"We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
- Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now
1 - Microsoft says they learned from their mistakes, and have been deconstructing Windows to remove bloat, and make the whole thing run faster. Windows Server can even run sans-GUI now, and they're building up from a minimalist stack. This is a really good thing.
Be realistic, remove bloat? This is Microsoft you're talking about.
2 - There were some neat concepts that were promised with Vista and never delivered, like the file abstraction stack, or WinFS. Now they might have time to do it right.
They've been promising stuff like this since the NT 3.5 days. I'd consider that plenty of time to deliver.
3 - Vista was a total bomb. There is no denying it at all. So why bother? Admit your mistake and move on quickly. All in all, this sounds like a surprisingly smart move on their part.
Has Microsoft ever admitted to making a mistake?
Call me skeptical, but experience does teach an individual.
I don't know what kind of spin you're going to put on it, but a company was rightfully fined for using Microsoft software illegally. Yeah, they might have drawn the short straw for (what it sounds like from the article) accidently running a few too many copies of a piece of software, but what they were doing was illegal.
If you actually read into the matter more thoroughly, you'll find out that they were turned in by a disgruntled former employee. That former employee was responsible for maintaining their license compliance and info.
Frank Zappa had it right on when he told Tipper Gore (you remember Tipper, don't you?): "I would say that a buzz saw blade between the guy's legs on the album cover is good indication that it's not for little Johnny."
With a title like "Manhunt 2", perhaps the game isn't for little Jimmy.
What a godawful format. This is 2007, our web browsers have scrollbars for a reason. It's like a damn PPT, but with ads. Though, I suppose that's no surprise with articles like "Top ten geek haircuts" and "Top ten off switches". And no, I'm notkidding. Journalistic integrity, thy name is CNET.
...there's so many great newsgroup / forum and google search* posts for support...
Wait. A bit OT, sure... but hasn't that been a rather large argument against adopting Linux? That you had to go to some newsgroup/forum/etc. to get support?
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.
- Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)
...There were soooooooooooo many students, faculty, and staff who had entrusted their box entirely to Norton, and it was just an epic fail every single time--even when it was fully up-to-date...
No, there were "soooooooooooo many students, faculty, and staff" who purchased their machines from [insert major manufacturer here], which came with the garbage, and since it already had something with it, they were either ignorant of the fact that there were much better products available to them for free, or they just plain didn't give a shit.
...Like GP said - don't go installing vista on old kit, same as you'd not install XP on a Pentium 1...
That's where I find the logic a bit wacky, because I _can_ install a Linux distro (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.) on old kit and have it perform wonderfully. I can even install a lighter weight distro (DSL, Puppy, Debian, etc.) on a Pentium 1 and not have to purchase new hardware - and have it use a 90 watt PSU versus a 500 watt - and have up to date, supported software. If I do happen to have "modern" hardware, it performs even better. Maybe I'm just nuts, but I like those benefits.
"Not arguing with you at all, but it is funny that MS cares more about the app^H^H^H marketing than security. And it explains a lot of their issues."
There.
Fixed that for you.
...If you can do this - you are better than 99% of all PC tech's I've ever worked with...
Yes, and if you've done all this to their machine, you've charged them considerably more than the average consumer's computer is worth - especially if it's an infestation issue. I always give the customer the choice: yes, I can sit there for hours and hours removing loads of shit that a machine's infested with, or I can spend a couple of hours re-imaging and updating the machine. Which is the more economical solution?
...A family friend once told me (after the fact) that they charged her $90 to back up all of her data to a CD, which consisted of a couple dozen family photos and a few papers...
It's actually much worse than that. They charge TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE DOLLARS to burn a whopping 2 DVDs for "backup" purposes. You figure that's 15-20 minutes, plus media, that's over $600/hour. It's disgusting.
Slashdot Mirror
Or a fake myspace or facebook page... or a compromised ad-host...
"We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
- Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now
Of course they're not designed with security in mind. They're designed with data mining and ad-hits in mind.
Whoa!
"Your Pretty Mexican Bride
is Waiting for You. Browse 100s of Profiles & Find Your Perfect Match! "
click click click click...
1 - Microsoft says they learned from their mistakes, and have been deconstructing Windows to remove bloat, and make the whole thing run faster. Windows Server can even run sans-GUI now, and they're building up from a minimalist stack. This is a really good thing.
Be realistic, remove bloat? This is Microsoft you're talking about.
2 - There were some neat concepts that were promised with Vista and never delivered, like the file abstraction stack, or WinFS. Now they might have time to do it right.
They've been promising stuff like this since the NT 3.5 days. I'd consider that plenty of time to deliver.
3 - Vista was a total bomb. There is no denying it at all. So why bother? Admit your mistake and move on quickly. All in all, this sounds like a surprisingly smart move on their part.
Has Microsoft ever admitted to making a mistake?
Call me skeptical, but experience does teach an individual.
WTF country do you live in?
Yeah, and the replacements will cost 400 times what the original cost.
If by "local law enforcement" you mean raided by "armed U.S. Marshals", then apparently yes.
If you actually read into the matter more thoroughly, you'll find out that they were turned in by a disgruntled former employee. That former employee was responsible for maintaining their license compliance and info.
Frank Zappa had it right on when he told Tipper Gore (you remember Tipper, don't you?):
"I would say that a buzz saw blade between the guy's legs on the album cover is good indication that it's not for little Johnny."
With a title like "Manhunt 2", perhaps the game isn't for little Jimmy.
What a godawful format. This is 2007, our web browsers have scrollbars for a reason. It's like a damn PPT, but with ads. Though, I suppose that's no surprise with articles like "Top ten geek haircuts" and "Top ten off switches". And no, I'm not kidding.
Journalistic integrity, thy name is CNET.
Wait.
A bit OT, sure... but hasn't that been a rather large argument against adopting Linux? That you had to go to some newsgroup/forum/etc. to get support?
And the pussification of America continues.
whoa
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round,
for I have seen the shadow on the moon,
and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.
- Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)
No, there were "soooooooooooo many students, faculty, and staff" who purchased their machines from [insert major manufacturer here], which came with the garbage, and since it already had something with it, they were either ignorant of the fact that there were much better products available to them for free, or they just plain didn't give a shit.
That's where I find the logic a bit wacky, because I _can_ install a Linux distro (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc.) on old kit and have it perform wonderfully. I can even install a lighter weight distro (DSL, Puppy, Debian, etc.) on a Pentium 1 and not have to purchase new hardware - and have it use a 90 watt PSU versus a 500 watt - and have up to date, supported software.
If I do happen to have "modern" hardware, it performs even better.
Maybe I'm just nuts, but I like those benefits.
"Not arguing with you at all, but it is funny that MS cares more about the app^H^H^H marketing than security. And it explains a lot of their issues." There. Fixed that for you.
If hotmail is any indication, not well at all.
Oh, I tried, but the damn thing would never stop buffering.
Yes, but would they actually do that? There's a hell of a lot more money to be made by treating the symptoms, rather than curing the disease.
Yes, and if you've done all this to their machine, you've charged them considerably more than the average consumer's computer is worth - especially if it's an infestation issue.
I always give the customer the choice: yes, I can sit there for hours and hours removing loads of shit that a machine's infested with, or I can spend a couple of hours re-imaging and updating the machine. Which is the more economical solution?
It's actually much worse than that. They charge TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE DOLLARS to burn a whopping 2 DVDs for "backup" purposes. You figure that's 15-20 minutes, plus media, that's over $600/hour.
It's disgusting.
Yes, but if it truly included geeks, it'd be over before the first "bow chika bow bow..."
Was that 100% of who they called, or 100% of who they showed?