What's Wrong With Microsoft? Well, it makes users stupid

[macace8 0]

yeah, Windows just can't be anywhere near as good as UNIX based OS like osx and linux. microsoft has really complicated basic computing by leaving gaping holes in security to allow spyware, viruses, and other annoyences to hamper the novice computer user.

[qwijibow 0]

If consumers are not aware of alternatives than it is fault of either the consumers or the alternative makers. How could it be the fault of MS???

The following is a recent example or MS barring mono developers from attending there conferance..

http://www.zdnet.com/

mono is a porgram that allows .NET appliations to run in linux.

MS are activly trying to stop consumers from learning about the exsistance of alternative products.

Mono is trying to get exposure, but MS simple refused them access.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

qwijibow is correct, Microsoft has been "barring" alternative providers since the early 90s and gotten worst during the start of 2000.xboxrulz

[macace8 0]

Notice from qwijibow:

Lets try and keep the argument factual, labeling a group "stupid" for there choise of OS will result in nothing more than a flame war.

Well my view of things is that if you use windows, either you're already stupid in the first place, you have been brain-washed by microsoft, or you are required to use windows by your job.

[Quatrux 4]

I totally agree with the above post, because i never used windows, but due to i need to know it for my exams after less than a year, half year back i installed them, before i used linux and more before i always used amiga os which had everything i needed, the current windows are not so bad as it used to be 4 years ago, so it is usable, i found that if you use windows smart, it can be quite stable, quite.. but with time it gets slower, that is what i am annoyed about, i currently have no choice, but to use it.. as a matter of fact at start it was really hard, but i got used to it and now it is much less stressful.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

well, all computer software is hard to start with. I had some problems getting Windows 98 working when I was 8.Same thing with Linux, I had to learn the command line and how KDE worked in 3 months 2 years ago. Now, I know the gist of how the X server and the Linux core stuff works.People just need to know alternatives. Some people bash me saying Linux is bad because it's all command lines, which is completely wrong. I bring my laptop to school to take down notes and to show to the school that aside from Windows and MacOS, there IS an alternative that people can use. Namely, Linux.I've been in this movement since the start of Grade 9 for me.xboxrulz

[curare 0]

If consumers are not aware of alternatives than it is fault of either the consumers or the alternative makers. How could it be the fault of MS???

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I'll try to explain how I see it. It's just my opinion, as yours is yours.

 

If you have a monopoly, (Windows used on 90+ % of PCs worldwide) you are so powerful that you can control what is developed and what not, what is hyped and what not. You have a great responsibility if you are a monopolist (this being a single entity that controls a market) and many people including me think that MS does not live up to that responsibility. You can influence development, you can supress certain developments if you wish to do so. MS does this. The lack of alternatives induced by the monopoly is a vicious circle. Things get worse the more market share the monopolist has and the more market share he has the uglier he becomes. He may think he is the master of the universe but in reality he is haunted by his own might.

 

"He" not meaning a single physical person but "the monopolist", mostly a group of people, a conglomerate, or similar structures. It's a political thing...

 

As stated above, just my 2 cents

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

I agree with curare. Microsoft is so powerful that it goes over the laws of business and do price targetting and other illegal things. Furthermore, they're so powerful that they can squeeze OpenGL out of the market and let the alternative OS to suffer since less developers would use OpenGL over DirectX because Microsoft is limiting on what Vista renders. More DirectX than OpenGL.xboxrulz

[wutske 0]

I haven't read this complete topic, so it might be that I tell something that has already been mentioned in this topic.I mostly agree with what is said, spam is caused by dumb users, but it's not only m$ to blame. M$ just HAD to make windows more easy, if they didn't, we would never have so many computers connected to the internet, so many resources available and we wouldn't even have Xisto to host our own websites.The OS M$ made is an OS that has to do many thing, it has to be capable to do office work, entertainement and must have the capability to connect to the internet.It's not up to M$ to teach us how we should surf the internet in a safe way, no, the ISP should provide free lessons/books that users MUST follow before they get on the internet and as a not-dumb computer user we must know that it's nearly impossible to comabine easy to use and waterproof.SP2 was a small step in the good way. Service center informs you about the use of a virusscanner and automatic updates, but the firewall (which is absolutely not a very good one) gives users a fake feeling of safety. M$ has also forgotten to mention anty-spyware software.I believe that Longhorn is even going to make surfing safer for home users, because of the improvements in IE7, but, WinXP isn't outdated at all and most simple home users won't immediatly feel like upgrading to Longhorn.-Just my 2c-

[the empty calorie 0]

Okay, now this is a bit...I don't even know what to call it. Someone was saying that before windows, nobody but scientists and such were using computers? That's not true. It didn't take a scientist to use an Apple II. It wasn't really THAT difficult to use CP/M, either, nor was DOS that hard. Sure, with the Apple II, you had to learn to type in such "difficult" commands, such as LOAD and RUN. Mine came with all these cool books from Apple that told you in plain, understandable terms, how to use your computer. They even came with manuals for programming in Applesoft BASIC, targeted at the average joe that had never used a computer in their life. Back then, if you wanted a computer, you had better learn how to use it. That same fact of life is still true, although most buyers of computers aren't really trying to learn. From what I've observed, people have a much easier time learning DOS. There are exceptions, mainly people who have never used anything but Windows itself. People that have a hard time using Windows as it is (I'm talking about someone I know), and when they wonder how I even managed to play some cool game on their old computer that they haven't played in years, and would love to play again, and want to learn how to run the game, I tell them the three VERY SIMPLE things they would need to do.DIRCD MONKEYMONKEYI showed them that over a year ago, and to this day, that person still can't get Monkey Island to run on their computer. Now, I myself can't see anything that is stopping them, other than their ability to remember very short, easy commands. Once again, if you want a car, you had better learn to drive. Using a computer is no different, and I need not even comment on the poor documentation included with Microsoft products...that when a person wants to do something, and can't figure out how, they consult Help, which says to them on the screen, stuff like "make sure your monitor is turned on and plugged in."

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

LOL, compared to what I do to use my computer when I want to compile something:lscd <sourcecodedir>./configuremakemake installmake cleanhow hard is that? or how hard is it to type:rpm -ivh <packagename>rpm -e <packagename>This is AS easy as 123. Linux is easy, you just need patience.xboxrulz

[derouge 0]

Although Windows may make users stupid, sometimes it doesnt matter. Take for example my 80 year old grandmother. Last year I taught her how to use email and browse the net so she could keep in touch with out of state relatives. Thanks to Windows I was able to keep that process relatively simple - a few clicks and whatnots and shes up and going. Extremely simple. I am a Linux newb myself, and sometimes I find myself frustrated. MS handed me everything on a silver platter. Linux, well .. the platter is gold but you gotta get it yourself.

[Phrame 0]

Really, though, Linux isn't as hard as people think it to be. About a month ago, I was completely clueless about all things Linux - I knew it had something to do with Unix, I knew that it was much more safe than Windows, granted that you knew what you were doing, I knew that people posted great-looking screenshots of their modded Slackwares on the 'net, and I knew that I wanted my computer to be like that. Really.So I sat down, spent about three cumulative hours with Wikipedia, looking up everything, and by the end of that, I had a rudimentary understanding of how Linux worked. I downloaded Ubuntu's LiveCD, and I saw what I had read actually on my screen, al beit with plenty of lag. I proceeded to look up instructions to dual-boot Windows with Linux - I didn't want to give up Windows just yet - and printed off about twenty pages about partitioning, filesystem, and stuck that in a binder. I went ahead, made a startup disk, repartitioned my hard drive, reinstalled Windows in its designated partition, and installed the full version of Ubuntu - ah, and I had backed up my files before all of this, being a smart Windows user and all. There were a couple of false starts, but I got it working, eventually. The process took, what, 24 hours, total? The thing is, that that wasn't, by any means, fast. I'm sure server administrators out there could do it in a tenth of the time, if not less, but the important thing was that patience and a willingness to learn got me somewhere.The point of saying all of that was, perhaps, to show that the population isn't quite doomed, yet, and that if you really tried for it, that gold platter isn't really that far away. ;]

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

funny, I took only 2 hours to install SuSE Linux and Windows side by side. It took me 3 weeks to understand the basics and got the hang. Then I took a year to master the skills including editing configuration files, drawing diagrams to make my understanding easier to review on, but that's just me.With all due respects, your grandmother can also use Linux even when she barely knows how to operate a computer. Just set up an account on, for example SuSE Linux and tell them to double click "Konqueror" or any other browser you recommend, and blam! Easy access for emails. Fast and easy ;)As what phrame said, the "gold platter" isn't really that far away , you just need some patience ;)xboxrulz

[Phrame 0]

Ah, well, I started with little to no knowledge of Linux at all; I think it was a rather decent accomplishment, to go from nothing to a working dual-boot in a few days.