I woke up this morning at 8:30 am and I was out of the house before 9:30 am for my walk – I was going to push for three laps but what I ended up doing was sticking to the two and a half laps for now which works out to be around 14.5 km. Getting up at 8:30 am was a little bit more difficult because I really wanted to relax on Sunday but I also want to get out of the house and get the exercise in with enough time after to unwind, have a relaxing shower before getting changed, having a brunch and then getting ready for work.
Just as I was writing this blog I checked the Ubiquiti early release forum and they have made UniFi OS 6.0.11 for Dream Routers available for testing. Plenty of fixes particularly when it comes to mDNS support and many other improvements. OpenMTP has released an update to make it compatible with macOS 27 however there is a promise of a new major release that will make some big changes so it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. Personally I think it is about time for Apple to add MTP support to finder so that one doesn’t have to rely on third party software if one has an Android phone and an Apple desktop or laptop.
The main thing I am keeping an eye on is how Googlebook OS develops over the next few years. I expect the first release to be maybe a little rough around the edges but as Google receives feedback from customers then makes improvements then I think most users will be pretty happy with it. The greatest threat Googlebooks pose isn’t to Apple but instead to Windows. If you were to split the Windows PC market into two categories then they would be a) people with high technical literacy b) those who buy something and just want it to work. When it comes to group (b) if they haven’t gone for macOS then it probably has to do with lack of familiarity but what Googlebook provides are a variety of different models running a familiar operating system (given how similar looking it is when compared to Chrome OS). When it comes to group (a) I see plenty are looking at Linux as an alternative to the constant train wreck that is Windows 11 – an update every month with the haunting fear that after updating that there will be something broken.
When it comes to the more technically inclined, the improvements when it comes to game compatibility with WINE has made it possible for many end users to continue playing their games on Linux. The biggest problem at the moment is the lack of ‘kernel anti-cheat’ because WINE operates in user space but I think eventually games companies will be forced to come up with a better solution – Microsoft at the moment are working on an alternative given how often ‘kernel anti-cheat’ keeps causing the blue screen of death for many end users.
When it comes to mainstream users, I think when people get to see them in the store, have a look at the apps that will be available in the PlayStore along with announcements from big software companies supporting Googlebook OS then we may see a gradual exodus of people from the Windows platform. There is already Microsoft Office 365 available and there is talk of Adobe bringing their apps along with many others not to mention the fact that it includes the full Chrome experience along with web extensions support.
“Hope for the best but prepare for the worst” – it is ok to be optimistic about the outcome of something but at the same time you should be prepared if doesn’t work out as expected. When you bank it all on the outcome of something where you cannot control all the variables then you ideally need a backup plan. I am reminded of the book ‘Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America’ by Barbara Ehrenreich – a book that is worth investing in getting a copy of because unfortunately the cult of positive thinking is still very much something that is alive and well in many large organisations.
