Soon the most popular 'real' desktop will be the Linux desktop

Microsoft is moving Windows to the cloud and Apple will be happy to
have you run macOS on the cloud

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Fri 4 Aug 2023 // 13:36 UTC

Opinion If you count Android and Chrome OS as Linux, which I do, the
Linux desktop accounts for 44.98 percent of the end user market. But
if your idea of the "Linux desktop" has a front end of Cinnamon,
GNOME or KDE, then it's more like 3.06 percent. Better than it has
been at times, but it's no "Year of the Linux desktop." Maybe,
though, it will be someday.

That's not because suddenly, everyone will realize that the Linux
desktop is wonderful. Sorry, folks, if it hasn't happened by now, it
never will.

But there's another way the conventional idea of a Linux desktop
could become the top PC-based operating system. That's if its
competition ceded the field.

And that's exactly what Microsoft has been doing.

For years, I've been watching Microsoft working on moving you from PC
Windows to a cloud-based Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) model. More
proof has recently surfaced, further substantiating Microsoft's grand
cloud desktop scheme.

Windows Central senior editor Zac Bowden recently discovered an
internal document from Microsoft's attempted acquisition of
Activision. This June 2022 presentation revealed Microsoft intends to
"Move Windows 11 increasingly to the cloud: Build on Windows 365 to
enable a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any
device. Use the power of the cloud and client to enable improved AI-
powered services and full roaming of people's digital experience."

The goal is to deliver a consumer version of the Windows 365 Cloud
PC. There are already two Windows DaaS versions: Business and
Enterprise. You can run these on a Windows PC, a Chromebook, a Linux
PC, or even an iPad. They are engineered to bring Windows to
virtually any platform. You can even run them on an Android
smartphone or an iPhone, if you're a glutton for punishment.

These aren't cheap. They start at $31 per user, per month. This gives
you a 4GB Azure VM with 128GB of storage, plus Microsoft 365 apps,
Outlook, and OneDrive.

On Windows 11 PCs, you can access your Cloud PCs through the Windows
365 app. In the coming months, Windows 365 Boot, currently in beta,
will allow you to log directly into your Windows 365 Cloud PC without
booting your local Windows 11 PC.

This aims to enable multiple users to use the same PC to log into
their own private, assigned, and secure Cloud PC. Its target market
includes nurses, salespeople, and call center employees who share
business devices.

Pricing for this version remains unclear. We also don't have a price
for the family version yet. There's speculation that it might be $10
a month for a "family" account. If true, this would be a loss-leader
price aimed at encouraging people to try Windows 365.
Microsoft logo on a little cloud-shaped sponge in someone's hands

Now you may say, "There's no way I'm going to 'subscribe' to a cloud
version of Windows." Really? Tell me, are you running Office
2019/2021 or Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) at a cost of at
least $70 a year? 345 million of you are already paying for Microsoft
365. The various flavors of Office 20xx? Not so many. Nothing like as
many.

That's exactly what Microsoft wants. "At Microsoft, we believe that
the cloud will power the work of the future. Overwhelmingly, our
customers are choosing the cloud to empower their people." It's also
how Microsoft makes its coin. Soon enough, perhaps by the end of the
decade, most Windows users will subscribe to cloud-based Windows.

Of course, that won't work for everyone. Hardcore gamers? No way.

Over in Apple land, serious photography and video workers will still
run high-powered and high-cost Macs. Others, however, will use the
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Mac mini as a service or other Macs on the
cloud services such as Virtual Mac OS X, MacStadium, and MacinCloud.

Do you know who else won't be following Apple or Microsoft to the
cloud? People who care about privacy, folks who want control over
their data on their machines, and PC power users.

And where will these good people go? Three guesses, and the first two
don't count. Yes, it's Linux. That's why Linux will finally emerge as
the top PC operating system.

Mind you, it's going to be a much smaller PC market than the one we
have today. Those are the breaks. But for people who want a real
desktop operating system, Linux will be their first and, indeed,
almost their only choice.

On 8/7/2023 6:23 PM, tomcat@invalid.com wrote:

> Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols <==== <Nelson> HaHa!
> Fri 4 Aug 2023 // 13:36 UTC A Linux zealot who works for $1 a word.

And posted via Dizum.

As long as Linux commercial offerings turn to the Dark Side
(Snaps, curated-gardens-for-commercial-gain), they will
make no forward progress.

The users will run away, make something new, and maintain
exactly 3% desktop market share.

Paul

On 8/7/2023 7:47 PM, Paul wrote:
> On 8/7/2023 6:23 PM, tomcat@invalid.com wrote:
>
>> Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols <==== <Nelson> HaHa!
>> Fri 4 Aug 2023 // 13:36 UTC A Linux zealot who works for $1 a word.
>
> And posted via Dizum.
>
> As long as Linux commercial offerings turn to the Dark Side
> (Snaps, curated-gardens-for-commercial-gain), they will
> make no forward progress.
>
> The users will run away, make something new, and maintain
> exactly 3% desktop market share.
>
> Paul

Please tell me how to run "Windows Only" programs, like Quicken, on
Linux. Not dual boot because then why also have Linux?

On 8/7/2023 9:40 PM, Zaidy036 wrote:
> On 8/7/2023 7:47 PM, Paul wrote:
>> On 8/7/2023 6:23 PM, tomcat@invalid.com wrote:
>>
>>> Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols     <==== <Nelson> HaHa!
>>> Fri 4 Aug 2023 // 13:36 UTC         A Linux zealot who works for $1 a word.
>>
>> And posted via Dizum.
>>
>> As long as Linux commercial offerings turn to the Dark Side
>> (Snaps, curated-gardens-for-commercial-gain), they will
>> make no forward progress.
>>
>> The users will run away, make something new, and maintain
>> exactly 3% desktop market share.
>>
>>     Paul
>
> Please tell me how to run "Windows Only" programs, like Quicken, on Linux. Not dual boot because then why also have Linux?

You could spend the rest of your life trying to configure WINE :-)

What's curious, is right out of the box, you're met by barrier
after barrier, as if nobody looks at the workflow at all.

sudo apt install wine # Today, seems to install some mix of 32-bit and 64-bit
sudo apt install winetricks # Immediately met by barriers.

Are they part of the solution, or part of the problem ? Dunno.

https://www.codeweavers.com/blog/aeikum/2019/1/3/working-on-wine-part-1-the-wine-ecosystem

All I know is, at one time, it was easier to configure WINE and
get it to do something. Today, it's about as much fun as installing Gentoo.

I suspect you would find WINE is very capable, if you could tip it upright.
Only outright efforts to break it (there are installers that discretely
detect WINE and refuse to install), like some of the licensing solutions
might, will prevent success. The runtime quality has steadily improved.
Which is why Microsoft has to move the deck chairs, to keep up.

Paul

Paul wrote:

>> Please tell me how to run "Windows Only" programs, like Quicken, on Linux. Not dual boot because then why also have Linux?
>
>You could spend the rest of your life trying to configure WINE :-)

I'm posting this with Agent, a Windows programme running in WINE running
on the Linux emulation of a Chrombook. :-)
It took me just a couple of minutes to figure out how it works, but I
have been using Linux and WINE before.

-jw-

--

And now for something completely different...

"Joerg Walther" <joerg.walther@gmail.com> wrote

| I'm posting this with Agent, a Windows programme running in WINE running
| on the Linux emulation of a Chrombook. :-)
| It took me just a couple of minutes to figure out how it works, but I
| have been using Linux and WINE before.
|

I love this. Someone with a gmail address boasting
that they've bypassed coroprate control. That's a bit
like a lion breaking into the zoo. Maybe you could post
instructions for this trick to your Google Docs account. :)

On 8/8/2023 8:23 AM, Newyana2 wrote:
> "Joerg Walther" <joerg.walther@gmail.com> wrote
>
> | I'm posting this with Agent, a Windows programme running in WINE running
> | on the Linux emulation of a Chrombook. :-)
> | It took me just a couple of minutes to figure out how it works, but I
> | have been using Linux and WINE before.
> |
>
> I love this. Someone with a gmail address boasting
> that they've bypassed coroprate control. That's a bit
> like a lion breaking into the zoo. Maybe you could post
> instructions for this trick to your Google Docs account. :)

There must be a distro out there somewhere, which does
a better job on WINE packaging.

The WINE PREFIX seems to be /home/username/.wine , so it's
a pointer to a file tree. This implies you're supposed to
change that pointer, before using "winetricks". But change it
to what exactly ?

The first time you invoke "wine", it fills /home/username/.wine
with items like "drive_C" directory (64 bit version). If you invoked wine a
second time, with /home/username/.wine32 as an example, then
something has to tell WINE it is to configure a 32 bit environment.
Otherwise, it would fill that directory with the 64-bit version too.

And the instructions I've looked at so far, make no mention of
anything matching that pattern.

I do these tests in a VM, and when they screw up... I set fire to them :-)
I've developed a rather short fuse for WINE. Which is unfortunate, because
I have successfully used WINE in the past. Like when it was 32 bit only.
If an article described how a user was expected to use the new model,
that would help a lot.

Paul

"Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote

| There must be a distro out there somewhere, which does
| a better job on WINE packaging.
| | The WINE PREFIX seems to be /home/username/.wine , so it's
| a pointer to a file tree. This implies you're supposed to
| change that pointer, before using "winetricks". But change it
| to what exactly ?
| | The first time you invoke "wine", it fills /home/username/.wine
| with items like "drive_C" directory (64 bit version). If you invoked wine
a | second time, with /home/username/.wine32 as an example, then
| something has to tell WINE it is to configure a 32 bit environment.
| Otherwise, it would fill that directory with the 64-bit version too.
| | And the instructions I've looked at so far, make no mention of
| anything matching that pattern.
| | I do these tests in a VM, and when they screw up... I set fire to them :-)
| I've developed a rather short fuse for WINE. Which is unfortunate, because
| I have successfully used WINE in the past. Like when it was 32 bit only.
| If an article described how a user was expected to use the new model,
| that would help a lot.
|

I haven't looked at it much in recent years. My last foray
into Linux ws not promising. I used to feel like Mac was a
limited-use sportscar, Windows was a useful Ford, and Linux
was a half-finished car kit. Now it still seems to be half-finished
but they're adding the "for your own good" limitations like Mac,
resulting in the worst of both worlds.

Last time I tried WINE it turned out that it wasn't 32/64
compatible. I ended up with 32-bit Linux so that I could have
32-bit WINE, since my software is mostly 32-bit. Unlike
Win64, no Linux version could run both 32 and 64. At least
that was my understanding.

On 8/8/2023 8:09 PM, Newyana2 wrote:
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote
>
> | There must be a distro out there somewhere, which does
> | a better job on WINE packaging.
> |
> | The WINE PREFIX seems to be /home/username/.wine , so it's
> | a pointer to a file tree. This implies you're supposed to
> | change that pointer, before using "winetricks". But change it
> | to what exactly ?
> |
> | The first time you invoke "wine", it fills /home/username/.wine
> | with items like "drive_C" directory (64 bit version). If you invoked wine
> a
> | second time, with /home/username/.wine32 as an example, then
> | something has to tell WINE it is to configure a 32 bit environment.
> | Otherwise, it would fill that directory with the 64-bit version too.
> |
> | And the instructions I've looked at so far, make no mention of
> | anything matching that pattern.
> |
> | I do these tests in a VM, and when they screw up... I set fire to them :-)
> | I've developed a rather short fuse for WINE. Which is unfortunate, because
> | I have successfully used WINE in the past. Like when it was 32 bit only.
> | If an article described how a user was expected to use the new model,
> | that would help a lot.
> |
>
> I haven't looked at it much in recent years. My last foray
> into Linux ws not promising. I used to feel like Mac was a
> limited-use sportscar, Windows was a useful Ford, and Linux
> was a half-finished car kit. Now it still seems to be half-finished
> but they're adding the "for your own good" limitations like Mac,
> resulting in the worst of both worlds.
>
> Last time I tried WINE it turned out that it wasn't 32/64
> compatible. I ended up with 32-bit Linux so that I could have
> 32-bit WINE, since my software is mostly 32-bit. Unlike
> Win64, no Linux version could run both 32 and 64. At least
> that was my understanding.

Well, I get all sorts of tidbits in a Google.
But, how many of these will work when I try them ? :-)

How do I change Wine from 64 bit to 32-bit?

Rename your ~/. wine directory and create a new Wine environment [now, this is dumb...]
by running

WINEARCH=win32 winecfg .

This will get you a 32-bit Wine environment. Not setting WINEARCH will get you a 64-bit one.

which implies a person could have

~/.wine # 64-bit C_Drive
~/.wine32 # 32-bit C_Drive

as prefix choices. You can also pass a WINEPREFIX variable in the
same way as a WINEARCH.

But it's going to take a while to test all this random shit.

Arch Linux usually offers good pages for stuff like this.
Rather than trusting Ubuntu pages for it.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/wine

"You can combine this with WINEPREFIX to make a separate win32 and win64 environment:

WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/win32 winecfg
WINEPREFIX=~/win64 winecfg

That shows how you can make a separate tree for 32 bit and 64 bit stuff.
If you check in /usr/bin, maybe there is a wine and wine64 executable ?
But then, are those programs smart enough to know which PREFIX is in play ?

So now, I guess I can start my experiments all over again.
I need to settle this WINEPREFIX issue, or I'm never going to
get winetricks to download the environment for me. It's a mistake
to jam in Mono, when the actual .NET works. That's a mistake I made on
a previous attempt, was trying to manually install the environment
using Google searches.

Paul

"Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote

| https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/wine
| | "You can combine this with WINEPREFIX to make a separate win32 and win64
environment:
| | WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/win32 winecfg
| WINEPREFIX=~/win64 winecfg
| | That shows how you can make a separate tree for 32 bit and 64 bit stuff.
| If you check in /usr/bin, maybe there is a wine and wine64 executable ?
| But then, are those programs smart enough to know which PREFIX is in play
? |

This is one of my tests to see if Linux is ready to use yet:
Can I do a basic setup without incantations in console windows,
and without spending afternoons looking through online
discussions for answers? I'm getting too old for this. I'm
not willing to waste weeks anymore in order to figure things
out. (Not to mention that there's always the risk that I'll
forget I figured it out!)

| So now, I guess I can start my experiments all over again.
| I need to settle this WINEPREFIX issue, or I'm never going to
| get winetricks to download the environment for me. It's a mistake
| to jam in Mono, when the actual .NET works. That's a mistake I made on
| a previous attempt, was trying to manually install the environment
| using Google searches.
|

I still have very little that uses .Net. I think my AMD display
applet does. But I also still use Win10 on only an occasional basis.
Recently I discovered that all my VBScripts using
InternetExplorer.Application won't work on Win10. I like to use
an IE window to provide a GUI. Since the HTAs still work, I
knew that the parts were all there. But Win10 is blocked from
registering the IE object, even though it's there. So now I'm
writing an ActiveX EXE wrapper for a WebBrowser control, in
order to have a controllable IE instance. What a fiasco! Even worse
is that there is a .Net WB control, which I could probably use,
but I'd have to move to a completely different environment and
coding language. Funny thing. .Net has been around for over
20 years now, pretty much since XP. Yet I still have almost no
contact with it.

On 8/9/2023 7:24 AM, Newyana2 wrote:
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote
>
> | https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/wine
> |
> | "You can combine this with WINEPREFIX to make a separate win32 and win64
> environment:
> |
> | WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/win32 winecfg
> | WINEPREFIX=~/win64 winecfg
> |
> | That shows how you can make a separate tree for 32 bit and 64 bit stuff.
> | If you check in /usr/bin, maybe there is a wine and wine64 executable ?
> | But then, are those programs smart enough to know which PREFIX is in play
> ?
> |
>
> This is one of my tests to see if Linux is ready to use yet:
> Can I do a basic setup without incantations in console windows,
> and without spending afternoons looking through online
> discussions for answers? I'm getting too old for this. I'm
> not willing to waste weeks anymore in order to figure things
> out. (Not to mention that there's always the risk that I'll
> forget I figured it out!)
>
> | So now, I guess I can start my experiments all over again.
> | I need to settle this WINEPREFIX issue, or I'm never going to
> | get winetricks to download the environment for me. It's a mistake
> | to jam in Mono, when the actual .NET works. That's a mistake I made on
> | a previous attempt, was trying to manually install the environment
> | using Google searches.
> |
>
> I still have very little that uses .Net. I think my AMD display
> applet does. But I also still use Win10 on only an occasional basis.
> Recently I discovered that all my VBScripts using
> InternetExplorer.Application won't work on Win10. I like to use
> an IE window to provide a GUI. Since the HTAs still work, I
> knew that the parts were all there. But Win10 is blocked from
> registering the IE object, even though it's there. So now I'm
> writing an ActiveX EXE wrapper for a WebBrowser control, in
> order to have a controllable IE instance. What a fiasco! Even worse
> is that there is a .Net WB control, which I could probably use,
> but I'd have to move to a completely different environment and
> coding language. Funny thing. .Net has been around for over
> 20 years now, pretty much since XP. Yet I still have almost no
> contact with it.

Here are the notes so far.

UB2304

sudo apt install wine winetricks q4wine # q4wine, not sure it helps...

WINEARCH="win32" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine32" wineboot # Working on this environment first.
WINEARCH="win64" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine" wineboot

WINEARCH="win32" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine32" wineboot # OK, try to install drive_C 32bit
it looks like wine32 is missing, you should install it.
multiarch needs to be enabled first. as root, please
execute "dpkg --add-architecture i386 && apt-get update &&
apt-get install wine32:i386"
wine: created the configuration directory '/home/bullwinkle/.wine32'
wine: '/home/bullwinkle/.wine32' is a 32-bit installation, it cannot support 64-bit applications.
bullwinkle@SUPERFLY:~$

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
dpkg --print-architecture # Um... amd64 still (in other words, does not print status properly)
sudo apt install wine32:i386 # Oh... my... 280MB sea-of-crap (domino install)

# Now we're not getting slapped around. Making progress.
# This does not mean, when building up ~/.wine 64bit, it will be clear sailing.

WINEARCH="win32" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine32" wineboot # Fills Drive_C with files
WINEARCH="win32" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine32" winetricks # Menu of files to add, such as .NET

# The picture is mainly for the comedic aspects of managing windows with a screwdriver.
# galliumnine is something to do with DX9 for gaming. Vulkan is an OpenGL replacement of some sort.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/ZKhcsRMB/winetricks-08repack.gif

Paul

On 8/9/2023 9:11 AM, Paul wrote:

It didn't finish all of the DXDIAG tests.
But I did get the DX Cube to rotate in fits and starts.

Considering this is done inside a VirtualBox Guest running Ubuntu,
the result is pretty good. It might have worked a bit better
in a physical install.

WINEARCH="win32" WINEPREFIX="/home/bullwinkle/.wine32" wine start dxdiag

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/2SPjjvWT/wine-start-dxdiag.gif

It looks like the color table took a beating, as some
of that desktop has turned black while the test runs.

Paul

tomcat@invalid.com wrote:
> Soon the most popular 'real' desktop will be the Linux desktop
>
> Microsoft is moving Windows to the cloud and Apple will be happy to
> have you run macOS on the cloud
>
> Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
> Fri 4 Aug 2023 // 13:36 UTC
>
> Opinion If you count Android and Chrome OS as Linux, which I do, the
> Linux desktop accounts for 44.98 percent of the end user market. But
> if your idea of the "Linux desktop" has a front end of Cinnamon,
> GNOME or KDE, then it's more like 3.06 percent. Better than it has
> been at times, but it's no "Year of the Linux desktop." Maybe,
> though, it will be someday.
>
> That's not because suddenly, everyone will realize that the Linux
> desktop is wonderful. Sorry, folks, if it hasn't happened by now, it
> never will.
>
> But there's another way the conventional idea of a Linux desktop
> could become the top PC-based operating system. That's if its
> competition ceded the field.
>
> And that's exactly what Microsoft has been doing.

In more ways than one...

Microsoft will not renew licensing for software in the Russian Federation starting September 30th. Russian sources are reporting that Google too is ceasing to do business with Russian companies.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RussiaUkraineWar2022/comments/15o8idd/microsoft_will_not_renew_licensing_for_software/?rdt=52769

When we now feel
The wheel of life turn our way