"Garry Hamilton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [...] > I bash MS for its dishonesty and blatantly oppressive > market practices. If it only produced a poor-quality > product, there would be no big deal, people would just > exercise their right to choose and be done with it. > [...] > I like Windows for many of the things it's made possible. > There's a small army of very talented guys in Redmond > who pour their souls into the product, making it as good > as they can in spite of stupid deadlines and unreal goals > handed down the management tree. > [...] > I may like Windows, but I don't trust its publisher. I > do, however, trust the Unix/Linux community. I can talk > to them and get the answers I need. > [...]
Interesting spin that touched a long-lost memory. There are three faces of Microsoft: 1. The company. 2. The product & developers. 3. The user community. In terms of business practices and attempts to manipulate the "user base" (certainly perceived as "the World" by MS), they're a nasty bunch. The company has some cool aspects, and if I were a 20-something aspiring programmer again, it might hold some appeal. But they also seem to have taken on a Dickens-esque demeanor as Scrooge without the personality over the last 10-12 years. My impression of the COMPANY is BAD. The products I generally have no issues with. They have put WAY too much under the hood, and I certainly had reservations about some of the 'features' well before the latest XP fiasco. As a desktop OS, they work. They are sure as hell NOT secure, but they generally work and provide some nice features. I see some creative and well thought-out features, and I wonder what that creativity might do if applied by a more benevolent (or less obnoxious) company. My impression of the PRODUCT and DEVELOPERS is GOOD, although maybe a bit TOO ambitious for their own (or the general public's) good. Finally, I do try to keep impressions of the COMPANY separate from impressions of USERS. Again, the OS is a tool. It's the works an individual does that are important, not the tools they use. My overall impression of Windows USERS is that they just want to get stuff done, whether that be word processing or playing games. People are generally GOOD. Ah well, a short Christmas day meander. - Bob To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
