This is actually a very interesting observation. When it comes to having software made available for multiple architectures, the open source community is way ahead of everybody else.

Even if the author of an open x86 application is lazy/busy/indifferent about releasing for other architectures, somebody else may already have taken the liberty. And if not, you can crank out a binary yourself.

I was interested in replacing a personal x86 Debian server with something lower-power but was avoiding ARM for the longest time because I was afraid I would lose a lot of the software I use regularly. I didn't figure ARM was good for anything more than smartphones and game consoles. Then I took a look at Debian's ARM repository and found that every single Linux program I needed was already there. So, $35 and a few apt-get's later, and I had a Raspberry Pi running all of my same applications on a completely different architecture.

The point of all this? It was no hassle for me to switch to ARM while sticking with the same OS and applications.

Seriously. It doesn't take a whiz to figure this out.

They call it the iPee.

Javascript.

...what are they going to do? Fire him?

...but if you're running Vista or 7, you're on your own. At least, according to Slashdot's headline...

It's okay. He is redeemed by his clever portmanteau of "Windows" and "doze."

You can change your file associations to use non-Metro software. The image viewer that came with 7 is still there in 8, so you can set it to be your default for viewing images. (Or there are some great alternatives out there, I like Irfanview.) Same deal with Windows Media Player, you can tell it to use the desktop version rather than the Metro version. (Or in my case, Media Player Classic.)

Even without classic shell, I have gotten by just fine in desktop mode. I only see Metro when the computer reboots (not often) or when I press the Windows key and start typing to do a search. I do prefer 7's style of searching over 8, but it's not a huge deal for me. I had to get used to using WinKey + i to initiate sleep/restart/shutdown, but other than that my workflow has not suffered from switching.

This discussion is about the Windows desktop operating systems, not Windows Mobile. When WM fizzles out, it won't impact their family of desktop operating systems.

We heard you like ports, so we're putting ports in your ports.

I've gotten used to "Windows Key + i" every time I want to do a shutdown.

In RDP, I use "Ctrl + Alt + End" to initiate a shutdown.

Hope somebody here finds these shortcuts useful.

Well, the post I replied to singled out an explanation of Ruby itself, and not the remaining "with a poorly designed API intended for web use" portion.

Um? Yes it is.

It's a locomotive-driven precious stone.