Of course, Microsoft has been dissing Macs for a long time, mainly on the basis that they’re too expensive. Thing is, it’s hard to do that with Linux, given that it will run on exactly the same hardware (and in fact, less powerful hardware, too) as Windows bloated OS, and yet is available for free.

I guess consumers who are happy to go to Best Buy on their search for a PC aren’t really too fussed, and perhaps are more willing to trust the viewpoint of the sales staff.

Though Windows 7 is looking a lot better than its predecessors, Vista has really hurt Microsoft. I suppose it has to do all it can to ensure regular consumers don’t consider switching to an enemy system.

Via

It doesn’t mention what this is in response to — Apple MacBook multitouch trackpad, perhaps, or the increasing number of mobile devices with touchscreens — but of course it is dependent on associated hardware to work correctly.

A device that could input touch data for two or more fingers could integrate with Firefox and allow for a number of commands to be executed without either mouse or keyboard shortcut input (though these could perhaps be used as modifiers).

What I really like is the “create new gesture” that would allow users to add their own commands — gesture macros if you like — which would execute based on a specific set of touch inputs.

This is something that’s not really been well explored on mainstream devices. Even the iPhone has a relatively small set of gestures in the main user interface, though individual apps could always add to this.

Having this in Firefox is all very well. Now how about it rolled out across the operating system. Both Apple and Microsoft are totally capable of doing this.

How about support for gesture input on other surfaces, like this really cool video on scratch input:

Seems that the following graph, though not comprehensive, arrives at one stark conclusion: your choice of operating system is irrelevant when it comes to…

…watching porn:

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So does this tiny detail really mean that we just might see a Google netbook in the near future? Despite the strength of the rumors going around, no one would confirm or deny them. Even CEO Eric Schmidt would not say a word about it. He just said that “the netbook phenomenon looks very real.” He did say, though, that Google has to make sure that their products and services work well with “these devices.” Now that could be interpreted in any way one wants to. I think that they are looking into developing an operating system for netbooks of the near future. Then again, they could just be looking for ways to tweak their existing products. Who knows?

In any case, the only thing that we can do right now is to try and be part of that usability study. I am not sure if the ad is still active today. I think that most, if not all, of the slots were snapped up like candy the moment the word got out.