On Fri, 3 Aug 2007, Matthew Gardiner wrote: > Yes, it has changed - but I'm just frustrated at the lack of progress > outside of the 'basics'.
The next meeting of SVOSUG will feature a presentation by the Xorg group, notably Alan Coopersmith, showing the latest Xorg changes and/or what is in store, but to also show Compiz. Your comments got me to thinking, and I have really come to the conclusion that Solaris has made some incredible improvements on the desktop, IMO. 1) The new-boot architecture brought us into the modern age of booting. 2) Xorg replaced Xsun as the X server, and we have more support for video than we ever had. 3) RealPlayer - This was a long and hard battle, and finally we have a RealPlayer that is included in Solaris and/or can be added to OpenSolaris. 4) Flash...another long and hard battle which I was involved in before I joined Sun. We have had some problems with the current Flash 9 being delivered, but it is out now and we're in ok shape on this, IMO. 5) NWAM - this will change the way folks use their laptops, the way they connect, and will elliminate much of the confusion in system configuration that prevents new folks from being able to use their systems more easily. 6) JDS - while not my favorite desktop, it has moved Solaris away from the old CDE, and this is good for many of the new adopters of Solaris/OpenSolaris. There have been quite a few developments in JDS and quite a bit has changed. 7) Additional desktop software such as GIMP, gphoto, evince, etc...this has made it easier for the bulk of folks to use their Solaris/OpenSolaris systems to interact with web work, image editing, and incorporating their digital pics. 8) StarOffice - was not even being built for Solaris on x86 when I joined Sun more than 4 years ago. It has been packaged and on the system for the past 2 years at least. This is a huge improvement and we have an office suite that allows us to function in the real world. 9) Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird - also not being built for Solaris/OpenSolaris when I came to Sun. I pounded on the folks responsible for it and made them change their ways by starting to build the packages and distributing them on my own. We have current versions in new builds now, and it's setup with flash to work. This is a HUGE improvement over what we had 2 years ago. 10) wifi - people laughed when you mentioned wifi on Solaris a couple years ago. Now we have several decent drivers that allow us to connect over wireless networks, and using WEP as well. I can probably think of more, given time, but this list above I believe represents an incredible leap for Solaris, and certainly on x86. Sun has shown that they are in the x86 space for the long haul, even the execs speak it on stage when they give presentations these days. Do you really think that this is all a part of the "basics"? These, IMO, are huge improvements to bring out system/desktop to the masses, and Solaris/OpenSolaris continues to move forward. -- Alan DuBoff - Solaris x86 IHV/OEM Group _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list [email protected]
