Windows systems can be and are regularly used, totally unsupported, by novices. They add and remove programs and occasionally add stuff like printers and it's not a significant problem.
Exactly how many novice Windows users do you know? I can't count the number of times I've been asked to fix my girlfriend's parents' computer... usually it's because they got infected with a virus or Windows decided to gut itself. Currently, my mom can't use OE to get her email through MSN. They sent an email to their users a few months ago detailing changes that needed to be made to make it work, but she couldn't figure it out (and I couldn't help her over the phone...). So she's without OE email until I come out for Xmas. (She uses Hotmail as her primary email anyway...)
Office workers are supported, so this issue goes away
Home users are supported too... not "officially", of course, but by someone who "knows computers", so your "totally unsupported" claim is a bunch of bullshit.
By "massive", I mean 90% of the earth's surface is either swamp or desert... Wonder why this hasn't happened to you....different version maybe?
Yeah, I could see where that's a problem... the version I was playing was 1.11.4, which was the most recent version for the past year or so. Are you playing with the default settings? I generally play with the defaults, or with slightly higher landmass and rivers settings.
Also, I would imagine that playing against more AIs would make this less of an issue. I generally play against 6 AIs, and on a standard-size map, this causes a lot of early fighting that stunts growth (yours and theirs). If you're playing on a large map with few AIs, I can see where pollution and global warming would be a problem...
Re:wonder if they fixed the pollution problem
on
FreeCiv 1.12.0 Released
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· Score: 3, Insightful
In Civilization II, the only pollution that has any effect on the world is that generated by the player....the AI doesn't make any. In FreeCiv, the rate of pollution seems to be about the same....but now its counted for each player, human and AI! So if you're playing with 5 AI's, you have 5 times as much pollution, so you tend to get massive global warming by the 1950's.
First off, I've only had a global warming problem once, in many games, several of which progressed past the 50's.
But in any case, why is this a "problem"? It's a "problem" that a game acts more realistically? If you think global warming is going to be a problem, then you should hurry up and conquer your enemies, right?
(hmmm....)
I also remark that if these content-based industries failed to defend themselves, and collapsed, the content they provide would likely dry up as well - because there wouldn't be any money in providing it.
You're absolutely right... the content they provide (a.k.a. product packaged as art) would dry up, leaving only real art, unsoiled by the need to be packaged for mass-marketing. You think this is a bad thing?
Actually, it depends upon how you count...
over the last year, SGI's stock has done considerably better than RHAT's... they've also done better over two years, when you take into consideration the MIPSB spinoff...
Artists and Musicians see this all the time, where the current establishment oozes praise over their pet projects, often and usually to the penalty of the talented no-name palying in the corner bar.
All too often it is who you know.
I think the words you're looking for here are:
John Tesh (though Shaquille O'Neill would be a close second...)
It all used to be so clear: a pc is a pc, and a game platform is a game platform.
Nonsense. In the mid 80's, my brother and I sold my dad on the idea that we should get a Colecovision, because they were going to have an expansion keyboard which would turn it into a computer. He didn't want to get us a game machine, but he was much more receptive to getting us a computer. We got the Colecovision, but I don't know if they ever actually came out with the keyboard...
Maybe its meaningless, but so what? It indicates that Linux vendors are playing the game too now. Even if the benchmark is totally and completely false, at least the people previously using it to spread lies have to shut up a bit now.
Exactly. The average PHB who sees/hears of this story will only remember the headline: "Linux Grabs World Record For TPC-H Benchmark". They're not going to read the results, look at the configuration of the boxes, and compare performance per dollar, etc. All they'll remember is that Linux won.
Sure, the headline is misleading propaganda, but as we all well know, propaganda and marketing are what sells products, not technical superiority. Because of this result and others, Linux is now seen as a viable DB competitor. And that's a good thing (for everybody).
And the linux community wouldn't like to destroy microsoft?
We would, but only because MS has made it very clear that this a battle to the death.
If Linux was produced by 1 company, it would be doing just as unscrupulous acts as Microsoft, but all you Linux lovers would be up in arms defending Linux.
First of all, that's impossible, so your point is moot.
But more importantly, you're wrong: did you miss all of the RedHat flamefests here? RedHat is far from the only company that produces a distribution of Linux, but they are repeatedly flamed (and worse) when they try heavy-handed tactics.
(emphasis mine) Bullshit. I haven't seen a new Windows box in a while that didn't come bundled with Word 2000 - not the rest of the Office suite, mind you. Apparenlty it's enough value for, e.g. Dell to shell out extra cash and bundle an extra CD in even their low-end laptops.
Their customers DO want it, so Dell pays extra to get it there. Duh.
There I go again... figuring my sarcasm was obvious...
Let me spell it out for you: anyone who says Microsoft is including Messenger, WMP, IE, etc. for the consumer's benefit is a complete moron. If MS really wanted to do something for the consumer's benefit, they'd integrate Word and/or Office into the OS. Why don't they? Because they already have an
effective monopoly on the office suite and word processor markets. They don't need to leverage their OS monopoly to gain more market share for Office or Word. But they did for IE, and they do for MSN Messenger and WMP. So those get integrated.
If Microsoft came out with a virus checker, do you think Norton and McAfee would lose sales?
Yes, they would. A lot. The average person isn't well informed enough to judge which virus scanner is the best. All they know is that they need one... any one. If MS bundles one, then that requirement is met.
MS includes a defrag program with Windows, but people seek out DiskKeeper...
Maybe you and your friends do, but the average user doesn't.
IE's success has little to do with the bundling. It's just that it had parity with Netscape at the 3.0 version, and 4.0 (three years ago) completely blew Netscape out of the water.
Bullshit. IE's success had everything to do with bundling, because IE 4.0 had parity with NS 4.0. IE 3.x was nowhere near as good as NS 3.x. Once they achieved (almost) parity with NS, their market share took off...
If I choose not to use that software, then it might as well not be there
Except that -- as others have mentioned -- you can't turn some of it (MSN Messenger) off, so they're using memory, etc. and opening possible security holes (*cough* IE *cough*).
Everyone knows the apps that will come with Windows XPwill be no better than the ones available now from MS. Everyone will just go and load mIRC instead of using Comic Chat.
No, they won't. The "average" computer user will use whatever comes pre-installed on the computer, if it's good enough. Just like with evolution, a program doesn't have to be the best to survive, it just has to be good enough...
How many people still use OE for newsreading? A lot... and the primary reason is that it's already installed, and it's good enough. Downloading and installing Agent (or whatever) is simply too much effort.
(Not to mention you'll have to do it all again when Windows guts itself in six months...).
This is why people complain about MS having unfair advantage in the marketplace... MS doesn't have to compete on quality or price. If they write a new app and incorporate it into the OS, it's going to take over, regardless of how it compares to the competition.
Re:People only use Mozilla to spite MS...
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Mozilla 0.9 Out
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· Score: 1
I can most assuradly say that IE is worlds faster than any version of Netscape...
I'm all for people using whatever version of Netscape for anti-MS reasons, but making an issue about performace shouldn't be in the picture.
That's funny, Netscape is infinitely faster than IE on my Linux boxes... I guess you could call that a performance issue.
The net's great advantage in terms of consumer marketing is it's ability to connect obscure items for sale with the rare buyers who want them in an efficent manner. Other than that, why use the internet?
Because it's cheaper and easier for the bank... if more people use the internet, they can pay fewer tellers for fewer hours, keep their branches open less hours, and probably even close some branches.
Which is why it's likely to come about the way I described... not a "you have to use the internet" mandate, but charges for services which don't use the internet.
So you still have a choice: use the internet (on Windows, of course), or don't and pay through the nose...
Yeah, lord knows no other OS integrates an email app. Like BeOS...oh wait. It does. Well MacOS...no, it does too. Well, no Linux distribution would dare...wait, they all do. Well, the commercial UNIXes wouldn't....hold on, they all do too. Well, what do you know. Every major OS that ships these days comes with some form of email client.
You don't know what integrated means, do you? Ships with != integrated.
why would an OS integrate email, IM, chat, calendar, address book, web browsing and media players?
Because they (MS) are trying to eliminate their competition by leveraging their desktop monopoly.
Did you think it was for the consumers? Hahahahaha.
Suddenly an OS is bad just because it integrates everything needed for the web in a user friendly environment?
Repeat after me: One size does not fit all. Why should an OS integrate an email client? What if I don't like that email client (or I'm worried about security issues)?
Ask yourself this: why do companies sell only underwear? Shouldn't they integrate everything (shirt, pants, etc.) necessary to go out in public with? You can bet your ass that they would if some company had a monopoly on underwear... and you as a consumer would be much worse off....
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly how many novice Windows users do you know? I can't count the number of times I've been asked to fix my girlfriend's parents' computer... usually it's because they got infected with a virus or Windows decided to gut itself. Currently, my mom can't use OE to get her email through MSN. They sent an email to their users a few months ago detailing changes that needed to be made to make it work, but she couldn't figure it out (and I couldn't help her over the phone...). So she's without OE email until I come out for Xmas. (She uses Hotmail as her primary email anyway...)
Office workers are supported, so this issue goes away
Home users are supported too... not "officially", of course, but by someone who "knows computers", so your "totally unsupported" claim is a bunch of bullshit.
Yeah, I could see where that's a problem... the version I was playing was 1.11.4, which was the most recent version for the past year or so. Are you playing with the default settings? I generally play with the defaults, or with slightly higher landmass and rivers settings.
Also, I would imagine that playing against more AIs would make this less of an issue. I generally play against 6 AIs, and on a standard-size map, this causes a lot of early fighting that stunts growth (yours and theirs). If you're playing on a large map with few AIs, I can see where pollution and global warming would be a problem...
First off, I've only had a global warming problem once, in many games, several of which progressed past the 50's.
But in any case, why is this a "problem"? It's a "problem" that a game acts more realistically? If you think global warming is going to be a problem, then you should hurry up and conquer your enemies, right? (hmmm....)
Open Source version: 2001
I know it's a troll, but I'll bite:
Civilization II Gold (first multiplayer version): 1999
Freeciv multiplayer: 1998
You're absolutely right... the content they provide (a.k.a. product packaged as art) would dry up, leaving only real art, unsoiled by the need to be packaged for mass-marketing. You think this is a bad thing?
You mean you just figured this out?
Yup, it's been done... The movie was called "The Uranus Experiment", and it was released in 1999! Here's an article about it...
Did they even have an official Linux client?
I think the words you're looking for here are: John Tesh (though Shaquille O'Neill would be a close second...)
Nonsense. In the mid 80's, my brother and I sold my dad on the idea that we should get a Colecovision, because they were going to have an expansion keyboard which would turn it into a computer. He didn't want to get us a game machine, but he was much more receptive to getting us a computer. We got the Colecovision, but I don't know if they ever actually came out with the keyboard...
Exactly. The average PHB who sees/hears of this story will only remember the headline: "Linux Grabs World Record For TPC-H Benchmark". They're not going to read the results, look at the configuration of the boxes, and compare performance per dollar, etc. All they'll remember is that Linux won.
Sure, the headline is misleading propaganda, but as we all well know, propaganda and marketing are what sells products, not technical superiority. Because of this result and others, Linux is now seen as a viable DB competitor. And that's a good thing (for everybody).
We would, but only because MS has made it very clear that this a battle to the death.
If Linux was produced by 1 company, it would be doing just as unscrupulous acts as Microsoft, but all you Linux lovers would be up in arms defending Linux.
First of all, that's impossible, so your point is moot. But more importantly, you're wrong: did you miss all of the RedHat flamefests here? RedHat is far from the only company that produces a distribution of Linux, but they are repeatedly flamed (and worse) when they try heavy-handed tactics.
You're right... but the "much more" that MS offered wasn't better functionality, but "it's already installed and Netscape isn't".
Bullshit. I haven't seen a new Windows box in a while that didn't come bundled with Word 2000 - not the rest of the Office suite, mind you. Apparenlty it's enough value for, e.g. Dell to shell out extra cash and bundle an extra CD in even their low-end laptops. Their customers DO want it, so Dell pays extra to get it there. Duh.
There I go again... figuring my sarcasm was obvious...
Let me spell it out for you: anyone who says Microsoft is including Messenger, WMP, IE, etc. for the consumer's benefit is a complete moron. If MS really wanted to do something for the consumer's benefit, they'd integrate Word and/or Office into the OS. Why don't they? Because they already have an effective monopoly on the office suite and word processor markets. They don't need to leverage their OS monopoly to gain more market share for Office or Word. But they did for IE, and they do for MSN Messenger and WMP. So those get integrated.
Yes, they would. A lot. The average person isn't well informed enough to judge which virus scanner is the best. All they know is that they need one... any one. If MS bundles one, then that requirement is met.
MS includes a defrag program with Windows, but people seek out DiskKeeper...
Maybe you and your friends do, but the average user doesn't.
Bullshit. IE's success had everything to do with bundling, because IE 4.0 had parity with NS 4.0. IE 3.x was nowhere near as good as NS 3.x. Once they achieved (almost) parity with NS, their market share took off...
Obviously their customers don't want it, and it wouldn't add value for them...
Except that -- as others have mentioned -- you can't turn some of it (MSN Messenger) off, so they're using memory, etc. and opening possible security holes (*cough* IE *cough*).
Everyone knows the apps that will come with Windows XPwill be no better than the ones available now from MS. Everyone will just go and load mIRC instead of using Comic Chat.
No, they won't. The "average" computer user will use whatever comes pre-installed on the computer, if it's good enough. Just like with evolution, a program doesn't have to be the best to survive, it just has to be good enough...
How many people still use OE for newsreading? A lot... and the primary reason is that it's already installed, and it's good enough. Downloading and installing Agent (or whatever) is simply too much effort. (Not to mention you'll have to do it all again when Windows guts itself in six months...).
This is why people complain about MS having unfair advantage in the marketplace... MS doesn't have to compete on quality or price. If they write a new app and incorporate it into the OS, it's going to take over, regardless of how it compares to the competition.
That's funny, Netscape is infinitely faster than IE on my Linux boxes... I guess you could call that a performance issue.
Because it's cheaper and easier for the bank... if more people use the internet, they can pay fewer tellers for fewer hours, keep their branches open less hours, and probably even close some branches. Which is why it's likely to come about the way I described... not a "you have to use the internet" mandate, but charges for services which don't use the internet.
So you still have a choice: use the internet (on Windows, of course), or don't and pay through the nose...
You don't know what integrated means, do you? Ships with != integrated.
Because they (MS) are trying to eliminate their competition by leveraging their desktop monopoly. Did you think it was for the consumers? Hahahahaha.
Suddenly an OS is bad just because it integrates everything needed for the web in a user friendly environment?
Repeat after me: One size does not fit all. Why should an OS integrate an email client? What if I don't like that email client (or I'm worried about security issues)?
Ask yourself this: why do companies sell only underwear? Shouldn't they integrate everything (shirt, pants, etc.) necessary to go out in public with? You can bet your ass that they would if some company had a monopoly on underwear... and you as a consumer would be much worse off....