which is ahead sotfware or hardware?

[Cyberduke]

My father and I is having an argument.

He says that hardware is 6-7 years ahead of software development.

I agree with the fact that the hardware is ahead but I don't think it is 6-7 years.

But we agree that the only way to settle the argument is for me to post it here and see who is right and who is wrong. Maybe we are both wrong.

[Bladerunner]

[THE_STIG]

that is what I was thinking . btw hardware can do nothing without software and vica versa so how can one be way ahead of the another

[Cyberduke]

He says that there is no way that software can use all 4 cores on 4 pc with 4 cores. And that software don't use all the capiblities on hardware.

He also says that the software developers have a hard time developing software that uses the hardware fully.

[Sojourn]

I would say you are both right and wrong. But...you cannot generalise like you are - it is very situational.

Some software is right on top of the hardware it is designed for (think Android).

Some hardware will always seem to be steps ahead of software, due to the requirement of software to be backwards compatible. What you get is a situation where Win XP can be used on most modern PC hardware, but it is hardly ideal - does not mean that the software to optimally use the hardware does not exist.

If you take into account the production and development life cycle, it is absolutely pointless to develop software for hardware that is not released yet. Meaning software will always be a baby step behind the hardware.
Most of the big players out there either have their internal departments releasing software (or the specifications are provided to a 3rd party) for newly developed hardware - in tandem. (I am most talking about base architecture, like mobo's and graphics cards for instance.)

In my opinion, if hardware gets released, software to make use of features are in most cases immediately available (even if it is just some form of demo), with 3rd parties creating apps to make use of it within 12 months, at most.

If you buy hardware without the software supporting its features, you can hardly blame the industry.

[StarBound]

Depending on the software and depending on the hardware. But if you wish to nail it then say it like this:
Games are being developed for consoles which is the tech from 5 years ago. Since then PC hardware has grown leaps and bounds. The fact that so little games support direct x 11 is testament that software has not kept up to hardware. The only reason a game runs bad is because it was coded badly.

Funny thing is that 10 years ago software was ahead of hardware with games like doom 3 crippling even the best of systems. The most recent game to do so was Crysis that destroyed any high end system on its release.

[Sojourn]

Star, I don't think they only have games in mind.
If games are their point of referance, then this discussion is moot - same rules don't apply due to the console issue you mentioned.

[Stuart]

Star, I don't think they only have games in mind.
If games are their point of referance, then this discussion is moot - same rules don't apply due to the console issue you mentioned.

Consoles, and the fact that they can't exactly make games to only take advantage of the latest tech since so many PC gamers don't have the latest hardware. Which could potentially be the case with certain software too, I guess.

In conclusion ...

My father and I is having an argument.

Don't argue with your dad!

But we agree that the only way to settle the argument is for me to post it here

Thank you for your supreme confidence in us. I am afraid, however, that we are not going to settle your argument for you. Now go buy your dad a KFC ice cream to say sorry for arguing with him and write to Luis instead.

[GreyWolf]

May I jump in with 3d modeling and animation software?

You want to show hardware who's boss? Create a scene in 3Dsmax, crank up the polygons, reflective textures, refractive materials, caustics and global illuminaiton. Then render it in HD.

Your hardware will be screaming like a little girl in no time at all.

[hamin_aus]

Thats pretty specialised software - not something most people can just pickup and use.

I might as well jump in here and and tell everyone to spin up an MSSQL server with SQL, Analysis and Reporting server services, attach several terrabyte+ databases and start doing OLTP and OLAP processing for an enterprise sized organization

And I think as far as graphics rendering goes, thats a field where hardware will propbably never be as powerful that the software needs

[GreyWolf]

as graphics rendering goes, thats a field where hardware will propbably never be as powerful that the software needs

Well then, software wins, case closed.

[hamin_aus]

My father and I is having an argument.

Thread went platinum with it's first sentence!

[Cyberduke]

Thanks guys.

But we agree that the only way to settle the argument is for me to post it here

Thank you for your supreme confidence in us. I am afraid, however, that we are not going to settle your argument for you. Now go buy your dad a KFC ice cream to say sorry for arguing with him and write to Luis instead.

I will consider writing him one.


ps. My father knows I posted here but he still has to read this.

[JollyJamma]

I think there have been instances where software has been ahead of hardware.

Flight sim X ran at 10fps with the best rig at the time. There is no way there's a 6-7 year difference though.