To Madco:

I think you're getting a little too carried away in the self appreciation of your skills. I too am a very well seasoned geek. I will agree with you on one point. The typical user needs to cut the crap and do some learning. It's not that hard. However, Adobe Audition and Itunes, prove that integration of audio into an OS has no merit. Adobe Premier and Quicktime prove the same for video. Even the integration of IE it completely bogus. Remember way back, before Apple sold the rights to Windows to Bill Gates, we had Zmodem and PCPlus, and with a simple script, we used it to handle updates. I guess what I should have said here was that Java, Norton Antivirus, PcCillen, Quicktime, Itunes, and about 5,000 other programs have proven that Browser Integration is also not necessary for Automatic Updates. Integration is the marketing position. It makes it sound like all the headaches are taken care of for us and its the only way it can be acheived. Hogwash. What it is really all about, is LOCKOUT. It is the ability to lockout these other companies from having a chance to bring their products to market. So many of them DO write better applications than Microsoft, but due to proprietary protocols and non-standard implementations, they other companies look like halfwits. Their tactics are SO obvious, they dont belong in civil court, they belong in jail. You should read the long article at GRC.COM (the guy who wrote spinrite) about the intentional insecurities built into Windows XP, that as a guru beta tester, he FLEW to Washington to meet with several bigwigs to tell them what a horrible mistake they were making, and they squashed him. 18 Months later, with hundreds of thousands of people with injured machines, after scores of Security updates, we get to SP2, and that subtle-as-a-brick message, "Windows Can Not Verify That You Have Virus Software Installed." I had Norton Antivirus installed correctly and still got that message. (Oh, and I could click here if I wanted to make an online purchse.) Look at how they have played with W3C's HTML. They intentionally go outside the lines, intentionally break the standard in FrontPage, so that they can turn around and support it in IE, and encourage people to install "best when viewed in IE" banners. The operatin system isn't all that special really, it seems to offer so much because there are four or fives ways to do everything. If you want to change your DNS servers, you can do it on the taskbar icon, or control panel network expanion, or rightclick network places, and probably a few other ways depending on if you've switched to classic view or not. This is also what makes it so difficult for new people to learn, because each time someone helps them, god forbid over the phone, there will be a different approach in to the settings. It creates the illusion that it is incredible. But think what there really is. Dos, Xtree Gold, PcPlus, Lantastic, Soundblaster, PCTools, and the ability to change the settings in those programs, albeit, with much nicer graphics. Its corporate greed. Lock everyone out, and charge $199 for an OS or triple that, if the person wants to run apache with more than 10 ports open. (funny, the had to write code to lockdown the other ports.) Imagine buying a new stove for the kitchen and only once it was installed, you found out that you had to buy the matching pots and pans, because your old ones wouldn't work on the stove. Once you went to put the new pots and pans in your potscrubber dishwasher, it turns out that you have to buy the matching dishwasher, and then new dishes, and if you wanted to store leftovers, you'd have to get a new fridge. This is the first time this world has seen a company called Microsoft and things called computers. Kids know how to use them at the age of 2 or 3 now, to an extent, and let me tell you, when they get to be our age, it will be painfully obvious to them that this has all been a scam. To us, when we are told that if we want to view a WMV file, we must have Windows Media Installed, and if we Want Version 10, we have to be on SP2 and have Windows Genuine Advantage installed also. Remember how obvious it was when we were FORCED to rent our telephones? Well, the software industry in this country needs the same treatment that the EU gave them. If you're going to be in the business of selling electricity, you can't force people to buy your model of electric stove. If you're in the business of providing dial tone to a residence, you can't force them to rent a phone, or force them to use your long distance service, or even create an unfair advantage for yourself. I personally would LOVE to buy a copy of the RME (Reduced Marketleverage Edition). I smile everytime I think that it might someday be here. Becaue then we as customers, can "Integrate" Itunes, Firefox, and all kinds of well written apps without conflicts, *sabotage*, or scary warnings. Face it, it all started with the "hardware abstraction layer". Also, think about it, you plug your computer in, you want to get on the internet first just to make sure it works, but first and foremost, you have to agree to the statement "Always Trust Microsoft"... let me tell you, if it ever instructs you to drink the kool-aid, for God's Sakes don't!! :-)

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