webOS to come to notebooks and desktops?

[Frick]

Although the new Touchpad tablet was the highlight of HP's press event this morning, the company also dropped some tantalizing hints about its future plans for the webOS platform. HP says that it plans to bring the operating system to a wide range of form factors and expects to eventually ship it on desktop and notebook computers.

Link to Arstechnica

It'll be a while of course, but I for one think it would be very nice if they pulled it off. More too choose from, more toys!

[W1zzard]

won't work. people want windows. linux didn't work out for the asus eeepc either

[cdawall]

hmmm so what we get like 3 of these with linux they sit on store shelves forever because people cannot use linux for day to day activities and then they die and we go back to windows i see this lasting very long

[Frick]

I have not used webOS at all, but from my understanding it's not very linuxy at all. Android is linux and it's huge right? I also understand webOS is actually a pretty good OS, but the main problem was that Palm didn't have the economics to back it up. HP have moneys and are big enough to make a difference in whatever market they hit. IMO of course. But I think it would be fun to get another player on the desktop OS market, especially if they make a retail version so you don't have to by an actual HP computer to get it.

[Kreij]

Unless the OS is capable of running Windows applications and games, it's DOA.
That's what people want their desktops to do. (As W1zz stated).

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Kreij

Unless the OS is capable of running Windows applications and games, it's DOA.
That's what people want their desktops to do. (As W1zz stated).

We got Mac. It might be unfair comparasion as Mac have been around a longer time then webOS, but not too long ago Mac's were considered awful by the general populace, and now they're huge and among a lot of groups it's the opposite. If the Slates and phones and whatever they intend to run webOS on are hits it might have a chance to go to desktops as well. It's a slim chance, but it's possible.

[Kreij]

January 2011


Mac OS was never considered awful. The mac OS has some distinct advantages, but the hardware is considered overpriced.
Mac OS usage is not huge by any stretch of the imagination.
Handheld, wireless devices are a completely different market than desktops and laptops.

I'm all for competition in the OS arena. This? Doubtful. Very doubtful.
When they announce it as a done deal, sell your HP stock.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Kreij

January 2011
http://img.techpowerup.org/110209/market_share.png

Mac OS was never considered awful. The mac OS has some distinct advantages, but the hardware is considered overpriced.
Mac OS usage is not huge by any stretch of the imagination.
Handheld, wireless devices are a completely different market than desktops and laptops.

I'm all for competition in the OS arena. This? Doubtful. Very doubtful.
When they announce it as a done deal, sell your HP stock.

nope wait a month and buy buy buy when that shit fails

[Kreij]

The problem with creating a competing operating system for the desktop user is that most users are content with Windows, even with its problems.
You would have to create an OS so revolutionary that Windows could not hold a candle to it .. and then they wouldn't buy it anyway because they are used to the way Windows works.
If it did everything Windows does, you've created nothing new.
... and that's the easy part. Now try to get the development teams in every market segment to buy into your new OS even though you only have 0.001% of the market.

Then you finally get a small grip on the new market for your unparalleled OS idea and Microsoft offers you a billion dollars for the rights to the IP.
Behold, the next Windows.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Kreij

January 2011
http://img.techpowerup.org/110209/market_share.png

Mac OS was never considered awful. The mac OS has some distinct advantages, but the hardware is considered overpriced.
Mac OS usage is not huge by any stretch of the imagination.

Well it kinda was, before OSX came along. Apple was basicly dying iirc. And it's not as big as windows obviously but it is growing.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Frick

Well it kinda was, before OSX came along. Apple was basicly dying iirc. And it's not as big as windows obviously but it is growing.

That graph is jan 2011 it not growing much

[Frick]

How did it look say 5 and 10 years ago? Also, I would assume those numbers include offices and governments where Windows is even bigger. At least in my experience Macs are bigger in the consumer space nowadays.