"It sucks balls". Seriously, the only people who think Java is a usable language are Java programmers and the managers stupid enough to listen to them. People complain constantly about the performance of Windows, but are more than happy to drag their machine down by running a Java app. Java is best left doing what it's best at: putting stupid ripples under images on a webpage.
Re:probably on Microsoft's list of next important
on
Apache down, IIS up
·
· Score: 1
the first few generations of IIS weren't hardened
Of course not, why would they be? Isn't that why companies hire IT folks?:)
Now, the problem here is not that VMWare is a commercial story, but that this story looks too much like an advertisement. If you think it's ok for Slashdot to make money directly on the content it chooses to post, oh well... I guess you're used to watching Fox News?
So, how do they announce technology news without it sounding like an advertisement? There's one line that says it's out (and points to another news site discussing the release) and another section that points to an open source news site that compares it to open source options and says it's better. It's not like they provide a direct link to purchase the product, or even to the vendor! I could see it as an advertisement if it was written as: "The new VMware software is out! Purchase it right now or we'll kill your puppies!"
If you're talking about using the keyboard to move between elements in dialog boxes in OSX then you need to change the "Full Keyboard Access" setting
I did, but at least in 10.3, it wasn't "Full Keyboard Access". It only fixed some of the issues. For example, you couldn't tab into a combobox or dropdown. Probably because the keyboard was of limited use on a Mac for these controls. But, it wasn't limited to things like that. For example, in every other OS when you hit the Home key, it takes you to the beginning of the line. In OSX, that key takes you to the beginning of the document. I've had many an argument over that stupid choice, and it comes down to this: when I'm editing a document, I'm not going to be hopping to the very beginning or very end of the document that often. I'm going to be hopping around WITHIN the document. The "easy" keys should allow me to do common tasks easily. For the tasks I'm less likely to do, make the key combos "harder" (such as using Ctrl-Home in Windows to jump to the beginning of the doc). Don't even get me started on "jump to end/beginning of next/previous word" (ctrl-right arrow and ctrl-left arrow). I don't remember the key combo that OSX uses, but I do remember it was some insane three-key thing. Ick! Some of these could be fixed by using a keyboard remapper, and I did, but in the end I felt between the keyboard issues and a few other things, I was kludging too much just to get work done and after a year or so, I gave up. OSX is an awesome system, don't get me wrong. I just found it didn't work for me. Seeing as Apple's on the right track to make it the dominant OS in the next 5-10 years, I'll revisit it again some time.:)
Other than that, personally I find the keyboard access much better in OSX, primarily because the shortcuts seem to be much more consistent accross all apps (Apple apps + external)
Consistently bad keyboard access isn't a good thing.:) As for consistency on Windows, I've found very few apps (that aren't specfically kludged to be "cross platform" such as Java or Lotus Notes) that aren't consistent. A developer has to go far out of their way to violate standards, but let's keep in mind: they are violating standards. First, Windows standards dictate that if you're going to be able do something with the mouse, you MUST make it doable completely with the keyboard. There are violations, of course, even from Microsoft. Most notable is the tray. There are then clearly defined standards on what non-app-specific key combos should do across apps. And, honestly, I'm a prick. If I find something that violates the standards, I let the developer know about it before I pay for it.;-)
No, it's not. I never used IE on the Mac. I used Safari for a little while, but ditched it in favor of Firefox. All of my comments were related to Firefox, or Mac apps in general. Perhaps it's changed since I sold it well over a year ago?
Using Firefox on Windows you would type "New" (as another poster noted). This works exactly the same way in Firefox and Safari on the Mac.
No, it doesn't on the Mac. Well, it might now. Firstly, if I'm in Firefox (or ANY Windows app for that matter) that provides a dropdown, you can tab to it and either type what you're looking for if you know it's there (such as typing "New" to get to "New York") or you can hit the first letter over and over again and it will cycle through the list. I'd tab to the State field, hit N a couple of times, and be in New York. On the Mac, it was complicated further by the fact that tabbing between fields typically skipped over dropdowns. I could only assume it was because the keyboard functionality was missing anyway.
Try typing "New" instead of hitting "N" until "New York" comes up. Works on my Mac.
I don't have the Mac anymore, I sold it. As I recall, though, this wouldn't have worked because a) you couldn't tab to a non-text field (such as a dropdown) and b) if you hit "N", it took you to the first "N". If you then hit "E", it took you to the first "E" or sat there. Now, I sold it well over a year ago and there's been at least one significant update since then. Perhaps they've changed it? When I had one, though, it didn't do it. I tried every combination to get it to work.
Mac is a curve of unlearning backwards ways of doing things you've simply gotten used to on Windows.
The examples you gave were some of the things I liked most when I purchased a Mac a few years back. Unfortunately, those weren't the day-to-day issues that forced me to sell it and go back to Windows a year later. Most specifically: the OS is too mouse-centric. I'm a keyboarder, I use the mouse only when necessary or for websurfing. But, on the Mac, it's backwards: everything pretty much MUST be done with the mouse (which I found really surprising since "accessibilty" demands keyboardness). Of course, everytime I asked about how to avoid using the mouse, I was greeting with constant "they did studies! Most people are more productive with the mouse!" Yeah, MOST people. There are some of us who hardly ever touch the thing. I found I lost so much productivity on the Mac, it was essential that I moved back.
There were somethings that could be tweaked into sanity by keyboard remappers, but others (such as the dumbass idea of having two different keyboard shortcuts to switch between applications) you were stuck with. I couldn't tab properly through dialogs. For example, when filling out my address on webforms, not a dialog, I know, but same behavior, I'd tab in to the "State" field and hit the "N" key until it came to "New York". Not on a Mac. A minor bitch, I'll agree, but like I said, it wasn't just web forms. And, like most people, I found the Finder to be annoying at best, a nightmare at worst.
...we've put an official decree down that we're not buying their crappy, crappy crap anymore. We finally convinced the higher-ups that when they save a couple of hundred bucks on a server, they lose it all in downtime. Who'dathunk you had to explain money to accountants?
Inspired the microkernal architectures of Cisco's most powerful core routers as well as the operating systems found in nearly every new car on the planet (QNX variants in both cases).
Okay, fanboy, two questions: "inspired" or designed? Big difference there. And, are we discussing general computing and/or desktop environments, or embedded? Another big difference.
He created Minix. Great. When was that? What's he done for me lately? He's a researcher, he doesn't understand "practical". All of his ideas are great...in theory. In practice, however, non-microkernels work best. How do we know? None of the prevailing OSes use microkernels. These OSes are designed by thousands of engineers who work day-in and day-out solving REAL WORLD problems, not cooking up thought experiments. If there were true benefit to microkernels, at least one of the prevailing open source OSes would be using it, but there's not. Enough already.
...does it run Windows? Then it would be useful. Once again, the open source community pats itself on the back while completely missing the point of Origami. You guys really just don't get modern technology, do you?
Just because *you* don't use a feature, or know anyone else that does, doesn't mean that no-one uses it.
Because most slashdotters are unix guys and they don't understand complex software or modern technology. To them, if a program uses color, it's a waste of time, resources and processor clicks. Don't worry, they're a dying breed and on their way out.
the famous "blue screen of death"... I believe that Linux has the ability to handle internal errors more elegantly but that's only because I've only seen it fail from hardware errors.
Gee, that's funny, because blue screens typically come from hardware errors. Of course, I'm baseing that on old versions as I haven't seen all that many since 2000 came out. But, then, Windows bashing is generally based on old versions, isn't it?:)
Not the way the cultists would want you to believe. Things of this magnitude are supposed to be found long before they're in production. Not a version or two later. It was more a jab at the cultists than anything else.
The government is in cohoots with Microsoft! This is all just a smear campaign because we KNOW that security vulnerabilities like this do NOT happen in Open Source software! The software goes through "many eyes" who catch these kinds of things. The fact that it occurs in recent and older versions of the software simply proves they're just smearing, and there's no basis for this in fact. I'm so tired of other people pointing out the security flaws in our software. Don't they understand we're working towards a common goal of ridding the world of Microsoft who make useful, but insecure software! We want the world to use software that's more difficult to use, but secure. That way, only people who know what they're doing will ever use a computer, just as our lord, Linus, says it should be. Torvaldo Fhtagn!
Please note: the above is a work of fiction, sarcasm and humor. If you didn't find it funny, pull the rod out of your ass and get a clue.
Which is why departments should do their own recruiting.
Not disagreeing with you there, but you think that's going to change just because it's the right way to do things? Since that's not going to change, managers need to start listing out a set of skills to look for, rather than paper. Get the HR departments to start finding the right people, rather than the right letter combinations.
I give no credit at all to interviewees with certifications. And people with Microsoft certifications I usually won't bother interviewing at all. They come in knowing nothing. I give credit to college degrees and experience.
Then you're going to end up tossing out a lot of qualified people just to prove a point. I carry certifications, but they're not for the hiring manager. In the last couple of years, I haven't talked to many companies that didn't at least do first-level screenings through their HR departments. These people have no idea what's valuable in an IT job, so they have a simple checklist given to them. The problem is, these checklists have become the basis for ALL applicants, regardless of experience. Unless you match that checklist perfectly, you don't even get to talk to someone who knows or understands what you need to know.
My resume documents 20 years of experience in a wide range of technologies and industries, with millions of dollars of savings to companies calculated and clearly laid out. When I lost my job a few years back, I spent months completely unable to get even a phone interview. I decided to make best use of my time and get a couple of those stupid-ass certs, in the hopes that it would provide more opportunities. I took all of the tests and passed them on the first try with very little preparation (I took practice tests to ensure I wasn't going to be tripped up on "wording", a problem I learned years ago when I worked with a trainer who explained the problems in cert testing). I was then fighting to keep up with the calls and got to pick and choose where I went next to work. The only change I made was the addition of a few letters at the very top of the first page (MCSE, RHCE, CCA, etc).
Oh, and I don't have a degree, either. I started, but decided quickly that spending $100,000 and four years so I could take 8 classes that were loosely connected to my field from five years prior was a significant waste of time, effort and money. That's a decision I have never regretted. Sure, I've been passed over for jobs because I didn't have one (for the same reasons you pass over certed people), but I can live with that. Regardless of the type of paper a person has, that paper does nothing to prove they know what they're doing and some people just get it to get past the twits who can't see anything past it.
Does that mean people with certs are going to be (more) qualified? Hardly. When people ask me about my certs I tell them the same thing each time: "I place more value on the napkin I used at lunch than the certs I have buried in the bottom of one of my filing cabinets. THAT piece of paper provided me with real, tangible, immediate benefit and didn't cost me a few hundred dollars." You really should start actually looking at the resumes and calling references. Otherwise you're no better than the HR drones; incapable of making a real decision based on facts.
Sorry, can't say it's true. I'm pretty sure I've got more Linux/Unix experience than you, both personally AND professionally. Only a little Mac, though. Never found them to be as "easy to use" as people claim. Too different from anything else. But, I digress. As a matter of fact, I currently prefer Firefox, but it's really just for the extensions. It doesn't matter, though. I let people use what they want to use. Why is it your typical slashdotter's all about choice, until someone makes a choice that doesn't conform to their beliefs?
I guess in a way, I am one of those PRETEND slashdotters.
Microsoft would never try to prevent other browsers from using a websites functionality (activeX)
Nothing's stopping Firefox or Opera from using ActiveX. Any application that runs on a Windows platform can use activex controls. The only thing stopping the other browsers from using it are the authors of those browsers.
or intentionally break websites for people who don't use some specific MS product (ms java)
Microsoft doesn't make a Java product, and hasn't for years. Even still, back when there was a choice between the MS Java interpreter and Sun's, I always chose MS'. It was faster, used less memory, and more stable. Since they've stopped shipping theirs, I've stopped having Java.
Their web applications always render on whatever browser (asp)
You'd almost done a good job convincing me you at least had SOME clue as to what you're talking about. Here's where you went wrong: ASP is a server-side scripting language. Anything your browser sees is written BY SOMEONE ELSE. It's written by the webmaster of that site, not MS. It's true, ASP runs only on IIS which only runs on Windows, but it has nothing to do with how shit is rendered.
and they go out of their way to make their technologies OS independant (.net)
Then you go and follow up with this one, and I have to wonder just who ties your shoes in the morning for you. Here's another clue, free of charge:.net was designed to be OS independant. That's why you can run.net applications (once recompiled) on Linux or OSX or whatever. Might want to take a look at the Mono Project. Oh, and unlike Sun who has refused to make Java an ECMA-compliant standard,.net has been from the beginning.
Re:That's _exactly_ what we need...
on
Explorer Destroyer
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Firefox is actually competing fairly
Firefox is a browser, it can't compete. But, let's go on the assumption that you meant "Firefox advocates are competing fairly".....By childishly blocking people from their sites? People used to do this years ago when it was still Netscape Navigator. Worked so well then, I'm sure it'll work again this time.
Sometimes, if it's necessary. For full-on, day-to-day operations, no thanks. Too much overhead. Now, if I could get ESX to work on my laptop, we might talk.:)
Slashdot Mirror
"It sucks balls". Seriously, the only people who think Java is a usable language are Java programmers and the managers stupid enough to listen to them. People complain constantly about the performance of Windows, but are more than happy to drag their machine down by running a Java app. Java is best left doing what it's best at: putting stupid ripples under images on a webpage.
the first few generations of IIS weren't hardened
:)
Of course not, why would they be? Isn't that why companies hire IT folks?
Now, the problem here is not that VMWare is a commercial story, but that this story looks too much like an advertisement. If you think it's ok for Slashdot to make money directly on the content it chooses to post, oh well... I guess you're used to watching Fox News?
So, how do they announce technology news without it sounding like an advertisement? There's one line that says it's out (and points to another news site discussing the release) and another section that points to an open source news site that compares it to open source options and says it's better. It's not like they provide a direct link to purchase the product, or even to the vendor! I could see it as an advertisement if it was written as: "The new VMware software is out! Purchase it right now or we'll kill your puppies!"
Idiot
...the company they should be most concerned with is Adobe since they produce such absolute crap all around.
If you're talking about using the keyboard to move between elements in dialog boxes in OSX then you need to change the "Full Keyboard Access" setting
:)
:) As for consistency on Windows, I've found very few apps (that aren't specfically kludged to be "cross platform" such as Java or Lotus Notes) that aren't consistent. A developer has to go far out of their way to violate standards, but let's keep in mind: they are violating standards. First, Windows standards dictate that if you're going to be able do something with the mouse, you MUST make it doable completely with the keyboard. There are violations, of course, even from Microsoft. Most notable is the tray. There are then clearly defined standards on what non-app-specific key combos should do across apps. And, honestly, I'm a prick. If I find something that violates the standards, I let the developer know about it before I pay for it. ;-)
I did, but at least in 10.3, it wasn't "Full Keyboard Access". It only fixed some of the issues. For example, you couldn't tab into a combobox or dropdown. Probably because the keyboard was of limited use on a Mac for these controls. But, it wasn't limited to things like that. For example, in every other OS when you hit the Home key, it takes you to the beginning of the line. In OSX, that key takes you to the beginning of the document. I've had many an argument over that stupid choice, and it comes down to this: when I'm editing a document, I'm not going to be hopping to the very beginning or very end of the document that often. I'm going to be hopping around WITHIN the document. The "easy" keys should allow me to do common tasks easily. For the tasks I'm less likely to do, make the key combos "harder" (such as using Ctrl-Home in Windows to jump to the beginning of the doc). Don't even get me started on "jump to end/beginning of next/previous word" (ctrl-right arrow and ctrl-left arrow). I don't remember the key combo that OSX uses, but I do remember it was some insane three-key thing. Ick! Some of these could be fixed by using a keyboard remapper, and I did, but in the end I felt between the keyboard issues and a few other things, I was kludging too much just to get work done and after a year or so, I gave up. OSX is an awesome system, don't get me wrong. I just found it didn't work for me. Seeing as Apple's on the right track to make it the dominant OS in the next 5-10 years, I'll revisit it again some time.
Other than that, personally I find the keyboard access much better in OSX, primarily because the shortcuts seem to be much more consistent accross all apps (Apple apps + external)
Consistently bad keyboard access isn't a good thing.
that's an IE thing.
No, it's not. I never used IE on the Mac. I used Safari for a little while, but ditched it in favor of Firefox. All of my comments were related to Firefox, or Mac apps in general. Perhaps it's changed since I sold it well over a year ago?
Using Firefox on Windows you would type "New" (as another poster noted). This works exactly the same way in Firefox and Safari on the Mac.
No, it doesn't on the Mac. Well, it might now. Firstly, if I'm in Firefox (or ANY Windows app for that matter) that provides a dropdown, you can tab to it and either type what you're looking for if you know it's there (such as typing "New" to get to "New York") or you can hit the first letter over and over again and it will cycle through the list. I'd tab to the State field, hit N a couple of times, and be in New York. On the Mac, it was complicated further by the fact that tabbing between fields typically skipped over dropdowns. I could only assume it was because the keyboard functionality was missing anyway.
Try typing "New" instead of hitting "N" until "New York" comes up. Works on my Mac.
I don't have the Mac anymore, I sold it. As I recall, though, this wouldn't have worked because a) you couldn't tab to a non-text field (such as a dropdown) and b) if you hit "N", it took you to the first "N". If you then hit "E", it took you to the first "E" or sat there. Now, I sold it well over a year ago and there's been at least one significant update since then. Perhaps they've changed it? When I had one, though, it didn't do it. I tried every combination to get it to work.
Mac is a curve of unlearning backwards ways of doing things you've simply gotten used to on Windows.
The examples you gave were some of the things I liked most when I purchased a Mac a few years back. Unfortunately, those weren't the day-to-day issues that forced me to sell it and go back to Windows a year later. Most specifically: the OS is too mouse-centric. I'm a keyboarder, I use the mouse only when necessary or for websurfing. But, on the Mac, it's backwards: everything pretty much MUST be done with the mouse (which I found really surprising since "accessibilty" demands keyboardness). Of course, everytime I asked about how to avoid using the mouse, I was greeting with constant "they did studies! Most people are more productive with the mouse!" Yeah, MOST people. There are some of us who hardly ever touch the thing. I found I lost so much productivity on the Mac, it was essential that I moved back. There were somethings that could be tweaked into sanity by keyboard remappers, but others (such as the dumbass idea of having two different keyboard shortcuts to switch between applications) you were stuck with. I couldn't tab properly through dialogs. For example, when filling out my address on webforms, not a dialog, I know, but same behavior, I'd tab in to the "State" field and hit the "N" key until it came to "New York". Not on a Mac. A minor bitch, I'll agree, but like I said, it wasn't just web forms. And, like most people, I found the Finder to be annoying at best, a nightmare at worst.
...we've put an official decree down that we're not buying their crappy, crappy crap anymore. We finally convinced the higher-ups that when they save a couple of hundred bucks on a server, they lose it all in downtime. Who'dathunk you had to explain money to accountants?
Inspired the microkernal architectures of Cisco's most powerful core routers as well as the operating systems found in nearly every new car on the planet (QNX variants in both cases).
Okay, fanboy, two questions: "inspired" or designed? Big difference there. And, are we discussing general computing and/or desktop environments, or embedded? Another big difference.
He created Minix. Great. When was that? What's he done for me lately? He's a researcher, he doesn't understand "practical". All of his ideas are great...in theory. In practice, however, non-microkernels work best. How do we know? None of the prevailing OSes use microkernels. These OSes are designed by thousands of engineers who work day-in and day-out solving REAL WORLD problems, not cooking up thought experiments. If there were true benefit to microkernels, at least one of the prevailing open source OSes would be using it, but there's not. Enough already.
...does it run Windows? Then it would be useful. Once again, the open source community pats itself on the back while completely missing the point of Origami. You guys really just don't get modern technology, do you?
Just because *you* don't use a feature, or know anyone else that does, doesn't mean that no-one uses it.
Because most slashdotters are unix guys and they don't understand complex software or modern technology. To them, if a program uses color, it's a waste of time, resources and processor clicks. Don't worry, they're a dying breed and on their way out.
the famous "blue screen of death" ... I believe that Linux has the ability to handle internal errors more elegantly but that's only because I've only seen it fail from hardware errors.
:)
Gee, that's funny, because blue screens typically come from hardware errors. Of course, I'm baseing that on old versions as I haven't seen all that many since 2000 came out. But, then, Windows bashing is generally based on old versions, isn't it?
Silly you, pointing out truths to slashdotters. Don't you know they hate that? :)
Not the way the cultists would want you to believe. Things of this magnitude are supposed to be found long before they're in production. Not a version or two later. It was more a jab at the cultists than anything else.
The government is in cohoots with Microsoft! This is all just a smear campaign because we KNOW that security vulnerabilities like this do NOT happen in Open Source software! The software goes through "many eyes" who catch these kinds of things. The fact that it occurs in recent and older versions of the software simply proves they're just smearing, and there's no basis for this in fact. I'm so tired of other people pointing out the security flaws in our software. Don't they understand we're working towards a common goal of ridding the world of Microsoft who make useful, but insecure software! We want the world to use software that's more difficult to use, but secure. That way, only people who know what they're doing will ever use a computer, just as our lord, Linus, says it should be. Torvaldo Fhtagn!
Please note: the above is a work of fiction, sarcasm and humor. If you didn't find it funny, pull the rod out of your ass and get a clue.
Which is why departments should do their own recruiting.
Not disagreeing with you there, but you think that's going to change just because it's the right way to do things? Since that's not going to change, managers need to start listing out a set of skills to look for, rather than paper. Get the HR departments to start finding the right people, rather than the right letter combinations.
...making fun of stuff that was a problem, what? Maybe two-three versions ago? The Mac I had sucked balls compared to any Windows box I ever touched..
I give no credit at all to interviewees with certifications. And people with Microsoft certifications I usually won't bother interviewing at all. They come in knowing nothing. I give credit to college degrees and experience.
Then you're going to end up tossing out a lot of qualified people just to prove a point. I carry certifications, but they're not for the hiring manager. In the last couple of years, I haven't talked to many companies that didn't at least do first-level screenings through their HR departments. These people have no idea what's valuable in an IT job, so they have a simple checklist given to them. The problem is, these checklists have become the basis for ALL applicants, regardless of experience. Unless you match that checklist perfectly, you don't even get to talk to someone who knows or understands what you need to know.
My resume documents 20 years of experience in a wide range of technologies and industries, with millions of dollars of savings to companies calculated and clearly laid out. When I lost my job a few years back, I spent months completely unable to get even a phone interview. I decided to make best use of my time and get a couple of those stupid-ass certs, in the hopes that it would provide more opportunities. I took all of the tests and passed them on the first try with very little preparation (I took practice tests to ensure I wasn't going to be tripped up on "wording", a problem I learned years ago when I worked with a trainer who explained the problems in cert testing). I was then fighting to keep up with the calls and got to pick and choose where I went next to work. The only change I made was the addition of a few letters at the very top of the first page (MCSE, RHCE, CCA, etc).
Oh, and I don't have a degree, either. I started, but decided quickly that spending $100,000 and four years so I could take 8 classes that were loosely connected to my field from five years prior was a significant waste of time, effort and money. That's a decision I have never regretted. Sure, I've been passed over for jobs because I didn't have one (for the same reasons you pass over certed people), but I can live with that. Regardless of the type of paper a person has, that paper does nothing to prove they know what they're doing and some people just get it to get past the twits who can't see anything past it.
Does that mean people with certs are going to be (more) qualified? Hardly. When people ask me about my certs I tell them the same thing each time: "I place more value on the napkin I used at lunch than the certs I have buried in the bottom of one of my filing cabinets. THAT piece of paper provided me with real, tangible, immediate benefit and didn't cost me a few hundred dollars." You really should start actually looking at the resumes and calling references. Otherwise you're no better than the HR drones; incapable of making a real decision based on facts.
duh, oh, okay. gee, where would I be without such brilliant intellectuals such as you. I shall go drool in a corner now.
Sorry, can't say it's true. I'm pretty sure I've got more Linux/Unix experience than you, both personally AND professionally. Only a little Mac, though. Never found them to be as "easy to use" as people claim. Too different from anything else. But, I digress. As a matter of fact, I currently prefer Firefox, but it's really just for the extensions. It doesn't matter, though. I let people use what they want to use. Why is it your typical slashdotter's all about choice, until someone makes a choice that doesn't conform to their beliefs?
I guess in a way, I am one of those PRETEND slashdotters.
Microsoft would never try to prevent other browsers from using a websites functionality (activeX)
.net was designed to be OS independant. That's why you can run .net applications (once recompiled) on Linux or OSX or whatever. Might want to take a look at the Mono Project. Oh, and unlike Sun who has refused to make Java an ECMA-compliant standard, .net has been from the beginning.
Nothing's stopping Firefox or Opera from using ActiveX. Any application that runs on a Windows platform can use activex controls. The only thing stopping the other browsers from using it are the authors of those browsers.
or intentionally break websites for people who don't use some specific MS product (ms java)
Microsoft doesn't make a Java product, and hasn't for years. Even still, back when there was a choice between the MS Java interpreter and Sun's, I always chose MS'. It was faster, used less memory, and more stable. Since they've stopped shipping theirs, I've stopped having Java.
Their web applications always render on whatever browser (asp)
You'd almost done a good job convincing me you at least had SOME clue as to what you're talking about. Here's where you went wrong: ASP is a server-side scripting language. Anything your browser sees is written BY SOMEONE ELSE. It's written by the webmaster of that site, not MS. It's true, ASP runs only on IIS which only runs on Windows, but it has nothing to do with how shit is rendered.
and they go out of their way to make their technologies OS independant (.net)
Then you go and follow up with this one, and I have to wonder just who ties your shoes in the morning for you. Here's another clue, free of charge:
Firefox is actually competing fairly
Firefox is a browser, it can't compete. But, let's go on the assumption that you meant "Firefox advocates are competing fairly".....By childishly blocking people from their sites? People used to do this years ago when it was still Netscape Navigator. Worked so well then, I'm sure it'll work again this time.
Sometimes, if it's necessary. For full-on, day-to-day operations, no thanks. Too much overhead. Now, if I could get ESX to work on my laptop, we might talk. :)