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Thread ID: 12840	2001-11-12 21:44:00	Just an Observation.	Guest (0)	Press F1

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24312	2001-11-12 21:44:00	It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to spend time running Microsoft and it's products down. I have only been into computing for three and a half years, I tried to get into it about 7 or 8 years ago but didn't find it very easy and gave up mainly because you seemed to need the brains of a rocket scientist to understand it. Then along came windows which to my mind made the whole experience a lot more user friendly, and ever since there has been no stopping me. I have even given up my job and gone back to school for four years of computer studies. I would never have been able to do this without Microsoft's products. Windows and other MS products has made computing accessible and easier for average people. Much of the 3rd party software we use and have fun with every day such as email, photoshop, and games especially, just wouldn't be available unless they had a user friendly base such as windows to run on. I do realise that windows and some other MS software can be a bit buggy at times but what people fail to realise is how complicated some of this software is to produce and how many thousands of possible scenarios going on behind the scenes are taking place every second they use their machines. And despite all the warnings people play around with their systems and do most of the damage theirselves. Sure Microsoft have maybe been guilty of releasing software before it was ready, but have been pretty good at getting patches out quickly, and true some of the stuff may seem overpriced to us, and true they try to hang on to a monopoly in the market place, but thats called business and if you want to stay there, you get better than your competitors and they are, even though their methods to do so may seem unfair to many of us. I don't want to sound like a marketing exec. for Microsoft but nthe simple fact is no one has a better product. I am also into linux, I run Redhat and Mandrake on two other machines but no way in the world can you do some of the stuff available on the windows platform in linux, and you won,t be able to in the forseeable future. I think some people who complain about problems with MS products haven't spent the necessary time to teach themselves and learn what software (3rd party as well)can and can't do, they jump right in the deep end, install everything they can lay their hands on, buy inferior hardware and peripherals because they are cheap, and when they have problems look for the 1st thing to blame (usually not themselves) If those people that hate MSoft products that much, use another platform and programs and see how long you last. I for one am grateful for the quality and design of MS products (which isn't to say I have never had problems) as without them I would never have had the opportunities available to me now through the wonderful world of computing. Well that's my opinion anyway.	Guest (0)
24313	2001-11-12 23:11:00	Hello BC, I think you have started a really good thread here, stand by for millions of replies! On the whole I'm inclined to agree with you. The possibilities for discussion are endless.Just a few points to add to the controversy. 1. Forgetting multitasking, DOS could still do what many windows programs do, and in a fraction of the size. 2.MS didnt want to know about 'The Net' when Netscape was the leader. 3.The way dll's are loaded by 3rd party software, overwriting system files and causing problems is something MS has never come to grips with. 4. How many people buy an instruction book to learn a bit before unleashing themselves on their new computer, can MS be blamed for not supplying real manuals with their products? After all you have to know how to drive a computer before you can even open a help file.	Guest (0)
24314	2001-11-12 23:26:00	I agree generally with what you are saying, especially about the tendency to install too much software and maybe inferior hardware on PCs. This is not always the user's fault... the industry itself is capable of screwups like SCSI cards which only work with certain devices, and out-of-the-box brand new Officejet G85s that don't work on the parallel port. Who tests this stuff? And there's usually too much software included with hardware, beyond the minimum of drivers and occasional management programs - it's so tempting to install the whole lot, even out of fear! Do we need all that 'toolbox' software with HP printers? And all the apps you get with Epson scanners - I only wanted a TWAIN interface for CorelDraw, but it's nearly impossible to know how much/little to install. As for Iomega... most people just want another removeable media but with Iomega you get a whole raft of auto backup options etc, which seem to need constant upgrades. My PC has programs running to detect DVDs, CDROMs, CD-Rs etc being inserted, digital cameras connected, OCR awareness (huh??). Do I need it? Do I need to mention the uninstaller programs that don't? Every now and again I indulge myself with a backup, repartition, reformat, and reinstall, using more knowledge each time to keep things to a minimum. Microsoft provides the platform for all this and Microsoft is not perfect. If Linux and Macs keep them on their toes then that's a good thing.	Guest (0)
24315	2001-11-12 23:56:00	Don't get me started. I think the products generally work reasonably well. They are released far too often. I'm just glad they didn't call XP something like Windows October 2001. I don't think people take enough care or backup often enough. I trashed my machine this morning installing something that should have been fine. It came right but I was sweating a while. We are just getting sloppy, I think. What about people who complain about their machines reliability and speed, but run weird custom screen savers, have sheep wandering around the desktop, and god knows what installed? I know fixing problems is sometimes a lot harder than it used to be in DOS days. Never had to reinstall everything then, and didn't need to much with 3.11. However, I wouldn't want to go back to limited system resources levels and so forth. I wish we could have stopped with NT4, though. As long as they slipped in USB drivers, and a few other bits. I don't think much of renting office for $299 a year, though. Robo.	Guest (0)
24316	2001-11-12 23:57:00	You complain that Windows is good because it brings computing to the average user, yet DOS was not all that complicated to use, and if it required a little investment in time to learn a bit about your computer then good. You wouldnt expect to be able to buy a 'ready to drive no instructions necessary' car would you? So too can computer users who dont bother to learn the basics cause a lot of damage to a lot of innocent parties. As far as Microsoft goes, has anyone else noticed how a program written by Microsoft will crash Windows ten times as often as one written by a third party? It astounds me that a company with the resources of Microsoft is unable to create applications that fully integrate with its own OS! And their versioning marketing just gets up my nose. I have yet to read/see/hear ANYWHERE, one reason why anyone should upgrade to XP or ME other than it is new. Given Microsoft applications track record with interaction with the OS, I would prefer to do as much as possible with 3rd party applications. And if you allow third party applications on a Win98SE or Win2000 computer, I have yet to be told of anything you can do in XP or ME that you cant do in either of the earlier versions.	Guest (0)
24317	2001-11-13 00:20:00	I think Microsoft is marvelous!! I too, started about 10yrs ago with dos. Yuck! I gave up in the end, after being one of the first people in Auckland to have a modem link to my bank and sharebroker. I came back when W95 came out, and I have been hooked since. My 12 yr old son mastered dos in about 2wks, and now at the age of 15 is a competent c++ programer. My problem is that I try to understand everything that my computer is doing. My son just accepts it, and moves on at incredible speed. I think you would find most older people love windows, and younger people don't have the patience for something that they think should be perfect. Perhaps the younger people will make Windows perfect in time.	Guest (0)
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