Should Microsoft make Windows 7 open source? The Free Software Foundation thinks so!

Should Microsoft make Windows 7 open source? The Free Software Foundation thinks so!
Petition Filed To Upcycle Microsoft’s OS
January 24, 2020
https://betanews.com/2020/01/24/open-source-windows-7/

 

Once again, if it makes them boo koo monies we're just stuck with that. 10 is the product it must stay.

However the single word/term "upcycle" ignited my attention. Hypotheticals can be completely relevant as much as Theory but even more so IMO.

In the What Ifs category of open thought, suppose Microsoft revisited 7 while refining Window 10 then released it again with much improved say performance capabilities, even security without toasting the inner workings which was sometimes the result of upgrades, albeit but not as harshly as Win 10 updates sometimes experienced. Then proceed to Windows 8 in same manner eventually producing for distribution a combo of both into a Windows 9 presented at a suggested retail.

Wishful thinking from an old Windows diehard no doubt.

So on this end I couldn't agree more with the Free Software Foundation's interest and suggestion they should just release it open source and at least all the Windows Community would have a chance to operate on Win 7 and perhaps exercise their own expertise to make the most of what Microsoft now deems, a dead product.

 

W7 could be reborn if MS took that road - which, obviously, is why that will never happen.

 

> We demand that Windows 7 be released as free software.

Whoever is advocating to release W7 as open-source should really reconsider this phrase.

 

These "no-brainer" articles really amaze me.

Sure, MS$$$ is really going to release its code so the free software can compete with its current paid OS versions.

 

How would it affect microsoft's bottom line if all the win 7 fans paid a small fee to continue? Many small fees make a large income.
But I'm sure they have analyzed that, and it is indeed a "long shot".

 

So true! Respectfully request is a much more fitting way to approach someone in total control of a process one wishes to see changed.

 

People can ask, request, beseech, demand, appeal, insist, solicit or expect M$ to release 7 as free software. It will never happen.

 

This is entirely correct. Well maybe 99% correct. In order for the remaining 1% to have any glimmer of hope, there needs to be a request in place of a demand. But the prospects of it happening are overwhelmingly not.

 

Exactly.

Which goes to show once a monopoly, always a monopoly. The end users MUST like it (move on as they say) or lump it.

Another reason we most certainly won't see Microsoft releasing it to open source (IMO) is simply because there are massive amounts of businesses who still to this day rely on 7. Dissected entirely by bad actors they could render those still in operation in quite a pickle.

 

Imagine stripping W7 down to the basics like Arch Linux. Then add repositories with the stability of Debian. You'd never need another OS.

 

Win 7 was a great success for M$, it was pretty decent as an OS and even I liked it (and I'm not a great fan of Mickeysoft). M$ want to move their agenda on though. Releasing an open source Win 7 would probably be against their main intere$t.

 

MS will never release it as open source for this reason alone. It's nothing more than a pipe dream from FSF.

 

It would take Billions & a heavily worded non compete to have a chance of this happening. I say a verified offer of at least 5 Billion to maybe talk about getting a meeting with M$.

 

It's not going to happen soon, because Microsoft still sells Windows 10 and Windows ecosystem creates leverage for Microsoft to influence market. On the other hand PCs (desktops and laptops) are less and relevant and total number of installed Windows copies is declining. Tablets, smartphones, Macbook Air (in richer countries) and to some extent Chromebooks are main devices for browsing Web for substantial part of home users in the world. Nowadays Microsoft can not use other products such as Microsoft Office as leverage to Windows to the same extent it had done in the past. Microsoft is also in the markets such as cloud (Azure etc) where Windows as a leverage is almost irrelevant. Maybe in 20 years Windows will be irrelevant for Microsoft, but it will need to support this system, because some computers used in critical infrastructure will use it, so they may open-source it as well to reduce costs of support.

 

I've always though it a bit ironic that Win 7 was too successful for MS. Following it up would have been difficult, although not impossible. Of course, MS released 8 which was a bit of a farce. So much of a failure that they skipped '9' to make it seem that they had really moved on. It doesn't bother me anymore, I left MS for Unix. I did like 7 though, and I had no problems with it until MS borked the updating. Even then I ran it for over a year without MS updates.

 

7 is still my all time favourite Windows O/S. Although I don't mind 10, I've also seemed to have latched onto Linux for good on my home device. I find Linux to be less cumbersome than Windows, easier to properly secure, and far better for privacy.

 

When I needed a new laptop I basically had a choice of Win 7, Win 8 or Ubuntu. I decided against a dual boot and went with a Lenovo pre-installed with Ubuntu. Apart from the fact that I prefer Ubuntu to Windows, the far better security and privacy were deciding factors.

 

Future Win OS is outlined in this article: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/29/...e-modern-operating-system-computex-2019-hints . We can only hope this comes true. Imagine ..... no more Win Updates

 

I'd rather imagine no more Windows. Which is exactly what I have.

 

You lucky clover you!

Yeah although I been quite satisfied with the Win 8.1 model after gutting most of the pain introduced (tiles, store etc Ugh) the closest to Unix I been able to get is Linux Mint which oddly enough saved Windows on bork days it didn't function as expected only to find that it's registry had one or more files out of balance-(What is commonly referred to as corruption in some circles)

Windows 7 if released to Open Source would really shake things up though and why I also don't see that anytime soon if ever.

 

I've been running Ubuntu for a while now, which is what Mint's based on. An open source Win 7 would be really popular IMO. I really can't see it happening. If it ever was released even I'd be tempted to run it and I'm not exactly the world's biggest MS fan. lol

 

I have always liked the idea of Linux on the desktop however it is no good for me at this moment in time as i mostly use my pc to play games and the games i play do not work on Linux.
I wish more was done with Freebsd as a desktop operating system. Freebsd would be easier for developers to support as it uses a standard base. The graphics drivers are not as good on freebsd as linux thou as freebsd is more forced on server than desktop. Even when Linux is supported for games it is only normally supported for one or maybe two distros as it would cost the companies too much money to support more than that.

The best and worst thing about linux is the openness. We have way to many distros which are basically the same. You can see why developers prefer to support windows as it is a more standard system and of course used more.
How many different package management systems and installers do we need? It is the same with the amount of different file systems you call install linux with. I wonder how much further along BSD would of been by now if Linux was never created?
This is the same reason why android is so fragmented due to the openness and flexibility of it.

 

Didn't MS release the source code to DOS recently? I figure when they release the source code to Win 7, if they ever do, by that time it'll probably be about as useful as DOS is right now, hehe.

 

where were those voices for XP? or did they found at least all the posready patch which is not available for win7? true or not? lemmings. but i assume the real problem is to get current drivers for current hardware and no half baked and crippled crap.