...enterprise application? A number of people have already mentioned that Access is unsuitable for that, so I'll just add my voice in agreement and move on.
A couple of options that I see, particularly if you're primarily an MS house and/or don't want to rewrite your front end:
1) Get the backend into something else, like MS SQL Server. You can keep your forms and reports virtually unchanged. If you go that route, I recommend this book highly: Microsoft Access Developer's Guide to SQL Server
2) Post your question over here: comp.databases.ms-access. There are a lot of professionals in that newsgroup who are generally more than happy to tackle questions like this and have a tremendous amount of experience and expertise behind them.
I'm mostly in agreement with you, having done a lot of work recently with Flash and XML. Flash is capable of doing a whole lot more than we're seeing on the Web right now, and I don't believe that it's being used to its full capacity. My husband and I attended a Flash conference in Oregon last summer, and midway through the afternoon talk-and-demo an older gentleman in the back row raised his hand and said, "Excuse me. Does any of this have any commercial application?"
The fella giving the talk stopped dead, with the most dumbfounded look on his face. He finally replied, "Well no, not really. It's more for fun than anything." Those of us attending who are using Flash heavily for geographical visualization and modeling simultaneously felt our jaws hit the floor.
My biggest beef with Flash at the moment is that it doesn't fully support the XML DOM, making it a bit of a nuisance to do things that should be simple (getElementsByTagName, anyone?), not to mention that Flash itself has a few very strange bugs, but I have high hopes for the next version.
My family, friends, and fuzzy family members (dog) have all learned that when I have a computer open I become a not-nice growly sarcastic twit and that it's much safer to just stay away from me until I'm myself again.
Ayup on that one. My husband's learned to go grab a book and retire to the bedroom when I reach for the screwdriver.
I just installed urpmi for the first time last night, after ten minutes of snarling at the RedHat 8.0 package manager (which, frankly, needs a LOT of work). Apt-get for rpms is brilliant, in my noobish opinion.
It's not funny though that it's overlooked - it's sad that it's not publicized more heavily. I wish I'd have known about it sooner. It would have saved me lots of frustration over the last six months.
Yep. I've had the SL-5500 for about three months and couldn't be happier... although I almost wish I'd waited for the SL-5600M. I didn't want a to-do list and calendar, I wanted a handheld computer, and that's exactly what the Zaurus is. Not to mention the amount of free software available out there for it (open source, remember?) and the nifty little keyboard that works far better than any handwriting recognition software that I've tried.
Yes, it's very possible to cause harm to your vision by wearing glasses that are either too strong or too weak. Any optometrist will tell you that the drugstore rack reading glasses should be banned. Another less obvious hazard is the quality of the materials often used to make these glasses. The cheap ones really do not have shatter-proof lenses. Not a good thing.
I'll only talk about the strengths that, as far as I'm aware, aren't reproduced functionally by any other bit of software out there. If I'm wrong and there's something that runs on Linux that can give me the same functionality, I'll be delighted if someone tells me.
The first is a GUI IDE for rapid development of forms and reports to front a database. This is an IDE that was designed specifically to work with databases, with the components made to make the things you want to do nearly painless. I'm talking about things like continuous forms, the holy grail of data components. Having this IDE makes it easy to knock together something usable and focus my time and mental energy on something more challenging (and interesting). It also makes it easy for my users to put together something that meets their needs without having to wait for someone to find the time to get around to it. For reports, you could use something like Crystal Reports, but anyone who's ever used it will tell you how unintuitive it is. My users just want to be able to base a report on a query and format it nicely. Access makes that simple.
The other big one is the ability to link to tables in a variety of other databases (Oracle, dBase, Paradox, SQL Server - we use them all), text files and spreadsheets simultaneously, create relationships between those tables, and query the data from all of those databases in a meaningful way. I know it would be much nicer to have all of that data in a single format, but we're talking fifty years of legacy data here, owned by not only different groups but different companies. Imagine the logistics of trying to move to a single format. First would have to come getting hundreds of people to agree on a format. That isn't going to happen.
An example: One of my current projects is a tool to allow users to interact with scheduling data for a specific purpose. This data is contained in one Oracle 8i, two SQL Server 2000, one Paradox and one MS Access 97 database. My job is to bring bits of that data together, provide a GUI for the users to query that data and suggest changes based on their queries, and then print nicely formatted reports that have to be signature-approved and then become legal documents. I could have done this using Java or C++, sure, but then I would be looking at twelve to eighteen months development time instead of six. From my point of view, I wouldn't have minded either way. From the point of view of my manager, however, who has a government agency breathing down his neck and needs this tool in production as quickly as possible, obviously speed is an important factor.
These things are where Access shines. Not as a database in itself: It's not particularly scalable for enterprise-level applications. But for the things it does do well, I'm not aware of anything else out there that can replace it at this time.
I'm heading out on vacation in about an hour, so won't see any replies to this unless you email me. Feel free to.
I understand where you're coming from with your argument, and in many ways I agree with you. I have a slightly different point of view, however, that might help make the case for continued work on Wine. I know I'm not the only one in this position.
I'm a Linux user (well, a newbie really, but trying and learning fast) who really prefers to work within the Linux environment for many reasons. The problem is that I have work and school requirements that force me to use Windows for some very specific applications.
First is Microsoft Access. Yes, I know, but work dictates that that is what I use for database development. Access is used where I work as a front end to interface with a variety of other databases (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Paradox, etc). Whether we like it or not, there just isn't any other software out there that is better at doing the things that Access does well, and therefore I'm stuck with it.
For school I have to have Outlook Express, and until there is a newsgroup reader for Linux that supports Secure Password Authentication (I've tried, believe me. Mozilla's working on it, fortunately.) again, I'm stuck. I can't even begin to tell you how nervous it makes me feel, running Outlook flippin' Express in Windows with all of the rampant virii (is that a word?) out there.
Get those two apps working on Linux under Wine, or replace the functionality they provide with other software, and I'm out of Windows.
we do not need a compatibility layer, we need native apps!
My dog would take one look, see a neat spherical object on the desk, and I'd be fighting him for it. I'd never get any peace at home again: "Ball! Throw the ball! Throw the ball!" Whine, whine, fuss, fuss, ad nauseum...
...all of my attempts to purchase a Dell laptop last week with Linux preinstalled were met with blank stares and head scratching. Oh, well. There are at least five salespeople at Dell who now know that at least one person out there would prefer not to pay for a Microsoft OS.
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie have recorded The System Administrator Song as a tribute for SysAdmin day. If you haven't heard of Three Dead Trolls yet, check out the rest of their music when you're done with this one for Every OS Sucks, The Internet Helpdesk Song and others.
I'm currently doing a BSIT at UoP while working for a major government contractor. UoP is fully accredited. My employer recognizes them as a legitimate university and is happy to pay for the courses.
While I'm not sure that the education is as rigorous as I'd like, the degree is legit and there's nothing to stop me from going to the U of Washington campus to take more math and such. While the credits are more expensive, individually at UoP ($400 per credit vs. $300 per credit at U of Washington), UoP recognized twice as many of my previous college credits, which means I'll complete my degree nearly two years earlier than if I'd gone the other route.
Sad fact is that if you're working for a major corporation, particularly in the government sector, the degree's important. Not only is there a certain status attached to your level of education, but many companies have internal rules governing rate of pay and advancement level limits based on degree. Online education is becoming more and more acceptable and companies are beginning to realize that it is a real education, as opposed to a diploma mill. The bottom line for me is: It doesn't matter where that education comes from; what I get out of it is entirely up to me.
That's very true. Ran into that myself in a situation regarding my lower spine and an injured disk. My current employer tried to insist that, because of the damaged disk, I must wear one of those backbrace/sling thingies like you see grocery stockers wearing. Don't think I've ever seen a doctor so close to chewing on his stethoscope before, for precisely that reason. In his words, "if you don't keep those muscles active and strong, there will be nothing to support that joint. Forget surgery as an option for the future because, without muscular support, you won't be able to recover." End of story? Employer got a terse note from the doctor and the subject of backbraces was dropped forever.
Two years ago, Repetitive Stress Injury in both shoulders. Asked the doctor about use of a sling and he laughed. Same story. Keep the muscles strong and it'll a) heal faster, and b) hurt less. That doesn't mean lifting weights, but it does mean regular, gentle movements to keep things strong and fluid. Two years later I've regained nearly 100% mobility in both shoulders, become a certified geek, and know how to avoid the same injury again.
Bottom line: It isn't band-aid measures like wrist braces that'll prevent this sort of injury. It's education and attention to ergonomics in the workplace (as others have already mentioned).
I landed an internship through AWU last June at a national laboratory. They have me doing database work (which is what I want to do) and gaining an incredible amount of experience while I go to college, along with a pretty decent paycheck (for a student).
Yahoo! has a gift registry that's rumoured to be pretty good, with participating etailors like computergear.com. I've never used it, so can't really tell you any more about it. Being the lazy thing that I am, I'd probably just go with Amazon's wish list. *grin*
Y'know, it wasn't that many years ago that we were sending our sons out to hunt for food to put on the table. With real guns! *shock* And our homes were being defended by our daughters. Again, yes, with real guns! Fathers were patting their sons on the head with approval if they managed to get lucky at the age of fourteen. Mothers were sending their daughters off to become wives and mothers at the same age. Violence was certainly not a stranger in most homes in the United States, and much more graphic for being real.
You might guess that this is one of my pet peeves. *grin* I maintain, although this is only my opinion, that violent video games and violence in movies has little, if anything, to do with the youth violence we're currently experiencing in the U.S. (although probably responsible for this run-on sentence). I must admit that I'm pleased that someone in authority can see this also.
I guess you can lump me in with the others who found their mate online. I think it worked for us because neither of us was looking for a mate at the time. We were both just hanging around in a chatroom that had conversations that interested us, became friends online, eventually (months later) spoke on the telephone, met in person two years after we met online, and were married a year later. The beauty of it is, since we were both just being ourselves (as commented by someone else), we were both hanging out in a rather intellectual and (dare I say) geeky chatroom. I married a geek, he married a geek, we're both happy and neither of us messes with the other's bandwidth. *sillygrin*
I certainly wouldn't recommend this to everyone. It's a bit risky in that you don't really know who/what you're talking to online. In our experience, though, spending those years having to communicate with ICQ, email, telephone, we a) learned things about each other tht we might not have learned had we been "face to face" and b) learned to truly communicate with each other verbally. I don't think I can express how important a skill that is in a marriage!
Sidenote of interest: in 1999, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) had to completely revamp their computer system nationwide due to the overwhelming number of people who were meeting online, getting married and just happened to be from different countries.
Anyway, that's just the experience of one geek (who doesn't drink, dance or attend church *grin*) I wish you luck!
Oh, how I wish that were true here. Our CS curriculum is outrageously Microcentric. We're heavily funded by Microsoft (isn't that a Good Thing?) and most of the classes involve MS technology. You can even take an entire course in Word. Whee.
The degree curriculum here is divided into "emphases": Programming, Hardware, Internet, Network, Information (database). Only one Unix course is offered, and you only get to take it if you're doing a Hardware or Network emphasis. Only one Java course, and you'd better be doing a Programming emphasis (same with C/C++).
Because I'm doing an Information emphasis, apparently all I need to know is Visual Basic, all of the MS operating systems up through NT Server, and the two major MS RDBMSs. That means I'll be trotting off to my very first job as a DBA in June having never touched Unix. Hmmm.
Now, I've taken a lengthy course in C in my spare time and am planning to learn C++ and Java because I think it's important (the logical programming experience, if nothing else). One flavor or another of Linux is going on a partition in the next few weeks because I think I should learn at least the basics. I plan to enroll at the local extension of the state college (WSU) at some point in the near future to take courses in Oracle and other (I think) useful subjects. But I know I'm not the "usual" CS student who thinks he/she has completed a CS degree and now knows everything necessary to go out and make lots of money. What I know is a drop in the bucket compared to what I really need to know to be effective in the real world.
Think I'll shut up now before I start ranting about the quality of our instructors and disorganization of the college in general. *grin*
By the way, can anyone recommend a really good book on C++ (by really good I mean a book you could teach yourself from effectively)?
~Being a geek means never having to say "y'want fries with that?"~
Humans are territorial by nature and rather possessive creatures. When man perceives that he owns something, it's his.
I can hear it now ('cause I've already heard it):
"Whaddya mean I have to pay for it again?!
"It's mine. I payed for it. You mean I can't install it on my daughter's machine too?
"You want me to keep my documents where? Oh, yeah. My ISP's so *cough* reliable *snark* I can't imagine ever having trouble accessing them." *hysterical laughter*
Personally, I want my files right here on my hard drive on my computer where, if something goes wrong, it's probably my fault and I might have a chance of recovering.
Gotta admit, this whole rental-software-.net thing's going to be entertaining to watch.
</opinion>
Sooooo...time to learn Linux, methinks.
University of Washington is in Seattle...twenty minute drive or so from Redmond (depending on traffic)...and thanks for the link...don't have much time tonight...on my way out for an NT Server class (gak) but I'll definitely give it a read tomorrow!
Might check with your local (and even not so local) community colleges. They quite often offer programming courses online. Seems most CompSci departments are moving that direction.
...and that is precisely why Linux isn't a competitive mainstream OS.
Speaking from a user's point of view, my computer is a tool. I want to send and receive email, browse sites for information and/or entertainment, write some code, create a graphic. I need a tool that works and, once I have one, don't want to spend weeks learning how to use a new one to perform the same tasks.
I have a tool. It works. Sadly, it's an MS tool...but I don't have time to learn a new one (see above). I suspect I'm not alone in saying, "that's why insert your favorite non-MS OS here isn't on my desktop.
Let's face it. Microsoft got one thing very right, and that's the GUI. As soon as Linux gets it right, I'll gladly change.
Slashdot Mirror
I've got several goin' spare ... kick me an email @ jscarrATgmail.com if you want one.
...enterprise application? A number of people have already mentioned that Access is unsuitable for that, so I'll just add my voice in agreement and move on.
A couple of options that I see, particularly if you're primarily an MS house and/or don't want to rewrite your front end:
1) Get the backend into something else, like MS SQL Server. You can keep your forms and reports virtually unchanged. If you go that route, I recommend this book highly: Microsoft Access Developer's Guide to SQL Server
2) Post your question over here: comp.databases.ms-access. There are a lot of professionals in that newsgroup who are generally more than happy to tackle questions like this and have a tremendous amount of experience and expertise behind them.
I'm mostly in agreement with you, having done a lot of work recently with Flash and XML. Flash is capable of doing a whole lot more than we're seeing on the Web right now, and I don't believe that it's being used to its full capacity. My husband and I attended a Flash conference in Oregon last summer, and midway through the afternoon talk-and-demo an older gentleman in the back row raised his hand and said, "Excuse me. Does any of this have any commercial application?"
The fella giving the talk stopped dead, with the most dumbfounded look on his face. He finally replied, "Well no, not really. It's more for fun than anything." Those of us attending who are using Flash heavily for geographical visualization and modeling simultaneously felt our jaws hit the floor.
My biggest beef with Flash at the moment is that it doesn't fully support the XML DOM, making it a bit of a nuisance to do things that should be simple (getElementsByTagName, anyone?), not to mention that Flash itself has a few very strange bugs, but I have high hopes for the next version.
Jen
My family, friends, and fuzzy family members (dog) have all learned that when I have a computer open I become a not-nice growly sarcastic twit and that it's much safer to just stay away from me until I'm myself again.
Ayup on that one. My husband's learned to go grab a book and retire to the bedroom when I reach for the screwdriver.
I just installed urpmi for the first time last night, after ten minutes of snarling at the RedHat 8.0 package manager (which, frankly, needs a LOT of work). Apt-get for rpms is brilliant, in my noobish opinion.
It's not funny though that it's overlooked - it's sad that it's not publicized more heavily. I wish I'd have known about it sooner. It would have saved me lots of frustration over the last six months.
Yep. I've had the SL-5500 for about three months and couldn't be happier ... although I almost wish I'd waited for the SL-5600M. I didn't want a to-do list and calendar, I wanted a handheld computer, and that's exactly what the Zaurus is. Not to mention the amount of free software available out there for it (open source, remember?) and the nifty little keyboard that works far better than any handwriting recognition software that I've tried.
Yes, it's very possible to cause harm to your vision by wearing glasses that are either too strong or too weak. Any optometrist will tell you that the drugstore rack reading glasses should be banned. Another less obvious hazard is the quality of the materials often used to make these glasses. The cheap ones really do not have shatter-proof lenses. Not a good thing.
Given all that, are there any sites left out there that you can actually look at?
I'll only talk about the strengths that, as far as I'm aware, aren't reproduced functionally by any other bit of software out there. If I'm wrong and there's something that runs on Linux that can give me the same functionality, I'll be delighted if someone tells me.
The first is a GUI IDE for rapid development of forms and reports to front a database. This is an IDE that was designed specifically to work with databases, with the components made to make the things you want to do nearly painless. I'm talking about things like continuous forms, the holy grail of data components. Having this IDE makes it easy to knock together something usable and focus my time and mental energy on something more challenging (and interesting). It also makes it easy for my users to put together something that meets their needs without having to wait for someone to find the time to get around to it. For reports, you could use something like Crystal Reports, but anyone who's ever used it will tell you how unintuitive it is. My users just want to be able to base a report on a query and format it nicely. Access makes that simple.
The other big one is the ability to link to tables in a variety of other databases (Oracle, dBase, Paradox, SQL Server - we use them all), text files and spreadsheets simultaneously, create relationships between those tables, and query the data from all of those databases in a meaningful way. I know it would be much nicer to have all of that data in a single format, but we're talking fifty years of legacy data here, owned by not only different groups but different companies. Imagine the logistics of trying to move to a single format. First would have to come getting hundreds of people to agree on a format. That isn't going to happen.
An example: One of my current projects is a tool to allow users to interact with scheduling data for a specific purpose. This data is contained in one Oracle 8i, two SQL Server 2000, one Paradox and one MS Access 97 database. My job is to bring bits of that data together, provide a GUI for the users to query that data and suggest changes based on their queries, and then print nicely formatted reports that have to be signature-approved and then become legal documents. I could have done this using Java or C++, sure, but then I would be looking at twelve to eighteen months development time instead of six. From my point of view, I wouldn't have minded either way. From the point of view of my manager, however, who has a government agency breathing down his neck and needs this tool in production as quickly as possible, obviously speed is an important factor.
These things are where Access shines. Not as a database in itself: It's not particularly scalable for enterprise-level applications. But for the things it does do well, I'm not aware of anything else out there that can replace it at this time.
I'm heading out on vacation in about an hour, so won't see any replies to this unless you email me. Feel free to.
I understand where you're coming from with your argument, and in many ways I agree with you. I have a slightly different point of view, however, that might help make the case for continued work on Wine. I know I'm not the only one in this position.
I'm a Linux user (well, a newbie really, but trying and learning fast) who really prefers to work within the Linux environment for many reasons. The problem is that I have work and school requirements that force me to use Windows for some very specific applications.
First is Microsoft Access. Yes, I know, but work dictates that that is what I use for database development. Access is used where I work as a front end to interface with a variety of other databases (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Paradox, etc). Whether we like it or not, there just isn't any other software out there that is better at doing the things that Access does well, and therefore I'm stuck with it.
For school I have to have Outlook Express, and until there is a newsgroup reader for Linux that supports Secure Password Authentication (I've tried, believe me. Mozilla's working on it, fortunately.) again, I'm stuck. I can't even begin to tell you how nervous it makes me feel, running Outlook flippin' Express in Windows with all of the rampant virii (is that a word?) out there.
Get those two apps working on Linux under Wine, or replace the functionality they provide with other software, and I'm out of Windows.
we do not need a compatibility layer, we need native apps!
I agree, but until then...
My dog would take one look, see a neat spherical object on the desk, and I'd be fighting him for it. I'd never get any peace at home again: "Ball! Throw the ball! Throw the ball!" Whine, whine, fuss, fuss, ad nauseum...
...all of my attempts to purchase a Dell laptop last week with Linux preinstalled were met with blank stares and head scratching. Oh, well. There are at least five salespeople at Dell who now know that at least one person out there would prefer not to pay for a Microsoft OS.
Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie have recorded The System Administrator Song as a tribute for SysAdmin day. If you haven't heard of Three Dead Trolls yet, check out the rest of their music when you're done with this one for Every OS Sucks, The Internet Helpdesk Song and others.
I'm currently doing a BSIT at UoP while working for a major government contractor. UoP is fully accredited. My employer recognizes them as a legitimate university and is happy to pay for the courses.
While I'm not sure that the education is as rigorous as I'd like, the degree is legit and there's nothing to stop me from going to the U of Washington campus to take more math and such. While the credits are more expensive, individually at UoP ($400 per credit vs. $300 per credit at U of Washington), UoP recognized twice as many of my previous college credits, which means I'll complete my degree nearly two years earlier than if I'd gone the other route.
Sad fact is that if you're working for a major corporation, particularly in the government sector, the degree's important. Not only is there a certain status attached to your level of education, but many companies have internal rules governing rate of pay and advancement level limits based on degree. Online education is becoming more and more acceptable and companies are beginning to realize that it is a real education, as opposed to a diploma mill. The bottom line for me is: It doesn't matter where that education comes from; what I get out of it is entirely up to me.
Two years ago, Repetitive Stress Injury in both shoulders. Asked the doctor about use of a sling and he laughed. Same story. Keep the muscles strong and it'll a) heal faster, and b) hurt less. That doesn't mean lifting weights, but it does mean regular, gentle movements to keep things strong and fluid. Two years later I've regained nearly 100% mobility in both shoulders, become a certified geek, and know how to avoid the same injury again.
Bottom line: It isn't band-aid measures like wrist braces that'll prevent this sort of injury. It's education and attention to ergonomics in the workplace (as others have already mentioned).
Associated Western Universities
I landed an internship through AWU last June at a national laboratory. They have me doing database work (which is what I want to do) and gaining an incredible amount of experience while I go to college, along with a pretty decent paycheck (for a student).
Good luck with your search!
By the way...congratulations!
You might guess that this is one of my pet peeves. *grin* I maintain, although this is only my opinion, that violent video games and violence in movies has little, if anything, to do with the youth violence we're currently experiencing in the U.S. (although probably responsible for this run-on sentence). I must admit that I'm pleased that someone in authority can see this also.
Enough ranting and have a wonderful night, all!
I certainly wouldn't recommend this to everyone. It's a bit risky in that you don't really know who/what you're talking to online. In our experience, though, spending those years having to communicate with ICQ, email, telephone, we a) learned things about each other tht we might not have learned had we been "face to face" and b) learned to truly communicate with each other verbally. I don't think I can express how important a skill that is in a marriage!
Sidenote of interest: in 1999, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) had to completely revamp their computer system nationwide due to the overwhelming number of people who were meeting online, getting married and just happened to be from different countries.
Anyway, that's just the experience of one geek (who doesn't drink, dance or attend church *grin*) I wish you luck!
Jennifer
Oh, how I wish that were true here. Our CS curriculum is outrageously Microcentric. We're heavily funded by Microsoft (isn't that a Good Thing?) and most of the classes involve MS technology. You can even take an entire course in Word. Whee.
The degree curriculum here is divided into "emphases": Programming, Hardware, Internet, Network, Information (database). Only one Unix course is offered, and you only get to take it if you're doing a Hardware or Network emphasis. Only one Java course, and you'd better be doing a Programming emphasis (same with C/C++). Because I'm doing an Information emphasis, apparently all I need to know is Visual Basic, all of the MS operating systems up through NT Server, and the two major MS RDBMSs. That means I'll be trotting off to my very first job as a DBA in June having never touched Unix. Hmmm.
Now, I've taken a lengthy course in C in my spare time and am planning to learn C++ and Java because I think it's important (the logical programming experience, if nothing else). One flavor or another of Linux is going on a partition in the next few weeks because I think I should learn at least the basics. I plan to enroll at the local extension of the state college (WSU) at some point in the near future to take courses in Oracle and other (I think) useful subjects. But I know I'm not the "usual" CS student who thinks he/she has completed a CS degree and now knows everything necessary to go out and make lots of money. What I know is a drop in the bucket compared to what I really need to know to be effective in the real world.
Think I'll shut up now before I start ranting about the quality of our instructors and disorganization of the college in general. *grin*
By the way, can anyone recommend a really good book on C++ (by really good I mean a book you could teach yourself from effectively)?
~Being a geek means never having to say "y'want fries with that?"~
I'd never really thought to look. 3.25 MB. Time for some housecleaning, methinks!
Humans are territorial by nature and rather possessive creatures. When man perceives that he owns something, it's his.
I can hear it now ('cause I've already heard it):
"Whaddya mean I have to pay for it again?!
"It's mine. I payed for it. You mean I can't install it on my daughter's machine too?
"You want me to keep my documents where? Oh, yeah. My ISP's so *cough* reliable *snark* I can't imagine ever having trouble accessing them." *hysterical laughter*
Personally, I want my files right here on my hard drive on my computer where, if something goes wrong, it's probably my fault and I might have a chance of recovering.
Gotta admit, this whole rental-software-.net thing's going to be entertaining to watch.
</opinion>
Sooooo...time to learn Linux, methinks.
University of Washington is in Seattle...twenty minute drive or so from Redmond (depending on traffic)...and thanks for the link...don't have much time tonight...on my way out for an NT Server class (gak) but I'll definitely give it a read tomorrow!
Might check with your local (and even not so local) community colleges. They quite often offer programming courses online. Seems most CompSci departments are moving that direction.
Speaking from a user's point of view, my computer is a tool. I want to send and receive email, browse sites for information and/or entertainment, write some code, create a graphic. I need a tool that works and, once I have one, don't want to spend weeks learning how to use a new one to perform the same tasks.
I have a tool. It works. Sadly, it's an MS tool...but I don't have time to learn a new one (see above). I suspect I'm not alone in saying, "that's why insert your favorite non-MS OS here isn't on my desktop.
Let's face it. Microsoft got one thing very right, and that's the GUI. As soon as Linux gets it right, I'll gladly change.