Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 14 February 2002
Note: the comments below are the unabridged
submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.
From: anonymous For : Anonymous Tipoffs Subj: Microsoft Event Reminder - a chuckle Today I recieved the following from Microsoft as a reminder about their Visual StudioŽ.Net Launch & Developer Days 2002 in Wellington *********************************************************** We want to remind you that you are registered for [EventName]. This email is confirmation of your registration for this event. Name: [ContactFirstName] [ContactLastName] Event Code: [EventID] Event Name: [EventName] Location: [VenueOrgName] [VenueSiteLocation] City: [VenueCity] Start Date: [EventStartDate] Start Time: [EventStartTime] End Date: [EventEndDate] End Time: [EventEndTime] Thank you for your interest in Microsoft Events. We look forward to seeing you at the event! Registration begins at 7.30am - 8.30am. From: Peter For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Microsoft Monopoly History shows that MS will use unfair practices and its dominant market position to destroy any competitor or threat. It appears it is now recognised that it would be foolish to try to compete with MS, and consumers lose out for lack of competition. (Ever tried to buy a PC without Windows?) Governments appear to only support this with tacit approval and by strengthening copyright laws in favour of big corporations, not consumers. Unfortunately, NZ goverment is even paying MS to extend its monopoly into our schools. We missed a great opportunity for government to pay NZ people to provide open source systems in our schools. Still, open source (Linux etc) provides our best hope of a competitive market. So long as governments don't legislate to drive it out (which is the angle MS is now taking). From: James For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Sky Digital The fact that your IRD (integrated receiver/decoder) reverted to the old version of the software for a while suggests that the old software is still stored away in there somewhere. I wonder if any hardware hacks have figured out a way to enact this change permanently, independent of Sky? And we now also know that Sky's official position is not "we can't put you back to the old software", but actually "we REFUSE TO put you back to the old software". I would gladly sacrifice their new "features" in exchange for the older, working software. (I don't consider any device that makes me slow down MY behavior to suit it as "working"). Like Microsoft, Sky are obviously trying to pack in a higher quantity of features (for increased marketability), without bothering to actually make the features work. Quantity vs quality. Thanks Sky. From: Paul Warner For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Alternate Desk Top?? Any one heard of LindowsOS?? http://www.lindows.com/ Currently M$ is trying to tie them up with lawyers to bankrupt them before they can release the OS. It's a hybride Linux / Windows OS designed to run native Windows apps. Sounds interesting. But will have to wait and see.. From: Allister Jenks For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: MS monopoly breaking Microsoft's only strength is their dominance. In the early days, there was competition and Microsoft won out reasonaby fairly. Since then, they have reached critical mass. There have been many worthy opponents over the years, but none have had the clout to beat the dominance. I find it laughable each time MS come up with some 'new' technology like XP's font technology. Although I've not seen it, I doubt it eclipses that produced by Acorn (from the UK) in the late 80's. The same company (Acorn) had an operating system that fitted into 4Mb - and I think still does. Right now I'm using a 128Mb RAM machine with Windows 2000 and it isn't enough! But the sad fact is that we only have ourselves to blame. Most of us fell into the trap of buying the 'cool new' things the the early Windows systems were and we were blind to the reality behind them. Once the number of buyers reached the critical mass, everyone assumed it was the way to go. Oh, how wrong could we be?? Bear in mind that one of the touted 'advances' for Windows 3.1 was the fact that the Windows core now actually did some basic range checking on parameters to basic functions before acting on them! These non-sensical parameter values, it was reported, were the prime cause for UAEs (later GPFs). Anybody remember Word 2.0???? (Even MS didn't know how to use their own product). We shouldn't reverse engineer Windows because it is not actually what we want. Who says that Windows Apps are any better than the operating system? In my experience, the majority are bloatware. And I'm not just talking about bloating with function either. I'm convinced that very few windows products are actually optimised in any way. This would explain why a company producing software for the Acorn platform was able to port their hand-crafted code to Windows and out-perform the likes of Corel Draw (by then long established) by magnitudes. Perhaps another factor is that only a small percentage of those who drive the market understand these kinds of things. Just like NZ'ers - as a whole - don't know how to drive, but yet use less public transport every year. <bitch off/> From: Robert For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Sky Digital Is there anyone out there who is actuly paying for those circa 1980 games now availible thru the new service? From: Martnz For : The Editor (for publication) Subj: Micropoly? "Wouldn't it be nice to see the Windows OS having to go head-to-head with a "real" competitor?" 'Tis one of the great mysteries (at least to me) that M$ DOES have real competition, AND that the competition (say Linux and StarOffice) is not just cheaper but completely free... I guess there are three obvious conclusions: 1/ There must be something (maybe support availability, perceived "safety", etc) that users all over the world value enough to walk past a free product and spend hundreds of $ with BillG. 2/ M$ must be doing a lot right, and are not silly. Why drop prices if your nearest competitior has problems giving product away? 3/ Seeing as existing (fully compatible and arguably better in some respects) products are being given away, who is brave enough to spend big $ in the hope of making a buck in competition? What is the M$ secret ingredient???Hit Reload For Latest Comments
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