Amiga.org
The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: GadgetMaster on October 01, 2004, 05:25:26 PM
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There tends to be a trend when it comes to talking about the Redmond giant and that is to slam it at every given opportunity. I have been guilty of it myself but I was just wondering what would happen if Microsoft suddenly dissappeared from the radar. Imagine they just got wiped off the face of the Earth and took every copy of their software with them.
Now don't get me wrong, I hate their monopolistic practices as much as anyone else and tend to get frustrated with the annoyances of their software aswell. But just because we like the Amiga do we automatically have the right to say that everything else is useless.
The fact is that the world currently needs Microsoft because there is nothing that can immediately replace it. With the keyword here being immediately.
If the hypothetical scenario did happen and suddenly there was no MS and all traces of its software were gone, how do you think things would turn out and what direction do you think general users would take.
The truth is that Microsoft is going to be around much longer than most people would prefer and their software will be a part of the IT industry whether we like it or not. Now wouldn't it be better to channel all the energy spent complaining into creating something positive? Maybe we can all get along together after all.
It would be interesting to hear your opinions on this.
:-) :-D :-( :-o :-? :lol: 8-) :-x :-P :oops: :pissed: :cry: :rtfm: :nervous: :whack: :smack: :bigcry: :furious: :insane: :insane: :admonish:
[EDIT]
In case you are wondering, NO I didn't apply for a position at Microsoft. Just playing the advocate. :lol:
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If MS disappeared I'd start making more money by working as a Linux admin, and Lindows (sorry, Linspire) sales would go through the roof.
AROS would see some investment and Apple would sell some more (though not much as it would still be more expensive than a Linux PC).
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If M$ dissapeared right now, everything else would step in to take its place. They offer an OS and a office suite. We have tons of both on other platforms.
The difference would be that everyone would comply to open standards instead of "microsoft" standards.
And on a personal note, I would miss work that day because of the mass celebrations of computer geeks in the streets. :-D
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spihunter wrote:
If M$ dissapeared right now, everything else would step in to take its place. They offer an OS and a office suite. We have tons of both on other platforms.
The difference would be that everyone would comply to open standards instead of "microsoft" standards.
And on a personal note, I would miss work that day because of the mass celebrations of computer geeks in the streets. :-D
Hmm, I think the opposite would happen. Instead of everyone complying to standards I think every man and his dog would try to come up with their own "superior" format further fragmenting the industry and causing chaos.
Sure, the geeks would be dancing but what about all the lost work from all the MSOffice dependants. Some peoples livelihoods actually depend on MS software. Something we usually take for granted. Not the best position for an industry to be in. It would take years to re-stabilise and it would be very large gap to fill.
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If MS dissapeard overnight, maybe some Amiga.org users would quit obsessing and post Amiga-related content.
Nah... that's too SciFi.
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spihunter wrote:
The difference would be that everyone would comply to open standards instead of "microsoft" standards.
Nice thought... but companies would all try and make their own "new" standard...
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GadgetMaster wrote:
spihunter wrote:
If M$ dissapeared right now, everything else would step in to take its place. They offer an OS and a office suite. We have tons of both on other platforms.
The difference would be that everyone would comply to open standards instead of "microsoft" standards.
And on a personal note, I would miss work that day because of the mass celebrations of computer geeks in the streets. :-D
Hmm, I think the opposite would happen. Instead of everyone complying to standards I think every man and his dog would try to come up with their own "superior" format further fragmenting the indiustry and causing chaos.
Sure, the geeks would be dancing but what about all the lost work from all the MSOffice dependants. Some peoples livelihoods actually depend on MS software. Something we usually take for granted. Not the best position for an industry to be in. It would take years to re-stabilise and it would be very large gap to fill.
Yes, but all the MSOffice dependents might realize that maybe a monopoly like Microsoft is a bad idea after all.
You are right about someone coming up with a "superior" format, but we all know that just because a product is "superior" doent mean its going to win :-D
The open standards will take over for the first little while which could be enough to give them the advantage.
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It would be a return to 1982 - Apple plus a dozen lesser platforms, with none compatible. After about two to five years, the lesser ones would be crushed by Apple's sudden market dominance and we'd be right back here discussing "What would happen if Apple vanished tomorrow?"
As I've said before: don't kid yourselves about some percieved Apple benevolance. But for Microsoft they would be Microsoft.
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Apple don't have Microsoft's killer instinct. They'd like to be Microsoft. IMO.
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Hey Gadget! Long time no see really.
In regards to this, I'm probably the only person on the planet who would view the disappearance of Microsoft as a bad thing. Don't get me wrong... I'm not defending them, and I think their business practices suck, but. I have no problems with their actual products.
Like others have said, if Microsoft were to disappear overnight, it would result in a throwback to 1982, where every maker of computers would be trying to "seize the throne" and enforce their own standards and ways of getting there. In short, chaos on the desktop.
Companies and governments who now successfully work because they all use Microsoft products would suddenly experience compatibility issues with every other company they tried to work with, and the cost of doing business would skyrocket.
On the bright side, people like me would be doing very well, because we'd be highly sought after to administer and work with this nightmare.
Even if you don't understand it or see it, Microsoft, for all it's "evil ways" has actually done good by FORCING some standards on the world.
On the honest side however, even if Microsoft were to disappear tomorrow, taking all it's software with it, the new Amiga would still never be able to corner more than 5% of the computing market.
The way I figure it is that MacOS would immediately take the top slot, while Linux and BSD derivatives would stand a growing chance. The Amiga however, would never occupy higher than the #5 slot in the world of desktop computing, even with the disappearance of Microsoft.
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I think a lot of chaos would occur in the software industry, but after a year or two, the number of software companies in existence would probably go up a thousandfold. Variety is a good thing.
The OpenOffice document format is about to get ISO certification as well, there are a number of decent graphical formats to choose from (though no vector ones IIRC), audio formats have standardised nicely.
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Apple doesn't have Microsoft's killer instinct? I can remember a time when I worked for an Amiga education dealer and the local Apple dealer wanted to sell Amigas as well as Macs and Apple ][GS computers. The Apple dealer was told that they couldn't be an Apple dealer if they sold Amigas at all. This was when Apple had a dealer network the same as Commodore did, unlike the Gateway-Esque Apple stores of today..
The same dealer told schools that if they had an Amiga in the classroom they wouldn't get any donated computers and the big "Apple Education discount"..
So let's not talk about Apple not having a killer instinct. They controlled the schools in the USA for many years for not really good reason other than economic leverage..
When people think Commodore it's rarely known that they had "authorized education dealers" but they did..
Let's not give Apple underdog status just because Microsoft is ontop now. Microsoft fought tooth and nail to get there, and I prefer them over the OVERPRICED UnderPOWERED alternative..
-Don
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I agree with Wayne and DonnyEMU. IBM would be more than happy to fill in MS's shoes. So would Schwartz, Ellison, Jobs, Robertson, etc etc. They all want to be King Sh*t of the IT hill. If it wasn't MS, it'd be someone else.
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mikeymike wrote:
audio formats have standardised nicely.
They have? Then why hasn't someone told all the Audio equipment/software manufacturers :-(
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Wayne wrote:
Hey Gadget! Long time no see really.
Thanks!
Nice to see you posting more around here too :-)
I rarely get as much time as I used to for spending on forums but that does not mean I don't check these boards whenever I get the chance.
Re topic: We are usually so obsessed with the bad things that monopolistic corporations bring to the world that we overlook the (few) benefits we have gained from them. Some of the things we expect to come as standard with an OS are all things Microsoft 'spoiled' us with.
The greater expectations we now have are all due to the efforts of teams of programmers that have been hacking away at code for the best part of the last decade (whilst being plied with soft drinks and pizza no doubt) to bring us some sort of usable system. These same programmers would be applauded if they were working for someone else. They have made steady progress and they have definately improved their product over the years.
As has been pointed out, if it wasn't MS then whoever was in their position would be as equally cold and corporate as them. Its only the smaller enthusiast and opensource markets that may have more approachable and down to earth attitudes. Thats the unfortunate but true situation with global multi-national operations. It all about making the most money. If you have happy customers then that is a welcome bonus
While it would be nice to see Amiga succeed I somehow feel that it will always be better as a niche. I would never like to see it become another Microsoft.
Microsoftification, a word to add to the dictionaries ? :inquisitive:
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Microsoft Corp. may have the world-wide market cornered in the cutting edge of consumer and business automation applications. Some would say MS is a monopoly. Well, if that is the case then at least MS is an AMERICAN monopoly and anyone living in America should be at least thankful in that respect.
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MS has had people complaining since MS-DOS 5.0. Quarterdeck was mad because of the memory management and makers of defragmenters were mad because of the built in defragmenter.
Before that you used to have top buy everything seperate. They were good programs for the time, but you could spend serious money on utilities that now come with the operating system.
In a lot of ways XP is the best OS MS has ever made but after having bought 95 and 98 and ME I think it is abou time they got it right.
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Hmm, I think the opposite would happen. Instead of everyone complying to standards I think every man and his dog would try to come up with their own "superior" format further fragmenting the industry and causing chaos.
I agree. Ordinary people are not concerned with technical supiriority and will buy just about anything that gets the job done -- or so the marketeers say.
Linux is just an OS core and does nothing interesting on its own. It's what people build on it that matters. So, it's entirely possible to have a really, really horrible Linux system. Fragmentation of standards will achieve that quite nicely.
Yes, but all the MSOffice dependents might realize that maybe a monopoly like Microsoft is a bad idea after all.
I'm more ticked off at the functionality of Office rather than the monopolization. Creating documents in Word is an interface nightmare. I just use Wordpad if I need something more flashy than plain text. Word is overkill for most stuff, and I don't understand what anyone sees in Excel and PowerPoint.
Most "business" software is purchased by executives. You can hardly blame Microsoft because Megacorp feels an integrated suite of software at a volume price is always better than letting employees choose whatever tools they want to use.
Such is the horrible fact of life: the people who buy software are rarely the ones who use it. "Nobody got fired for buying IBM" is still very much true today, even though IBM is still super-expensive and not much more reliable than anything else.
"superior" doent mean its going to win
Depends on what is supirior. Ordinary people don't know jack about OS design, so they could care less if the core of the OS is good or not. If they want pushbuttons and Windows gives them pushbuttons, they're happy.
Frankly, I'm disgusted with GUI toolkits. Linux is still very much addicted to the CLI. That's what I liked most about Amiga. It was one of the very few machines -- ever -- to properly balance CLI and GUI interfaces together on the same platform.
Architecutally speaking, the Classic Mac is one of the worst systems ever made, but the GUIs were very consistent and attractive, thanks to Apple's interface guidelines. Right up to the end of MacOS 9, Apple fans were screaming about the supirior technology of the Mac.
Apple don't have Microsoft's killer instinct. They'd like to be Microsoft. IMO.
The big difference is that Microsoft knew software platforms are more valuable than hardware platforms. Apple hasn't grown out of that phase, yet, though having their OS core on BSD UNIX gives them a lot of flexibility to expand to new hardware markets whenever they want or must.
I'm probably the only person on the planet who would view the disappearance of Microsoft as a bad thing.
I'm number 2. A platform is just "a" platform until a strong central management steps in. Imagine what HTML would be without the W3C -- and I don't like the W3C at all.
Geeks can work in an ad-hoc world since they understand the technology and can shape it at will. Desktop computers must be fully designed for people who don't understand any of the guts -- and don't want to. People buy Windows because they are willing to put up with a monopoly if it means they don't have to put up with geekdom. That's why I think Linux will never, ever be a real desktop system until someone just "steals" it and builds a proprietary system around it. Hence, the only truly successful version of UN*X in the destop world is MacOS X. Geeks don't understand how normal people think, and normal people don't know how geeks or computers work.
The Amiga however, would never occupy higher than the #5 slot in the world of desktop computing, even with the disappearance of Microsoft.
Amiga needs to be fully modernized for that to happen. AmigaOS may have pushbuttons, but it has very old APIs and ways of thinking that are difficult for modern programmers to use, anymore. That's why I was hoping so much for DE instead of OS4. The DE idea was cool. OS4 is more like OS Forced.
I think a lot of chaos would occur in the software industry, but after a year or two, the number of software companies in existence would probably go up a thousandfold. Variety is a good thing.
But eventually, things would cool down and we'd have two or three mega corps to choose from. Variety doesn't last long in the OS market. Just look at cell phones and PDAs. The game console market works much the same way. I remember when practically every electronics company had a game machine. Today, SONY owns, what, 75%+ of the market?
The same dealer told schools that if they had an Amiga in the classroom they wouldn't get any donated computers and the big "Apple Education discount"..
That sounds typical, but what really burns me up is Apple's service life. MacOS 8 got, what, one update before you had to buy 8.5? Microsoft supported Win98 with updates and free, new software for six years.
It's hard to look at Microsoft's support record and say they don't support their products. I can't say the same for Apple at all. If companies skimp on updates with all the competition from Microsoft, I doubt they'd do any better after MS disappeared without a trace.
audio formats have standardised nicely.
PC audio is still wholely inferior to anything in the home entertainment market. I think the SoundBlater monopoly really hurt the PC market. Compared to the PC, the audio system in the PS/2 is simply incredible, and it bothers me that top-end cards like the Audigy still don't have compression and normalization as standard options -- which is mandatory for clip control. Don't even get me started on EAX, which is so horrible I always turn off hardware acceleration with my Audigy.
They have? Then why hasn't someone told all the Audio equipment/software manufacturers
Audio has always been unimportant in the PC industry. People are still drooling over the addition of 7.1, which is very easy to do. I can't quit complaining evey time I slip on some headphones because the mixing and filtering standards are so poor.
Microsoftification, a word to add to the dictionaries ?
I find it disappointing that everyone complains Microsoft steals ideas and code from the Open Source scene, while at the same time, almost every Linux desktop looks just like a Windows machine -- sometimes even pixel-for-pixel.
Maybe they just feel safer cloning a monopoly that wouldn't dare dump on Open Source underdogs, as opposed to stealing designs from Apple. ;-)
MS has had people complaining since MS-DOS 5.0. Quarterdeck was mad because of the memory management and makers of defragmenters were mad because of the built in defragmenter.
Microsoft has a history of selling software they didn't write, and someone will always complain becuase their product wasn't chosen to be the Windows default. I doubt anyone realizes that the defragmenter in XP is actually a stripped-down Diskeeper. Symantec also wrote ScanDisk, but I heard there was some real controversy over that and MS and Symantec sued each other something awful.
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Wow... well that would be that then!!! :-)
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Wayne wrote:
Hey Gadget! Long time no see really.
Odd, I thought our erstwhile GadgetMaster was around quite a bit lately. However, let me add my own note in the same vein:
Hey Gadget! Long time no brew, mate ;-)
/we can now resume with the original topic
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I don't want Microsoft to disappear, I just want them to diversify some and open up Microsoft Spacelines. :-D
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alot of people bash Windows/MS.. I run Win 2kPro and have NO PROBLEMS, no blue screens etc. My 6yr old son uses Win 2k Pro for games and even his system runs PERFECT. I use my system every day and leave it on 24/7..it runs without reboot for at a minimum of 2-3 months unless I install something that requires a reboot.
So if you're having a problem with windows, maybe its your hardware or a user error.
-Alex
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I would have to agree with that, I'm on 2kpro and I don't remember the last time I had to reboot. When it was 98SE, that's a different story...
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Same here. I use WIN2K and haven't had a problem with it at all. I am very hesitant to install XP. Why fix it if it aint broke. :-D :-D
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Same here. I use WIN2K and haven't had a problem with it at all. I am very hesitant to install XP. Why fix it if it aint broke. :-D :-D
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I am by no means a lover of their practices (nor their code). But i use it because it is a standard that is greatly in use. Fact is fact. I don't like the code being such bloated and full of security holes.
What I really don't like is the world adopting their general coding style -- bloat-ware ..
I mean really, Compare XP requirements and performance -- then look what you can do with Unix (and its variants) on lesser hardware.
Problem I see is that people forget the streamline approach in favor of upping the hardware. Again, the problem comes that they are becoming the monolithic in their approach.
Personally -- I think they are about ready to cut their own throat if what I read about longhorn is true .. I think microsoft is going to be faced with a lot of non-corporate defections. I used to say Unix on a desktop wouldn't fly, but watching the problems people go thru with nt/2k/xp really makes Unix/linix look like a viable option.
(Aros on intel also ;) )
I dont want them to disappear -- but I would like to see them get some more competition....
dB
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@DaBest
DaBest wrote:
Same here. I use WIN2K and haven't had a problem with it at all. I am very hesitant to install XP. Why fix it if it aint broke. :-D :-D
Brother! :-D
Be careful, they have a fox hunting thread here. :-)
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dbalaski wrote:
I am by no means a lover of their practices (nor their code). But i use it because it is a standard that is greatly in use. Fact is fact. I don't like the code being such bloated and full of security holes.
What I really don't like is the world adopting their general coding style -- bloat-ware ..
I fully agree, I tried XP on my machine at the same time I upgraded to 2k (a requestor popped up after post asking which os I wanted which was pretty cool), but XP ran so much slower than necessary = bloatware - filled with unneeded cr@p code that if they had thought about it long and hard, ergo lowering profit margins, they could have made it much better. It seems like M$ write the code with no streamlining in mind at all, as if thinking "hey, were microsoft - let the hardware catch up with us"
p.s. XP is a cartoon os :-)
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I would agree that Windows is very stable these days in terms of amount of crashes. Windows does still crash, but usually the crash can be limited to the application that caused or was effected by it, and that program can be terminated without any further effects on the running of the OS. In contrast, a lot of crashes on AmigaOS brings the entire system down with it and as such more reboots are required. Sometimes, even when a crash doesn't bring the OS down you still end up having to reboot because the program doesn't terminate and leaves it's window open on the desktop. Crashes which only effect the concerned application or task are MUCH less annoying than ones which cause a complete system failure, which is why you now notice more crashes on AmigaOS than you do Windows ;-)
As a system I don't like Windows very much. Because it's now pretty much a worldwide standard and it has lots of very good, modern software written for it I do end up using it a fair bit, but given the choice I'd use AmigaOS over Windows any day, which is why my Amiga remains my main machine and takes pride of place on my computer table :)
Brian
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Star69 wrote:
dbalaski wrote:
I am by no means a lover of their practices (nor their code). But i use it because it is a standard that is greatly in use. Fact is fact. I don't like the code being such bloated and full of security holes.
What I really don't like is the world adopting their general coding style -- bloat-ware ..
I fully agree, I tried XP on my machine at the same time I upgraded to 2k (a requestor popped up after post asking which os I wanted which was pretty cool), but XP ran so much slower than necessary = bloatware - filled with unneeded cr@p code that if they had thought about it long and hard, ergo lowering profit margins, they could have made it much better. It seems like M$ write the code with no streamlining in mind at all, as if thinking "hey, were microsoft - let the hardware catch up with us"
p.s. XP is a cartoon os :-)
Select the Silver theme instead the toy theme. Anyway, Windows XP MCE 2005 has Royale as its default theme.
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KD7HTH wrote:
Microsoft Corp. may have the world-wide market cornered in the cutting edge of consumer and business automation applications. Some would say MS is a monopoly. Well, if that is the case then at least MS is an AMERICAN monopoly and anyone living in America should be at least thankful in that respect.
Microsoft’s dominance is nothing new i.e. they have been doing it since yesteryears 8bit PCs via Microsoft BasicOS (crude OS for 8bit PCs). This includes Commodore PET/VIC-20/C64/C128/C-whatever, Apple II, MSX (Japan Inc) and 'etc'.
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dbalaski wrote:
(SNIP)
What I really don't like is the world adopting their general coding style -- bloat-ware ..
I mean really, Compare XP requirements and performance -- then look what you can do with Unix (and its variants) on lesser hardware.
Both SUSE Linux 9.1 Pro and Windows XP Home/Pro desire comparable hardware performance. You can't compare a cut down *inx to desktopOS i.e. one has to factor in Windows XP Embedded Edition or Windows CE5.0 with XP extensions (ability to XP applications on Windows CE 5.0).
Windows XP desktop runs fine IF you give it enough memory i.e. 256MB atleast.
Problem I see is that people forget the streamline approach in favor of upping the hardware. Again, the problem comes that they are becoming the monolithic in their approach.
Personally -- I think they are about ready to cut their own throat if what I read about longhorn is true .. I think microsoft is going to be faced with a lot of non-corporate defections. I used to say Unix on a desktop wouldn't fly, but watching the problems people go thru with nt/2k/xp really makes Unix/linix look like a viable option.
(Aros on intel also ;) )
Note, both Windows and Linux are growing due to X86/X64 bandwagon.
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I'm more ticked off at the functionality of Office rather than the monopolization. Creating documents in Word is an interface nightmare. I just use Wordpad if I need something more flashy than plain text. Word is overkill for most stuff, and I don't understand what anyone sees in Excel and PowerPoint.
Documentation automation and knowledgebase systems i.e. business rules customisation via VBA(an example). There’s an entire industry that builds on MS Office i.e. mostly in ISV MIS(managed information systems) business office sectors.
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whilst we on the subject of Microsoft..
http://amiga.emugaming.com/winnt.html
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GadgetMaster wrote:
Hmm, I think the opposite would happen. Instead of everyone complying to standards I think every man and his dog would try to come up with their own "superior" format further fragmenting the industry and causing chaos.
Sure, the geeks would be dancing but what about all the lost work from all the MSOffice dependants. Some peoples livelihoods actually depend on MS software. Something we usually take for granted. Not the best position for an industry to be in. It would take years to re-stabilise and it would be very large gap to fill.
I don't know, prior to the PC the big computers came together. VMS, Unix, ect got along fine without having to do any fancy setup unlike getting Windows to play with anything else.
I have a feeling if MS disappeared, compatiblity would be a huge feature. As salesmen boast that, Yes their computer will work with all competitors systems following industry standards. Face it after people get burned with being locked into Microsoft and if MS went away they would want to make sure their next sytem had the feature of being able to easily move to yet another system
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Hammer wrote:
Windows XP desktop runs fine IF you give it enough memory i.e. 256MB atleast.
I've got 512mb of ram... twice the specs you suggest, but windows 2k runs ALOT faster for me... Just cos I happened to be running it on a 1 gig system... bloatware?
p.s. it is a cartoon os - changing the theme doesn't fix that. You can change the way it looks, its still going to be a wizard for this and a wizard for that. I preferred the hands on approach to w98 - you could really get your fingers into it (probably my amiga upbringing)
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TheMagicM wrote:
alot of people bash Windows/MS.. I run Win 2kPro and have NO PROBLEMS, no blue screens etc. My 6yr old son uses Win 2k Pro for games and even his system runs PERFECT. I use my system every day and leave it on 24/7..it runs without reboot for at a minimum of 2-3 months unless I install something that requires a reboot.
So if you're having a problem with windows, maybe its your hardware or a user error.
-Alex
Actually for the last 2 years I've seen more people praise Microsoft. Like yourself and the posters after you. No one on here seems to bash them at all anymore.
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For the record though I prefer 98SE and 2000 to XP. XP gave me nothing but problems, and just using the OS wasn't a very enjoyable experinece from me. Certainly not enjoyable compared to the Macintosh or the Amiga. As a result I migrated rather quickly from Windows to Macintosh after a mere 3 months of using XP.. and guess what.. not one problem ever after 18 months of usage. I would have had to reinstall Windows half a dosen times by now had I not migrated.. I am almost certain of that. Oh I also would have had to defrag my machine all the time just to keep it at a *fairly* reasonable speed. All I can say to my friends these days who suffer Windows problems is "those were the days" :lol:
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I used to bash Microsoft left and right, me
and my best friend hated Microsoft so much
back 4-6 years ago. (wait, he still hates MS
LOL he bought a Mac) He refuses to use a
Windows based PC at all. As for me, I will
use a Windows PC if I HAVE to. At all costs
I try to use Linux or something. (actually
right now Im on my Dreamcast, /w DC Web
Browser 2.6, SuperH Linux, and /w Keyboard.)
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Everyone should keep in mind the customer base for Windows. Linux may run more efficiently at a low-level, but there's very few GUI standards. I find using KDE very painful compared to Win2K.
Of course, I refuse to upgrade to XP since I don't need it, so my mindset is with the more "professional" version of Windows without much garbage attached. The newfangled, over-automated Start menu in XP Home looks pretty pathetic to me. A major rule of interface design is not to move things around on people very often, and the XP Start menu pushes around recently used apps a bit too much. It annoys the hell out of my boss. :-)
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Microsoft bashing hardly exists anymore, because everyone thinks XP is amazing. I don't see how it is, but I am not a Microsoft-basher, I just dislike Windows plain and simply because I find it irritating to use and feel like the computer is fighting me every step of the way to make my life difficult.
I own an X-box, and I enjoy using Microsoft DOS :-D
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Waccoon wrote:
Everyone should keep in mind the customer base for Windows. Linux may run more efficiently at a low-level, but there's very few GUI standards. I find using KDE very painful compared to Win2K.
Of course, I refuse to upgrade to XP since I don't need it, so my mindset is with the more "professional" version of Windows without much garbage attached. The newfangled, over-automated Start menu in XP Home looks pretty pathetic to me. A major rule of interface design is not to move things around on people very often, and the XP Start menu pushes around recently used apps a bit too much. It annoys the hell out of my boss. :-)
I got hold of WinXP Pro (SP1) which my work were throwing away.
Installed it on my 4 year old Athlon (with a new harddrive), which was running Win2k Pro...
I switched off all the eye candy, put it into Win2K GUI mode, and it runs much faster (faster boot and shut down too), and much more stable than Win2K.
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If it is more stable, then most likely you didn't have good drivers for 2k.
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mikeymike wrote:
If it is more stable, then most likely you didn't have good drivers for 2k.
I wouldn't be surprised, my Mobo was raelly badly supported in the driver department.
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In a lot of ways I find Linux actually easier to use and more user Friendly than Windows. I downloaded Kanotix lately and Printer, Soundcard, Cd-Writer worked Immediately. For Scanner support though I had to add a Line in a startup file. I haven't found a Video Format in I couldn't Play with the Videoplayer Xine. I didn't have to install any codecs.
That are just some examples.
Most of the Problems I get with Linux have to do with licensing. Nvidia doesn't want for some reasons that their drivers for 3d-supprt are included in the Linuxdistributions. They provide one one their side though. But installing it is a pain in the a**. I also had problems to play commercial dvds because including the decoder with the Linuxdistribution is illegal in some countrys.
I think I had one single crash in four Month of using Linux (actually just KDE crashed and I had to reboot).
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M$ Gone! A dream come true. Unfortunately that is not going to happen. Bummer. There would be too much happiness in the world if that were to happen. And, you all know we are ment to suffer. :lol: