Comments on: i despise, detest, disdain, and ultimately disown windows

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:14:03 +0000

I’ve been in a similar struggle before- in fact, I still am. To this day I have not figured out why my on-board sound card doesnt work, though the drivers are correctly installed and everything.

But, aye, I love the struggle.

By: GDeeeeZL

GDeeeeZL — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:40:07 +0000

I like peanuts!

By: Damian

Damian — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:32:36 +0000

Sometimes, back when I had a computer I had to wrestle with to do even the most basic things, I screamed the F-word a lot. And I was really loud.

By: The Tall One

The Tall One — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:07:37 +0000

Sometimes it’s FUN to wrestle with your computer to do even the most basic things – like turn on. It proves your strength and power. Anyone who seriously wants a computer that “works when you use it” or “is convenient” or “has electronic stuff in it instead of an angry gerbil,” should probably get an apple product. I’ve loved and lost many PCs over the years, and I haven’t lost my appetite for struggle yet! I will not convert until I am absolutely positive that PCs and Windows cannot do ANYTHING that I require of them.

By: sociallytangent

sociallytangent — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:36:32 +0000

Three things, Lauren—

1. While Microsoft may not be directly responsible for Jon’s predicament, they have certainly expended very little of their tremendous resources (time, influence, money) in providing better solutions for consumers. They have left it wholly up to device manufacturers to provide drivers and driver updates and, indeed, made the process of loading those drivers pretty cumbersome for end users. The steps they have taken, namely the WHQL program and driver signing, have been obviously ineffective. While some might argue that they have been hamstrung by their conviction as a monopoly, this does not wholly excuse two decades of shortsightedness and inattention.

2. Macs are, and have been for several years, quite competitive with Windows-based PCs in terms of price—laptops, especially. When you factor in the lower rates of hardware failure (from Consumer Reports’ testing) and the near-total lack of viruses and other malware, the amount you spend on maintenance over the product’s lifetime decreases much further. In short, Macs are pretty good investments these days as far as computers go. Of course, your needs will dictate the best purchase (or not—hi, Linux!) for you.

3. MAC is Media Access Control, used solely in reference to a hardware address on network cards (e.g. MAC address.) Mac (note the lowercase) is a slang reference to a popular software platform. Being a technical writer, it bugs the everliving shit out of me when people write the former and mean the latter.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:37:09 +0000

Well, welcome to the world of open and free enterprise. Since not all hardware manufacturers write drives before Windows ships or devices are out after Windows ships, it is impossible to prevent this from happening. MAC on the other hand controls everything. That is why you pay the higher price for their goodies and does not let you upgrade at whim. So, you have to balance the two and chose which one fits your life.
I for one care to pocket the extra cash I save by building my own computers and not depend on any one source for everything. My computer runs all Windows, Linux and even MAC (with some fiddling!) and does each well. So, you may hate Windows, but it is not their fault. They do not control hardware manufacturers, and the hardware manufacturers control their device drivers. But it sounds like MAC works best for you. Just remember to place the blame where the blame really lies.