http://www.microsoft.com/azure/default.mspx What do you think? Main difference is that it will be installed on an extern microsoft server and you only rent the access to the programms. Maybee thats the beginning of a whole new generation of software distribution in which, well piracy wouldnt be such a problem anymore.
I expect that is one motivation. It will be free to test it in its pre-release stages...so if you want to try it, get in on the testing. That said, I doubt I will use it much at all, esp at work. I'm hoping to get my hands on Win7 soon.
no thx, i buy my soft, i want it in my posession on my pc. people i see loving this,are the ones who travel a lot.
The problem with piracy is that people need pirated software. I study design at the moment and no one of use here has the money to actually buy the software that we need to do our study work.
The problem with schools is that they use software that is expensive , you can as easely learn 3d for instance on blender as on maya, you're in school to learn 3d, not 1 program , same with office, it's always ms office, why? openoffice etc work just as fine to teach the basics graphics => photoshop etc etc. sure, you can get student licenses for most, but still... what i want to say is, i never had the need to use a pirated program, there's enough freeware/opensource around that does the job just as well, only games are an exeption to me, but do you really need the game the day it's released? for multiplayer games, maybe; for single player: the game is just as awesome when they sell it for 5-10 euro's as it was when it cost 50-60. getting back on topic; azure is very good, for microsofts wallet!
gimp for example, sucks for printing stuff but yeah thats the future I guess, and ive read somewhere that software development firms plan to make their software run on very good servers only so you cant, even if you get a copy, of those programms use them at home.
MS usually either gives software away for schools, or discounts it quite a bit. If your school doesn't give you the required software, find a new school.
The packages thought in school are the industries standards, basically you are not getting a job unless you have some experience in software X because that what all the offices are using and they don't really care about freeware or open source, they want reliability and support, and spending a lot of money on something provides the feeling that it must be quality, so mostly everyone buys the most expensive of the better software packages
Thats exaclty the reason why Adobe is bigger in the buisness than Corel And seriously, I dont mean microsoft products. Microsoft is in that case one of the most generous firms out there.
More expensive software = more development and support = (generally) better product. I love opensource and I use them quite often, but its like the difference between a professionally made game (say from Valve) and a mod.
...You ratting on Empires, Boy? *insert angry face here* I can just imagine 30 scouts all rushing out of nowhere and meleeing Scardybob.
MS is pretty damned generous in general. Here in the Seattle Area, we've paid for schools to get stadiums when they couldn't afford it, we give money like we have an unlimited amount...just got done with a huge giving campaign. It never ceases to surprise me. anyway, back on topic: No, that's not it at all. Are there companies that will hire you ONLY if you know the software they use? Sure....sometimes. But I know solidedge, not autoCAD, but can still get jobs using autoCAD... I got a job offer to work in MS' Mac Office group using scripting & objective C - two things I had NEVER used, instead knowing C, C#, PHP, LISP and so forth...the general point was that I had a good basis and the ability to learn new tools. In other words, the crappy companies looking for an employee to fill their current needs (IE, companies I avoid) will go "he doesn't know Java! No hire!", and the explanation of "C# is very similar to Java, thus I could learn Java in a very short period of time" just goes WELL over their heads. Microsoft's view was "you show the ability to learn new tools, and have a good basis in C already, we can teach you the rest." I think that is a good tell as to what type of company you're looking at: do they just want you do fulfill your job reqs and otherwise not help you grow, or do they consider hiring you to be an investment... tbh, Empires has a lot of room to get better. Does that mean its bad? No, not really...but it doesn't have the polished feel a released game does...and that's true for most mods (and even most open source software.) Scardybob has a very valid point.
I play mods more often than professionally released games because they have more interesting gameplay. I kind of look at it this way If I want to watch an interactive movies = Professionally made game (good example is BioShock) If I want to have some zany fun = One of the many interesting mods They fill different niches so there is room for Zombie Master and Left4Dead in the gaming community.
Multiplayer games usually are not interactive movies; games like Oblivion and FC2 at least give you a bit more interaction...games like GOW, Bioshock, COD4 and so on are literally just interactive movies that can be very annoying at times. One of the many reasons I don't buy single player games much anymore.
