ASP.NET itself is pretty nice. I quite like C# in fact. My problem with.NET though, is that Visual Studio is bloated and unstable. Give me Emacs over VS anyday.
I felt the same way until my Windows PC broke and I was forced to borrow and live with a PowerBook for a couple weeks. At first, I hated it, until I got over my Windows habits and started to get used to the new UI. I absolutely hated Apple products, but now I'm more efficient and can't live without 'em. In any case, my advice to anyone thinking about switching is to spend more than just an hour with the thing. Force yourself to use it for a few days and actually be honest enough to give a go at learning how it's supposed to work. It may not fit your needs better, but then again, it might. You'll never know if you only try it long enough to get frustrated or you go into the experience planning on hating it.
What to do? Just switch 'em to the Mac. I've been gradually switching friends and family for a couple of years now. Typically there's a period of a few weeks where I get a lot of questions - what software should I use for X? how do I find setting Y?. After that, support calls from them drop dramatically.
I don't think it's going to put a dent in the Machead fan base. The Mac users who support Apple because of the image will stay because Jobs is still around with the RDF. The other group of rabid users, of which I consider myself one, will keep on being devoted because OS X is still the best environment around for our needs. If that ever changes, I'll look to something else. In the meantime, OS X just kicks ass so I couldn't care less what legal actions Apple might take.
The whole advantage to Dell, from my perspective, is that their customer service (at least for corporate customers) has been great. They're semi-knowledgable and quick to respond. If the corporate support ever moves over seas... that's a lot less reason to buy a Dell.
I can't speak for their Windows apps, but Google Earth on the Mac is a hideous thing from a UI stand-point. What I saw of GoogleTalk on Windows gave me a similar impression, but at least it wasn't so complicated. In any case, I don't see Google providing usability on the level of the iPod-iTunes duo anytime soon. Google's clever and innovative, sure, but UI just isn't their thing.
It seems like we need to petition the BBC or something. They seem to "get it" more than most when it comes to embracing new technology rather than fighting it. I'd be more than happy to watch some flash ads while downloading episodes of Dr. Who. Hell, I'd even be willing to pay a couple bucks an episode.
They're not so bad actually. If you want something to store your iPod in just to keep it from getting scratched in a backpack or purse, you could do worse than one of those.
Most research along those lines is done in labs that are, at least in part, federally funded. Might not stop new lines from popping up entirely, but it certainly makes things very difficult.
Printing still seems to be pretty much a crapshoot under Linux. I only buy HP's, and I've still found that they either instally effortlessly and flawlessly or just plain suck.
From TFA it sounds like the point is just to make sure that students who transfer from College A to College B are not considered drop-outs from College A. Ostensibly the feds want this information for schools that recieve federal funding to track how well that money is spent.
We wouldn't be concerned, but you can bet that the slightly less than half of the country that would have voted for Bush would be just as upset. They might not be a demographic that slashdot typically attracts, but they'd be just as concerned.
Why do we even use e-voting to do our tally? I thought the whole idea with touchscreen voting was to simplify the process so we wouldn't have anyone mistakenly voting for the wrong candidate. Why not have it print a verifiable paper ballot which is then what is counted?
Seems to me like this might be perfect for your average home user with a broadband connection. All they want out of their computer is music, email, web browsing, and word processing. For some fee make sure they've always got the latest versions of OO.o, Thunderbird, Firefox, etc. and make sure that any security patches, etc. are downloaded and installed automagically.
Home users also have the advantage of not needing specialized software - having almost identical hardware and identical software on all the machines would make life even easier.
I agree with you that it would be nice to open messages in a new window - shift+click works for everything else, it would be nice to use that for my inbox too.
Gmail's lack of folders seemed a bit strange to me at first, but now that I've gotten used to using Labels for everything, and complimenting that with searching, I really like the organization scheme now. I don't think I could go back to using my old mail account.
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ASP.NET itself is pretty nice. I quite like C# in fact. My problem with .NET though, is that Visual Studio is bloated and unstable. Give me Emacs over VS anyday.
I felt the same way until my Windows PC broke and I was forced to borrow and live with a PowerBook for a couple weeks. At first, I hated it, until I got over my Windows habits and started to get used to the new UI. I absolutely hated Apple products, but now I'm more efficient and can't live without 'em. In any case, my advice to anyone thinking about switching is to spend more than just an hour with the thing. Force yourself to use it for a few days and actually be honest enough to give a go at learning how it's supposed to work. It may not fit your needs better, but then again, it might. You'll never know if you only try it long enough to get frustrated or you go into the experience planning on hating it.
I think that requires you to have a .Mac account, right? Otherwise it'd be great.
What to do? Just switch 'em to the Mac. I've been gradually switching friends and family for a couple of years now. Typically there's a period of a few weeks where I get a lot of questions - what software should I use for X? how do I find setting Y?. After that, support calls from them drop dramatically.
I don't think it's going to put a dent in the Machead fan base. The Mac users who support Apple because of the image will stay because Jobs is still around with the RDF. The other group of rabid users, of which I consider myself one, will keep on being devoted because OS X is still the best environment around for our needs. If that ever changes, I'll look to something else. In the meantime, OS X just kicks ass so I couldn't care less what legal actions Apple might take.
Dude, don't you get it? As soon as Bin Laden tries to buy a new washing machine from Sears DHS will be all over him...
I wouldn't say Google is known for ease of use. They're known for being very clever and creative, not for being great UI designers.
I'm too lazy to read the article, but I assume once you've exploited it they'll fix it...doesn't seem like a bad concept to me.
The whole advantage to Dell, from my perspective, is that their customer service (at least for corporate customers) has been great. They're semi-knowledgable and quick to respond. If the corporate support ever moves over seas... that's a lot less reason to buy a Dell.
I, as a member of the people, take offense at that. You'll be hearing from my lawyer.
I can't speak for their Windows apps, but Google Earth on the Mac is a hideous thing from a UI stand-point. What I saw of GoogleTalk on Windows gave me a similar impression, but at least it wasn't so complicated. In any case, I don't see Google providing usability on the level of the iPod-iTunes duo anytime soon. Google's clever and innovative, sure, but UI just isn't their thing.
It's been awhile since I've installed Windows, but I seem to recall some of the install screens making claims as to the security of Windows XP.
It seems like we need to petition the BBC or something. They seem to "get it" more than most when it comes to embracing new technology rather than fighting it. I'd be more than happy to watch some flash ads while downloading episodes of Dr. Who. Hell, I'd even be willing to pay a couple bucks an episode.
They're not so bad actually. If you want something to store your iPod in just to keep it from getting scratched in a backpack or purse, you could do worse than one of those.
Most research along those lines is done in labs that are, at least in part, federally funded. Might not stop new lines from popping up entirely, but it certainly makes things very difficult.
Just out of curiosity...is anybody out there setting up MythTV boxes and selling them?
Printing still seems to be pretty much a crapshoot under Linux. I only buy HP's, and I've still found that they either instally effortlessly and flawlessly or just plain suck.
Now the next Microsoft-sponsored study on Linux will be "Linux: The Operating System of Terrorists"
I don't mind not living to 1000, but it would be nice to know that I'd be youthful till I got hit by a bus at 80 or 90.
From TFA it sounds like the point is just to make sure that students who transfer from College A to College B are not considered drop-outs from College A. Ostensibly the feds want this information for schools that recieve federal funding to track how well that money is spent.
We wouldn't be concerned, but you can bet that the slightly less than half of the country that would have voted for Bush would be just as upset. They might not be a demographic that slashdot typically attracts, but they'd be just as concerned.
Why do we even use e-voting to do our tally? I thought the whole idea with touchscreen voting was to simplify the process so we wouldn't have anyone mistakenly voting for the wrong candidate. Why not have it print a verifiable paper ballot which is then what is counted?
Seems to me like this might be perfect for your average home user with a broadband connection. All they want out of their computer is music, email, web browsing, and word processing. For some fee make sure they've always got the latest versions of OO.o, Thunderbird, Firefox, etc. and make sure that any security patches, etc. are downloaded and installed automagically. Home users also have the advantage of not needing specialized software - having almost identical hardware and identical software on all the machines would make life even easier.
I agree with you that it would be nice to open messages in a new window - shift+click works for everything else, it would be nice to use that for my inbox too.
Gmail's lack of folders seemed a bit strange to me at first, but now that I've gotten used to using Labels for everything, and complimenting that with searching, I really like the organization scheme now. I don't think I could go back to using my old mail account.