FT's attack on *******

[stevebakerj]

There's an unusually direct attack on Microsoft and its ******* by John
Gapper in an article in today's FT:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa31eea2-6711-11dc-a218-0000779fd2ac.html

[justin whitaker]

That's interesting...FT usually doesn't go that far.

He makes some good points. I always thought that "backwards compatibility" was untenable-they should have broken that with Vista.

I think a lot of people are resentful, and once they find out there are options other than Apple, they will start to explore them...I don't know how many there are, or how many will stick around, but they are there.

[stevebakerj]

I think the device driver argument is a bit of a red herring. Linux and OS X
support almost as much hardware as Windows either through their own
drivers/kernel modules or third-party ones. But, the problem with the
argument is that Windows doesn't (AFAIK) load them all up at once, just
like Linux and OS X. The difference is how the drivers are managed by
the OS where the strength of a *nix core shines through in Linux and OS
X when compared to Windows.

Plus, all the additional software that the average Windows users needs
to run (Virus checker, Anti-spyware, Anti-adware, WGA) versus other OS's
doesn't help in the snappiness stakes either.

[justin whitaker]

I think the device driver argument is a bit of a red herring. Linux and OS X
support almost as much hardware as Windows either through their own
drivers/kernel modules or third-party ones. But, the problem with the
argument is that Windows doesn't (AFAIK) load them all up at once, just
like Linux and OS X. The difference is how the drivers are managed by
the OS where the strength of a *nix core shines through in Linux and OS
X when compared to Windows.

Plus, all the additional software that the average Windows users needs
to run (Virus checker, Anti-spyware, Anti-adware, WGA) versus other OS's
doesn't help in the snappiness stakes either.

I don't see the whole "snappiness" thing as an issue. Most people don't think that way about their systems, or Puppy and DSL would be the top Operating Systems out there.

I'm not saying it's a red herring, I'm just saying that that is not how most PC users think.

I think Windows tries to get the desktop up as quickly as possible, then backfills drivers and services when the UI is loaded-I've read somewhere that that's why you get that pause after the desktop appears-it is still booting.

I don't know, but how much of Vista's 12+ GB install is drivers? I bet it is the sizable portion of it. I am not sure I would want all that loading at once. :)

[nvteighen]

He makes some good points. I always thought that "backwards compatibility" was untenable-they should have broken that with Vista.

In my opinion, they should have done it in XP, along with the DOS-to-NT migration. Now it's too late.

[stevebakerj]

Letter published in the FT this morning commenting on John Gapper's article:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9654dcae-6a32-11dc-a571-0000779fd2ac.html

:lolflag: