>>>Kevin, I still think that OS is going to become a server-only issue invisible to 99.999% of people; the rest of us will use phone-sized devices and micropayment subscriptions to various applications to do most of what we need.
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>>No, it ain't gonna happen. They said the same in 1985, 1990, 1990, 2000 and 2005. And they will say it again in 2010 and 2015. Do you remember NET PC? Biggest flop of all time. Do you really think people will go back to dumb terminals? Sorry. People want computing POWER.
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>a) When developing at large clients side the dev environment gets more crippled every year. Sometimes connecting the laptop to the LAN is impossible, USB ports are closed, DVD's are bought and disabled... Most of the times easy hacks are possible if I *need* it, but carry their own dangers if not cleared with at least 2 levels of managment. In such scenarios "eternal vigilance" translates into strict policies leaving you the freedom to obey, outwit them or search for another gig<g>.
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>b) I have *more* power accessing the combo of workstations-grade machines via MSTSC than I can pack into the best laptop. Screen refresh is fast enough most of the times, my logging approach can be set easily to lower levels.
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>regards
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>thomas

I don't say that handheld devices won't be widely used, I only say that they won't replace PC's.