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11/27/2001 Entry: "27-Nov-2001 -- The Microsoft Beatdown"

The Microsoft Beatdown -- "The truth of the matter is that while each version of Windows is more stable, we have nothing to compare it too except the previous version of Windows. There is no other consumer operating system other than Windows. Sure, some form of Linux would be a possibility, but just how many home users know how to use Linux, let alone support it. We are being taken advantage of; we know it and we support it."

Replies: 4 comments

We are digital slaves. Our one hope of being unshackled was the federal lawsuit, but the new administration has allied itself with our slavemaster.

I would like nothing more than to be Windows-free. I simply don't have the time to learn another OS. In fact, I don't want to know the OS exists. It should be transparent. I just want to use my applications in the easiest manner possible and have quick access to my work files.

We need the Beatles. They couldn't read sheet music and they didn't know "the rules" of writing music. They made new rules and were hugely popular because of it. We need a visionary programmer to come along who is not bound by the thinking of previous operating systems. We need a revolution.

Posted by JS @ 11/27/2001 09:43 AM EST

Agreed. MS is taking advantage of our need for usability, despite the shortcomings of its OS. What we also need are ethical and responsible businesses that aren't hell-bent on making a buck just to satisfy their shareholders. It's all about speculation; here's what Noam Chomsky thinks about MS and corporations.

Posted by Francis @ 11/27/2001 10:10 AM EST

"There is no other consumer operating system other than Windows"

Surely the Mac OS would fit into this category? OS X, I'm still not sure about as a consumer OS (though Office v10 is fantastic), but OS9 has all the major applications a consumer needs (with one notable excpeption being MS Money) and I know a great many people who have used Macs successfully in their homes and offices for years. For games, Windows beats the Macintosh hands down though.

I would personally rate the classic MacOS far above and beyond Linux as an option for the home user. No Linux GUI has the finesse or the application support (I know I'm about to start a flame war with that comment) that can support a casual, innexperience home user. Nautlis could have been the GUI Linux needed, but it is all but dead now.

Posted by Jonathan Heron @ 11/27/2001 06:32 PM EST

The Mac is not a consumer operating system. It is a niche system like Linux.

Posted by JS @ 11/28/2001 11:10 PM EST

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