Windows adds 'maybe pirate' category

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Where the truth lies

I have been reading these same types of messages for a long while, but never saw the need to actually say something until now. The two camps Pro and Con MS spend an inordinate amount of time attacking or defending the Microsoft or Linux products, but somehow miss the real "Truth" in this entire situation, the state of competency of the average consumer. I read with interest the analogy of the PC to an automobile and concur with the comparison, but suspect the point was not fully developed.

I have been a PC user since CP-M, IBM & MS DOS, Windows, and other cat and dog OSs. I have also had automobiles for even longer. In my youth I worked on my own cars and on my PCs, but, as the complexity increased, I came to depend more and more on "experts" to provide me with a solid operating system and a well running vehicle. So it is with the average user.

The average consumer expects to get a car ready to run and demands that it run well and for a long time with a minimum of operator intervention. If one manufacturer fails to live up to this expectation, the next car will be of a different make, and HERE is where the problem lies.

With computers there are no longer different makes that the average user can easily transition to. Linux is not ready for the average public (Even though someone knowledgeable in Linux tells us "even a caveman can do it". Maybe they should package a caveman with the software).

As for myself, I am working my way up to caveman (I dual boot at home trying to understand what Linux can, and can't do for me with the applications I use). I hope someday to be able to say goodbye to MS the way I have said goodbye TurboTax after requiring a month's worth of effort to "fix" my computer that their DRM screwed it up and to Sony for their Draconian DRM with the backdoor welcome mat out for the hackers.

To those who lament the public's inability to "See the light", you need to find ways to offer REAL alternatives and provide easy to understand tutorials with compatibility charts and configuration methods to simplify the process. Unfortunately, those of you can do these things are too busy complaining about the average Joe.

I suspect we are ALL average Joes in one area or another. Ask yourself, how many of you repair your own car engines, air conditioners, refrigerators, televisions?

Posted by: AverageJoe2007   Posted on: 03/05/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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