__/ [ alt ] on Sunday 30 July 2006 05:56 \__
> I had an epiphany tonight.
>
> I was reading some sites on the web and decided to look up Microsoft Watch.
> I started to page through the site and saw how much stuff Microsoft was
> doing. Then it hit me.
>
> I don't care! They're not even on my radar!
>
> I run OOo and Firefox on my desktop. The only MS Application I actually use
> is Visio 2000 (which runs under Wine, TYVM). I do happen to use MS Windows
> XP Pro on this laptop, but if it wasn't a company laptop, I'd be running a
> Linux distro (probably Fedora).
See 7's post. You don't need that program. You probably need
to find the equivalent and familiarise yourself with it,
over time. If the bosses insist that you don't, this might
require some prodding and persuasion, attained through good
output. WinE (and its relatives) is also worth considering
as it redeems you from this trap. One single program is not
worth all that hassle that comes with Windows maintenance
(AV licences, patches, defrag, scandisk, et cetera).
Additionally, by mastering a program that is FOSS, you
virtually own it. You can take it anywhere you go and have
it duplicated. Such programs rarely die because their
licencing make them live on and prosper, potentially under
different hands. It is one of the main arguments that
discourage dependency on proprietary vendors/software.
> I have to wonder how many other people are really unaffected by Microsoft.
> How many of you have read through Microsoft Watch only to realize that none
> of this stuff that they are doing is even on your radar?
>
> This doesn't mean I don't think the distros can't improve. There is
> definitely room for that. Of course, having used Windows for the last 6
> months, I can safely say that Microsoft has a lot of room for improvement
> as well.
The malformed design of the code leaves little capacity for
improvement. Imitation, as that which you can already spot
in Internet Explorer 7, is merely a catch-up game that
involves layers of plaster.
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