If you want a slimmed-down, security conscious version of Windows I'd suggest Windows 2003 Server.
Otherwise, be careful about what you install. Turn off Active X if you don't like it or want it on. Avoid downloading and installing everything you find for "free" on the Internet. "Free" software is not free, because it's usually poorly-written and leaves digital droppings all over your hard drive.
My feeling is if you don't like the way things are copyrited and/or the way a particular industry works, stop using their products. The entertainment industry acts like a drug pusher protecting his turf, or a Mafia guy making businesses in a corrupted neghborhood pay "protection" fees. Take their power away by stopping drug use and/or moving to an uncorrupted neighborhood. The sad fact is that the entertainment industry is making billions of dollars off of mediocre product because they have millions of addicts. It's like fast food -- the fast food keeps getting worse as more and more people eat it.
People like this are angry because they feel their power slipping away. The monopoly they once had on the collections of books and words is going, going, gone. Blogging Democracy really exploded with the Rathergate Affair and now podcasting is poised to do exactly the same thing to traditional broadcast content providers. It's actually quite entertaining to listen to someone like this who is so intellectual, self-important, imagining himself so special and learned, looking down his nose at the great unwashed masses of bloggers.
Slashdot Mirror
If you want a slimmed-down, security conscious version of Windows I'd suggest Windows 2003 Server.
Otherwise, be careful about what you install. Turn off Active X if you don't like it or want it on. Avoid downloading and installing everything you find for "free" on the Internet. "Free" software is not free, because it's usually poorly-written and leaves digital droppings all over your hard drive.
My feeling is if you don't like the way things are copyrited and/or the way a particular industry works, stop using their products. The entertainment industry acts like a drug pusher protecting his turf, or a Mafia guy making businesses in a corrupted neghborhood pay "protection" fees. Take their power away by stopping drug use and/or moving to an uncorrupted neighborhood. The sad fact is that the entertainment industry is making billions of dollars off of mediocre product because they have millions of addicts. It's like fast food -- the fast food keeps getting worse as more and more people eat it.
People like this are angry because they feel their power slipping away. The monopoly they once had on the collections of books and words is going, going, gone. Blogging Democracy really exploded with the Rathergate Affair and now podcasting is poised to do exactly the same thing to traditional broadcast content providers. It's actually quite entertaining to listen to someone like this who is so intellectual, self-important, imagining himself so special and learned, looking down his nose at the great unwashed masses of bloggers.