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In-Depth With the Windows 7 Public Beta
Dozer writes "With the Windows 7 public beta out, Ars Technica has an in-depth look at the release. There's praise for Windows 7's UI changes and polish as well much-needed changes to UAC, but also a warning that those who have problems with Vista won't like Windows 7 much better. 'If you couldn't stand Vista's UI (whether it's because you didn't like Explorer, Aero, Control Panel, UAC, or anything else), Windows 7 is unlikely to do much to help, as it builds on the same UI. If Vista's hardware demands were too steep, Windows 7 will likely cause you the same grief, as its hardware demands match. And if Vista didn't work with a program or device you need to use, Windows 7 will offer no salvation, as its compatibility is virtually identical.'"
Charges: You think it's your patriotic duty to spend money you don't have on crap you don't need. You think Hillary lost because of sexism, when it's actually because she's just a bad liar. You think Iraq is better off now than before we invaded, and don't understand why they're so ungrateful. You think Tim Russert was a great journalist. You're hopping mad about an auto industry bailout that cost a squirt of piss compared to a Wall Street heist of galactic dimensions, due to a housing crash you somehow have blamed on minorities. It took you six years to figure out what a tool Bush is, but you think Obama will make it all better. You deem it hunky dory that we conduct national policy debates via 8-second clips from "The View." You think God zapped humans into existence a few thousand years ago, although your appendix and wisdom teeth disagree. You like watching vicious assholes insult each other on TV. You support gun rights, because firing one gives you a chubby. You cuddle falsehoods and resent enlightenment. You think the fact that 43% of whites could stomach voting for an incredibly charismatic and eloquent light-skinned black guy who was raised by white people means racism is over. You think progressive taxation is socialism. 1 in 100 of you are in jail, and you think it should be more. You are shallow, inconsiderate, afraid, brand-conscious, sedentary, and totally self-obsessed. You are American.
If, to you, "having a real job" means working a Microsoft-only shop, enjoy your job while you still have it. Microsoft has continued to simplify computer and network adminsitration so nearly anyone could do it. Because of that, more and more small to mid-sized companies will start contracting services for computer and network administration instead of paying for their own IT departments. The larger companies may be able to avoid some of the financial pain for now, but the cost of paying Microsoft licensing fees (and other proprietary vendors' licensing fees) is becoming increasingly unacceptable. Whether you want to admit it or not, open source alternatives are increasingly becoming more robust and more feature rich. My company just adopted SugarCRM, abandoning ACT! We were ready to dive into Microsoft Exchange, but the cost of licensing is leading me to seriously consider Zimbra.
It's not that we don't have the money to acquire these specific tools--we're not defaulting to open source solely because we don't want to spend money on technololgy--it is, rather, that we've determined that Microsoft is no longe the only option, and it certainly is not automatically the best value. If I, as an IT manager, can provide technologies and services that meet the needs of our user base while saving tens of thousands of dollars every year by reducing licensing costs, I'm helping our enterprise succeed and remain profitable. Microsoft may continue to dominate for a time, but, unless it is able to realign itself and become more realistic regarding its licensing model (something it has both the financial and human resources to accomplish), it will face an inevetable end.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...