My primary OS is Windows (XP at work, 7 and Vista at home). I've never seen this behavior. I do NOT doubt that you experienced it, but I'm just saying I don't think it is any sort of default behavior for IE.
My recommendation would be for you to just put Firefox on there. It works great under Windows. I spend most of my time in Firefox, but for sites that work better in IE (yes I call that broken behavior for the website), I use IE.
The only time in recent memory that something has switched me was Yahoo. I missed a checkbox to avoid installing the Yahoo toolbar, and both IE and Firefox wound up being truly enthusiastic about Yahoo...
Since this IS slashdot I'm sure I'll be called a M$ fanboi for saying anything NOT NEGATIVE about Microsoft. I like Linux and FOSS, but I spend most of my time in Windows for two reasons:
1) At work I have no choice in the matter. 2) At home I like to play first person shooters (currently Left4Dead) and hate trying to do so with anything other than a mouse and keyboard. More power to the console players, but I personally can't aim for crap with a gamepad.
I think it is silly to assume that user trends will remain static.
This is more like an arms race than a steady progression. There will be fits and spurts in either direction depending on who adds what feature, etc.
How about folks like me who use both? Some things work better in one than the other. Neither costs me any $$ so I keep both on my desktop and use whichever one I feel like.
What if in 2011 Mozilla screws up royally? Or Microsoft? You can't just look at the past couple of years and assume those trends will continue several years down the road.
Unless you are talking about real estate. It is perfectly logical to assume that if home prices have risen 10% each year that that trend will always continue, right? Right? Please tell me I'm right...
So how do you explain the shift from one to the other?
People are satisfied with the FREE version if they perceive it as a) X% as good as the non-free alternative (feel free to insert whatever percentage you think is correct) and b) more convenient.
EVEN if Britannica had been free, but required registration and log in to access, I believe people would have moved to Wikipedia because it was MORE convenient.
The newspaper restriction is only to get them to subsidize the purchase price. You can subscribe to the papers now via Kindle.
Not sure if you caught that part.
I totally agree with you that it is dumb on the part of the newspapers to restrict themselves. The cost to print and deliver a paper is astronomical compared to electronic delivery.
I'm more optimistic about the survival of something like Hulu. They have ads you cannot skip, but they usually have FEWER ads than the same show when broadcast.
We are still in the early stages of figuring out how business models will work in the Internet world.
The cost of distributing content has fallen so dramatically that it is practically zero (or gets closer each day), but although the cost to produce content has fallen, it has not fallen by the same orders of magnitude.
As a generalization I'd say most Internet users prefer something free to something with a cost of a fraction of a cent IF the free item is perceived to have at least 25% of the quality of the non-free item.
Quite a conundrum. You can't spend millions of dollars to produce something that will not yield more than you spent. The puzzle is how to get someone to pay (consumer? advertiser? government? alien illuminati?)
I wouldn't bet on it. Documentation is painful for many developers, and given an infinite amount of time, they would add more code and put off the documentation.
I tend to favor reading clearly structured code with as few "brilliant" pieces as possible. That helps with the inevitable lack of documentation...
Many things that can be done in a very terse, "brilliant" fashion can also be done in a more verbose but readable fashion. Sometimes complexity is required, but sometimes it is not.
Slashdot Mirror
Work, n: useful activity you avoid by posting to various internet sites like slashdot.org.
One look through a telescope will tell you that's not a place you want to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq808-pgOjA&feature=player_embedded
Seriously, if you only evaluate software based on usability, then it is BAD to even require a password.
Requiring a password INSTANTLY makes software harder to use. Not requiring a password makes the user's life much easier and simpler.
Now if you care about more than just usability, then you may want to reconsider dropping or masking passwords.
I mostly agree with you, but the "brown nose effect" is less if we are talking about standardized tests that aren't scored by the teacher.
He is highly gifted, but... check back in on him in 20 years and see how it's going. Then we'll see how the potential played out.
I learned long ago that there are always people who are more talented than I am. You can take that information and decide to give up or work harder.
com'on now, dont you get 30 points automaticlly for writting your name? Maybe an extra 10 if you spell it correctly....
I got ZERRO pointz for splelling!
I was ROBED!
Little known fact: many bird species were named by male scientists who really, really needed to get out and socialize more.
98% of slashdot readers applied for the job of "watching Great Tits" without reading the article (this IS slashdot).
You would think they would be disappointed on their first day of work, but the fact that they were issued binoculars let to great job satisfaction.
My primary OS is Windows (XP at work, 7 and Vista at home). I've never seen this behavior. I do NOT doubt that you experienced it, but I'm just saying I don't think it is any sort of default behavior for IE.
My recommendation would be for you to just put Firefox on there. It works great under Windows. I spend most of my time in Firefox, but for sites that work better in IE (yes I call that broken behavior for the website), I use IE.
The only time in recent memory that something has switched me was Yahoo. I missed a checkbox to avoid installing the Yahoo toolbar, and both IE and Firefox wound up being truly enthusiastic about Yahoo...
Since this IS slashdot I'm sure I'll be called a M$ fanboi for saying anything NOT NEGATIVE about Microsoft. I like Linux and FOSS, but I spend most of my time in Windows for two reasons:
1) At work I have no choice in the matter.
2) At home I like to play first person shooters (currently Left4Dead) and hate trying to do so with anything other than a mouse and keyboard. More power to the console players, but I personally can't aim for crap with a gamepad.
I think it is silly to assume that user trends will remain static.
This is more like an arms race than a steady progression. There will be fits and spurts in either direction depending on who adds what feature, etc.
How about folks like me who use both? Some things work better in one than the other. Neither costs me any $$ so I keep both on my desktop and use whichever one I feel like.
What if in 2011 Mozilla screws up royally? Or Microsoft? You can't just look at the past couple of years and assume those trends will continue several years down the road.
Unless you are talking about real estate. It is perfectly logical to assume that if home prices have risen 10% each year that that trend will always continue, right? Right? Please tell me I'm right...
Solar powered train is more of a Shelbyville idea...
Wikipedia started out as total crap.
Britannica was brilliant.
So how do you explain the shift from one to the other?
People are satisfied with the FREE version if they perceive it as a) X% as good as the non-free alternative (feel free to insert whatever percentage you think is correct) and b) more convenient.
EVEN if Britannica had been free, but required registration and log in to access, I believe people would have moved to Wikipedia because it was MORE convenient.
The newspaper restriction is only to get them to subsidize the purchase price. You can subscribe to the papers now via Kindle.
Not sure if you caught that part.
I totally agree with you that it is dumb on the part of the newspapers to restrict themselves. The cost to print and deliver a paper is astronomical compared to electronic delivery.
Meaningless Anecdote 3
I installed Linux on my 77 year old Mom's computer and she stopped using it completely so now I don't get support calls from her.
WIN!
Hulu's player is also complete crap. I need to be able to watch my show without having it constantly rebuffer.
Sure it's the player and not your connection? Mine rebuffers occasionally, but not terribly frequently.
I'm more optimistic about the survival of something like Hulu. They have ads you cannot skip, but they usually have FEWER ads than the same show when broadcast.
We are still in the early stages of figuring out how business models will work in the Internet world.
The cost of distributing content has fallen so dramatically that it is practically zero (or gets closer each day), but although the cost to produce content has fallen, it has not fallen by the same orders of magnitude.
As a generalization I'd say most Internet users prefer something free to something with a cost of a fraction of a cent IF the free item is perceived to have at least 25% of the quality of the non-free item.
Quite a conundrum. You can't spend millions of dollars to produce something that will not yield more than you spent. The puzzle is how to get someone to pay (consumer? advertiser? government? alien illuminati?)
I have to ask...do people REALLY that often, hit porn sites by accident?
Kids often spell things incorrectly leading to incorrect search results.
For President I'll take age and experience over fast firing neurons any day. Up to a point...
I'm ready for Carousel! Let the Last Day celebration begin!
I wouldn't bet on it. Documentation is painful for many developers, and given an infinite amount of time, they would add more code and put off the documentation.
I tend to favor reading clearly structured code with as few "brilliant" pieces as possible. That helps with the inevitable lack of documentation...
Many things that can be done in a very terse, "brilliant" fashion can also be done in a more verbose but readable fashion. Sometimes complexity is required, but sometimes it is not.
Who is this "Mississippi Bill" person, and why does he thing he can tax things?
If he can do then so can I. I want to tax stuff too. First thing I want to tax is "People who don't know when something is a joke".
"Cheaper, definitely. "
You base that on, what exactly?
You got me on that.
I base the statement solely on the trend of government solutions costing more than private solutions.
I base THAT statement on hearsay and speculation.
I base THAT statement on something I just made up.
I think that counts as a full disclosure.
I read that as "Oklahoma, Vulcan Take Opposite Tacks On Evolution".
"...claiming that the Volt doesn't make economic sense, and GM's response."
The GM response is that they understand that whole "make economic sense" statement. Like some foreign gibbersh to them.
O hai!
Can I haz senzitiv dataz?
kthxbai