Did I miss something? Since when was defending Windows the hip and trendy thing to do on Slashdot?
It started a few years ago.
Microsoft realised just ho much bad press was being generated by tech and social networking sites, so they employed an advertising agency called Crispin Porter + Bogusky. They arranged online reputation management for Microsoft, including a "Downmod Squad".
I don't get why people don't understand that corporations don't pay taxes. Taxes are just another expense that gets added into the final price of the product.
Microsoft makes 85%+ profit margins on their OS and Office lines.
Ozmanjusri: You've been around long enough to know how quickly FOSS software fixes faults. If you don't know the current state of the software, don't post crap about it.
Blakey Rat:
Tell you what, I'll do that as soon as everybody who hasn't used Windows 7 stops posting about flaws in Windows XP.
I stop reading posts when I come across a blatant and easily-debunked lie.
Do you remember that conversation we had a month or two ago where I challenged you on a statement you'd made regarding Open Office's capabilities?
After a couple of exchanges, you admitted you'd made the claim based on a two-years old version of OOo, not the current one. When I suggested your deceptive posting could mislead people and cost them real money, you told me that you would continue to lie as long all the FOSS supporters kept lying about Microsoft.
Perhaps you are purposefully disregarding the fact that Roland's target audience is simply.. not you?
Not so much purposefully, more with a sense of outrage that something I value will be parodied in the worst possible way.
Though Emmerich, COULD make the movie of some benefit to people like me. All he needs to do is hook a generator to the longitudinal axis of old Isaac's coffin and let us run our reading lights from it.
You pay with your time having to support the damned thing.
Now THAT is the biggest load of FUD I've seen in print for decades.
Do you know how much time I have to spend supporting family and friends Windows installs? They break CONSTANTLY!
Every friends' or family computer I've switched over to Linux has meant LESS time I've wasted fixing broken registries, troubleshooting failed installs, non-functioning networks or cleaning malware.
Linux is an order of magnitude less trouble-prone than Windows!
Vulnerabilities in Flashplayer are typically cross-platform; an exploit that works in Windows will work (after modification, but it will work) on Linux too.
Can you link to any actual exploits, not just those imagined by Microsoft's marketing department?
I've encountered it several times in my role as resident geek and computer fixer. Sometimes the unofficial workaround fixes the problem, sometimes not.
Workaround:
1. Click Start and type device in the search field, then select Device Manager.
2. Expand the Batteries category.
3. Under the Batteries category, right-click the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing, and select Uninstall.
WARNING: Do not remove the Microsoft AC Adapter driver or any other ACPI compliant driver.
4. On the Device Manager taskbar, click Scan for hardware changes.
the engineers that designed the system.
Are they the same engineers that designed Vista?
That's the OS which shipped with the "Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery" device that frequently refused to charge batteries even when plugged in, in case you're wondering.
I wouldn't let Microsoft off the hook just yet. Lithium ion batteries need to be slow charged the last 10-15% of their charge cycle or they will be damaged. There are already known unfixed issues with the Vista/7 battery controller, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear some lithium ion batteries are failing through mismanaged charge cycles.
They're not. This whole article is a marketing puff piece.
You'll see similar articles all over the web, like "Win 7 cheat code" etc. Windows 7 adoption is slowing, as its honeymoon period ends and the computer buying public realise, despite the intense hype, it's just not a very interesting product. That's why they're touting the phony 10% adoption figure now and not showing any true growth curve.
Maybe it's just a different demographic though, but most of my friends have wifi at home and wouldn't even know if they were working on or offline. If they take their laptop outside, they'll be looking for a cafe with free connections, and be browsing or IMing. The number of people who want to go somewhere outside to do office work is vanishingly small.
Another reason why I'd never use Windows, and why a diverse ecosystem of OSs is so important.
You may not trust Chinese made products, but more people have had identities stolen and bank accounts emptied as a consequence of using Microphone products than Chinese ones.
One thing that's absolutely true is that Microsoft reputation managers will be all over this article.
Cheap, ARM and Linux is the one combination they absolutely MUST discredit. Even if they can get Windows to run on it, the whole application stack that locks people onto the Wintel platform will be missing. Likewise, a $200 OS and $300 office suite simply aren't value propositions on sub $200 computers.
Yeah, I've decided to let my Win 7 install die a quiet death.
There's not enough new to make it worthwhile paying for, and it's a pig to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
Now that the honeymoon is over and friends who have bought computers with it installed are starting to choke them up with all the usual MS-ecosystem detritus, I'm being called to do more unpaid tech support for Microsoft. I'd rather not run it at all, then at least I'll be able to say I can only help 'em if they switch to an OS I use.
Yes, in NZ we're all given a sheep at the age of 16, we shag it's brains out for the next few years, then they're butchered and the meat is exported to Australia.
Yeah we know.
Your chicks tell us stuff like that when they come over here for a decent root. We don't eat the stuff - we just repackage it and sell it off to the poms.
Just think about that next time the gravy's dribbling down your chin
Slashdot Mirror
It started a few years ago.
Microsoft realised just ho much bad press was being generated by tech and social networking sites, so they employed an advertising agency called Crispin Porter + Bogusky. They arranged online reputation management for Microsoft, including a "Downmod Squad".
Having said that though, it looks like it hasn't been updated since Microsoft took it over.
Are you sure?
I don't have an E17 install at the moment, but I'm certain there was a a setting under the Configuration menu.
The whole divisions regularly report margins in that range, so it means earnings in excess of all costs.
Microsoft makes 85%+ profit margins on their OS and Office lines.
They're already gouging.
Ozmanjusri:
You've been around long enough to know how quickly FOSS software fixes faults. If you don't know the current state of the software, don't post crap about it.
Blakey Rat:
Tell you what, I'll do that as soon as everybody who hasn't used Windows 7 stops posting about flaws in Windows XP.
Do you remember that conversation we had a month or two ago where I challenged you on a statement you'd made regarding Open Office's capabilities?
After a couple of exchanges, you admitted you'd made the claim based on a two-years old version of OOo, not the current one. When I suggested your deceptive posting could mislead people and cost them real money, you told me that you would continue to lie as long all the FOSS supporters kept lying about Microsoft.
Why should we believe you now?
Not so much purposefully, more with a sense of outrage that something I value will be parodied in the worst possible way.
Though Emmerich, COULD make the movie of some benefit to people like me. All he needs to do is hook a generator to the longitudinal axis of old Isaac's coffin and let us run our reading lights from it.
Now THAT is the biggest load of FUD I've seen in print for decades.
Do you know how much time I have to spend supporting family and friends Windows installs? They break CONSTANTLY!
Every friends' or family computer I've switched over to Linux has meant LESS time I've wasted fixing broken registries, troubleshooting failed installs, non-functioning networks or cleaning malware.
Linux is an order of magnitude less trouble-prone than Windows!
Can you link to any actual exploits, not just those imagined by Microsoft's marketing department?
Of course.
They're the ones who paid for an OS that's about as secure as a colander, after all.
What does the spec have to do with Microsoft's implementation?
Again, look for yourself.
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Plugged+In%2C+Not+Charging&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a
I've encountered it several times in my role as resident geek and computer fixer. Sometimes the unofficial workaround fixes the problem, sometimes not.
Workaround:
1. Click Start and type device in the search field, then select Device Manager . .
2. Expand the Batteries category.
3. Under the Batteries category, right-click the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing, and select Uninstall
WARNING: Do not remove the Microsoft AC Adapter driver or any other ACPI compliant driver.
4. On the Device Manager taskbar, click Scan for hardware changes.
Look for yourself;
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa939594(WinEmbedded.5).aspx
Both are used. I suspect the Microsoft controller is managing both battery charge and drain from the computer being in use.
That's the OS which shipped with the "Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery" device that frequently refused to charge batteries even when plugged in, in case you're wondering.
I wouldn't let Microsoft off the hook just yet. Lithium ion batteries need to be slow charged the last 10-15% of their charge cycle or they will be damaged. There are already known unfixed issues with the Vista/7 battery controller, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear some lithium ion batteries are failing through mismanaged charge cycles.
They're not. This whole article is a marketing puff piece.
You'll see similar articles all over the web, like "Win 7 cheat code" etc. Windows 7 adoption is slowing, as its honeymoon period ends and the computer buying public realise, despite the intense hype, it's just not a very interesting product. That's why they're touting the phony 10% adoption figure now and not showing any true growth curve.
FTFY
For a start, Google Docs is available offline, so the point is moot. http://docs.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=15134
Maybe it's just a different demographic though, but most of my friends have wifi at home and wouldn't even know if they were working on or offline. If they take their laptop outside, they'll be looking for a cafe with free connections, and be browsing or IMing. The number of people who want to go somewhere outside to do office work is vanishingly small.
Most of all, DON'T trust spell checkers.
For many people in the netbook market, that IS a feature.
That's not possible with computers.
Another reason why I'd never use Windows, and why a diverse ecosystem of OSs is so important.
You may not trust Chinese made products, but more people have had identities stolen and bank accounts emptied as a consequence of using Microphone products than Chinese ones.
One thing that's absolutely true is that Microsoft reputation managers will be all over this article.
Cheap, ARM and Linux is the one combination they absolutely MUST discredit. Even if they can get Windows to run on it, the whole application stack that locks people onto the Wintel platform will be missing. Likewise, a $200 OS and $300 office suite simply aren't value propositions on sub $200 computers.
Expect an unprecedented level of FUD here.
There's not enough new to make it worthwhile paying for, and it's a pig to troubleshoot when things go wrong.
Now that the honeymoon is over and friends who have bought computers with it installed are starting to choke them up with all the usual MS-ecosystem detritus, I'm being called to do more unpaid tech support for Microsoft. I'd rather not run it at all, then at least I'll be able to say I can only help 'em if they switch to an OS I use.
Huh? There's plenty out there.
Here's one http://i.imgur.com/8bChG.jpg. Another here http://imgur.com/8bChG - this one was part of a series of "training" packages provided to retail sales people.
I suspect you're probably just not noticing them.
Yeah we know.
Your chicks tell us stuff like that when they come over here for a decent root. We don't eat the stuff - we just repackage it and sell it off to the poms.
Just think about that next time the gravy's dribbling down your chin
That 'aint gravy. It's your sister's pussy juice.
You didn't read the article, did you?