Why do you stick with the Amiga?

[B00tDisk]

Roj, I'm not going to line-item pick that apart because it is wholly and entirely wrong.  Everything.  There is no one point of wrongness that needs to be brought to attention over the other(s).

I'd recommend you educate yourself about the various OSs before railing about them but...

[murple]

Computers compute. The more operations per second that a computer can perform, the more things the computer is capable of doing. The more a computer is capable of doing, the better the end user experience is going to be (though of course this is dependent on the user running software that uses the computer's capabilities in ways that accomplish what the user wants). The extra computing ability of faster machines allows for more processing power to be allotted for creating easy/useful user interfaces in addition to the basic functions a user is trying to perform (generating images, calculations, editting text, sending and recieving TCP packets, etc). Saying that making computers faster does not improve them is, well... retarded.

I see that you're using an 060/PPC in your Amiga. Why? By your own argument, that doesn't make your Amiga any better. For that matter, why even use a 4000, don't you think that a 1000 with its 68000 is just as good?

[murple]

Wow, what kind of drugs were you on when you wrote this?

If the hard drive requires reformatting, some registered programs must be re-registered.

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.

More effort has gone into hiding data and information than has gone into making it easy to work with.

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.

Modern software designers have never heard of buttons called Use and Test, and have no concept of what the word Cancel actually means.

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.

The desktop is at the highest position in the device hierarchy, yet it's really a subdirectory on the boot drive. The hierarchy should have the drives at the top and work its way inward, not take some arbitrary starting point and pretend it's the top.

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?

For that matter, I don't think Amigas even fit your idea. The main WorkBench screen doesn't correspond to the boot drive.

The more I think about this paragraph of yours, the less sense it makes.

Modern OS users seem oblivious of the difference between Screens and Windows. Here's a hint: if the entity being referred to can be moved or resized, then it isn't a Screen (unless it can only be dragged upward and downward, and then it's not Windows.

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.

Ever intend to drag the contents of a window which may be positioned close to the window's edge, and instead get the pointer too close to the border, drag it and inadvertently resize the window? Wouldn't be so bad if you could cancel it before letting go of the mouse button.

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).

Most, if not all Windows-only users who know what wildcards are think that *.* and ? are perfectly adequate wildcards.

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.

Microsoft tells us where we are to save all of our data. What ever would we do without them helping us with such difficult decisions? Heaven forbid we try to save our stuff in a place that differs from the norm.

Even if that were true (which it is not), equating Microsoft with all modern OSes is pretty silly.

Modern operating systems are programmed to be task-oriented rather than user-oriented, giving more importance to what the computer wants to do and less to what the user wants to do.

That makes no sense.

If the application is busy, accessing menus is impossible.

Depends on the application/OS I suppose, but I almost never encounter this on any modern OSes I've used.

Let's put the close gadget right next to the "minimize/maximize" gadgets. Who cares if the user clicks the wrong one and loses all their work. We'll just have extra "are you sure" requesters to ensure the user feels both protected and annoyed.

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.

Why are the scroll bar arrows separated by the scroll bar? Isn't the idea of scroll arrows to keep from having to move the mouse while scrolling?

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.

When the system is busy, the entire GUI appears frozen. Often there is no indication that this is normal. The system simply fails to respond.

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.

Progress bars that use 10 - 20 pixel wide segments have been widely adopted by many applications in modern operating systems, foregoing a more comfortable and informative pixel-wide segment.

Uh... what?

How can a computer crash so hard that it no longer accepts input from the keyboard?

Maybe you forgot to plug your keyboard in.

There's usually no clean way to cancel an errant mouse click.

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.

If the user intends to drag-and-drop something, clicks and starts to drag it, then realizes before dropping that it shouldn't be dropped, most  operating systems won't let the user cancel it easily without the risk of dropping it in a potentially dangerous place.

You know you can just drag it back to its original location, right?

Buy it, use it, throw it away.

Huh?

Modern operating systems don't support two-image icons.

Just plain wrong. Many systems have 2 image icons, and even animated icons.

Just try renaming a "folder" or a file while it's being accessed in any capacity by any other application.

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.

Students in today's "I.T." studies are being taught to underwrite software, leave behind bugs and use poor implementation methods in the name of job security. Students I've spoken to will attest to this new ideology.

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.

Windows don't conform to a user-defined default position and instead either recall the last used size and position or default to what the programmers feel is appropriate for all users.

Mine do. I can think of several ways to do that too (X resources files, window properties in KDE, -geometry arguments, etc).

Scroll gadgets snap to their original position if the mouse is moved an abstract distance from them.

I think that is the result of whatever hallucinogenic drug you've been sprinkling on your Corn Flakes for breakfast.

PCs are 70s technology.

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.

The Y2K problem is clear evidence that the original designers of the PC never imagined that it would still be used beyond the 20th Century.

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.

Complete incompatibility with other platforms. Initially Microsoft will announce and release a new format and open the source to developers. Then after it's been widely adopted, Microsoft changes the format and withholds
the sources.

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.

If DOS is really gone from Windows, why can't I put backslashes and colons in file names?

Probably because you're ignorant of escaping reserved characters.

More often than not, the Microsoft Wizard is less helpful than just allowing the user to configure something manually.

Again, Windows is not all modern OSes. And even in Windows, there are often ways to bypass the wizards and configure things manually.

when the source file is located on a network or a drive that spins down, the whole start menu freezes while the drive spins up or the network connection is made.

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.

It's become common practice not to include any form of documentation within installation packages.

You know those files named like "README" that come with most software? You're supposed to, like, read them.

Any clicks on a specific letter of text existing in a text gadget is ignored in favor of Windows' desire to highlight the entire line, requiring a second click to put the cursor where the user originally intended on the first click.

I don't know/care about Windows, but on my Linux system, mouse highlighting is extremely configurable.

Instead of naming system files something useful, they're given cryptic 8.3 file names in combinations of numbers and letters even though the OS has supported long file names for over a decade.

I don't need 8.3 file names on my Linux system. Never have. Windows uses them internally but most users never see that since most interfaces translate the names to long names transparently... even at the command line, it will recognize long names. I'm pretty sure Macs dont need 8.3 filenames, and theres plenty of other modern OSes that don't need these.

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.

[stopthegop]

@ Murple:

Where did I say making computers faster didn't improve them?

I was critical of the widely held but simplistic belief, pervasive if not universal in the PC world, that the CPU clock frequence is the only thing that matters.  Most people who buy PCs are blissfully ignorant and give consideration only to that number...  how many "giggeh herts" a machine has.  I won't bother listing any of the thousands of other technical specifications germaine to all things electronic, particularly computers, but the CPUs clock frequency is just one number.  The machine could be a total piece of sh1t in every way, but as long as its got lots of them "giggu hurtez", the sheeple will buy it.    

[Roj]

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.

[unite]

Ahhh the Amiga, for years it wasn't more than WinUAE but in the last few months I've started putting my 1200 back together.  Now after spending over £300 I've got a nice tower conversion, 68030@50mhz, 50mb ram, scsi, pci board with voodoo, sound and network.  

Now why did I do this you might ask when WinUAE basically would of done more than I ever needed i.e. games.  Well lad and ladesses its the feeling of powering up an actual amiga rather than an enulator.  Its the satisfaction you get from actually using the real machine.  

I intend to replace my Vista machine with the Amiga for internet usage basically cause its a lot quieter and more fun to work with.  



One other thing.  Theres alot of hate here towards Microsoft and the OS's.  Ive always used them from 95 right up to Vista now on my main rig.  To be honest I think the best Microsoft OS is XP.  Vista is jsut a pain in the arse with its damn security.  

Someone saidyou can't rename a folder while access it in windows.  WRONG you can indeed rename the folder as long as the program your using is an standard windows program.  Example playing an MP3 on Media Player.  The file name fodler name can be renamed to whatever you want and it plays on regardless.  If your using a 3rd party player then no it can't but why blame the OS for 3rd party software.  

Again its been said why can't I have : or \ in the file names, well thats cuase windows uses those references in its filesystem doesn't it.  Even in Vista you can still type c:\hiddenfiles\porn\messy.avi and it works.  The OS uses those operators so you can't have them and btw there are a shed load of other keys pick one of them.  

Next time your stupidly click on an Icon drag it then think of I shouldn't of done that try hitting Escape instead of panicing.  

I could ramble on for ages here proving that all yer negitive windows points are infact pointless but I need to get back to work but in short Windows has done more for home computing than any other OS.  Fair play to Microsoft they seen a chance and went for it.  I would bet that anyone could easily use a windows enviroment way before Linux or Amiga.  Windows has been developed for the Living Room pc experance not the attic nerd.  

[Roj]

I was asked why I stuck with the Amiga. A lot of what was pointed out were things I didn't particularly care for in other platforms. I'm well aware that things have improved some since then, but my distaste for Windows, et. al., developed from experiences from that time period. I apologize for the ruffled feathers, but that's the way it is.

Keep two things in mind:

1. They were true at the time I originally wrote them, which for the most part was the late 1990s.

2. This is my opinion, and I haven't seen much of anything that would change my mind on the subject. I use other platforms, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. You generally don't influence people by first insulting them. (Insults generally come from a lack of confidence anyway.)

It only bothers me that my opinion is pointless to some when their opinions mean something to me. ;-)

[KThunder]

i think these last few posts have been kindoff off topic but i will comment anyway: a well configured system run by an informed if not well trained user will work significantly better than a hack banging away changing stuff they know nothing about and trying to use the system anyway they want.

that applies i think weather you are using any variant of windows, linux, amiga os or mac os

think of it like a car: if you put kero in, set tire presure to 90lbs and run your standard tranny like an auto and leave your doors open for air; you arent going to go too far no matter how you think it should be setup.

[Roj]

@KThunder

To add to the "Why do I stick with Amiga" topic, here's another viewpoint. If I were to stack the books that taught me about using the Amiga, I'd have a stack of about three to four inches (8 - 10 cm) high. Talking about using here, not programming. If I were to stack the books that have taught me about Windows, I'd have a stack about nine to ten inches (23 - 24 cm) high, and I'm still not sure those books cover as many aspects of Windows as the Amiga books cover about the Amiga.

Granted, the books in question may not be the best, but then again they may be. A properly configured Windows system should work better than one banged away on by a hack, but consider the material that needs to be covered to get to that point vs. the relative simplistic power of other systems. My question is, is that added complexity in Windows buying me anything, or is it merely a security-through-obscurity philosophy?

I don't love Windows enough to spend that kind of time with it. It's probably a chicken-and-egg thing. If I spent the time I might get into it more, but I don't care enough about it (yet) to spend the time.

[Bamiga2002]

For the sheer fun of it and the community .

[murple]

OK, so, you wrote your rant just about Windows and a long time ago and it doesn't necessarily apply to modern OSes or non-Windows OSes.

Apparently though, that wasn't enough to stop you from posting it in 2007 and aiming the rant at all "Modern Operating Systems" anyway.

Roj wrote:
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.

I'm aware of that. However, your statement regarding other platforms made no sense... as opposed to most of your other statements which, while often completely wrong, at least it was possible to tell what you were ranting crazily about.

Oh hell I don't feel like responding to all your "points"...

[vic20owner]

If the operating system is smart enough to detect the monitor then you don't really need "Test" or "Use" buttons in most cases... you just change the setting and keep it if you like it.

[Roj]

Again you insult me.

OK, so, you wrote your rant just about Windows and a long time ago and it doesn't necessarily apply to modern OSes or non-Windows OSes.

It applied to my opinion about why I still use an Amiga, which, if I'm not mistaken is what this thread is about.

Roj wrote:
    I just never liked the way other systems do things. I could go into specifics, but that's a good enough summation.

MskoDestny wrote:
  I'd personally be interested in specifics if you're willing to provide them.

You are COMPLETELY ignoring the topic of this thread. It asked for opinions on why people stick with Amigas. It's not asking for justification, or for people whose opinions differ to come in and start acting like you are.

I was asked by the original thread poster for my opinion, and I gave my opinion. I was asked by the original poster to give details, so I did. I'm following the thread topic. You don't like my opinion and so you're being insulting, going off-topic, and generally being pushy.

Oh hell I don't feel like responding to all your "points"...

What changed your mind? You didn't mind picking the crap out of my opinion on the last page. Why the change?

It's my opinion. In fact you've strengthened it. You didn't stick with the Amiga. This isn't a thread for you. Now either go away or come back with much more lucid rebuttal. These "everything you said was wrong" arguments are a waste of space.

[Roj]

[/quote]If the operating system is smart enough to detect the monitor then you don't really need "Test" or "Use" buttons in most cases... you just change the setting and keep it if you like it.[/quote]

That's true, but there's a lot more to those gadgets than just screen mode settings though.

Just off the top of my head, if I want to change, say, the screen font, I can check several out to see what they look like. If later I don't like the one I picked, and I only clicked Use, then a quick reboot reverts to my previous setting. This applies to all the system settings. (I had to admit needing to reboot because Font is one of the few that doesn't have a Test button.)

If you reboot Windows after just clicking Apply, it doesn't matter whether or not you follow it with Cancel or even restart. You still get your applied font. Some people may love this feature. I don't.

[Ross1]

Why do I stick with Amiga?

Simple, easy to use and very functional even today.

The Amiga also boasts as one of the few that you can turn off without doing any sort of shutdown procedure. Even the Mac cant do that without causing issues.
The Amiga is very powerful even today as look at what you can do with it with the Video Toaster/Flyer for example and with only 16mb of ram! PC's and Mac's of the 90's could never do it. You need a PC with more than 1gig of ram and a 256mb graphics card nowadays to fully realize the functions that the Video Toaster did in an Amiga.

[Fixer]

Why do you stick with the Amiga?

You know, I'm not even sure.

Thinking about it I can't logically or objectively give reasons for sticking with the machine.

I guess it's more sentimental than anything else.