplify people's lives, is just far too tempting. This is the reason why just about every company uses AI in their workflow. As I said, AI is being pushed at an alarming rate. There are places where AI is useful, such as using it to help you to edit photo's on your phone, to make them look pretty, in Adobe Lightroom for example.
But I am not pleased about using AI in customer service calls. I wasn't even happy when companies dumped customer service calls over telephone, to multiple choice machines, which often doesn't have the option were looking for, because companies just don't want to deal with you, thats the reason that they did it, way back in the 90's.
There used to be a time, long before my time BTW, where companies actually spent the time to actually get to know their customers, they put in an effort, to help best guide you, on the product you need. Now companies don't put any effort at all, your just a dollar sign to them, and they rather not hear your voice, let the auto machine take your calls, thats all you mean to them.
I was reading an article a couple days ago, where it said that Amazon wants to build 3 Nuclear reactor power plants, and place them along the Columbian river, to bolster the power grid. They know how much the grid has been suffering on the western side of the country, and AI being the huge power draw that it is, hopefully the new plants, can stabilize the power grid, especially with the loss of hydro electric dam power, as they are all massively outdated, and being decommissioned.
The way I figure it, as long as Amazon follows all strict government regulations regarding nuclear power, I suppose it should be ok. I'm just grateful that it isn't Elon Musk who's going to do it, because I would be horrified then, since Elon likes to escape reality all the time with his drugs, and running his companies into the ground.
I'm still waiting for nations to crack fusion power on a grand scale that actually matters. Fusion is supposed to generate even more power, and be safer then nuclear. Basically our sun in space, operates on fusion itself, on a massive scale of course.
Lets just pray we don't have another 3-mile island event. I personally would prefer that new hydro electric dams were built to generate power, like the famous Hoover. But I guess they just don't generate enough power anymore, to support our giant population. Plus, if our government had any interest in maintaining the hydro dams they would, they decommissioned them for a reason.
For one thing, I wish we had underground power lines, the big issue we face, is when those big wind storms come rushing on through, breaking branches off trees, which snap power lines, then it take hours for the power company to fix, and get power back online. That would also bolster our power grid, putting the lines underground, but it would cost too much, so it will never happen.
One thing about using Nuclear Power instead of coal; it is more environmentally friendly in regards to CO2 pollution.
It has its own problems, though... Including the nuclear waste that remains a problem for even a million years after being stored.
Radioactive elements are a big part of the Earth. But they are deep, down in the lower layers of the mantel. We lack the ability to dig to the mantel to bury the stuff.
Everything has a cost to benefit ratio attached to it.
( 1 ) I 100% agree that nuclear energy is far more environmentally friendly, then the off gassing emissions from coal, or even burning off natural gas emissions.
( 2 ) And as I've said before, until we crack fusion energy, nuclear produces more power per kilowatt/megawatt, then any other power generation method to date.
Cons:
( 1 ) Nuclear power requires a lot of space to operate, whether a small plant, or a mega plant, and requires outside water sources for cooling, and lots of security.
( 2 ) If Nuclear power plants do not follow strict government safety procedures, we could have a 3-mile island, Fu-ku-shima, or worse, a Chernobyl incident.
( 4 ) The costs of operating Nuclear power plants, dealing with the spent fuel, and all the safety involved, requires full government support, because no insurance company, will ever insure a nuclear power plant, so the government has to do it, which means high tax dollars.
Conclusion:
Were basically in a catch 22 situation at this time. We want to run only renewable energy source power generation, such as wind, water, solar, thermal. The problem is, there are not enough of them currently to sustain a whole state, let alone a whole country. So were stuck with Nuclear for the foreseeable future, until Fusion power can be implemented.
Not to mention; an absurd social push against these smart solutions fueled by ridiculous claims of conspiracies and flat out bald-faced lies.
It is no different than the anti-vax nonsense or the claims that cancer treatments are a fraud. These individuals spreading this utter filth have zero regard for human life or health.
I think Windows will continue to remain the dominant desktop experience for the overwhelming majority of your average consumer simply because 1. it's the status quo (ask non-tech people and many won't even know there's such a thing outside Windows) and 2. it's cheap and easily available with an overabundance of resources online.
A friend of mine who makes Windows troubleshooting YouTube videos tells me he's glad Windows is as broken as it is. It makes him money. I agree with him. I remember the first thing I did after upgrading to Windows 10 was go to YouTube to search "How to shut down Windows 10."
For these reasons, Windows will remain the go-to for many decades to come. The only one that actually has any possibility of even coming close to Windows' marketshare is Mac. With how good the M series chips are, and the attractive pricing for their M4 Mac Mini, more people are making the switch than ever before.
For cheaper alternatives, however, Linux will always be the go-to, but we can't discard the fact that some level of computer/tech familiarity is warranted in the Linux world. Even asking for help in forums like this is not everyone's cup of tea. (Tech people famously overestimate general people's ability to ask the right questions. )
Of course, I don't want to start another Mac vs. Linux debate. But you have to agree that Mac is comparatively easier for non-technical people than most Linux distros. Perhaps that will change, but having a go-to place (physical or otherwise, like Apple stores or Apple online support) for computer help is a big plus for many, something no distro developers can match (well, Canonical probably can, I guess, but that's a topic for another day).
Has anyone got a link to recent statistics which show how many people are ditching Windows?
I'm really hopeful that Zorin_OS will be able to completely replace Windows for me by October, 2025. Libre Office is getting better and better, and that's been the main bug-bear for me. If not I can see a VM to run WX in my future. That will be a learning curve!
Also, I think that Zorin is a great alternative for general users. It's familiar and friendly from the get-go, and this forum is a fantastic resource for finding help and solutions. I'll be installing it on my octogenarian dad's laptop in the new year, and for what he needs his laptop to do, I don't anticipate him having any problems switching over. I've also been running a laptop on Mint for a while now but I've ditched it for Zorin on that machine too. IME, I've had a much easier time with Zorin and far more issues come up with Mint. Also, the Mint forum isn't a patch on this one, it's old, bloated and cumbersome to use.
At some point I'll introduce my boss to it too, although I'm not sure she'll like the idea of leaving Excel behind - she uses it for so many things; she's an absolute wizard with it. I guess it will depend on how much she hates the Windows 11 experience!
What you need to keep in mind, is that many things Windows has, Linux has an alternative, without the privacy snooping features that Windows forces upon you. Some people wonder how Microsoft makes money these days, they make money by mining you.
I heard about this type of stuff happening way way back when Windows 10 became a thing. Back when I was on Windows 7, and I was dealing with OS corruption causing BSOD's that I wasn't able to fix, I made the switch back when Zorin OS 9 was a thing.
Now days with Windows 11, you already had heavily privacy snooping behavior, but now with forced Windows Recall, now Microsoft gets more! Our government isn't lifting a finger to stop Microsoft either, probably cause their being paid off.
Anyways, you mentioned Excel, guess what? There is a Libre Office suite, that comes with everything that the Windows version Office suite comes with. So your boss can still type up documents, do spreadsheets, etc.
You can find this in the OS software store BTW.
You need a photo editor? Gimp!
You will find this in the OS software store.
You need a video Editor? Kdenlive
You can find in the OS software store.
Are you a 3D modeler/animator? Blender!
You can find it in the OS software store.
If you buy the PRO version of Zorin OS, all of this comes installed for you, or you can install it yourself using the base version of the OS.
The only people who understandably, still have to rely on Windows OS, are those who use specialized propriety software, in industry, or server farm mainframe environments.
But reality is, if people want to stop using excuses for their companies, they can actually make the switch to Linux, and just have IT code new software for Linux, to do all the same things.
Zorin OS is where its at IMO, best Linux OS for me, no question, hands down. I am loving it!
In terms of Corporate Liability, my favourite Simpsons episode is where Homer with no technical expertise decides to set up an IT company just to get money with no service provided. My favourite bit that made my sides ache when the meme of Bill Gates tells his henchmen to buy Homer out by trashing his Home Office. Let's not forget how Bill Gates modus Operandi worked. MS-DOS was just a rebrand of Quick and Dirty DOS (or QUDOS). Even Microsoft's network software was 'stolen' from Novell's Netware. When Novell had more guts than it has of late, it was part of a six member consortium to defend GNU/Linux against any attempts by Microsoft to prevent it from thriving. Years later they signed a 'peace treaty' that prevented Microsoft taking legal action against the GNU/Linux consortium, in return Novell would not pursue IP theft against Microsoft abusing its Netware product. I wonder if consumers would also want to run an Operating System created by someone who consorted with a known p a e d o p h i l e, asking the latter how it would be possible to get a Nobel prize for his contribution to computing. Not long after all this came out, no surprise the Gates' marriage ended.
I'll be installing Zorin OS on my partner's 8 yr old Win 10 laptop in a few days. For media-entertainment, browsing, email and office duties.
I can do all my personal and some professional tasks in Zorin, but otherwise my personal 'Future of Windows' will probably involve running my existing Win 10 work PC for as long as possible, ignoring the demands to upgrade. I would love to be 100% Zorin/Linux but its not yet possible for me:
Professional RAW photo and subsequent editing.
I invested a lot of time investigating every RAW editor I could find on Linux. I spent weeks on DarkTable (I have years of experience in Lightroom Clasic, the old non-subscription version), before giving up. It has some great features, but overall I simply couldn't achieve anything like decent results, and it was taking far too long. Darktable seems very fractured, and factioned. I ended up purchasing PhotoLab DxO (more windows) to replace my Lightroom, which is giving me superb results.
Subsequent Photo editing
I've spent some time in GIMP over many years, and really struggle with it. At least in the 2.x version, I haven't yet tried the new version. I regularly use layers and really appreciate non destructive editing, and need CMYK support. I moved to Affinity Photo a couple of years ago (after years of Photoshop using my v7 CD), which is very good. Hopefully a Linux version will come out one day... probably unlikely judging by their responses to forum requests.
I've used Krita for quick edits on Zorin and find it far better than GIMP. I think people should promote it for many photo editing tasks over GIMP.
Professional music production
I have a large investment in native Instruments and other software. I know that some of this will work under WINE and yabridge but haven't yet had the time to invest. I'll happily use Reaper or Bitwig. The big stumbling block is that my multitrack audio interface has no linux drivers. Yes, there are devices from some manufacturers who do support Linux, but its not something I expect to re-purchase so soon.
Legacy .NET c# projects for clients.
Its very troublesome to try and install an IDE on Linux for these with older .NET versions. Having read up on it, I'm not going to try. Visual Studio it is.
Many days I'm tempted though to switch off, leave it behind and do something else! Doing all these things on computer offers wonderful opportunities, but can also be terribly tedious!*
My concern has been in regards to hardware an operating system support for computers built with or without AI chips. This source indicates a weak market for AI computing for now.
I have re-read the replies above.
Regarding nuclear power, considering its conspicuous drawbacks, I wonder why so little attention has been paid to the only reliable, renewable power source - tidal power. Some years ago, looking at the 3-gorges Dam on the Yangxi River in China, I realised that a similar structure could utilise tidal power. Unfortunately big investor funds etc prefer "tried and tested" technology.
Regarding AI, I have watched Makulu Linux playing with a bit of built-in AI (a bit like a smart phone). You can't avoid AI in the least expected places, without any special equipment. Now Zorin is using 'Freshworks' for support work. We know that Zorin Lite will eventually be phased out, but AI can sometimes give interesting replies:
"That is great to hear! I am a personally also a big fan of Zorin OS Pro Lite and Zorin OS Lite."
Years ago, people used to say: Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
There has been some interest here in the UK into tidal power barrages, however they tend to have massive environmental impact in silting up upstream and altering the coastal fluid dynamics.
Here in Scotland we had research into wave power. A test fixed installation on the west coast was destroyed in a storm. I recall it used the wave pressure to compress air that then went through turbines, so it wasn't like having submerged generators, but still in a highly corrosive and damaging environment.
We al;so had the wave power 'duck' invented by Prof. Salter some years ago. This being the UK, it failed to attract funding and development halted.
A more recent development, now installed in the sea to the \North of the Scottish mainland - where the North sea meets the Atlantic, one of the world's more dangerous and rough waters with very high tidal currents.
The issue is that these types of device simply cannot provide the required energy density. Great for a country like Scotland with low population density. A large part of our electricity comes from hydro dams installed since the 1950s.
Scotland is near 100% renewables in electricity production, but we have a small population spread over a windy, wet, mountainous geographical area with a massive coastline. We're actually producing too much electricity for our needs, new interconnectors are marching across the land to take this power down to England to where its needed:
Off-topic from the future of Windows, but perhaps not when we consider the energy demands of AI and data-centers.
Very interesting. Wave power has been tried in different parts of the world, but as waves are variable, they are not particularly reliable.
The 02 in Orkney is practical for its purpose, but very small at 74m width. I was thinking of something like the '3-gorges dam' at 2.335km width, comparable with a nuclear power plant. (As a matter of interest, I worked mainly in the ME with a large Motherwell company in the 1960s who delivered oil infrastructure rather than steel bridges).
With the changing technology, we will certainly need vast amounts of electrical energy in the future.
Yes, the Orkney model is a prototype, small-scale.
There is still a decent high-end manufacturing industry in Scotland, largely supporting the North Sea oil business, which could be adapted for such projects.
There was the proposed Severn tidal barrage which was proposed to generate 8GW, spanning the estuary (which has a high tidal range), but the then UK gov didn't allow the project to proceed, largely for the environmental effects on the estuary.
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