Tom’s Hardware’s 2015 Wish List

Opinion
By The Editors of Tom's Hardware
published

We've covered our "practical" gift ideas, we've petitioned the elves-in-charge for more extravagant presents and now we fire off our wishes for the future. Some of them are implausible. Others might be more than a year away. But we still have hope, right?

A Smartphone That Can Run Any Mobile OS

While I primarily write about mobile devices for Tom’s Hardware, at heart, I’m a PC enthusiast who built his first gaming PC in the early nineties to run Strike Commander. Therefore, Google’s Project Ara modular phone is something that greatly interests me. Still, while being able to customize my phone’s hardware is something that could be cool for tinkerers, I’m not sure how practical a modular phone will be. I’d still probably be happier with a purpose-built smartphone powered by the latest top-end hardware.

What I would like to see, though, is the ability to install the OS of my choosing on any given hardware platform. Imagine being able to choose your phone hardware without having to decide on what OS ecosystem you have to tie yourself into. I want the freedom to install Android, Windows Phone, Ubuntu or even BlackBerry on my phone legally without having to hack anything. While it would be nice if l could either dual-boot OSes or switch whenever I want, I’d even be happy with the option to only pick the mobile OS during the initial setup. Of course, I did not mention iOS in the list above since we all know that Apple would never allow its OS on any hardware but its own. Even wishes have limits. - By Alex Davies

The Editors of Tom's Hardware
84 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Onus
    I'm with JP; I want to see software released when it's ready, and not before. This mostly applies to games, but how many patches has Microsoft released for Office?
    And here's one. HP remembers how to write Windows-compliant printer drivers that don't get randomly stepped on in managed environments every time updates are pushed out.
    I also want to see some good games, typically adventure / RPG, that do not have an "always online" requirement to play in single-user mode.
    Reply
  • TechnoD
    1. AMD releases a competitive CPU
    2. Freesync becomes widely and universally adopted
    3. Oculus Rift Release
    4. No more crappy console ports

    If these 4 things happen in 2015, then in my mind, its a success
    Reply
  • DookieDraws
    I want one Terabyte SSDs for less than $100.

    I want Windows 10 to be the most user-friendly Windows yet, and cost no more than $30 US dollars,

    More to come at 11. :)
    Reply
  • none12345
    1) Freesync to become a universally adpoted standard.

    2) AMD returns to glory. Without AMD pushing them, intel has gotten REALLY lethargic lately. 5% or 10% improvements are joke. I want a return to the good old days of 50-100% a year. Tho id say its unlikely to see this in 2015, and probably unlikely in 2016....but i can hope!

    3) Graphics cards coming out that increase performance 50-100% over current offerings. Like cpus, graphics refreshes over the last few years have been pretty disappointing. Not as bad as the progress in the CPU space, but still quite disappointing. Mainly the foundries fault, as they have all fallen behind schedgule with the most recent processes. Hopefully 2015 sees a real GPU come out.

    4) Ill sign on with the buggy video games with short play times. I refuse to preorder anything for this reason. If you aren't willing to give me 40 hours of unique game play for that $60, ill wait till its on sale for $5-$10 before i buy it. If the reviews come out that its a crappy console port, i wont even give you $10 for it. On the other hand, come out with a complete game with at least 40 hours of unique content, and i have money in hand for a day 1 buy(after i read reviews, sorry i don't trust most of the studios anymore to release quality). The same goes for overpriced DLC. Ive got money in hand for a full fledged expansion, but i don't want DLC with 1 hour of game play for $10. And i certainly don't want day 1 or month 1 DLC. If it was ready at release that almost certainly means it was removed from the game to charge more for. You wont be getting my business if you do this.
    Reply
  • yanta
    3 things for me...

    I'd like to see entertainment synchronization. No more of this "it's available in the US but nowhere else in the world". One reason some people pirate is they just can't get the stuff in their country. We should be free to choose our personal entertainment experiences, and that means all music, TV, games and movies, available worldwide, at the same time. They do it for many movies each year... do it for everything.

    And of course, Operating Systems; I'd like to see Linux come of age. To run everything that you can throw at it (better than Windows), and all games, applications and media will just work. Coming of age means simplification of tasks, stability, compatability and of course major UX improvements and a reduction in terminal dependencies.

    Windows 10 is going nowhere. It's just Windows 8.2 really. It's a kids toy for the visually impaired and people who have no idea of security, privacy and real computer work (eg. Social butterflies).

    And Lastly, no more "online-requirement games! I have boycotted several games purely because they require me to be always connected to the internet.

    @Dookiedraws.. A TB SSD for under a $100... Yes! That would be nice.
    Reply
  • HomerThompson
    I want SteamOS to take off so that I never have to use Windows again to play AAA games.
    Reply
  • ikefu
    Mine would be these: 1) Upload speeds that match my download speeds (sucks uploading large project files) 2) Android/Google maps integration in my car 3) Ultrabook or 2-in-1 with decent graphics that lasts at least five hours while gaming.
    Reply
  • George Mulligan
    1. PSU cable pin-out standardization
    2. Halt to production of HDDs in favor of SSDs only. Isn't this like still producing 3.5" floppies?
    3. Cancellation of any Windows development past Windows 7
    4. Ditch DVI in favor of HDMI
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    Flying cars, hoverboards, and a Cubs - Miami world series.

    Come on, am I the only one who's seen Back To The Future Part II tons of times? :lol:
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    1. ISPs in the US return to title 2 like they were in the 90s so we can get some actual competition going on and not sit on 150mbs down in select markets for another half decade while giving major isps millions a year to burry fiber optic that they still haven't bought since the 96 tellcom communication act.

    2.AMD releases an i7 slayer. Intel needs it, AMD needs it.

    3. full DP1.3 for all new monitors. (Which BTW supports HDMI 2.0)

    4. No more big release games launched before they're ready.
    Reply