Episode 87: Microsoft and AMD Making a Comeback?

from The *Nixed Report · host Thomas Holbrook II

Shaggy and Thomas have noticed how the software giant that has been notorious for vendor lock-in has been making some changes as of late. AMD has also been making some interesting moves with their hardware. Are both companies poised to make a comeback?

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 27, 2015

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What this episode covers

Let's face it. Windows 8 was not well received . A radical change to the UI bred contempt from customers and power users alike. When news about "Windows 9," started surfacing, the Redmond Giant pulled the proverbial rug out from everyone's feet; they skipped 9 and went straight to 10. Shaggy thinks this is due to the backlash that Windows 8/8.1 had received. In either event, Microsoft is attempting to unify their OS across computers, tablets, and phones . Those who are runing Windows 7 SP1, 8, and 8.1 will be able to upgrade for free. Be warned that home users won't have as much discretion regarding updates unless this utility is install for now (Pro users may have slightly more choice). Enterprise users will have the most control over the installation of updates on their systems. Techradar has a good piece on it. The company has also made Office available on Android as well and are unifying the look and feel on OS X as well. Thomas speculates that it's only a matter of time before it's available on Linux-based platforms. DirectX 12 Multiple GPU support via Multiadapter : Explicit: More complex than Implicit, but allows for multipel GPU's from different manufacturers (including integraded graphics). Implicit Think AMD CrossFire and Nvidia SLI. AMD Graphics Cards: Fury X : Came first. Fury : Stripped down version of the Furty X. Both use HBM, which is faster than GDDR5 graphics memory. They came out with Mantle , which is a low level API for graphics (influenced DX12), but it's now transformed into Vulkan , the successor to OpenGL. Comeback Kids? Microsoft has taken a beating over Windows 8, and AMD's stock has been down for quite some time. However, both Thomas and Shaggy believe that both companies are poised to make a comeback in the near future.