Ok stephen, whatever you say...I know you don't use or have Vista
installed and you despise everything from MS so it goes without saying
that all of your opinions must conform to that way of thinking.
No Frank, that is incorrect. I don't despise everything from MS. I don't
despise anything actually. I actually absolutely LOVE this keyboard I am
writing on right now, and Microsoft made it. It doesn't work 100% correctly
with any version of windows (and it isn't limited to this one, I have
more than one of this identical model on more than one computer), but the
keyboard itself is excellent. Very ergonomic, very good feel, quiet, and
the wrist rest is just perfect. It's a wonderful keyboard, one of the best
purchases I ever made. And believe me, getting electronics shipped from
Japan is difficult and expensive!
So no, I don't despise anything Microsoft.
I just simply don't buy into every single piece of Marketing Hype that
Microsoft releases. I don't only see the good parts, I also see the
problems and don't pretend they aren't there. I've also developed
operating systems myself. On a much smaller scale of course, for embedded
hardware. But the underlying principles essentially remain the same. On
the contrary, some things are more difficult when all you have available is
200MHz, 16 megs Flash and 32 megs of RAM. Every byte memory counts at that
point in time! =)
So most the things that may impress many users, that possibly impresses
you, does usually very little to impress me just because I know how it
actually works and that it isn't nearly as special as the marketing
department likes to advertise. I don't fault Marketing for what they do,
that's their job and they are supposed to be good at it. I wouldn't do
anything different in their place. But hey, that doesn't mean *I* need to
buy into it. =)
At the end of the day, I don't really have a problem with Microsoft. If
anything, I'm disappointed that Microsoft can't do better considering the
resources they have. I'm disappointed at some of the choices Microsoft has
made in how they treat their customers.
I don't even really have a problem with Vista per se. I was fine with the
user interface. Some things about it I actually did like believe it or
not. Performance wise it also did fine, though I'd kind of expect that on
my system that scores 5.3 and higher across the board. Highest score I
got for one thing was a 5.9 I think. Most of the stuff that annoys me I'd
just turn off and I'd be perfectly happy with it.
What I *don't* like, and why I primarily don't use it are the "extras"
that Microsoft forces on their customers.
1. I don't agree with the EULA
2. I don't agree with my hardware being monitored, WGA and what else the
other various acronyms are.
3. I don't agree with DRM and refuse to support it, software that enforces
it and content that contains DRM.
4. It simply lacks a few features that these days I would no longer want to
live without. It's a very very short list, but it's significant enough to
where most items on said list I use on a daily basis.
5. It's beyond overpriced. And that isn't an issue of being able to afford
it, I am currently contemplating a purchase of a new 2007/2008 Yamaha R1
when I move back to the US, and I mean cash not financed. I think I can
afford Vista. But that doesn't mean I actually want to pay that much.
I mean think of it this way. All my life I've been a programmer that
exclusively writes windows software. I started out on MS-DOS and then
moved to Windows. I even beta tested Microsoft's .Net Framework and fully
switched to it while it was still in beta for production work. That's how
much I liked it and I've used it for years and know it inside and out.
I've never in my life before touched any form of Linux. Matter of fact, I
wanted absolutely nothing to do with Linux and anything open source.
Essentially, I thought similar along your lines Frank. So considering
this, do you really think that I switched to Linux on a whim?
If I used to despise anything to be honest, it used to be Linux and
anything open source. I've actually gotten into quite some heated
arguments about both with people in the past with me firmly on the Windows
side. And now? I'm writing this from Ubuntu not even slightly regretting
making the move to Linux, I'm glad I did. It's one of the best decisions
I've ever made.
So what pushed me this way? What made me change my way of thinking? The
simple fact that I no longer agree with Microsoft's way of thinking. Their
philosophy is one I can no longer agree with. Microsoft took things
that I already didn't like about XP, and made them even worse under
Vista. So that shows me where they are trying to go. They are essentially
trying to gain too much control over my system. And yes Frank, an
operating system that can at any given point in time decide if I am
allowed to use it or not *is* too much control.
That is my core problem with Microsoft. I can't and actually don't
fault them for what they do. I can see why they'd want to do that.
But that doesn't mean I have to agree with it nor does it mean I
despise them. I will of course support Vista and any other operating
system they release in the future with the software I write, but it's
unlikely that I will switch back because I just don't personally need
their OS anymore.
If Microsoft one day releases an Operating System that has an EULA I can
agree with and doesn't have features built-in to disrupt me and cause me
problems, that doesn't monitor me, doesn't try to restrict what I do with
my computer and has a really really compelling feature that I absolutely
want to have...then maybe I'll consider it.
--
Stephan
2003 Yamaha R6
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