OT: Windows Vista / Office 2007

[Mark S 3]

Am I the ONLY person here excited about Windows new lineup of Office and Vista OS?

I'm more excited about the Nintendo Wii right now

I'm sure Vista and the new Office has many new great features

Here's the real question; Is it worth the $700 - $1000 to upgrade to the latest greatest software? In my opinion, no. Vista has a lot of eye candy, and a couple of nifty new features, but it is still windows 95 under the core of it. Why would I want to pay that much for 10 year old technology? As for Office 05. I'd suggest try before you buy. They totally changed the UI so you might be in for a big surprise if you don't at least try some demos.

how some bloatware called Linux is any better (It's not).

Matter of opinion on both parties. The OS is just a tool that lets you run programs. Arguing that windows is better than Linux is like arguing that a saw is better than a hammer. Different tools; different jobs. Use which ever one gets the job done better for you.

If Linux was as popular as Windows, you can bet you would be plagued by the same viruses as the rest of the world.

A common misconception. Totally false though. The main reason there are no viruses for Linux (and Macintosh) is because they are based on a secure operating system model which makes it extremely difficult to write viruses for them. Windows has so many viruses not just because it is the dominant OS, but also because of the insecure nature of the OS. With windows, all users & services by default are logged in as Admin, which means any virus would have full rights to the OS at any given time and which makes it unbelievably easy to write viruses for.

 

[Tom Schindler]

or how you pirate software because you're too cheap to buy any

So how does running the software that comes on the Laptop when I got it make me a pirate?



Oh wait, you are right Q. Does that make you feel better about yourself. I will be driving through Iowa next summer. I plan to stop by to say hello. You still live in the same place...don't you? I have your address and real name.





Tom

 

[Chris Whitman]

I am currently running a Full Version of Office 2007 Enterprise and I am really liking the look and feel of the software suite.

MS has done a great job of adding things that will make my job easier...

Plus Outlook has some nice little changes that make life that much easier!



Also like the fact that the RSS Feeds between IE7 and Outlook 2007 Syncro great!



Thumbs up to MS on this release!



Cheers

Whit

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Q is the Da-Man!!! Don't we all know that by now?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Caymen and Q in an cage match. Woot!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q, why are you trying to pick a fight with Caymen?



Neither of his comments implied stolen/pirated software. He was just trying to say that Microsoft software is okay as long as you don't have to pay for it. Then cleared it up by saying that from his POV when buying hardware with preinstalled software (that's installed legit, of course) he still isn't paying for it. Of course, we all know you pay one way or another. At least that's the way I read it, but of course, I guess I don't have it in for good old Tom.



Enjoy guys. Get that cage ready!

 

[Gavin Allan]

I bet most of you haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what something like Excel is capable of doing.

That's my point. I am very happy with Office 2000 Professional. It does everything I need.



However, Microsoft doesn't support the old stuff, and they make you upgrade, and the new stuff requires more computer horsepower to run, so you have to upgrade your hardware too.



It is a bunch of crap how deep the MicroStiff/non-Intel corps are in bed with each other, and how they force users to keep spending money all the time.



Windoze and Office versions have become hugely expensive these days, and they don't provide incremental benefit over Windows 95 running Office 2000.

 

[Gavin Allan]

uh..he's advocating and practices pirated software. If he hasn't paid for it, he stole it. If it comes on a used computer, he stole the software on it.



Q out

Wah... Like MicroStiff doesn't make enough money already!



Software for a computer is no different than making a recording of a record, tape, CD or radio. It is all just software.



Now, if you are making copies to sell to others at a profit, that is pirating.



There should be no reason why a family shouldn't be able to buy one copy of software and share it for all members in the family.



The REAL PIRATES are the software sales companies.



Hey Tom, if you go to Iowa, stop by and pick me up. I know a GREAT place for BBQ ribs in Ames that we can go after the fight.

 

[Fred]

I'm surprised that Rich would tolerate anyone threatening to shoot someone else on this site. Maybe he hasn't read this thread.

 

[Bill Ellis]

That type of posting would get a kid expelled from high school anywhere in the US these days and a visit from the local police. No business having threats of any kind here.



Back on to topic, sort of; I just upgraded to Win XP because all of the new electronics that can connect to a PC require XP. I have a video projector that I would like to keep updated as new firmware is released. Have to have XP. Step-daughter has an IPod; have to have XP for Itunes. I have an Xcal2; need XP. A friend of mine wants to upgrade to DSL; ATT DSL now requires XP for new installs. The list will just keep getting bigger.

 

[Rich Stern]

Q and Tom, this is a warning. If either of you makes another post that even vaguely resembles a threat, you will earn a permanent ban, with no further warning or comment from me.



We don't need that behavior here, and I won't tolerate it.

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Q - I purchased a Gateway Laptop brand new from Gateway. XP Home Edition was pre-installed and there was NO CD that came with it otherthan the license certificate. Your statement just says I pirated software because the CD didn't come with it. Obviously, I know it's NOT a pirated copy when I have the License Certificate.

 

[TomT]

All the problems our Nation is facing and Q is worried that Bill Gates may loose a couple of bucks. Go figure.

 

[TomT]

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

TomT, wouldn't you rather want to know exactly HOW MANY people depend on Microsoft for their funds/pay/monies? Would you care to take a guess on how much influence they have in our economies and how many economies they affect world-wide?



Q out.

Q - and how much do you think Google effects the economy? MS is scared of Yahoo and Google these days. Just look at the stock price of MS and Google.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q, I still don't see in this thread where Caymen said he is using pirated Microsoft products.



I guess I missed it. I see where you might have assumed such, but I don't see where he actually said it, or even anything that remotely implies it.



What did I miss?



As for other comments that Bill Gates already has enough money or that software is like music and can be copied freely for personal use, well they are simply wrong, naive and/or rationalizations.



TJR

 

[Dale Carlson]

but it is still windows 95 under the core of it. Why would I want to pay that much for 10 year old technology?

Statik13 - uh, not quite. Starting with Windows NT, Microsoft re-wrote the kernel almost literally from the bare-metal on up. If you look, you'll find that Windows XP is really Windows NT version 5 - not DOS version 8. The file system is NTFS, not FAT (at least not by default). Yeah, they kept a lot of the UI from Win95 and 98, but it's what's underneath the hood that counts.

 

[Gavin Allan]

As for other comments that Bill Gates already has enough money or that software is like music and can be copied freely for personal use, well they are simply wrong, naive and/or rationalizations.



TJR

What is the difference between software and music? They are both software.

 

[Mark S 3]

Statik13 - uh, not quite. Starting with Windows NT, Microsoft re-wrote the kernel almost literally from the bare-metal on up

Your correct kefguy. I should of said windows NT, not 95. Doesn't change my argument though, as NT 5.0 was released in Feb 2000. That still makes it 7 year old technology. Not quite as bad as the 10 years I was stating, but still pretty sad.



It's going to be very interesting to see how well Vista is received. I know I have no plans to buy or recommend it until it has proven itself. In fact, if friends ask about upgrading to Vista I generally tell them to take the cash and put it towards a Macintosh with a copy of Parallels instead. That way they get all the pretty eye candy, unix security, Apple iLife apps and can still run all their old XP apps.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gavin asks:

What is the difference between software and music? They are both software.

No, they are not both software. Music can be digital in form, but that makes it more "information" than software. Computer programs are software. Both are stored digitally, but not everything stored digitally is the same, especially when it comes to usage restrictions.



The difference is that each typically has different "fair use" restrictions.



If I buy a CD I can legally rip it and use it on as many devices as I would like. That's typically not true when I buy a laptop that has software pre-installed, even if its comes with a CD or DVD for the pre-installed software. I typically can't take that computer software and legally install it on any number of other personal use machines. The copyright on the PC software typically prohibits such use. The music on the CD is typically not prohibited in that way.



Another example of where it is different with music in the digital domain is music available through download. Many digital rights management systems (like used by MSN and Microsoft) allow for "copy once" or "copy never" when downloading songs from their sites. Again, this is another example of where not all digital material is covered by the same blanket "I bought it once, I can use it whereever I want as long as I don't resell it" belief.



Now, with all that said, please don't get me wrong. I do think that many companies are on the verge of trying to overly restrict what consumers can do with digital content, and may actually infringe on traditional fair use rights. I'm not the only one...see the link below:



TJR