and if so, why?

Personally, I have no issues with MS software :nice:

nope, me either :nice:

though one of this days i'll throw in a second hdd and install linux... just to see what all the hipe is about.

I do. Mostly its because they dominated the market for operating systems and have a monopoly on certain applications. They set the market price and they have almost God-like authority to do as they please. I can go on and on about this....

This is why I plan on learning and using Linux for my next computer. I think its important not to be dependent on Microsoft for everything.

Its not good to have a monopoly like Microsoft dominating the OS market, it would be better to have multiple large software companies each with a fairly equal market share, then there would be better value for the costumer and it would encourage faster development of better and faster Operating Systems too. I guess I would call Microsoft evil because it crushes all before it.

... it would be better to have multiple large software companies each with a fairly equal market share ...
All any company has to do is invent another system and the monopoly is broken. It isn't Microsoft's fault that they're as big as they are; it's Hewlitt Packard's, Compac's, IBM's, Apple's, et cetera because they got out of the OS field to save money and increase profits when Microsoft came around. They screwed themselves, as well as us.

Apple are still very much in the OS field, as are HP (HP-UX remains a going concern). What's more, linux is free, and you can't get much more competitive than that. I'm not sure that it'd be so much fun to have multiple equally-large operating systems in the market - every major piece of software would have to be developed for several operating systems in parallel, which would
a) make it more expensive
b) increase time between releases

Oh, and I don't really have a problem with MS other than insofar as using one of their products online is somewhat akin to walking around with a KICK ME sign nailed to your forehead (this post written on a machine running XP Home :|).

My major problem with Microsoft is that they intentionally put incomplete software on the shelves. They rush software out onto market when they know that it has crash bugs and big gaping holes in the software. They do this so that they can sell service packs as necessary.

Is it illegal? No. But it should be. Maybe under the anti-terrorism laws.

As far as I'm aware, MS don't make money off their service packs - they're free to download, after all. I'd imagine the charge is just to cover administrative costs and the cost of the CD.

mozilla may work better

I am all for MS. They may be (and are) evil, but they've paved the way for massive infrastructure/usanbility

they charge too much for the software that sometimes still feels like a beta version. I was about to give up when they released ME, but 2000, and XP have redeemed windows atleast somewhat. i HATE internet explorer though and i hate the fact they bough some games originally designed for computer and Ported them Exlusively for the X-Box. I dont like them for that, and i dont like the strong arm tactics they use with some other companys. EVIL.. not quite, Creepy.. Yes.

Dr.

I love Mircosoft and their XP system.

But I will never forget or forgive them for ME

All any company has to do is invent another system and the monopoly is broken. It isn't Microsoft's fault that they're as big as they are; it's Hewlitt Packard's, Compac's, IBM's, Apple's, et cetera because they got out of the OS field to save money and increase profits when Microsoft came around. They screwed themselves, as well as us.
The guy who invented Linux may be up to something. The trouble is that the nature of monopolies is that they make it impossible for people to compete on a level playing field. That is why anti trust laws exist.

I would add that Windows XP is a buggy system. Windows 98 remains better. I have heard so many complaints about XP servers shutting down for more reason. XP goes down faster than Monica Lewinski at the sight of cigar! :|

If it wasn't for Microsoft, computers and the internet would still very much be the exclusive domain of geeks. Perhaps this is why geeks resent Microsoft and Bill Gates so much.

I remember reading an article on Bill Gates and why Microsoft is so incredibly successful. Their take on it was this: Gates didn't go crazy when he got rich. A lot of hugely successful entrepreneurs take the long slide into eccentricity once they've reached the peak of their success. The article cited Rockefeller standing on the street corner handing out dimes as an example. These rich business men begin taking themselves too seriously. They think they should pursue a higher calling; taking on social and world affairs - often running off to Washington to join committees and whatnot - while letting their business languish and falter.

The article summed up Bill Gates by saying, "He never gets tired of winning." That's so true; he's never lost that drive and spark that made him a success to begin with...and that, in my opinion, is a virtue.

If it wasn't for Microsoft, computers and the internet would still very much be the exclusive domain of geeks. Perhaps this is why geeks resent Microsoft and Bill Gates so much.

I remember reading an article on Bill Gates and why Microsoft is so incredibly successful. Their take on it was this: Gates didn't go crazy when he got rich. A lot of hugely successful entrepreneurs take the long slide into eccentricity once they've reached the peak of their success. The article cited Rockefeller standing on the street corner handing out dimes as an example. These rich business men begin taking themselves too seriously. They think they should pursue a higher calling; taking on social and world affairs - often running off to Washington to join committees and whatnot - while letting their business languish and falter.

The article summed up Bill Gates by saying, "He never gets tired of winning." That's so true; he's never lost that drive and spark that made him a success to begin with...and that, in my opinion, is a virtue.

Well stated.

without reading anything other than the title of the thread, my answer would be, 'yes!'.

that answer, of course, is based simply on the fact that i dont understand software or the inner workings of computers. :nice:

If it wasn't for Microsoft, computers and the internet would still very much be the exclusive domain of geeks. Perhaps this is why geeks resent Microsoft and Bill Gates so much.

I remember reading an article on Bill Gates and why Microsoft is so incredibly successful. Their take on it was this: Gates didn't go crazy when he got rich. A lot of hugely successful entrepreneurs take the long slide into eccentricity once they've reached the peak of their success. The article cited Rockefeller standing on the street corner handing out dimes as an example. These rich business men begin taking themselves too seriously. They think they should pursue a higher calling; taking on social and world affairs - often running off to Washington to join committees and whatnot - while letting their business languish and falter.

The article summed up Bill Gates by saying, "He never gets tired of winning." That's so true; he's never lost that drive and spark that made him a success to begin with...and that, in my opinion, is a virtue.
One thing that is often overlooked when explaining the success of MS....piracy. They knew all along that a lot of computers were running pirated copies of their OS's, but they kept quiet. More users turned into more demand. More demand resulted in more sales. More sales turned into more software supporting MS. Which in turn resulted in more people running pirated copies of MS's OS. And so on.

I run 2000 for most everything. I'm just lazy that way. I do have a box with Red Hat Fedora on it. I am seeing that more and more of what I do, can now be done easily with Linux, and am starting to migrate twards it more often. To quote someone It's like fine wine, just gets better with age is appropriate.

Microsoft did bring a level of consistency (???) to the marketplace, everyone is using their inferior garbage. I am.

That in itself is a problem, they make it difficult for anything better to come along.
By saying "I can't get my site to work properly for anyone except IE users" is just stupid. Great, you'll loose an evergrowing number of people moving to other browsers and OS's.

Linux is the future of computing. Check out Mandrake for a very user friendly version of it.
;-)