Muahahahaha!

A bit of schadenfreude, I know.

It's so nice to watch Microsoft self-destruct like this.

Here's a silly prediction:

2016 Microsoft Linux

I am going to stop defending Microsoft since I own both Mac and PC. But I do find it very interesting that since I am on sites for both OS's (do we really count Linux) that it is always the Linux and MacHeads that are blogging on a PC site and killing Microsoft; but you never see it the Microsoft heads on MacWorld slamming Mac. HMMM.....interesting. A wise old man told me that if you have to continually shout to prove yourself, there may not really be anything worth proving.

Very good point! I will never forget the first time I told someone that they need a dos promt an they looked at me like I had three heads.

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alspaintballmods.com

I tried Ubuntu Linux as dual-boot to XP and didn't really dislike it until I ran into problems with hardware drivers. The Linux peoples' allergy to "closed source" software was the death knell for me. I couldn't find one single Linux driver to run my 3 y.o. Lexmark printer. End of my Big Linux Adventure. I'm not going to trash a perfectly good printer just to be able to use a free OS. Maybe some day I'll try again, but for now (at least until my printer wears out) I have to stay with what works.

I hate to the bearer of sad tidings but a two "day" old computer with less than a gigabyte of RAM (make that 1.5 GB with shared video RAM) and/or a CPU of less than 2 GHz still runs like a rock through mud with Vista. It's the reason most major PC makers insisted on continuing to offer XP on their low-end systems and why they began offering Linux. Vista made their systems look like brinks because of the "unreasonable" minimum hardware requirements of the OS. A PC with 512 MB RAM and loaded with XP can still be deamed a speedy computer. The same system loaded with Vista is a doorstop.

Additionally, our society is anything but "techno-savvy". Much in the way that millions of people drive cars but only a faction of that population knows how to work on them; hundreds of millions of people own and use computers while only a very small minority know anything about the machines they use. If the society were truely tech-savvy, Linux use would be higher than it is and discussions of the superiority of one OS over another would be a moot point. As it is, using technology and understanding it are two very different things. That truth was the driving force behind development of the GUI and CUI (Common User Interface). Everyday users required a way to allow them access to functions without understanding how or why those functions were being accessed. It's that whole "lowest common denominator" thing.

"Time is time" and in time things may change to where most computer users understand the basics of the machines sitting on their desktops. Until then, Windows (and Mac OS) remains a more viable alternative to the common user when compared to Linux. I wish it weren't so but unfortnuately it is.

The only problem with Linux systems is that it is still very built around more advanced computer users. Even if your using ubuntu you need to know quite a bit Linux command line interface. Linux is close to becoming a good competitor with Microsoft but it yet has the dummy proof userability the Windows has used to help get them the market share that they hav to this current day.

Personally I run a dual - boot of XP and Ubuntu. Mainly due to the fact that it is really hard to do any kind of gaming in a linux enviorment, it can get tricky.

long live Linux and her creator...Linus.

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"Windows isn't a virus, viruses do something"

I think the driver support issue is a double edged sword in which both the third party companies and Microsoft where somewhat in the wrong. Yes the companies should of been more proactive about making sure their products where compatible wih Vista. But with all the uncertanties and changes Vista had went through no one had any idea what would be released and from what I know of driver support that isn't an ideal enviorment to try and make drivers for. As far as I have known most of the hardware that wasn't supported was MOSTLY from off brand companies and no - names in the markets, along with many of the legacy devices that many people still hold onto and try to use.

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"Windows isn't a virus, viruses do something"