As I said, I wrote most of that a long, long time ago. Back in the Win98 era when I was having horrible trouble with software for a business venture. I needed to rant at the time and that's the result.
While your experience with Linux is admirable, It's clear that your experience with the platform being supported by this website is fairly minimal.
Let me explain some of these points a little more in-depth. I'll refrain from insults. Your feathers have been ruffled enough already.
Huh? If the hard drive requires reformatting, you're going to have a blank hard drive. Thats on any system, as far as I know. You won't have any software left on it, registered or not. If you didn't bother to back up your software and any license keys for shareware/commercial software, then the problem isn't the OS, its you being an idiot.
1. Re-registered, as in "It won't work without first contacting the company." Nero, Roxio, many games and specifically newer Windows versions need to phone home before they'll work again. Notice I said registering, as in the Windows registry. I said nothing of having to pay for them twice.
* Thanks for calling me an idiot. Appreciate that.
This is true of much commercial software, new and old. However, there are plenty of cutting edge modern OSes and other software that this makes your claim completely untrue. You ever hear of Linux, bud? Open source is about as unhidden as you can get.
2. This statement was primarily applicable to Windows and Macs.
* I'm thrilled to be your bud.
I don't think you have any concept of what you're trying to say here... at least, it doesn't make any sense to me..
3. Amiga preferences, and many applications in general, have Save, Use, Test and Cancel buttons. Clicking Use will allow the setting to be applied to the current session. Clicking Save will permanently save the settings. Test allows the setting to be evaluated without committing to the change. Clicking Cancel after Testing a setting reverts to the previous setting without making changes.
The fact that you didn't know what I was talking about illustrates the point better than I could.
* I'm sorry I didn't understand what I was talking about.
You seem to think that the user interface needs to exactly map to the filesystem. That may be one approach, but its probably not the best one unless you're using something like DOS or a textmode Unix OS. Or are you even saying its the filesystem... I see you say "device hierarchy." If that's the case, wouldn't the CPU be the top?
4. I wasn't refering to the user interface. Storage device hierarchy: A directory tree as shown when looking at the storage media heirarchy should show the root directory at the top, then subdirectories beneath it. In the Windows tree specifically, the Desktop is shown as the root of the heirarchy followed by My Documents with the system root below those two entries. My Documents and the Desktop directories are subdirectories found further inside the storage media tree.
* How does one store files directly on the CPU?
Huh? If you run X on a unix system (whether plain or under a system like KDE, Gnome, CDE, or whatever) you have multiple virtual screens (multiple actual screens means separate monitors) with 0 or more windows on them. The idea of draggable screens is an Amiga concept, but its hardly the only way of handling multiple screens. Also, I'm fairly sure all but the most dumb users can tell a screen from a window.
5. This one is a minor one, but here goes. You don't spend much time trying to teach computers to novices then, do you? Windows and Screens are frequently misreferenced, even by some developers. Installing a game, for instance, a Window will appear in the middle of the desktop with all the installation options showing. The Window will mistakenly reference itself as a Screen rather than a Window.
There are always exceptions. While I realize that newer versions of Linux support multiple screens on multiple monitors, most people still don't function that way. And they certainly didn't when I originally wrote my little rant.
No, but then I'm not an idiot. On my Linux system, if I drag a window off the edge of a screen, it moves it to the next screen over (in any of the 4 directions I choose).
6. I wasn't refering to dragging windows across screens. Merely intending to click something within a couple of pixels of the window border and inadvertently grabbing the border itself.
*So I'm an idiot, my father is an idiot, my grandfather was an idiot, all because we have a genetic disorder which makes our hands somewhat less coordinated (read: shaky) than the average person. Thanks. Appreciate that nice take on my family lineage.
For most people's purposes, they are perectly adequate. While Amiga's CLI has more wildcards, how often do most people need the fancier ones? And if you want to do dickwaving, the regexps available for unix OSes are a whole lot more powerful than Amiga's. But again, so what? 99% of the time * and ? are all you need.
7. Unless you're looking for a pointer in a directory of source code, at which point * becomes completely useless. Granted there are other tools and methods of searching for a pointer reference, but then that's my point. Other methods are necessary. I frequently use the negation and grouping wildcards for many things. E-mail filtering is just one example. That little 1% you refer to occurs quite often.
Even if that were true (which it is not), equating Microsoft with all modern OSes is pretty silly.
8. But unfortunately the majority of people do.
That makes no sense.
9. This one is tougher to quantify. I'll just say "you had to be there" that day.
Depends on the application/OS I suppose, but I almost never encounter this on any modern OSes I've used.
10. It's good that your current system works in a similar fashion to the Amiga. This one (and admittedly most of this) is Windows-centric.
*Forgive me.
I can put my gadgets anywhere I want on my Linux windows... left, right, center, whatever. I can choose which gadgets I want, define my own, and pick what they look like. I think even Windows XP lets you have *some* control over gadgets nowadays (I don't use Windows often, so I'm not sure). As much as I love my Amiga, its pretty deficient in your control over window gadgets.
11. At the original time of writing, there was no way to do it.
I think on most modern OSes, more people probably use their mouse wheel or Page Up/Down buttons than clicking on scroll arrows. I don't think I've ever clicked on the arrows on my scroll bar in Linux... ever.
12. My father almost can't use his hands anymore. The mouse wheel scrolls the page too fast for him to keep up with and his coordination leaves much to be desired. One day I'll have the same trouble.
*But I'll be sure to let my father know that he's no longer allowed to operate his windows in this fashion because murple doesn't. The arrows should be removed entirely.
Never happens on my system. Even on Windows, you've got to be running abnormally heavy load before it gets that hung up. I've seen my Amiga get frozen up like that more than even Windows systems.
13. I guess copying files is an abnormally heavy load in that case. But again, you probably had to be there.
Uh... what?
14. Progress bars. For instance, copying files. You get a 20x20 pixel rectangle representing progress, then it sits. Another rectangle appears, and then it sits. Contrast this to a progress bar that moves from left to right a single pixel at a time. It's generally a better indication that something is actually happening.
*Sorry to confuse you.
Maybe you forgot to plug your keyboard in.
15. Hahaha! Haha. ha. Yeah, that must be it. Even when the Amiga is hard-locked, holding down the reset keys for a few seconds will usually reset the system.
*Unless the keyboard isn't plugged in.
There's no clean way to cancel an errant "Bikers are stupid pussies!" shouted in a biker bar either. Whats your point? Mistakes are mistakes, you can't blame the OS for something stupid you did. That's entirely on you.
16. This is exactly the mentality I can't stand. Are you saying you always click exactly where you want, or that you don't ever, ever change your mind while you're dragging something?
*I wanna be like murple
You know you can just drag it back to its original location, right?
17 & 18. Most of the time it can be returned to its original spot. Not always, but most of the time.
Huh?
18. I think most people know what this means.
*Where is the 486 and Voodoo card you used not too long ago?
Just plain wrong. Many systems have 2 image icons, and even animated icons.
19. They didn't when I originally wrote the article. About time they caught up, isn't it.
I do that plenty of times. Linux has a pretty good filesystem that internally manages files by inode, so changing a file's name while its in use (even while you're still downloading it) often works just fine.
20. Windows doesn't.
If by "I.T." you mean Idiot Tech, then OK... but if you're talking about the actual real world, I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen. By the way, I'm a software developer and have been for years. I'm pretty sure someone who deliberately wrote bugs and bad software would be, y'know, FIRED.
21. You and I don't have the same experience here.
Mine do. I can think of several ways to do that too (X resources files, window properties in KDE, -geometry arguments, etc).
22. Perhaps I'll recaption the text "Modern Operating Systems except Linux".
*Nah.
I think that is the result of whatever hallucinogenic drug you've been sprinkling on your Corn Flakes for breakfast.
23. Most Windows users are familiar with this feature.
*without the use of hallucinogenic drugs. Bet it's even neater with them!
How so? I sure don't remember any Pentiums back then. If you're saying that because they evolved from old 8080 systems in the 70s... well, the 68000 was developed in the 70s. Not developed from 70s technology, but actually developed IN the 70s. The first 68000 was made in 1979.
24. Was referring to the BIOS, not the CPU. The Y2K bug was indeed a software shortcoming.
The Y2K problem mostly applied to obsolete software that should've been replaced long ago. It also turned out not to affect much of anything, and was in large part a scheme for consultants to make a bunch of money by scaring corporate managers. It also has nothing to do with modern OSes.
25. Quite.
Let me know when you've got Deluxe Paint IV running on Windows without using an Amiga emulator, or when you've figured out a way to put a Zorro II card into my Linux PC.
26. To quote a good friend of mine, "Huh?"
Probably because you're ignorant of escaping reserved characters.
27. I feel so enlightened now. It's a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Again, Windows is not all modern OSes. And even in Windows, there are often ways to bypass the wizards and configure things manually.
28. I'm glad we agree.
Windows is not all modern OSes. Also, if the situation you describe happens, that is an issue with a stupid system or network administrator, not the OS.
29. What should I tell my stupid network administrator to get him to accelerate the spinning up of removable drives? And what should I insult him with for forcing the network to prompt for a password when it's required, causing the system to wait so unneccesarily?
You know those files named like "README" that come with most software? You're supposed to, like, read them.
30. Yes. Often they're included in "InstallThisPackage.EXE". To thwart your next effort at my computer-based manhood, I always create said README myself after I download something. That's not my point. It'd be nice if I didn't have to.
I don't know/care about Windows, but on my Linux system, mouse highlighting is extremely configurable.
31. Great! But I thought I made clear that I'd written this dissertation some time ago and not all of it was applicable.
While Amiga's filenames were greatly superior to DOS back in the late 80s and early 90s, coming from the unix world I kind of think the case insensitivity of Amiga filenames can be problematic sometimes. Also, compared to modern long filenames, Amiga's are pretty short.
32. Case sensitivity can cause as many problems as it solves. In any case, I never saw much benefit to having two files with the same name.
* = Sarcastic remark intended to evoke a humorous response. Not to be taken seriously. Boy, computers sure do turn people mean, don't they.
