Fans protest Microsoft's plan to dump XP

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | February 8, 2008 | Ellen Lee

[Mr. K]

I would have been happy staying with Win2K PRO

WinXP is notbad

but VISTA IS A ROYAL PAIN - every time you click on something to run it is ask “do you want to run this program” - well duhhh if I didnt i wouldn’t have clicked on it

[Mr. K]

You linux geeks are all alike

Gramma doesn’t WANT “ubuntu” (how the hell do you pronounce that?) OR THOUSANDS of programs...she doens’t know or care what an ‘operating system’ is...

She wants to turn on her computer and see email from her grandchildren.

Can’t you get it that not every computer user is a geek?

I have been writing software for 25 years (on DOS, Windows, VAX, UNIX, AND Linux) and know what I am talking about- I will GRANT YOU that Linux is vastly superior in terms of strength and reliability, but after 25 years why hasn’t it gotten ahead of the pack with those credentials?

Same thing with Mac’s - how has a superior computrer failed? simple marketing and failing to understand comsumer mass consumption.

[Knitebane]

You linux geeks are all alike

And you NBM'ers are all alike too.

Gramma doesn’t WANT “ubuntu” (how the hell do you pronounce that?) OR THOUSANDS of programs...she doens’t know or care what an ‘operating system’ is...

She wants to turn on her computer and see email from her grandchildren.

Precisely. Grandma doesn't want an operating system. Grandma wants applications. And any modern Linux can provide applications that do exactly want Grandma wants.

Without paying an extra $200.

Without having to wonder if the system you buy with Vista will actually run Vista.

Without vendor lock in.

I have been writing software for 25 years (on DOS, Windows, VAX, UNIX, AND Linux) and know what I am talking about- I will GRANT YOU that Linux is vastly superior in terms of strength and reliability, but after 25 years why hasn’t it gotten ahead of the pack with those credentials?

The fact that you have to ask that proves that you really don't know what you are talking about.

Linux (and Mac and BeOS) haven't gotten ahead because Microsoft strong arms hardware vendors.

But times, they are a changin'.

Microsoft has sputtered along for years by providing software that was just good enough that it wasn't worth the trouble to format and install something else. Microsoft always had a version of something that was usable. But now Vista is a disaster and Microsoft is going to stop selling XP in July. Then what?

Back when ME was a disaster you could always switch to Win2K. But where to go now?

And some of the desktop Linux variants are now good enough that Microsoft feels the need to lie about Vista compatibility. They didn't want low-end hardware vendors to load Linux and sell them to grandma. They would rather take the PR hit and keep their market share.

The fact is, you don't have to be a geek to run Linux anymore.