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1. 
   Review - Duplicate Images Finder

   0.1 (Jun 15, 2008)

   Simply put this program does not work
   You can only search within your own 'Pictures' folder and it returns a lot of false positives that dont even look slightly similar to each other
   
   Waste of time don't bother until it has been greatly improved

2. Comment - XP SP3 Beta Preview Out, Last Update to XP

   0.1 (Oct 9, 2007 - 8:08 AM)

   Vista runs fine on two of my three machines, rarely needs to be rebooted and has very few problems.
   My other machine running XP on the other hand needs to be rebooted at least once a week to keep it running smooth.
   Both systems are able to meet most peoples requirements at the moment and until people either decide to upgrade or are eventually forced to (by buying a new PC or eventually by the lack of support and compatibility that XP will eventually have) there is no real reason to fork out the dollars.
   I myself enjoy the few available DirectX 10 games in all their glory rather than in a hobbled DirectX 9 mode

3. Comment - XP SP3 Beta Preview Out, Last Update to XP

   0.1 (Oct 9, 2007 - 7:56 AM)

   It is not often I bother to post any comments, but reading this I am unable to help myself. Being 17 shows you have no real experience, I have been working with computers for longer than you have been alive.
   Here are some quick facts for you.
   -Windows XP (Home, Pro & MCE) is a Windows NT based system (first released in 1993 - 14 years ago). It is based on a platform that is aged and has many known security issues that are not able to be patched.
   -Vista is based on Windows Server 2003 (many will claim that this too was based on Windows NT but most of it was completely rewritten code), while it does have some security issues they are far less in number and less critical than most of the XP ones.
   -Service Pack 3 for XP is only a roll-up of the current patches already issued by Microsoft, at this stage it will include no new features, nor any improvements.
   -Vista does not have all the problems that many people claim, most software will run very happily on Vista as long as the right settings are used.
   -Many people are trying to run Vista on older components that only just meet the minimum recomendations, while Vista will run on these systems with most of the 'eye candy' disabled it is not recomended and as a result the system will run rather slowly.
   -I notice that the links to the first 'proofs' you posted were all to Mary Folley's site Microsoft Watch, while everything she says does have some merit, you must remember that she only looks at the possible problems and areas she considers do not live up to standard. She has made a name for herself by doing this and often blowing many minor problems out of proportion.
   -The APC article '10 Reasons Not To Get Vista' was written and published at almost the same time Vista was released, stories from later editions show many of Vista's strengths over XP and how to overcome many of the early problem people encountered.
   -The debate about which version is better is not new, it is one that will come up every time a new version of an operating system is released. It has happened with every release I can remember, from DOS v's Win95 onwards, there are always a few people who claim that the older system is and will remain better, they are normally the people who have managed to grasp much of what the GUI they prefer offers without truly understanding how the operating system itself works.
   -Finally it doesnt matter if you personally prefer XP over Vista, eventually you will have no choice but to upgrade. (Well as suggested you could get a mac, or if you need to save a few dollars you could even use Linux, both of which unfortunatly do not have the same ammount third party support (read - games, applications, etc), but with your vast experience you could probably write your own.

4. Comment - Final Windows Vista Build Gets Closer

   0.1 (Sep 25, 2006 - 7:18 AM)

   Lets not forget that Mac OS and Linux also come with alot more than just the basic system, at least updates for microsoft (and linux of course) are free and dont need to be paid for.
   All companies have included more and more in their packages for years, as does nearly every company around, it is called 'value added' people expect more than just the basics. Imagine a car without air conditioning, adjustable seats, no radio, heaps of road noise and poor suspension. Well that is what we got 30years ago, I dont hear people complaining that their new car came with all this and more.
   
   If you want a system that just includes the very basics may i suggest dos or unix or maybe even os/2 if you want a few extras

5. Comment - Final Windows Vista Build Gets Closer

   0.1 (Sep 25, 2006 - 7:03 AM)

   Your complaints are still the same and you still say companies that microsoft is now licencing software from will go broke. Hardly.
   
   It is completely mindless to say that this will reduce competition and improvement. Microsoft licencing software from other vendors will force them to get their acts together and actually produce some software that will be superior. If these vendors dont do this they deserve to go broke. The chance is now there for many of them to licence their software to microsoft or even apple which will give them a larger return than could ever be expected with retail sales alone.
   
   Most people will still want cutting edge software that stands out from the rest either in terms of feature and or security. Software companies will now simply be forced to produce quality products that do have new features to get people to buy their programs.
   
   It is funny that the same complaints were not used when roxio and nero started including more with their packages (as do most companies). Did their inclusion of photo viewers and organisers stop the many different and mostly better option available - no it did not. Did people complain when printers and scanner started coming packaged with image manipulation, ocr and other software - no they didnt many went out and purchased better software after learning the basics on their free inclusions.
   
   Including software that can readily be uninstalled and that many people want should not cause complaint after all it is just included free, for many using this included software will lead to them wanting it to do more, run faster or work better. This will be when they start looking arround for better products.
   
   As for internet explorer killing netscape, at the time netscape was not the best option available, just the most widely used, the same stands true now, internet explorer 7 is not the best arround, nor for that matter is firefox (incidently built on the same basic engine as netscape).
   
   In an environment largely controlled by internet explorer and a small part by firefox many cutting edge browsers are still emerging one example - flock (probably the first web 2.0 browser available). While it is true that people generally will not want to pay for software they get free many will upgrade to a package that includes new ideas and runs better. Most of the other browsers around today including firefox do not offer anything that has not been available for some time - I will happily admit that firefox is better than internet explorer but the margin is not as large as people claim
   
   While I laugh every time a new exploit is found in microsoft products I also remember that similar expliots exist in their competitors software also, microsoft largely seems to have more because being the maker of some of the most used software they are a bigger target for hackers and the makers of malware. Imagine the uproar if personal data was made available to all due to an exploit in a microsoft product. Now imaging the same happening with other companies, the person or people that made the data available would be hunted down and charged. Well this is what does in fact happen very often - many large companies have had personal data stolen, not from a microsoft based system but from unix and linux based systems, the question is then asked how did a large company have such poor security that personal data was stolen, not why are linux or unix based systems so easy to hack into.
   
   Incidently linux and Mac OS were written using unix as their core, the first ever noted computer exploit - a small virus was found on a unix system.
   
   The new interface is great and should not be targeted as being a mac or linux lookalike, it is just an improvement on what they already had. Further although most people claim that apple developed the first gui they didnt, it was sco unix that did have the first gui and apple borrowed the idea from them, it is now standard for os's to have a gui
   
   By the way Roxio has not existed in its own right for a couple of years now, it was brought by sonic software who also make some of the most powerful multimedia programs available, I can not see how they could go broke when vista also earns them money via their licencing agreement with microsoft

6. Comment - Final Windows Vista Build Gets Closer

   0.1 (Sep 24, 2006 - 5:54 AM)

   A lot of these things that microsoft has "copied" have been around in windows for several years now, although some have been largely hidden from general users.
   DVD maker is licenced from Sonic (The makers of Roxio).
   The photo viewer has been with us for a long time now also, although it has now evolved into a reasonabley powerful bit of software.
   
   Why complain just because microsoft includes these 'free' in vista. They all seem to run flawlessly, so far, and the more usable software included with the os the less likely that many users will install software that has been poorly written and often causes conflicts further down the track, most of which cause the problems that people claim microsoft has. Before complaining about value added software look at the long term - this included software is very unlikely to cause system problems at a later date where many third party apps do.