Just Say No to Microsoft 547
Ben Rothke writes "Load up a computer today with a basic set of applications software, and there will be a de facto Microsoft tax on that computer. Add roughly $100- for the Windows XP operating systems and $350- for Microsoft office, and you have a significant initial financial outlay. If one would use an open source operating system and set of office applications, the cost savings would be enormous. That is why the option of open source is so financially compelling to the both the consumer and organizations have thousands of computers. And open source is corresponding such a threat to companies such as Microsoft. The idea of saving money and never having to worry about a blue screen of death is the proverbial win/win scenario." Read on for Ben's review.
| Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think | |
| author | Tony Bove |
| pages | 243 |
| publisher | No Starch Press |
| rating | 7 |
| reviewer | Ben Rothke |
| ISBN | 159327064X |
| summary | Open source alternatives to Microsoft operating systems and applications |
With that, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think would seemingly be a most valuable book in helping consumers and corporations rid themselves of the Microsoft tax. Unfortunately, the book spends far too much time slurring Microsoft and Bill Gates.
The books main charges are that Microsoft has been far too predatory and that Bill Gates is not the technical genius that he is made out to be. Microsoft's questionable business tactics are not without ethical lapses, but it must noted that Microsoft is simply one in a long line of companies that have used their size and deep pockets to quash the competition. Microsoft is not alone and joins companies such as American Airlines, Ford and General Motors, Wal-Mart and more that have engaged in practices that while good for their stockholders, have not been good for the competition.
Bove is correct that Microsoft's practices over the years have discouraged innovation and stunted competition. But then again, that is true of Ford, GM and other such companies. The innovations of Ford and GM for example have been mostly superficial, without any significant improvement into crucial issues such as gas mileage and more.
Two of the companies that Microsoft has been accused of destroying are Novell and WordPerfect. Yet much of the blame for the demise of these two companies goes to their management that did not know how to properly market their products nor deal with a competitor such as Microsoft. This is not meant to imply that Microsoft is blameless, rather that Novell and WordPerfect had plenty of opportunities to fend off Microsoft, yet did not rise to the challenge.
Aside from the pervasive anti-Microsoft tone and style and the book, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think provides a good starting point for those that are looking for a cheaper and safer alternative to Microsoft products.
Chapter 1 start with an overview of the history of Microsoft and how it grew to be the largest software company in the world. In chapter 2, All You Need is a Mac, Bove feels that the quickest route to Microsoft freedom is by purchasing a Macintosh. While a Mac is not necessarily cheaper than a Wintel system, the Mac OS X is considerably more resilient against attacks. In addition, the concern of malware such as viruses and spyware are much less of an issue on a Mac.
Chapter 3 deals with what worries Microsoft the most - Linux. Bove notes that large companies that deal with thousands of end-user desktops are discovering the advantage of migrating to Linux in a big way.
Chapters 4 and 5 deal with Microsoft Word and Excel. Word documents have become the de facto standard for document exchange and are what has locked many people into staying with Microsoft Word. Excel has a similar power in being the de facto spreadsheet. Most people think that the only alternative to Word is WordPerfect and simply don't know about OpenOffice Writer and Calc or other open source alternatives. The two chapters show how it is possible to effectively collaborate on documents without having to use Word.
While the book does not get into every open source alternative to a Microsoft product, Bove's web site has a comprehensive list of open source alternatives to Windows products at www.tonybove.com/getoffmicrosoft/home.html#windows
Chapter 4 concludes with a look at the technical and practical problems with PowerPoint. Bove notes that the corrupting power of PowerPoint is so strong that otherwise normally articulate speakers turn into zombies mumbling the bullet points that appear on the slides behind them. It is not clear though how Impress, the open source alternative to PowerPoint is necessarily better from a presentation perspective.
The next few chapters deal with Outlook, the application that has launched countless viruses and worms, and also detail other network-based problems with Microsoft protocols and applications. Issues such as the never enduing cycle of Microsoft patches are also discussed.
Chapter 10 provides a 10 step program (fashioned after the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program) to free the reader from their Microsoft addition. While the steps are brief and effective, it would have been better had there been more technical details on how to migrate out of a Microsoft environment. For the person with thousands of documents and files in various Microsoft formats, it is not as effortless as to simply copy your old files onto a USB drive and move it to the new open source based host.
The book contains four parts, and there are four cartoons at the begging of each part that Bove wrote. The cartoons are quite funny in their own right and Bove should also consider a career as a cartoonist.
Ned Ludd said that the machine was the enemy, and Tony Bove feels the same way about Microsoft. For evidence, check out his campaign to stop the spread of Word documents at www.tonybove.com/getoffmicrosoft/stopdoc.html.
The only negative to the book is that there are far too many anti-negative stories of Microsoft's predatory practices. A few stories would be adequate, but there is no point in belaboring the issue in a book that is meant to be more technical and practical, as opposed to political.
For many people who don't know better, they expect that a blue screen of death and monthly patching is part of a standard computing environment. Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think is an interesting read that will open the eyes of those users to a cheaper, more secure and robust open source solution.
You can purchase Just Say No to Microsoft from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
This is worth a whole book? (Score:5, Insightful)
And if you're going to just say no to Microsoft, Apple isn't necessarily the way to go. You're still locked into all sorts of proprietary software and apps.
Perhaps a more useful book would have been "Just Say Yes to OSS", detailing all of the neat replacements for popular closed-source software, not just Windows and Office. A lot of this stuff has been ported too, so you can phase yourself over, trying out various apps on your Windows box, getting more comfortable with OSS, and gradually moving toward a closed-source-free existence.
- Greg
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:2, Funny)
Is
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:5, Insightful)
Makes you wonder why they don't go and read something they enjoy, really.
Perhaps, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:2, Insightful)
A "religious nut" would actually be the one who pushes OSS at the expense of perfectly viable non-OSS solutions. Of course, such a "religious nut" need hardly mention Microsoft to make his case for OSS.
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think you're saying OSS should stand on its merits alone. Well
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Insightful)
No it doesn't. There have been a tremendous amount of research into negative advertising and it has been proven over and over that it works. That's why politicians do it, that's why companies do it, that's why CEOs do it.
MS (and it's lackeys) has run a smear campaign against OSS for a long time now by calling people communists, refering to open sores, calling linus and other thieves, socialists and whatever else
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:4, Insightful)
It also kind of rubs me the wrong way to have the first 60 pages of a book be a rant about free information, when the book itself isn't free-as-in-anything. (Both O'Reilly and No Starch make some of their books available for free in digital form, but not that many of them. And before anyone mods me down as -1, Hypocritical, yes, I have written some free books myself -- see my sig for examples from me and other authors.) If the author's own book isn't free, I won't criticize his decision (there's not much room in the economy for people who pay the rent by writing books that are free), but then he should omit the rant.
Prove to me that OSS is better. Do not try to argue with me that Microsoft is evil therefore I must use OSS to save my soul.
Well, I do think the ethical aspects of free information are important, but it's true that 99% of the population (including you, I guess) won't buy it -- you can't go around making these free-information speeches to people who aren't fellow travelers. They'll (a) think you're nuts, and (b) think that you're emphasizing all this philosophical stuff because OSS isn't good quality, and therefore quality itself isn't enough of a reason to prefer it over proprietary software. I think it works a lot better if you first show them that they can get something really good as free information (Linux, Wikipedia), and then let them draw their own conclusions about whether the world needs proprietary/monopoly information.
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:2)
I don't think the problem is really that he recommends Apple, but that he only recommends Apple.
Now, let's be honest here: most people don't give a hoot and a holler about being locked into proprietary formats and applications. I use a lot of FOSS applications on my Powerbook (Emacs, Pan, Xalan, OpenOffice.org) but I don't exactly feel like Adobe h
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Interesting)
Its another brick in Microsoft's tombstone. (Score:4, Insightful)
The eventual demise of Microsoft will come from the same source that saw the rise of the 'compatible' PC. It was cheaper than the alternative.
It doesn't matter how well your system is running, Microsoft is living proof that quality is not that important, but how little you had to shell out for something 'good enough.'
Cost of replacement and the slowing of the replacement cycle is going to be the death of Microsoft and give rise to cheap Linux boxes.
Books about OpenOffice (or NeoOfficeJ for older Macs) are telling people that its okay NOT to have to shell out the bucks for Microsoft (or even Apple).
I suspect that Vista will be an utter failure because people have a vested interest, read lots of bucks, in their existing machines.
When 'Joe Consumer' is faced with hanging on to his machine under Linux with OpenOffice or spendin '"beaucoup" bucks' he'll wave Microsoft 'Bye Bye' before he tosses all that green on all new hardware.
Would YOU like to have to cough up money to buy a new 64bit processor, gigs of RAM, a new mobo and a new video card, just to run an incrementally 'better' Windows experience.
Fuck that... My wallet and I voted for Linux years ago, though I my wife still owns an aging Win2K Windows box and I still own a couple of OS X 10.4.3 Macs. My last machine is an ADM64 Athlon running slackware.
People are going to vote just as they always have, with their wallets.
Not just Joe Consumer, but the corporation bosses who are stuck to buy 5K, 10K, 15K, or 20K boxes at a shot. We're still running Win2K and would still be running WinNT if we could.
Books about HOW TO DO IT for less are EXACTLY what's needed. They're not written for you. They're written for 'Joe Consumer' and to get the idea to the corporation bosses.
Just brace yourselves for all those AOLers and other newbies getting on
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:4, Interesting)
If you still see the BSOD then very likely your hardware is at fault. Although a 100% windows user and habitual upgrader/overclocker/gamer I have not seen once since last time I tried to use a Soundblaster in a VIA-based mainboard - 2001, or was it 2000?
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Informative)
Stupid SONY laptop likes to BSOD on shutdown...
I haven't had a non-hardware related BSOD since I installed Windows 2000 RC2 in 1999.
I have seen the following BSODs since then:
Dell Dimension Desktops BSOD on shutdown with some Netgear NICs. (Known issue with hardware)
Inaccessable Boot Device on some new SCSI/SATA controller trying to run the boot drive without a driver installed
SONY laptop BSOD on shutdown occasionally for
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:4, Insightful)
As a Buddhist would say, consciousness is not independent of reality and reality is not independent of consciousness nor are they dependant of each other to exist.
That said...
And OS is not independent of its hardware. Hardware is not independent of the OS.
Nor are they dependant of each other (at least in the x86/ppc/ vs linux/windows sense) so therefore a hardware issue is dependant on the OS reaction to it.
If the OS did not react poorly to bad hardware or bad interaction with hardware (drivers), then it wouldn't of course have a major failure. Now the only time I have seen WinXP bluescreen is when it had a bad reaction to a particular USB device (iPod).
However, that said, if the OS had some method of dealing with that instead of complete failure then it would be a better OS, but we can't expect it to perform miracles (like still being able to function when you yank the ram straight off the motherboard with the power on).
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a pretty bold claim, with a very tiny amount of anecdotal evidence to back it up. One person using maybe (let's be generous) five systems for who-knows-what use hasn't seen a blue screen for about five years, therefore everyone else who has is a liar?
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Interesting)
The symptom you are exhibiting is that what you've said is the equivalent of "I'm not having this problem. If you're having this problem you must be stupid and it's your fault" presumably for buying bad hardware.
There are lots of people around the world that run different hardware than you. I've seen a USB network cable (you know 2 fake UBB network adapaters bound b
Re:WORD! (Score:3, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on 2005.11.28 14:22 (#14131359)
More Slashdot masturbation material.
No, that would be Open Office, not Word!
Re:This is worth a whole book? (Score:3, Insightful)
Microsoft has gone out of it's way to make it's products vulnerable to various forms of malware and has been doing so for a number of years. They are also quite slow to alter their behaivor in this respect. The end result is a system that is broken by design. Even if Microsoft were to clean up their act completely by tomorrow, everyone else that has been following their lead needs to be dealt with.
It is Microsoft that is particularly interested in blurring the distinctio
Pricing (Score:5, Informative)
I stopped reading right there. What a load of crap. It's roughly 50$ for Windows XP Home and 100$ for MS Office.
Re:Pricing (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pricing (Score:4, Informative)
Windows Home Upgrade: $100
Windows Home: $200
Windows Pro Upgrade: $200
Windows Pro: $300
Office Standard: $400
Office Standard Upgrade: $240
These were the prices that Best Buy reports on their web page and the prices that I have seen elsewhere as well. The student and teacher edition of Office is $150.
Re:Pricing (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Pricing (Score:5, Insightful)
And you think that Dell pays $200 for that copy of MS Windows XP Home Edition on that $300 PC?
Hey, let's use your own pricing method for Linux -- apparantly the only way to get Linux is to pay $99 for Linspire at Best Buy.
This is utterly stupid. The original poster was correct that the alleged prices listed in the book are complete and utter fabrications. Using bogus numbers to make your point doesn't just fail against anyone with a clue, it undermines your points that are valid. There are plenty of valid reasons to go with Linux over Windows, particularly in a typical office environment. Stick to them.
Maybe Linus was right (Score:3, Interesting)
The actual price (which is certainly different) is a trade secret. If only because MS doesn't want everyone else paying what Dell does for windows.
Just for background, if you haven't read already this fellows [netcraft.com.au] battle with Toshiba refunding him the cost on his windows 95 license many many years ago is an entertaining read.
Re:Pricing (Score:3, Insightful)
bullshit (Score:4, Informative)
Did you pull these numbers out of your ass, microshill? Let's see, windows XP professional OEM costs $146.95 [newegg.com]. You can get a slight discount by buying a 30-pack for $4,249.95 [newegg.com]. A pre-installed version from a Dell or HPaq (without the media, so you can't reinstall and configure it yourself) would cost a little less, but certainly nowhere near $50.
Office 2003 professional (again, OEM, not retail) costs $319.95 [newegg.com]. Yes, it's also a little cheaper from a big vendor but nowhere near $100.
Please show me where you can buy windows for $50 and office for $100.
Re:bullshit (Score:3, Interesting)
The prices you quote are retail, and yes, they are accurate. But large OEMs ge
Re:bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
So you say there are volume discounts for software, but not hardware? A more r
Re:bullshit (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, it most certainly is near $50. Again, the big OEMs get HUGE discounts on software. That 30-pack you mention is NOTHING compared to the volume of millions upon millions of WinXP installations moved by the likes of DELL.
Re:Pricing (Score:3, Informative)
I stopped reading right there. What a load of crap. It's roughly 50$ for Windows XP Home and 100$ for MS Office.
I know there's a difference between retail "CompUSA" prices and OEM prices, but I think his "estimates" ($100 for Windows XP, $350 for Office) might be fair, although he should have been more specific.
$100 is probably his estimate of the "average" cost
Re:Pricing (Score:3, Informative)
I got a $379 computer with WinXP. The parts for the computer would have cost me $450 retail AND it was assembled AND the OS was already installed. (I did replace 2 noisy fans and put in a 6800 video card).
If I give up access, I can get the rest of office for about $139.
If I lie, I can get it for $99 as a student/teacher.
If I use my corporate discount, I can get it for $20 (free shipping).
If I use my corporate discount, I can get WordXp Pro for $50 (free shipping).
So why do they cha
Re:Pricing (Score:5, Informative)
2) You DO realise that big OEM resellers get the OEM versions of software at huge discounts?
Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not being a Microsoft fanboy here, I just wanted to make it clear that Microsoft is producing a huge market than many of us here rely on. Microsoft uses their profit for positive benefits to society as well: 1 [thetidenews.com] 2 [cnn.com] 3 [elitestv.com] 4 [mercurynews.com] These are just a few from November, 2005.
Also, Microsoft e
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:2, Insightful)
Ah, yes, but a thief who spends part of what he steals from you on good causes is still a thief, isn't he? If someone breaks into your house, steals a thousand dollars, and then donates ten dollars to the red cross, would you laud him for his positive benefit to society? Or would you say "that darn thief stole a thousand dollars from me"?
Microsoft is just like that, only on a larger scale.
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Insightful)
You and every other person in this world is FREE to choose against Microsoft. As many people know, Microsoft has an interface in their software that is VERY easy to use, and they are supported by more programmers than any other operating system. You can't fault Microsoft for releasing Windows 3.1 that was compatible with millions of computers and offered a fairly decent i
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3)
So you missed the whole point didn't you?
When I buy a PC, any PC, I have Windows preinstalled. That means that, even if Microsoft licensed Windows to the PC manufacturer only 50 cents, I have to pay 50 cents to Microsoft when I buy the PC.
I don't want to give any money to Microsoft, but when I buy a new PC, I have to anyway. That's the point: you're free to choose to *install* something other than Windows, but you must pay for Wind
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Interesting)
Have you been living under a rock for the last five years? Dell, HP, and thousands of independant system builders are happy to sell you a PC without Windows. Even Fry's and Wal-Mart have PCs without Windows.
The fact that those products sell poorly indicates that people want Windows.
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:4, Insightful)
A fairly amazing platform for programmers? I beg to differ. Ever since I started to develop for Windows in the mid-80s I saw what a mess the platform was in so many ways. There were other GUI systems available (even for DOS) that were cleaner and simpler. There was, of course the Mac.
My company only maintains a few Novell servers and we HATE them.
We love them. They are rock solid stable and virtually maintenance-free.
WordPerfect was always terrible except when it was running solely under DOS.
Terrible how? We still have users who use WordPerfect/Corel Office under Windows and love it, as it is far more tailored to their use than MS Office.
My users (nearly 90% in our last questionnaire) love the Word interface and look-and-feel.
I couldn't let this pass! (1) Have you shown them anything else recently? (You have to bear in mind that users will always prefer the familiar) (2) What do you mean by the Word interface? The thing keeps changing every few years, often in ways that makes it different from the main Windows GUI.
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Insightful)
If Linux fanboys want to convince, they need to make a product that works as well as the competition.
This statement is just wrong:
This book i
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it's well agreed upon that the proliferation of PCs is at least in part due to Microsoft, whose products are easy to use, even for novices. No matter what you want to think, Linux is NOT easy for inexperienced users.
How exactly is the PC revolution all thanks to Microsoft and their "ease of use for novices"? The PC revolution was well underway before the existence of Windows. I remember helping customers use software I'd written for their 286 notebook luggables running DOS 3 well before Windows made it with WFW.
If you really want less money to go to Microsoft, good sir, then I suggest you run down to the pub, gather up all your friends, and get to work on a product that genuinely replaces Windows. A product that gets the job done on high-end servers, cheap notebooks, and PDAs. A product that may not be perfect (or even close) but one that makes sense to the AVERAGE user. I wish you good luck, and remember: Linux does not meet the above requirements.
*sigh*. Yes. It does. I've converted MANY friends and family to Linux and I have far less support calls than with Windows. You see, the problem lies in the "Power Users" group - people who think they know about computers when in actual fact they only really think they know about Windows. They expect to load up an alternative operating system and have it work just like Windows. Your average Joe User can happily use a setup Linux machine without noticing too much difference because using Thunderbird/Firefox/OO on *nix is not much different to Outlook/IE/Office on Windows (seriously, how many of those whizbang office features do you think your average person uses?).
What we need to do is educate people rather than make a clone of Windows - if you let Microsoft set the rules we'll be playing catchup forever. Getting something else on OEM PCs would help since Joe Average can't exactly replace the Windows he's given now, can he?
The general followers use phrases like "whining Windows ex-pats" and come off as total assholes.
I think it's a good description of the Windows users who tend to complain that "Linux isn't ready for the desktop" based on the 5 minutes following an Ubuntu/Fedora install and before returning to Windows.
And as for the asshole comment, you're a dick :-)
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, you *sound* like one...
In fact, you sound like you're arguing everythign except realistic points (which, of course, the book does too - I don't want to sound like I'm defending it because it's crap).
In fact, everything you write here sounds exactly like the standard fears & rants of a Microsoft sharecropper who fears (greatly) the de-valuation of your company. It's certainly true that Microsoft has engendered a large subculture, but I don't think you could
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:5, Insightful)
You make a good case for Microsoft but your arguments are mostly personal (experiences) and are unreferenced. It's debatable whether Microsoft got to "be on top" because people like there system or because they had no choice.
I'd suggest reading the Findings of Fact [gpo.gov] from the Microsoft antitrust case. It's quite revealing. It details, for example, exactly how Microsoft threatened vendors with severe consquences if they even considered selling computers with competing software.
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Insightful)
Did you know that Microsoft paid no Federal taxes in 1999? And they paid 1.8% on 21.9 billion in pretax profit for 2000-2001.
Also, Microsoft employs more than 12,000 people. These people likely buy products or use services that your employer produces
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, you are.
Microsoft uses their profit for positive benefits to society as well: 1 2 3 4 These are just a few from November, 2005.
Two articles are about the Gates Foundation, which is NOT Microsoft, one was about Google, and the last was actually about MS.
Also, Microsoft employs more than 12,000 people. These people likely buy products or use services that your employer produces.
They Actually employ more along the lines of 35,000 people, however, if they were
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree, but it's the microsoft tax that is the broken window.
Also, Microsoft employs more than 12,000 people. These people likely buy products or use services that your employer produces.
Yes, and broken windows help employ glass makers.
If you actually understood the parable, instead of just trotting it out to look smart, you'd realize that the money wasted on microsoft would flow into other areas of the economy, providing a greater net benefit than just giving it to microsoft.
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:5, Funny)
There are 12'000 people involved in devising the best methods to fling shit at the customers, to feed them with shit, to serve shit in the most appetizing way.
Because people don't know anything better, people buy ShitSoft's "product". ShitSoft must be producing a huge market many hungry people rely on, right?
ShitSoft is a nice friendly company, so it donates less than 1% of its profits to help combat diseases, so this is why we should keep eating shit.
Also, ShitSoft also has around 12'000 employees, whom are contractually obliged to eat shit.
ShitSoft has been on the top for a while, they clearly created a product that everyone LIKES, because they don't know any better. That product has created jobs for millions of food specialists, contractors and plastic cutlery producers. (Because they would be totally out of their jobs if people would eat something different, right?)
But as in every fairy tale the bad, ugly guy appeared: community owned greenhouses started producing quality vegetables. They gave it away the plans of building such greenhouses and the seeds for the vegetables, only asking to share them with everyone who wants those plans and seeds.
ShitSoft had to do something: they started their "Get the feces" campaign, where they involved several independent researchers, with only a few million shares from ShitSoft or being a board member at ShitSoft. Those researchers claimed that everyone who uses community owned greenhouses must be a communist for not supporting Real hard working American produced quality branded shit wrapped in nice shiny package, but preferred vegetables. They explained that shit has a much lower Total Caloric Overall, than vegetables and that ShitSoft's shit is produced by a trustable american corporation while the vegetables are clearly on the way to ruin the american economy.
The campaign is still undecided to be effective or not, but let's not forget another issue: ShitSoft's product created a huge industry to modify some of the product's erm, "features". Some customers wanted to decrease the value of the quality shit (no idea why would they want to do that), by buying products from third party companies to make shit lose it's smell and taste, and to drive away the flies. Can you not see how ShitSoft helps the economy?
There have been certain allegations before, that ShitSoft's product is not adequate for human consumption. Such a nonsense! It is a shame that we can't disprove that since ShitSoft's End User Shit Agreement specifically forbids the analysis of their latest, "eXPerience the Shit" product and all former versions. Some people slandered ShitSoft before by claiming that shit causes diarrhea and infections and that generally everyone just should refrain from eating shit, but ShitSoft dismissed such scandalous claims.
Be patriotic, support ShitSoft, down with vegetables!
That is only half the story (Score:3, Informative)
Well, I for one rely on it only in the sense that my business offers tech support for Windows and WIndows software in general (we prefer our customers run Linux because it is less overhead for us and the customer inevitably spends more because they get more-- less money is going to tech support and more is going to making the enviro
Re:Who to blame? Idiot competitors (Score:2)
I disagree. I am a fanboy of making my time spent valuable to me. Time spent can be financially profitable or it can be socially profitable or spiritually profitable, but it must be profitable. I'm not going to waste my time reinventing the wheel, as I'm not getting paid for it, increasing my social status, or gaining spiritual wealth.
I don't know what I could say that hasn't already been sai
Facts would be a good start (Score:5, Interesting)
Even more telling is the fact that many large OEMs charge the same or more for boxes without Windows, because those systems generally prove to cost them more in the end - more support calls, more returns because their distro doesn't support the particular DAC codec, whatever. Sometimes the whole is much more than the parts.
And the whole "never worry about blue screens" really put the icing on the Lamecake. The whole blue screen argument is so 2002, and if that's what the anti-M$ bots are still spouting, they need to update their playbook.
Re:Facts would be a good start (Score:2)
Re:Facts would be a good start (Score:2)
Or you can go into System Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery and uncheck the System Failure: Automatically Restart box
Re:Facts would be a good start (Score:3, Insightful)
Actual, bonafide system crashes are virtually non-existent for most users, though of course they do occur for a small subset with shoddy hardware and/or shoddy drivers (though the same case exists for Linux as well. The OS can protect against crappy hardware, and both operating systems give kernel-mode drivers enough leeway to take dow
Typical slashdot tripe. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Typical slashdot tripe. (Score:5, Interesting)
Haven't seen any pattern of these since XP. There may have been one, due to a flaky driver, once. But, Windows CE/Me/NT is hard as a rock, and dumb as a brick.
Maybe Slashdot can atone by adding something to English: the WMD Argument Pattern. Noun. An argument so intellectually porous as to soak up the speaker's credibility.
Re:Typical slashdot tripe. (Score:3, Interesting)
I've seen significantly fewer since XP, but not zero. In fact, I can make my laptop BSoD on demand. Install EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and ask it to do anything that touches the net (get data from FreeDB; report info on the CD/DVD drive, etc) -- boom, dead. Why? No damn clue. This is a pretty plain jane Centrino laptop using the built-in 802.11g adapter and standard drivers for everything. But I could consistantly BSoD the system w/ EAC.
Works just fine on my desktop s
Re:Typical slashdot tripe. (Score:4, Interesting)
Have you forgotten that there were NO THINGS such as wordperfect
Yes, Microsoft has helped to establish somewhat a user community around computers and the internet. But that's about the ONLY good thing they've done.
Microsoft isn't inherently evil, they're a company.
Wrong. They're a MONOPOLY, and they've played dirty on EVERY CHANCE they've had. Perhaps you should read the "say no" book to realize how evil Microsoft is.
Double negative? (Score:5, Funny)
From TFS: So...there's too many positive stories of Microsoft's predatory practices? I'm confused...
It's only a tax if you have no option (Score:5, Insightful)
How can paying for an OS be considred a tax? Now, if you wanted to buy a box from Dell without the OS and they won't, then yes that's a tax...well kinda. But stick it to Dell by buying from someone else or making your own system. There are plently of places to buy a computer from without having Windows installed.
gasmonso http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]Re:It's only a tax if you have no option (Score:5, Interesting)
Good review (Score:2)
This sort of reminds me of the TCO comparisons between Windows and Linux. Too often one side or the other just completely ignores some major advantage or problem. For Linux, the pain of configuring a workable system gets glossed over too often, assuming that your devices work in the first place. OTOH, somehow the fact that Linux is free as in beer routinely gets ign
Enough. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Enough. (Score:4, Insightful)
I use Windows XP Pro (SP2) at home, and have been for at least a year and a half now... before that, I was using Windows 2000. With XP, I don't get the BSOD that everybody incessantly complains about, and I've *never* seen my system have one of those "random reboots" somebody else mentioned, unless my power goes out. Still haven't gotten around to buying a decent UPS for my home system, because I really don't do too much critical work there.
No, Windows XP isn't perfect, and I'd never claim it is... I'd love to see my system support firewire devices better, since they sometimes cause the system to begin spitting out "delayed write" errors, and force me to reboot. Sometimes a process or two gets out of control with CPU / RAM usage, and the system starts getting flaky, so I reboot. Sometimes, on reboot, my iPod Service hangs, and I have to reboot into safe mode to disable it, then re-enable it after I get logged in... Windows isn't perfect, and anybody who claims it is is lying.
However, Linux is by no means a better solution, at least for me. A few months back, I attempted to install Fedora Core 4 on the same system, with the same devices that I use under Windows without any particular issues: a printer, a scanner, a digital camera, a bluetooth usb dongle w/keyboard & mouse, a web cam, a wireless card, a radio receiver, an iPod, and an external USB drive for backups. Bottom line is, I had MUCH more frustration getting all of this to work under Fedora Core 4, and spent about 10 times more time than I did setting up Windows, and I never managed to get everything up & running before I decided to say, "Screw this," and reinstalled Windows again. Here's the issues I ran into:
Re:Enough. (Score:3, Interesting)
Strangely enough, what you describe below just shows the contrary to what you say here.
However, Linux is by no means a better solution, at least for me
Two problems start appearing here
- You equate Fedora Core 4 with Linux
- As it shows below, you did not look at which distro was right given your hardware
Bottom line is, I had MUC
Re:Enough. (Score:3, Interesting)
My personal uptime f
My guess is... (Score:4, Insightful)
Uhhh (Score:2)
Does that mean they are positive?
Seriously though, while OSS is good and all, there is a bit of an issue with day-to-day usability. You can't expect a random user to jump through a dozen hoops to get sound working properly (yes there are still random issues with sound all the time).
Re:Uhhh (Score:2)
And it took Microsoft 20 years to get it right. Why do people forget that plug and play on Microsoft was never an easy task prior to XP?
Re:Uhhh (Score:2)
NOT-win scenario? (Score:3, Funny)
Shouldn't that be a non-win/non-win scenario?
[rimshot]
Legal issues? (Score:2)
They must have had lawyers going over the book to make sure their stuff was defensible -- completely defensible.
Or perhaps the 800 lb. gorilla just doesn't care when people publish bad things about it; you'll be buying their stuff anyway.
I'm happy that someone has published this book. I can't imagine anyone bothering to publish, in the 70s, how to live without AT&T -- partly because it wouldn't have been possbile.
Re:Legal issues? (Score:2)
If Masters Choice Cola where to run a nation wide ad campaign, which would be more effective: "COCA COLA IS AN EVVVVIIIIL COMPANY", or "MC Cola tastes as good as Coke at half the price". Negative advertising doesn't improve ones position - the one place where it is us
Another reason to say no (Score:2)
I did have to replace a hard drive, and now apparently MS thinks I'm using a duplicate license code. I'm not buying their OS over again just because I had to replace a part in my computer, and I shouldn't have to play some kind of childish workaround game just because of t
Re:Another reason to say no (Score:2)
Your posting sounds a lot more like incorrect bitching about a fictional problem than a real-life experience.
Re:Another reason to say no (Score:2)
Re:Another reason to say no (Score:2)
Re:Another reason to say no (Score:2)
Yes, but we Linux users are constantly bashed over the head with the last remaining leg that Microsoft stands on - ease of use for the 'regular Joe'.
If you think calling a rep to get your paid for software is easier on ol' Joe than just taking the CD out and reinstalling the software, then we obviously have two differing standards of *ease of use*.
Re:Another reason to say no (Score:2)
Your posting sounds a lot more like incorrect bitching about a fictional problem than a real-life experience."
As a consumer, I really don't care at all about either their excuse or what kind of hoops they want me to jum
It is not clear to me... (Score:5, Interesting)
open question (Score:2)
what's the open source equivalent to exchange server?
shared calendars with permissions specified by user?
something that allows people within a company to coordinate contacts/scheduling/files/information?
Re:open question (Score:2)
BSOD (Score:2)
I fault microsoft for many things and they rightly deserve the blame in many cases including my latest nit-pick the amount of baby-sitting their servers require.
But the BSOD comments have to stop. It's so windows 3.1.
License Maintenance (Score:2)
None of this appearrs in the purchase price for the
You don't like the BSOD? (Score:2)
Okay, okay, we get it... you don't like the blue screen of death. How about a soothing Salmon Pink color?
Does the author SELL his book? (Score:2)
no office (Score:2)
chickens and eggs (Score:2)
Then there was one. And one has become evil bloatware, because every couple years MS has to pile on features few people use. So what happens when something gets so complicated and expensive that it doesn't make sense to use it?
Competition comes back.
But there are two problems in my opinion. 1) start ups competing against an entrenched product really need
Office @ $350??? (Score:2)
Does MS Office cost that much? I've never paid more than $20 for a full copy, and my copies came straight from Microsoft. I've worked for a couple of large companies where employees could buy copies of Office for home use for $20. It's the same with the military. Military members (and Reservists) can also participate. Here [microsoft.com] is the MS site on the program. So if employees are only paying $20/copy, it's probably the case that the companies aren't paying $350 a copy either, so the savings of OO are oversta
you don't say (Score:2)
Right. No company cares to do what's good for their competition. Actually, each company has a fiduciary duty to do what's right for their stockholders, even if that is at the expense of their competition (which it normally is). I don't know why people seem so confused about this conc
PowerPoint (Score:5, Insightful)
PowerPoint is a fine program for what it does, which is probably why it's so popular. Yes, it can be used poorly, so what. It's not Microsoft's fault. Microsoft didn't invent presentation software, and isn't forcing people to give bad presentations. Other programs like Impress serve the same function, and can be misused just as easily. Used properly, these tools can be very beneficial for both the presenter and the audience.
Adding poor arguments like this one into the mix with good arguments only weakens the better arguments. There are plenty of valid reasons out there for disliking Microsoft and Microsoft software - PowerPoint is not one of them. It doesn't help spread viruses or introduce malware, it doesn't hinder workflow, and it doesn't seem to have as many irritating stability issues as the other programs in the Office suite.
Reviewer is Wrong (Score:3, Insightful)
That statement shows unawareness of Microsoft's history for the last 20 years. Yes, all those other companies have had ethical lapses. Shady practices and bullying are commonplace among big business, it's undeniably true. However. . .
None of them even come close to Microsoft. The bullying, lying, cheating, stealing and sabotage that Microsoft have carried out -- blatantly and relentlessly for two decades -- make Sony and Wal-Mart look like boy scout camps. Just because everybody cheats doesn't make it OK for Microsoft to cheat, and sure as hell doesn't make it OK for them to cheat twenty times as much as everybody else. And that's before we even get to how the majority of Microsoft's products have been either seriously flawed, or they were five years behind what other companies had done, or both.
I already got rid of all my Microsoft products some while back, and saving a few bucks had nothing to do with it. (They don't give away Mac OS X, anyhow.) Here are some better reasons to ditch Microsoft:
1. Not helping to support a company that has willfully and maliciously caused tremendous harm to the computer industry.
2. Not doing business with a company that has ripped off customers for countless billions, and will undoubtedly rip you off too, if you give them a chance.
3. Avoiding the spyware and DRM that Microsoft would like to slip into your computer.
4. Avoid the many security holes that riddle Microsoft products like swiss cheese.
5. Buy from companies that don't have a track record of putting out crummy products.
The problem, of course, is that people on the whole don't care about right and wrong. Or if they do, they think it's somebody else's problem to do something about it. They may grumble that the DOJ didn't crack down on Microsoft, but the same people will be standing in line to get a XBox 360.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" -- Edmund Burke
And unfortunately, that's exactly what most good people do. Nothing. Ignore the problem. Tune out the few who complain. Tar them as fanatics or kooks, then you can safely ignore them too. Rationalize.
"Microsoft cheats, but so what? All the big companies do."
"Look at all the innovation Microsoft brought to computers!"
"They wouldn't be so huge and successful if they weren't providing what people want, after all."
"What are you, some kind of communist?"
But if you scratch under the surface, past all the excuses and rationalization, what they're really thinking is: "Man, I want to play Halo 3. .
Re:As if people actually purchase M$ software... (Score:2)
Of course everyone knows that the cost of Microsoft's software is buried in the purchase price of the computer. Gates and Co. didn't get rich by giving their software away - just giving it away at cost to crush competitors. Then the cost for the product continued to climb with each new release (which was coded to break compatibility with earlier releases).
Re: stop being stupid (Score:4, Funny)
Or $450 to upgrade to a new machine every eight years or so.
That $30 Windows install is like the first hit of crack. Everything after that costs you more and more money.
Re:blah blah blah (Score:2)
Then we should all just pack it in and go back to using Microsoft, right?
How wonderful do Microsoft's products perform when they have no competitor on the horizon?
Go back a few years and look at their product history when they had successfully crushed their biggest competitor. Their products turned to shit within a couple of release cycles.
Re:blah blah blah (Score:2)
You need to look at the full span of Microsofts products to respond intelligently.
Have fun with Microsoft Bob, btw.
Re:Really??? (Score:2)
You do if you don't want to upgrade your PC and still stay with current software releases.
Re:Really??? (Score:3, Informative)
If you have it on your work computer, you can legally use the same SN for one computer at home.
Troll I hope? Cuz...no you can't.
Re:Everyone benefits. (Score:4, Interesting)
Ten years ago, I downloaded Slackware for the first time, made a towering stack of 3.5" floppies out of the downloaded files, and installed it. I couldn't believe it -- not only did I get the OS, but I got compilers, utilities, games, all for just the cost of Internet access and time spent siphoning bits down the phone line.
Since then, the price of Windows has just gone up. When, exactly (or even generally!), is Microsoft supposed to buckle under the pressure?
Re:Everyone benefits. (Score:3, Insightful)
I frequently spend money to save time. I order a pizza instead of cooking dinner. I tip the delivery driver rather than go pick it up myself. And I eat from disposable paper plates instead of reusable dishes so I don't have to wash them. I'm perfectly capable of assembling a solid and satisfying meal for about $7 worth of groceries, but it will take me about two hours to do all t