I hate to break it to you, but the reason we have to keep developing our military technology at the rate that we do is because people want to kill us. That's the cold reality of the world we live in. Dropping all defenses would be a naive and fatal mistake.
For whatever reason, this information doesn't seem to proliferate the American news media. You only read it in newspapers from outside the USA. But don't take my word for it. Do your own research. Search some news sites for articles involving other major world powers and the USA and you'll find that our relationship isn't as warm and fuzzy as the American news media would like you to believe.
Laughed out the door by the ITS people? That sounds predictable. The people laughing most likely fear for their jobs because they aren't qualified to deal with such a change.
I agree that Microsoft provides a solution that works well for the majority of computer users at a University. But, I also think that Microsoft solutions are detrimental to the part of the University that actually produces the programming types. The computer science/engineering department of a University should wholeheartedly embrace nonproprietary, open, free solutions wherever possible and leave closed, underpowered, blackbox, unstudiable solutions by the wayside.
It's an overwhelming trend that I've seen: Programmers that learned in a Microsoft-centric environment, in the great majority, don't really know how to program. They just don't understand so many fundamental things that people learn from working with any given Unix variety for a short period of time. There are plenty of other reasons why learning to program with a diet of Microsoft software is bad, but I won't mention any of them because they're insignificant in comparison to the fact that windows users that want to become programmers are at a severe disadvantage---period!
How long does it take to learn how to use Windows and prepare yourself for "the real world", and how long does it take to learn how to program?
None of the cited arguments hold water when you're talking about "geeks", so geeks shouldn't be subjected to such violence as being forced to use such mind-numbing garbage when they're perfectly capable of working in a more-empowering environment.
I was saddened when I learned that the college that I graduated from has nearly eradicated any non-Microsoft stuff from their CS department. I'm saddened because it wasn't until I got to college that I learned anything about non-Microsoft software, and the poor suckers that are following in my footsteps won't have a chance.
Oh well, why not let the proletariat population of programmers expand? The next wave of dumbasses is less likely to threaten the jobs of the already established.
Incorporating features into products that aren't blatently obvious and have a lot of marketing value to joe-schmoe helpless user just doesn't seem like Microsoft's style. How are they going to sell security when most of their users won't perceive it?
I can't see them doing anything different other than turning it from a PR "problem" into a PR "vehicle".
Get ready to see Windows desktops with secruity-themed graphics and animation.
Please define "snazzy"! The person who asked the original question appears to be interested in writing a window manager, but windows is probably one of the most primitive window managers out there. It's nearly featureless; the notepad.exe of window managers!
What can you do in it? Minimize, maximize, resize, move, close, tile, cascade, and that's about it.
Most window managers provide this basic functionality and add vertical/horizontal maximization, snapping instead of freefrom window movement, and more intelligent window placement among other things. Nothing drives me batty like windows appearing in apparantly random locations with random dimensions.
What I'm trying to say here is, MS Windows is a bare-bones window manager!
I don't like the idea of putting a collar around my neck and a leash into the hand of big brother any more than the next person, and the current course of events appears to be doing just that. There's freedom in anonymity and my snap emotional response is to say "to hell with it, I have a right to privacy". But, if we don't come up with any alternate solutions, the solutions on the table right now will most likely fill that vacuum, and we'll proceed down the "slippery slope".
This country has become extremely effective at defending itself from overt, frontal, military attacks, but remains unable to defend itself from infiltration, which can come to terrifying ends as we witnessed on 9/11.
This is the single strongest argument for the tightening of the information net, and if no alternate solution becomes evident, those lobbying for their own solutions will most certainly have their way.
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I hate to break it to you, but the reason we have to keep developing our military technology at the rate that we do is because people want to kill us. That's the cold reality of the world we live in. Dropping all defenses would be a naive and fatal mistake.
For whatever reason, this information doesn't seem to proliferate the American news media. You only read it in newspapers from outside the USA. But don't take my word for it. Do your own research. Search some news sites for articles involving other major world powers and the USA and you'll find that our relationship isn't as warm and fuzzy as the American news media would like you to believe.
Laughed out the door by the ITS people? That sounds predictable. The people laughing most likely fear for their jobs because they aren't qualified to deal with such a change.
I agree that Microsoft provides a solution that works well for the majority of computer users at a University. But, I also think that Microsoft solutions are detrimental to the part of the University that actually produces the programming types. The computer science/engineering department of a University should wholeheartedly embrace nonproprietary, open, free solutions wherever possible and leave closed, underpowered, blackbox, unstudiable solutions by the wayside.
It's an overwhelming trend that I've seen: Programmers that learned in a Microsoft-centric environment, in the great majority, don't really know how to program. They just don't understand so many fundamental things that people learn from working with any given Unix variety for a short period of time. There are plenty of other reasons why learning to program with a diet of Microsoft software is bad, but I won't mention any of them because they're insignificant in comparison to the fact that windows users that want to become programmers are at a severe disadvantage---period!
How long does it take to learn how to use Windows and prepare yourself for "the real world", and how long does it take to learn how to program?
None of the cited arguments hold water when you're talking about "geeks", so geeks shouldn't be subjected to such violence as being forced to use such mind-numbing garbage when they're perfectly capable of working in a more-empowering environment.
I was saddened when I learned that the college that I graduated from has nearly eradicated any non-Microsoft stuff from their CS department. I'm saddened because it wasn't until I got to college that I learned anything about non-Microsoft software, and the poor suckers that are following in my footsteps won't have a chance.
Oh well, why not let the proletariat population of programmers expand? The next wave of dumbasses is less likely to threaten the jobs of the already established.
Does anyone have anymore information on this?
So we should just trust him? I don't want to have to trust anyone! I want security!!!
Incorporating features into products that aren't blatently obvious and have a lot of marketing value to joe-schmoe helpless user just doesn't seem like Microsoft's style. How are they going to sell security when most of their users won't perceive it?
I can't see them doing anything different other than turning it from a PR "problem" into a PR "vehicle".
Get ready to see Windows desktops with secruity-themed graphics and animation.
Please define "snazzy"! The person who asked the original question appears to be interested in writing a window manager, but windows is probably one of the most primitive window managers out there. It's nearly featureless; the notepad.exe of window managers!
What can you do in it? Minimize, maximize, resize, move, close, tile, cascade, and that's about it.
Most window managers provide this basic functionality and add vertical/horizontal maximization, snapping instead of freefrom window movement, and more intelligent window placement among other things. Nothing drives me batty like windows appearing in apparantly random locations with random dimensions.
What I'm trying to say here is, MS Windows is a bare-bones window manager!
I don't like the idea of putting a collar around my neck and a leash into the hand of big brother any more than the next person, and the current course of events appears to be doing just that. There's freedom in anonymity and my snap emotional response is to say "to hell with it, I have a right to privacy". But, if we don't come up with any alternate solutions, the solutions on the table right now will most likely fill that vacuum, and we'll proceed down the "slippery slope".
This country has become extremely effective at defending itself from overt, frontal, military attacks, but remains unable to defend itself from infiltration, which can come to terrifying ends as we witnessed on 9/11.
This is the single strongest argument for the tightening of the information net, and if no alternate solution becomes evident, those lobbying for their own solutions will most certainly have their way.