Shoutbox

[ANGRYRANT]

I am getting increasingly fed-up of people who just constantly bash Microsoft for the sheer hell of it. Most of those who do it don't seem to have any idea about what they are really talking about anyway OR are jealous.

Fine, Windows has bugs. ALL software has bugs, of some sort or another. Sometimes they are big, sometimes small. This wouldn't be a problem if ALL computers had exactly the same hardware/software/configuration combinations, but they don't. Only when the software is finally released can you find out how it reacts on different configurations (something I have already found out with a few web designs, that work fine on one server, and go wrong on another). Microsoft have taken on the task, of making an Operating System (a complicated peice of software within its own right), but they also try to make it as universally compatible as possible, so it can run on almost any system configuration. This is why it has so many problems (not to mention that everyone is trying to hack it all the time - the problem is with the hackers, not the software).

Maybe trying to make it so universally compatible is a bad thing... MAYBE. Linux doesn't contain all of the drivers required to run it on your system, hence why many people have to go driver hunting - not something your average Joe could do (no offence to members called Joe)?

Macs look all super flashy and stuff, and they run somethings differently which make them better for certain projects, but from my understanding of them, there aren't half as many possible system configurations as there are on a PC.

(An example of how many system configs there must be: our house has two PCs, each running various peices of hardware and software, and each with different software set-ups. If I was to take the PCs apart, and put all the bits back together, I could probably get a good 20-30 different system configurations from the parts).

People are already moaning about Vista Beta1. It doesn't run, there aren't any drivers, etc.... Its a Beta, not the final thing. MS have already stated that it IS missing alot of things that will be going into Beta2, and have also said that we should wait until Beta2 is released for a better picture of what Vista will be like.

What is even more annoying is people who moan about problems with ILLEGALLY obtained software. Ill admit that I once used to run an illegal copy of XP (I didn't realise it was illegal for about a month after getting it). It crashed loads, and was generally shit. When I discovered it was illegal, I bought the genuine article, and it has run perfectly for about a year and a half, with only two major problems (both were duff memory sticks).

All in all, I believe that Microsoft do a pretty good job at what they are trying to do, and people constantly bashing them doesn't help.

Another annoyance I have about Microsoft bashers, are that alot of the people who have so many system crashes, errors or problems, are normally doing one of two things:

a) running strange skins, modifications or alike. (Nothing wrong with running mods on the system, but don't blame MS when it crashes). NOTE: Ill exclude theme royale from "skins" as this is officially signed, and doesn't require third party software.

b) havent cleaned the spyware and other junk out in ages, and dont keep their PC generally "clean".

There are many technical benefits to using a different Operating System, but alot of people seem to expect Windows to be like Mac. If you want a Mac, go buy one, and stop complaining about Windows. Or start programming your own COMPLETELY universal Operating System.

With all that said, I am talking about Windows XP mainly. 95, 98 and ME did pretty much suck.

NOTE: I personally hate Apple Inc, as they seem to pull many more stunts than MS ever has.

[/ANGRYRANT]