You're completely missing the point -- Photoshop isn't free; it can't be ported without Adobe's permission. The quality of Outlook is irrelevant; it's so popular as to be nearly ubiquitous and lots of people feel stuck with it.
, it's a simple cost/benefit analysis. Should you spend 3 or 4 hours dicking around trying to fix something (and maybe not succeeding) or spending 1 hour to reinstall the OS
Precisely! The Windows user feels hopeless about the prospects of fixing the problem knowing that due to the lack of education if it can be fixed it will take too long. That just underscores my point, that most MS users are not much good at using Windows. Of course I've known some who are very good, but it's not so common. For most, if the GUI tools don't work anymore it's just time to reinstall. Can't learn much that way, and the staus quo remains.
But I really don't mean to pick on MS users (there are plenty of lusers of every OS), it's just natural due to the way Windows is marketed.
Some things, like setting up my EVDO modem, lead only to lengthy manual file-edit/command sequences in Google searches, leaving me ready to tear out my hair.
But in Windows you set it up how? That's right, by putting the CD in the drive and clicking on the install icon!
So then, this is not a legit Linux gripe but is actually your service provider's fault, isn't it? After all, they are certainly free to write a Linux installer...
Care to elaborate what those tasks are that require command prompt in Windows?
Mass renaming files, for one. In fact, I don't think there is a GUI file browser for Windows I don't find so clunky as to be unusable. Also, there are some NT services which are best audited and controlled from the command line. And of course, there are those times the desktop tools just sit there and ignore their mouse clicks, or times you don't have twenty minutes to wait for a file to copy, etc.
So where's the push to get more of these GUI frontends to certain apps on Linux?
It's more like "where are the projects with apps to kill photoshop and outlook?". If we could have those two or something equal on Linux plus have pre-installed Linux as commonly available as Windows then in fact most people probably would either not care which OS they get or they'd prefer the one that doesn't moonlight as a spam zombie.
But it hardly matters anymore -- already smartphones are replacing the desktop for many consumers, and in that field the best apps are yet to be written.
But why limit yourself? We could do any and/or all of that as appropriate. Besides sometimes you just have to say, "Computer! Initiate defensive manouver 'clang jangle R38' on my mark -- Engage!"
I second that. If I need to get any serious work done in Windows, cmd.exe is indespensible.
Just like BSD, Linux, and OS X you can use it without ever seeing a command prompt, but that will limit you severely. I guess the reason this gets overlooked so much is because most Windows users really don't know how to use Windows anymore than they know how to use Linux -- What they do know is how to use certain GUI frontends to certain apps. I know some MS users can be very defensive about this, and will even insist that what makes their choice "superior" is that no CLI knowledge is required, but that is just not true. Without knowledge of the CLI one can be just as "stranded" in Windows (or even on OS X on rare occasion) as in Linux.
Also it says a lot that reinstalling rather than fixing Windows is generally regarded as an acceptable practice. Because reinstalling Windows doesn't (usually) require a CLI:).
With NeoOffice and OO.org many Mac users already feel we have no more need of MS office. In four years' time, that will only be more true. The end of MS' monopoly on business software is definitely in sight now, and they brought it about themselves with their greed, over-confidence, and short-sighted policies.
It wasn't so long ago I pretty much had to use MS software on my Mac to do all I needed to do -- WMP, Office, IE. Today, the only MS code on my Mac is codecs for wmv and wma files (which I play in mplayer). This is real progress, and we owe a big debt of gratitude it to the FOSS guys.
Silverlight 1.0 will bumble, stumble, and crawl along. Silverlight 1.1 will probably be reasonably okay for some early adopters. Silverlight 2.0 will be a good product. Silverlight 3.0 will be a very good product. 3.5 will probably be as good if not better than Flash 9.0.
Oh sure, but by then Flash 14.0 will have been released.
When a big corporation submits a patent application they use highly paid pros to slide it through. It's cost-effective for them, as they do it fairly frequently. If you or I submit a patent app, it's probably on a shoestring and will be something we do rarely. This results in a totally different process.
Big Corporations are patenting ideas at an alarming rate these days. It's analogous to the big real estate scamming which began in the 1980's and has resulted in ludicrously high property values today.
I was a plaintiff in a "successful" class action suit against a major telco. This is a company which continued to bill me for service every month for six months after I cancelled my subscription, after having overcharged me regularly and "slammed" me into services I did not order or authorize while I was legitimately subscribed. We were awarded an impressive amount of money after a two-year battle. Finally after the lawyers got paid and we all split the money I received the princely sum of $7.00 (yes, seven dollars U.S.). They are still pursuing collection against me for the months they were billing me after I had unsubscribed via a collection agency. I absolutely will not pay those bastards one more red cent as long as I live, so in four years that one goes away. That suit was "won" three years ago.
IANAL, but that strikes me as absurd -- when I lived in San Francisco there were free (as in gratis) WiFi access points all over, many left that way by businesses for their customers. Now in rural GA I do leave my WiFi unsecured for my neighbors, and I am criminally liable? That makes no sense at all.
I do not see any reason whatever for the celebration of someone's resurrection to be tied to the full moon. A simple calendar date would suffice, as it does for other holidays.
Actually it is a simple calendar date on a lunar calendar, which I believe is actually more accurate than the solar calendar we use today.
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You're completely missing the point -- Photoshop isn't free; it can't be ported without Adobe's permission. The quality of Outlook is irrelevant; it's so popular as to be nearly ubiquitous and lots of people feel stuck with it.
Precisely! The Windows user feels hopeless about the prospects of fixing the problem knowing that due to the lack of education if it can be fixed it will take too long. That just underscores my point, that most MS users are not much good at using Windows. Of course I've known some who are very good, but it's not so common. For most, if the GUI tools don't work anymore it's just time to reinstall. Can't learn much that way, and the staus quo remains.
But I really don't mean to pick on MS users (there are plenty of lusers of every OS), it's just natural due to the way Windows is marketed.
Multiple != mass. Try doing what you propose with several thousand files. :)
But in Windows you set it up how? That's right, by putting the CD in the drive and clicking on the install icon!
So then, this is not a legit Linux gripe but is actually your service provider's fault, isn't it? After all, they are certainly free to write a Linux installer...
It's more like "where are the projects with apps to kill photoshop and outlook?". If we could have those two or something equal on Linux plus have pre-installed Linux as commonly available as Windows then in fact most people probably would either not care which OS they get or they'd prefer the one that doesn't moonlight as a spam zombie.
But it hardly matters anymore -- already smartphones are replacing the desktop for many consumers, and in that field the best apps are yet to be written.
But why limit yourself? We could do any and /or all of that as appropriate.
Besides sometimes you just have to say, "Computer! Initiate defensive manouver 'clang jangle R38' on my mark -- Engage! "
I second that. If I need to get any serious work done in Windows, cmd.exe is indespensible. Just like BSD, Linux, and OS X you can use it without ever seeing a command prompt, but that will limit you severely. I guess the reason this gets overlooked so much is because most Windows users really don't know how to use Windows anymore than they know how to use Linux -- What they do know is how to use certain GUI frontends to certain apps. I know some MS users can be very defensive about this, and will even insist that what makes their choice "superior" is that no CLI knowledge is required, but that is just not true. Without knowledge of the CLI one can be just as "stranded" in Windows (or even on OS X on rare occasion) as in Linux.
:).
Also it says a lot that reinstalling rather than fixing Windows is generally regarded as an acceptable practice. Because reinstalling Windows doesn't (usually) require a CLI
With NeoOffice and OO.org many Mac users already feel we have no more need of MS office. In four years' time, that will only be more true. The end of MS' monopoly on business software is definitely in sight now, and they brought it about themselves with their greed, over-confidence, and short-sighted policies.
It wasn't so long ago I pretty much had to use MS software on my Mac to do all I needed to do -- WMP, Office, IE. Today, the only MS code on my Mac is codecs for wmv and wma files (which I play in mplayer). This is real progress, and we owe a big debt of gratitude it to the FOSS guys.
Yeah, like all those times when MS cut checks for all their customers whose computers were compromised! Oh, wait...
Oh sure, but by then Flash 14.0 will have been released.
Some of my best friends are shit-eating goat fuckers, you insensitive clod!
Wait, this is discussion. You must be looking for baseless accusations and insults.
It's not about competence, it's about money.
When a big corporation submits a patent application they use highly paid pros to slide it through. It's cost-effective for them, as they do it fairly frequently. If you or I submit a patent app, it's probably on a shoestring and will be something we do rarely. This results in a totally different process.
Big Corporations are patenting ideas at an alarming rate these days. It's analogous to the big real estate scamming which began in the 1980's and has resulted in ludicrously high property values today.
That is so classic. :)
Damn, those links don't work -- I am so disappointed!
Except those of us who prefer unique URLs for quicker reference...
Damn that Water Closet Three!
I was a plaintiff in a "successful" class action suit against a major telco. This is a company which continued to bill me for service every month for six months after I cancelled my subscription, after having overcharged me regularly and "slammed" me into services I did not order or authorize while I was legitimately subscribed. We were awarded an impressive amount of money after a two-year battle. Finally after the lawyers got paid and we all split the money I received the princely sum of $7.00 (yes, seven dollars U.S.). They are still pursuing collection against me for the months they were billing me after I had unsubscribed via a collection agency. I absolutely will not pay those bastards one more red cent as long as I live, so in four years that one goes away. That suit was "won" three years ago.
I see -- so then I will just make a "welcome" screen with an appropriate custom EULA ad it's all good.
I prefer "joe_biden_with_grandkids-EXTRA_HOTTT-XXXXX.mpg"
IANAL, but that strikes me as absurd -- when I lived in San Francisco there were free (as in gratis) WiFi access points all over, many left that way by businesses for their customers. Now in rural GA I do leave my WiFi unsecured for my neighbors, and I am criminally liable? That makes no sense at all.
Actually it is a simple calendar date on a lunar calendar, which I believe is actually more accurate than the solar calendar we use today.
I enjoy experimenting with plan9 and AROS running in Q on my Mac.
V-I-S-T-A, debacle!