[vallor]

Firefox 3.5 ate my post. Thus all you get now are the highlights:
* Microsoft originally worked to give away IE -- including bundling it with their OS. This spelt doom for Netscape's original business model, because: how could they compete with MS, browser-to-browser, if MS is friggin' giving IE away?
* Fade-out, fade-in. Today, Linux distros have been gaining market share...and you can get most of them for free. So the same question arises: how can MS possibly compete with Linux, monetarily, if Linux is free?
* Answer: FUD. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Same old game, and still played by both MS and those in the MS marketing/PR bubble: and it is dogma recited by rote.
"Linux has a higher TCO!" "Linux doesn't run my software!" "Linux makes my cat horny!" ...all FUD.
FUD has worked...so far, in the carefully-controlled PR space that is MS's.
* But today, more and more folks are looking to other sources of information, rather than legacy "main stream media". And folks are learning that the computing world -- and the world-at-large -- turn out not to be the way that the U.S. 4th Estate has implied. But new authority is arising in said "4th Estate"...outside of the legacy media.
* That new "authority" is citizen journalism, and it is a hot topic today. With citizen journalism, information has been spread: honest & trustworthy information regarding Linux distros which has begun to pervade the marketplace. The question to ask PCWorld, then, is if they are going to be part of that revolution?...or will they continue on with this same "we're stuck with MS" attitude that ignores other options.
And by the way: PCWorld loves it when we speak out on these topics...it ends up being content that they didn't have to pay for, but can sell ad space on. Thus I, myself -- seeing that I'm writing all this for free -- am a sucker. And so are you:
http://www.theawl.co...imself-terribly
That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

[graxspoo]

Interesting point you make. It wasn't just giving away IE for free that helped MS beat Netscape, it was also the fact that it was bundled with Windows, and Windows was what came preloaded on computers by default. MS had those deals where vendors had to pay them royalties for every computer sold, even if the end user specified that Linux be preinstalled.

This is where your reasoning breaks down. If there is no cost benefit, most people will choose Windows, since that is the most widely used (its the safe bet). However if a Linux notebook actually cost $100 or $200 less than the Windows notebook with the same hardware specs, and you could actually see Linux as an OS choice right there next to Windows when ordering from Dell or HP, then we might see some significant defection. (Looks like MS still has some deals where the big vendors can't offer Linux right along side Windows in the "configure your system" page... For example on Dell's site, you have to go looking for Ubuntu laptops specially. Otherwise your only choices are flavors of Windows. I thought this monopoly stuff all got straightened out. Yeah, right. )

[vallor]

Hi graxspoo,



Yeah, they were adjucated to have acted as a monopoly in that case -- I have no clue what was the result, but it obviously wasn't enough.



They have a strong-arm protection racket going on with manufacturers...i know, because i had to pay for their bloatware, and I've never done anything with it. My laptop stays on Fedora.

Maybe manufacturers will eventually band together, rip off MS's leg, and beat them over the head with it...but that's probably a pipe-dream.

Oh, but here's the funny part -- MS is talking about having xp running in a virt for backwards compatibility. Well, why not have that virt be running under Linux, and run xp in that? Same idea, different OS.

The biggest problem for folks jumping-ship over to Linux is games compatibility. http://www.cedega.com can help with that, and I see no reason that office workers can't use Fedora or Ubuntu on their desktop, in today's environment. And those are the very people MS are trying not to piss off with upgrade pricing...because except for MS FUD, there really isn't any reason not to switch, and plenty of reasons to do so.

Take care,

[patcoghm]

Well I just ordered 2 copies of Windows 7 advanced sales and found out it has no email program and other this that I use. Here is my view.....

Windows 7 without a email program is diaster to many email users of Outlook Express and Windows Mail. I know they want us to use a web based email program which stores all the mail on their servers, not my computer. Forcing people to change is a bad move and will hurt Microsoft if they don't allow us to use a program loaded on our computers. At least offer us the choice to keep Windows Mail or Outlook Mail only. This will be very interesting when people find out they have no email program and lost all their saved emails, message rules, and the ability to work offline. Bad idea as i'm looking at other options such as delaying Windows 7 use, change to Outlook if it was sold seperatly, or Thunderbird. Thanks Microsoft for screwing up my life again with another poor upgrade path. You are your own worst enemy.

[smax013]

patcoghm said:

change to Outlook if it was sold seperatly

Like this?

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16832116086

Or there is the likes of Thunderbird, Eudora (http://www.eudora.com/), or Windows Live Mail (i.e. essentially the replacement for Outlook Express and Vista Mail...http://download.live.com/wlmail).

[bbvammy]

OMG!!!

There is no email program with Windows 7?

What am I gonna do?

Download it? .... Install it? .... Hack it? .... Tweak it? .....

Now, Windows 7 is not user friendly ......

and its not free too.

I am gonna return Windows 7 as how I return my Linux Netbook.

[KStrawn]

patcoghm, on 04 July 2009 - 03:39 PM, said:

Well I just ordered 2 copies of Windows 7 advanced sales and found out it has no email program and other this that I use. Here is my view.....

Windows 7 without a email program is diaster to many email users of Outlook Express and Windows Mail. I know they want us to use a web based email program which stores all the mail on their servers, not my computer. Forcing people to change is a bad move and will hurt Microsoft if they don't allow us to use a program loaded on our computers. At least offer us the choice to keep Windows Mail or Outlook Mail only. This will be very interesting when people find out they have no email program and lost all their saved emails, message rules, and the ability to work offline. Bad idea as i'm looking at other options such as delaying Windows 7 use, change to Outlook if it was sold seperatly, or Thunderbird. Thanks Microsoft for screwing up my life again with another poor upgrade path. You are your own worst enemy.

Windows Mail is now Live Mail, part of Windows Live Essentials that appear in Windows Update as optional. In Windows Update, select "View Optional Updates", and check "Windows Live Essentials". In that suite are Mail, Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker that previously came with Vista and XP.