The numbers were for copyrights, not patents, and yes, it will have to be studied how many years patents should apply for each field.
If I made a new type of (say) egg beater, and got it patented, then no, you can't make an egg beater just like mine. The government simply protects my right to make this egg beater exclusively for a limited time. Whether you look at it positively or negatively is your wish, and "monopoly" has negative connotations. I look at it positively. Anyone can come up with an even better type of egg beater... I'm not stopping anyone from doing so.
This even extends to non-patentable, tangible property. If I have a beautiful tract of land near a river, I don't think it would be possible for you to have a tract of land "just like it".
You also need the police to enter my house to see if I'm the one who stole the goods.
Protection of property and intellectual property is a legitimate function of government. You can call it "interference". I don't. I'm not a "free-market" anarchist. ("Free-market" is in quotes because I don't think it really is a free market, without a government protecting property.)
Is the ownership of a piece of land a government granted monopoly? I mean, you can do almost anything you like with this land. You can forbid any other citizen from trespassing. You have a monopoly over your land, don't you?
Why? Think of it as a bulk order. Bulk orders are great business. Does anyone complain when a large corporation gets software for less per piece than a smaller corporation, or an individual, would?
Ah, I didn't mean that. I should rephrase my statement somewhat: I do recognise intellectual property to be like property. I didn't mean both were identical.
The "government granted monopoly" thinking is something that I'm just peeved at. Real, tangible property is as much a "government granted monopoly" as IP is -- which is to say, not at all. Just to clarify, A implying X and B implying X does not mean that A and B are the same.
Are you torqued by government interference in a free market when it
protects artists (copyrights)
protects investors (patents)
protects corporations (trademarks and plc registration)
No, no, no. Government is to protect property, and without property there can be no free market. (I do recognise intellectual property as property, unlike some others: I just think the current system needs reform in prior art and such, and the time limits are stupid. I'm in favour of a copyright system in which automatic copyright is for, say, 30 years, and you have to register to extend it up to, say, 60 years. Patents should be valid for a lot less, of course.)
IP is a "government granted monopoly" in the same way as a piece of land you own is a "government granted monopoly". IP is NECESSARY in a free market.
Yes and yes. I'm not a fan of subsidies and protectionism, especially in the developed world. I dislike lobbying as well -- it is clearly misuse of government power. Protectionism and lobbying are not legitimate parts of a free market.
No you wont see DRM but it will be constantly running in the background.
OK. So DRM would mean increased cycles, right? So why is it that there is ZERO extra CPU usage when I play a standard MP3 or AVI file in Vista, compared to XP? And I tested this a while ago, using five or six files in different formats. This is an older computer, where CPU usage can easily be 10% while playing an MP3. The DRM checks don't run when the user isn't playing DRM content.
1. local drive, an issue for some computers. As I said, solved for a lot of people (including me) by simply disabling Remote Differential Compression.
2. network drive. Is the drive on the network not on a computer running Vista? There is an issue on some computers if files are transferred from/to a computer not running Vista. No fixes yet, but a workaround seems to be to use the command line and Robocopy.
From the SP1 news, both these problems seem to be solved in it. Another bug in ReadyBoost, where the system recreates the cache on resume from standby or hibernate, virtually stalling the computer for 3-5 minutes, will also be solved.
Before anyone jumps on me, these bugs are not critical. Vista doesn't crash every five minutes, as some like to proclaim (I'm not setting up strawmans here, I've seen these statements in several places). User space apps cannot crash Vista (or any other NT system for that matter), just like they cannot crash *nix, unless they use an exploit (and none have been found yet AFAIK). If your Vista crashes every five minutes, it is 99.99% faulty kernel space drivers. Vista is objectively more stable than XP because sound drivers have been used to user space.
IE7 SUCKS, end of story. I use Firefox with the IEtab if I absolutely must run an IE window - useful for getting into our company's webmail. IE7 is nothing more than a miserable hack trying to emulate Firefox and MS should be embarrassed for ever releasing this piece of crap.
Try Maxthon if you want to use IE. It's a lot faster than Firefox can ever be, that's for sure. I'm using an optimised build of Firefox and while it is a lot faster than the Mozilla release, it doesn't match up to Maxthon.
Vista is slower than XP because of the new features: indexing, diagnostics and such. If you disable indexing and other such stuff, you'll find that it runs pretty comparably to XP. Superfetch et al don't hurt, of course.)
Oh, and the AC is right, Vista doesn't suck. Sure there are a couple of bugs (like the slow file copy issue, solved for a lot by disabling Remote Differential Compression in Windows Features, and seems to be solved completely in SP1), but there's also an amazing amount of FUD and pure lies over Vista, especially over DRM. (File copy slow? OMG, DRM CHECKS! etc) Here's a nugget to chew on: if you don't play DRM'd media you will never ever see DRM.
And this is the hole in absolutely every OS ever made. Every OS will allow you to run a program that deletes your files, for instance. There is simply no patch for human stupidity.
Because there's a learning curve? People don't like change. Microsoft has been very brave to make this big a change for this widely used an office suite, but I think for the most part it has paid off well.
PS: I'd like to have an option to display the ribbon vertically too (one of my few gripes), but it isn't a showstopper for me, and the benefits of the new version far outweigh the drawbacks.
You have to have something to indicate major groups.
Anyway, you're attacking a very minor drawback (the VERY SLIGHTLY increased display area for the interface). It isn't the horizontal tabs that are the important part, it's the organisation, the layout and the entire concept behind it that works. I've seen my *parents* use things like Track Changes and Captions (previously they drew textboxes below pictures) in Word documents. They can finally use mail merge without my assistance -- the mail merge tab is brillantly organised: left to right, start to finish -- now, for them, it's just a matter of clicking a few buttons and typing some data. This would've been impossible with older versions of Word or (heh) the latest version of OpenOffice.org.
Existing keyboard junkies can use all their shortcuts (or accelerators, as they like to call them) that worked in earlier versions of Office. Aspiring keyboard junkies can just hit Alt.
I haven't gone through the ODF specification yet, but there's one thing I'd like to know:
Does the ODF specification support each and every Word/Excel/Powerpoint 2007 feature? If not, is it extensible? If it is extensible, do changes have to go through some sort of committee to be incorporated? How frequently are changes incorporated? How long is the process?
Not to mention the fact that the average Firefox/Linux/OS X user is smarter than the average Windows n00b, and would never open an executable email attachment.
You know, files that are DRMed have INFORMATION in them that they are DRMed. You won't EVER encounter DRM if you don't use DRM files, btw. Stop with this "wastes processor cycles" BS.
The "it's not open source" is the standard OSS zealot talking point. THIS is paranoia.
Windows Time. To disable it, untick a fucking box in date/time settings. That is not easy?
Where the fuck did I say ADS? They are fucking GAME COVERS. Since when are game covers ADS? You can fucking untick a box if you're so concerned. It's right there, in Options. See, opting out is damn easy.
To my knowledge, once Customer Experience has been disabled, it has never ever been enabled.
I'm fully aware that this is Slashdot. I know that anything remotely anti-Microsoft (right now, anti-Vista) gets posted on the home page in a jiffy. I just like to combat FUD with truth.
Heh, XP does a lot of the above as well (especially activation). Even your favourite version of Linux queries for updates, either automatically or when you say so.
Slashdot Mirror
The numbers were for copyrights, not patents, and yes, it will have to be studied how many years patents should apply for each field.
If I made a new type of (say) egg beater, and got it patented, then no, you can't make an egg beater just like mine. The government simply protects my right to make this egg beater exclusively for a limited time. Whether you look at it positively or negatively is your wish, and "monopoly" has negative connotations. I look at it positively. Anyone can come up with an even better type of egg beater... I'm not stopping anyone from doing so.
This even extends to non-patentable, tangible property. If I have a beautiful tract of land near a river, I don't think it would be possible for you to have a tract of land "just like it".
You also need the police to enter my house to see if I'm the one who stole the goods.
Protection of property and intellectual property is a legitimate function of government. You can call it "interference". I don't. I'm not a "free-market" anarchist. ("Free-market" is in quotes because I don't think it really is a free market, without a government protecting property.)
Is the ownership of a piece of land a government granted monopoly? I mean, you can do almost anything you like with this land. You can forbid any other citizen from trespassing. You have a monopoly over your land, don't you?
Why? Think of it as a bulk order. Bulk orders are great business. Does anyone complain when a large corporation gets software for less per piece than a smaller corporation, or an individual, would?
Ah, I didn't mean that. I should rephrase my statement somewhat: I do recognise intellectual property to be like property. I didn't mean both were identical.
The "government granted monopoly" thinking is something that I'm just peeved at. Real, tangible property is as much a "government granted monopoly" as IP is -- which is to say, not at all. Just to clarify, A implying X and B implying X does not mean that A and B are the same.
Are you torqued by government interference in a free market when it protects artists (copyrights) protects investors (patents) protects corporations (trademarks and plc registration)
No, no, no. Government is to protect property, and without property there can be no free market. (I do recognise intellectual property as property, unlike some others: I just think the current system needs reform in prior art and such, and the time limits are stupid. I'm in favour of a copyright system in which automatic copyright is for, say, 30 years, and you have to register to extend it up to, say, 60 years. Patents should be valid for a lot less, of course.)
IP is a "government granted monopoly" in the same way as a piece of land you own is a "government granted monopoly". IP is NECESSARY in a free market.
protects markets (corn/oil/wood subsidies) removes external competitors (import tarrifs)
Yes and yes. I'm not a fan of subsidies and protectionism, especially in the developed world. I dislike lobbying as well -- it is clearly misuse of government power. Protectionism and lobbying are not legitimate parts of a free market.
Oh, forgot to add one thing. Vista is slower out of the box because of indexing and other new features, not because of some DRM boogie man.
No you wont see DRM but it will be constantly running in the background.
OK. So DRM would mean increased cycles, right? So why is it that there is ZERO extra CPU usage when I play a standard MP3 or AVI file in Vista, compared to XP? And I tested this a while ago, using five or six files in different formats. This is an older computer, where CPU usage can easily be 10% while playing an MP3. The DRM checks don't run when the user isn't playing DRM content.
There are two file copying issues:
1. local drive, an issue for some computers. As I said, solved for a lot of people (including me) by simply disabling Remote Differential Compression.
2. network drive. Is the drive on the network not on a computer running Vista? There is an issue on some computers if files are transferred from/to a computer not running Vista. No fixes yet, but a workaround seems to be to use the command line and Robocopy.
From the SP1 news, both these problems seem to be solved in it. Another bug in ReadyBoost, where the system recreates the cache on resume from standby or hibernate, virtually stalling the computer for 3-5 minutes, will also be solved.
Before anyone jumps on me, these bugs are not critical. Vista doesn't crash every five minutes, as some like to proclaim (I'm not setting up strawmans here, I've seen these statements in several places). User space apps cannot crash Vista (or any other NT system for that matter), just like they cannot crash *nix, unless they use an exploit (and none have been found yet AFAIK). If your Vista crashes every five minutes, it is 99.99% faulty kernel space drivers.
Vista is objectively more stable than XP because sound drivers have been used to user space.
IE7 SUCKS, end of story. I use Firefox with the IEtab if I absolutely must run an IE window - useful for getting into our company's webmail. IE7 is nothing more than a miserable hack trying to emulate Firefox and MS should be embarrassed for ever releasing this piece of crap.
Try Maxthon if you want to use IE. It's a lot faster than Firefox can ever be, that's for sure. I'm using an optimised build of Firefox and while it is a lot faster than the Mozilla release, it doesn't match up to Maxthon.
Vista is slower than XP because of the new features: indexing, diagnostics and such. If you disable indexing and other such stuff, you'll find that it runs pretty comparably to XP. Superfetch et al don't hurt, of course.)
Oh, and the AC is right, Vista doesn't suck. Sure there are a couple of bugs (like the slow file copy issue, solved for a lot by disabling Remote Differential Compression in Windows Features, and seems to be solved completely in SP1), but there's also an amazing amount of FUD and pure lies over Vista, especially over DRM. (File copy slow? OMG, DRM CHECKS! etc) Here's a nugget to chew on: if you don't play DRM'd media you will never ever see DRM.
No, the window redrawing delay doesn't happen on Vista unless you have Aero disabled.
http://secunia.com/product/13223/ Enjoy.
I get a good laugh every time anyone says OS X has "very few" or "hardly any" vulnerabilities. Try telling that to Secunia.
And this is the hole in absolutely every OS ever made. Every OS will allow you to run a program that deletes your files, for instance. There is simply no patch for human stupidity.
Because there's a learning curve? People don't like change. Microsoft has been very brave to make this big a change for this widely used an office suite, but I think for the most part it has paid off well.
Jensen Harris's blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh gives some wonderful insights into the new design.
PS: I'd like to have an option to display the ribbon vertically too (one of my few gripes), but it isn't a showstopper for me, and the benefits of the new version far outweigh the drawbacks.
You have to have something to indicate major groups.
Anyway, you're attacking a very minor drawback (the VERY SLIGHTLY increased display area for the interface). It isn't the horizontal tabs that are the important part, it's the organisation, the layout and the entire concept behind it that works. I've seen my *parents* use things like Track Changes and Captions (previously they drew textboxes below pictures) in Word documents. They can finally use mail merge without my assistance -- the mail merge tab is brillantly organised: left to right, start to finish -- now, for them, it's just a matter of clicking a few buttons and typing some data. This would've been impossible with older versions of Word or (heh) the latest version of OpenOffice.org.
Existing keyboard junkies can use all their shortcuts (or accelerators, as they like to call them) that worked in earlier versions of Office. Aspiring keyboard junkies can just hit Alt.
You call the Ribbon a "terrible UI change"?
Go look at twitter's post history. He's dead serious.
I haven't gone through the ODF specification yet, but there's one thing I'd like to know:
Does the ODF specification support each and every Word/Excel/Powerpoint 2007 feature?
If not, is it extensible?
If it is extensible, do changes have to go through some sort of committee to be incorporated? How frequently are changes incorporated? How long is the process?
Not to mention the fact that the average Firefox/Linux/OS X user is smarter than the average Windows n00b, and would never open an executable email attachment.
Yes, in Vista. It asks you whether to go online to search for a driver, just like in earlier versions.
You know, files that are DRMed have INFORMATION in them that they are DRMed. You won't EVER encounter DRM if you don't use DRM files, btw. Stop with this "wastes processor cycles" BS.
The "it's not open source" is the standard OSS zealot talking point. THIS is paranoia.
Windows Time. To disable it, untick a fucking box in date/time settings. That is not easy?
Where the fuck did I say ADS? They are fucking GAME COVERS. Since when are game covers ADS? You can fucking untick a box if you're so concerned. It's right there, in Options. See, opting out is damn easy.
To my knowledge, once Customer Experience has been disabled, it has never ever been enabled.
Oh damn, IHBT.
Problem reports are mainly for DRIVERS and THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS. Also, if an MS app crashes they would like to know about it.
And it fucking IS.
I'm fully aware that this is Slashdot. I know that anything remotely anti-Microsoft (right now, anti-Vista) gets posted on the home page in a jiffy. I just like to combat FUD with truth.
Heh, XP does a lot of the above as well (especially activation). Even your favourite version of Linux queries for updates, either automatically or when you say so.