Why Do Geeks Get All Irate About Microsoft?

[Asmodean]

I never buy upgrades. I buy full versions. I have just had too many bad experiences with upgrades.

Asmodean

[Japher]

Why Do Geeks Get All Irate About Microsoft?

Maybe it's in the name; Microsoft? Hits a little to close to home?

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Japher


Maybe it's in the name; Microsoft? Hits a little to close to home?

[Asmodean]

LOL at Japher.



Asmodean

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Japher
Naw, geeks hate MS because Gates is the ubergeek, and everyone else is just jealous...

[Whaleboy]

Microsoft

Windows causes impotence??

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Asher
Microsoft is hated widely by geeks for any of the following reasons, usually:
1) They tried and didn't get hired by MS
2) They're open source zealots
3) Personal jealousy of Bill Gates
4) Communist (redundant with #2 )
5) They're fundamentally pretty slow geeks, because they honestly believe having lots of OSes is somehow good for the consumer.

Either way you look at it, they're always fun to bug. Most of them tend to be lowly network technicians or something else that has the same stature as a gas jockey in the computer world.

Hey!!!

[Worthingtons]

There's Geeks that hate Microsoft, then there's geeks who worship them.
I personally coudnt give a damn when (or more if) thier programs work.

If they did the Big brother plans on our PC's tho, i would have a problem.

[Neutrino]

Microsoft is a godsend for the mainstream PC user (who is mostly computer-illiterate).. except for the occasional stability issues.

However, MS suppresses competition and thus in some ways slows innovation and new idea/concepts.

just my 2 cents

[Elok]

Originally posted by Asher
I would disagree, seeing as I've disposes of them on my XP Pro installation a lonnng time ago.
Most Windows users appreciate being treated like they don't know what they're doing. Because, well, they don't.

It's not Windows I have a problem with; I've never used anything else. I hate the omnipresence of Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, etc. Every school seems to insist that projects be done on MS programs I hate, and there's no way to make Word like Wordperfect, for example. I like Wordperfect. The font selections are wider and better, things are more intuitive for me, the toolbar isn't so godawful cluttered, it doesn't do so much crap without your permission...but no, Word is everywhere so all files must be saved as Word files. Internet explorer is too frigging aggressive too. I don't want to use my browser to look at every file. I want to use image editors when I open an image, not IE. Even though I'm on Mozilla now, which is faster and offers better features, I still don't know how to tell it to go 'way and let me use a useful program to open files.
I feel much the same way about those stupid PDF files. Acrobat takes forever to load. Why can't those files be in some kind of word processor format?

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Elok
I hate the omnipresence of Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, etc. Every school seems to insist that projects be done on MS programs I hate, and there's no way to make Word like Wordperfect, for example. I like Wordperfect. The font selections are wider and better, things are more intuitive for me, the toolbar isn't so godawful cluttered, it doesn't do so much crap without your permission...but no, Word is everywhere so all files must be saved as Word files.

Use OpenOffice. It has no problem to read and write Word and Excel formats, is way less vulnerable and it's free.

[Asher]

Elok: It sounds to me like you haven't a clue how to customize Word. And if Mozilla is genuinely faster on your Windows machine, you're in a league of your own. Mozilla takes way longer to start up. Even on my 800, the only speed difference I notice between any browsers is the startup time. Even with turbo mode, Mozilla is ass-slow. Firebird, Opera, and IE are all good...

Sir Ralph: Not to mention slower, buggier, and uglier.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Asher
Sir Ralph: Not to mention slower, buggier, and uglier.

slower: Granted, loads slower, since the MS OS preloads "own" libs and keeps them in memory.

buggier: There's hardly anything buggier than Word.

uglier: To look good is the most important feature of a word processor. And that paper clip was plain gorgeous!

[Elok]

I do know how to customize it, mostly. I haven't figured out how to get it to make lists without switching numeral form halfway through for no bloody reason, I can't get rid of the stupid web integration, and there are a few other things, but I know how to solve some of its problems, like turning off the autocorrector and thinning out the toolbar some. I could probably download better fonts from somewhere but I see no reason to bother, since it's frigging everywhere and every lab I operate in has the default settings, so it's still a pain in the arse. Besides, why should I have to take any time telling one program to behave when there's another available that does things exactly how I like them?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
slower: Granted, loads slower, since the MS OS preloads "own" libs and keeps them in memory.

I've turned that off, and it's still WAY slower.

buggier: There's hardly anything buggier than Word.

But Open Office manages it spectacularly.
I've not had much problems with Word being buggy really. OpenOffice crashed on me quite a few times in the very little I used it while in Linux, I can't recall the last time Word crashed...

uglier: To look good is the most important feature of a word processor. And that paper clip was plain gorgeous!

Nice, clean, responsive UIs that aren't an eyesore are a very good thing to look for when you're spending 20 hours straight typing papers.

Then again, the people who use and develop OpenOffice have already shown how much they care for user friendliness and appearance. Geeks making software for geeks.