Will we ever get a rival to the PC?

[BowdonUK]

I was just watching this video about an American guy visiting a couple of UK retro collection places.

An American Visits British Computer Museums

Computer museums are a great place to check out the coolest of vintage tech. I’ve been to my share in America, but what about the rest of the world? Join me ...

youtu.be

One thing that hit me straight away was the amount of computer/console rivalries ie at least 2 or more different machines clashing against each other in the different eras.

Today we have the PC dominating the market with Apple hanging on.

Are we ever going to see a rival to this situation?

Apple is ok. But it doesn't seem to be used much in business, which is how the PC slowly crept to market domination. Apple are also overly expensive. They aren't going to become the number 1 home seller anytime soon.

When I'm talking about a new rival I mean one that is using it own operating system, maybe Linux, and own custom chips, maybe RISC based.

We know from history that back in the day regular games publisher's had some input on the next machines being built. I assume that would also give a commitment to make games for it.

I'm sure if enough development with new chips, graphic cards and a stripped down OS, making the machine a hybrid between computer and console, it could be a winner.

As a former Amiga owner I've seen how a loyal fan base can carry a machine beyond its years and technical capabilities ie it doesn't need to be the best as long as we feel part of it.

What do others think of the potential for a new brand of machine appearing?

 

[almoststew1990]

No. The office environment is so tied down to windows and office that I can’t see that market ever changing. As a result I can’t see the general home market changing either. Steam, who arguably have a nearly complete stronghold on PC gaming, failed with its steam PCs and that was before gamepass, tolerable streaming and PC gaming in particular back then was a neat niche ready to be poked and explored for non windows platforms.

Interestingly the steam deck has succeeded but this is despite it being a non windows PC and not because of it.

 

[dave28]

Something new always comes up or possibly just slowly change over time into something quite different than we current view as a PC.

 

[Mr Jack]

Apple and PC aren't really competing. Apple makes combined hardware/OS. Microsoft makes an OS, and everybody and their dog makes the PCs that will run it. That lets Apple sell their hardware at a premium but also stops them ever dominating the market (their share is pretty healthy and growing though). Even if Linux was ever to graduate to being a market leader, it'd still run on a PC.

Will Windows dominance last forever? I don't know. More and more applications are now web-based, which makes the OS they're accessed from basically irrelevant, and that opens up the opportunity for a different system to displace it. Of the current contenders, I think Android is actually the most likely to knock it off its perch. As tablet/phone technology continues to progress, and with Android having 2.5x the user base of Windows, there may come a time that the desktop PC just starts seeming antiquated and gets displaced by docked tablets.

 

[d_brennen]

Apple and PC aren't really competing. Apple makes combined hardware/OS. Microsoft makes an OS, and everybody and their dog makes the PCs that will run it. That lets Apple sell their hardware at a premium but also stops them ever dominating the market (their share is pretty healthy and growing though). Even if Linux was ever to graduate to being a market leader, it'd still run on a PC.

Will Windows dominance last forever? I don't know. More and more applications are now web-based, which makes the OS they're accessed from basically irrelevant, and that opens up the opportunity for a different system to displace it. Of the current contenders, I think Android is actually the most likely to knock it off its perch. As tablet/phone technology continues to progress, and with Android having 2.5x the user base of Windows, there may come a time that the desktop PC just starts seeming antiquated and gets displaced by docked tablets.

Microsoft probably agree, hence the failed Windows Phone, tentative steps into Windows on ARM and the actually quite good Surface line of Windows tablets.

I did actually like the Nokia Windows phones

 

[KraniX]

I did actually like the Nokia Windows phones

I had a Lumia, lovely hardware and the OS was good, just had bugger all apps.

 

[Rroff]

So much is tied to Windows x86 these days I can't see it happening, even Windows on ARM doesn't get much traction. Even where people use Android it often ties back into Windows.

RISC OS was in many ways light years ahead at one point but is very much a niche OS today.

 

[BowdonUK]

So much is tied to Windows x86 these days I can't see it happening, even Windows on ARM doesn't get much traction. Even where people use Android it often ties back into Windows.

RISC OS was in many ways light years ahead at one point but is very much a niche OS today.

I can agree with this if we're comparing computer vs computer.

But like when Sony appeared on the scene with playstation, or we have Nintendo today. They are both using different OS's than Windows.

I wonder if the rival could come from a hybrid ie a console with office applications, which would end up travelling with opposite way to the PC, Amiga, Atari ST etc. But would end up at the same destination.

Though I wonder how long until we move to using a terminal.

 

[Stripedcat]

Interesting question. It's got to be remembered that during the 1990s - after Apple had moved over to Power PC chips and Steve Jobs left the company for Next, Apple were in a bit of trouble and had small section of the market(although Microsoft did own a share in them), then when Jobs returned they enjoyed a renaissance with the colourful IMacs, the Ipod, the IPhone, Ipad, switch to Intel chips and more recently the switch to ARM chips. Some of that was down to seeing a market for how technology would progress. They have managed to make an inroads to the small office/home office sector of the market, what with Windows still getting used for most businesses though. I suppose I can see maybe Intel losing their position, and ARM taking over; although, it remains to be seen if Microsoft will make the successful switch to that platform.

 

[Timber]

No, because of consolidation. Microsoft, Apple & Google all fighting over the PC & mobile markets.

I do think the Raspberry Pi is the closest thing we'll see to a modern day equivalent; modern RISC hardware, custom hardware/tinkering (i.e. official touchscreen, hats etc.) and it's own OS (or massive choice of). Even if this is a stretch the one commonality might be the community. There is a pretty passionate and fervent community around the Raspberry Pi. Like there was/is with formats like the C64, Amiga etc.

 

[Jim99]

Something will change eventually, e.g. a point where for the average office person a fully-fledged OS is more risky than anything else and tablet-style operating systems are used instead. But I can't see anyone challenging MS at their own game - it would more be that current OSs as we know them become outmoded.

 

[!bluetonic!]

No.

Would you buy in to an alternative?

I'm fed up of MS using 'my' desktop (and therefore PC) as an advertising billboard, and forcing my hand however they chose. But, all my games, peripherals etc. I can't be bothered to learn something new at my age.

I can't run XPlane 12 on a Raspberry Pi.

Look at the Amiga One project. It cost a fortune to buy and in reality, was no better than a modern PC emulating an Amiga to the average Joe.

AmigaOne - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

AROS, BeOS, FriendOS, OS/2, 1000s of Linux variants. The best thing I've seen recently is modern support for Windows 2000.

I tried to install OS/2 onto an old PC and it lacked support for my sound card and network card, when on Win2K, it just worked.