Windows Vista kicked out of Olympics

[ryengineer]

Microsoft's latest version of Windows is too risky to implement for the important computers managing the 2008 Olympic summer games in Beijing, said the event's computer supplier and sponsor Lenovo. The ThinkPad manufacturer's chairman Yang Yuanqing warned that a new and likely unstable OS such as Vista "could have some problems" if it were brought into an environment where reliability is important, such as tracking athlete statistics. All of the 12,000 critical systems will run the 6-year-old Windows XP, while Vista will only be allowed on shared terminals for the athletes where the danger of a crash is low, Lenovo said. The warning reflects both a general cautiousness from business and concerns that Vista's business release came too soon for many companies, failing to support some of the necessary hardware and forcing numerous software developers to rewrite significant portions of professional software to let them run on the new OS.

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(IDG News Service) -- BEIJING -- Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system, Vista, has been relegated to waterboy status at the 2008 Olympic Games, while wireless networking won't even play a supporting role in Beijing.

Windows XP was chosen to run on all PCs handling chores vital to the Olympic Games and has been installed on most of the PCs delivered by Lenovo Group Ltd. Vista will be used only on PCs in Internet lounges set up for athletes to use during the games.

The Olympic Games require mature, stable technologies, said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo, during a briefing in Beijing. The Olympic Games aren't a place to try new technologies because of the size and importance of the event, he said. Everything must work smoothly.

"If it's not stable, it could have some problems," he said.

That's why all the Olympic Games' vital PC-related tasks, including games management systems, results systems, commentator information systems, and staff and scheduling systems, will run on XP.

Wireless networking has also been deemed too risky for the 2008 Olympics. There will be no wireless used among the core systems of the Olympic Games, said Leon Xie, director of Olympic technology and sponsorship at Lenovo. All networking will take place over wire lines, including the backup system.

"At the Olympics, we need the most reliable and stable system," he said.

The games, whose official one-year countdown began today, is a massive event. It will require four times as much IT hardware as the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, Xie said.

Lenovo, the official computing sponsor of the games, has already delivered 12,000 desktop PCs and 2,000 printers to the organizers in Beijing, in addition to 800 laptops and 700 servers. Another 5,000 PCs were sent over for the athlete's lounges and other hospitality and marketing purposes.

The desktop systems include mainly Lenovo ThinkCentre M55s, while the laptops include both ThinkPad T60s and Zhaoyang 680s. The server systems include SureServer models T350, R630 and R520.

All software and other IT choices made for the games came from The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Xie said.

[The Spirit of X21]

"If it's not stable, it could have some problems," he said.

Then why aren't they using Linux?

[KaneElson]

I know you are just trolling but I would have to take a guess that none of their software is written for linux.

[The Spirit of X21]

I know you are just trolling but I would have to take a guess that none of their software is written for linux.

Judging from your post count (6), it looks like you're pretty new around here. To folks who know me, I just made a joke (hence the wink.) You can see in my sig that my T40 is running Windows XP and Vista.

[mattbiernat]

Then why aren't they using Linux?

or Mac

[SHoTTa35]

or for that matter Windows 2000. Anyone here (even the Penguins and the Apples) can say Windows 2000 was one rock solid os without all the pretty. You can run that thing and smack it with crap and it'll still be shinny and running.

[The Spirit of X21]

or for that matter Windows 2000.

Sure. Of course, I like the look and feel of XP more, but I ran Win2K on both my X21 and X23 without issue. Very reliable.

[jdhurst]

Then why aren't they using Linux?

Because Linux is NO more stable than XP. Since XP has NEVER crashed for me (and at least one distro of Linux HAS), why would anyone select Linux for reliability?

[Melvyn]

Because Linux is NO more stable than XP. Since XP has NEVER crashed for me (and at least one distro of Linux HAS), why would anyone select Linux for reliability?

Sorry, I (maybe) disagree.

1- Linux as desktop isn't more stable than XP. Linux as command line is solid as rock... (and useless for this purposes of course).

2- XP crash all time on some computers. Curiously, my T42 have an XP install on november 2006 (10 months old) and count zero crashes. It's solid as rock. That don't apply to another XP installations. Only in this TP, very heavy loaded.

Why is XP so stable in this T42? I can't figure out.

[mattbiernat]

Why is XP so stable in this T42? I can't figure out.

maybe jdhurst was right about thinkpad hardware. on my 2 other comps XP used to crash all the time. right now on my T60 it almost never happens.

[The Spirit of X21]

Well, so much for jests.....

[Purcy]

Well, so much for jests.....

LOL, right. Maybe you needed to insert the Big Bouncing Bird as a "kidding" alert?

[The Spirit of X21]

LOL, right. Maybe you needed to insert the Big Bouncing Bird as a "kidding" alert?

Ha! Noted. I'll have to try that next time, Pattye. Perhaps followed by a roflmao, jk, or LOLZ1!!11.....?

[Kyocera]

Well, so much for jests.....

Anybody........... who has the guts.............. and I mean guts........ to wear KittyKat headgear, should only be taken seriously when they specifically say something like "but seriously though".

[The Spirit of X21]

LOL! Seriously though; thank you, Kyocera and Purcy, for your support and appreciation for the kind of masculinity (dare I say, chutzpah!) required for such a feat. It is unfortunate that humor is taken so seriously at times, but it's nice to know that some can understand and dig it.


Oh, and of course.........

[ryengineer]

snip...............Why is XP so stable in this T42? I can't figure out.

Guy my post was not meant to initiate an OS conflict here. Regardless of whether Linux / Windows is reliable than the other one or not. Lenovo chose Windows XP because it felt it's the most stable OS in Windows family yet and why no Windows Vista because lenovo were not ready to take chances with it at a big event like olympics.

On a sidenote winks are for mere jokes and without these animations (emotions/expressions should I say) things can go quite dirty, not only online but also in real lives. I hope people do understand by now that X21 was kidding.

[tomh009]

Guy my post was not meant to initiate an OS conflict here. Regardless of whether Linux / Windows is reliable than the other one or not. Lenovo chose Windows XP because it felt it's the most stable OS in Windows family yet and why no Windows Vista because lenovo were not ready to take chances with it at a big event like olympics.

Making choices for an event like Olympics is all about minimizing risk. Running a new OS like Vista (or Linux, or OS X) typically gains you nothing, as you will get no additional publicity or bonus points for that. But you are taking an additional risk that things might not work, and then you end up with major egg on your face ...

So minimize the risk. If the last olympics went well with Windows XP, stick with what works!

[RealBlackStuff]

@tomh009 <off-topic>

as I am on holidays, I don't check in regularly, so haven't seen it before, but your avatar seems to me way too sleek for a parrot. You a seagull or a swallow or what?

[tomh009]

Yeah, it's no parrot ... it's an Arctic Tern.

[milstein]

Also, there's no such "Crisp" feelings for users in Vista
Almost everything responses a bit more slowly (with some animation)

[tomh009]

Hmmm ... for me, Vista is very snappy.