my point is, as long as it does what we want it to do and are happy with it, that's what counts
Sure, that’s the free market in a nutshell. The individual consumer gets to decide what product best serves their needs. Neither John nor I are arguing against that. If anything, we’re both passionately arguing for that.
What I’m arguing against is the “you’re just a Microsoft basher” mentality. Not true — I think Microsoft Research is the sharpest corporate R&D shop out there; I think the .NET virtual machine design is very good; I think the Windows NT kernel, as originally conceived of by Dave Cutler, is as good or better than the UNIX kernel, etcetera, etcetera.
John has his own list of Microsoft technologies he really likes.
You can thoroughly despise Vista, as John and I both do, without being a “Microsoft basher”. It’s very possible to have principled, reasoned objections to Vista.
The trope which says “oh, new Microsoft OSes always elicit powerful negative responses” is true, but also insulting. It implies the complainant’s views may be safely dismissed as sour grapes. That’s what MS is trying to do right now. As for me, I am deeply offended by their portrayal of us Vista objectors as a crowd of sour grapes.
Incidentally, judging from what you’ve said here, you’re not a fan of Microsoft, either. You don’t like Windows more than Apple. You like the applications available for Windows more than the applications available for Apple. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — in fact, there’s a lot right with that, individuals getting to decide what works best for their needs and all — but from what you’re saying, you’re not a Microsoft loyalist. You’re an applications loyalist. :)
no subject
Sure, that’s the free market in a nutshell. The individual consumer gets to decide what product best serves their needs. Neither John nor I are arguing against that. If anything, we’re both passionately arguing for that.
What I’m arguing against is the “you’re just a Microsoft basher” mentality. Not true — I think Microsoft Research is the sharpest corporate R&D shop out there; I think the .NET virtual machine design is very good; I think the Windows NT kernel, as originally conceived of by Dave Cutler, is as good or better than the UNIX kernel, etcetera, etcetera.
John has his own list of Microsoft technologies he really likes.
You can thoroughly despise Vista, as John and I both do, without being a “Microsoft basher”. It’s very possible to have principled, reasoned objections to Vista.
The trope which says “oh, new Microsoft OSes always elicit powerful negative responses” is true, but also insulting. It implies the complainant’s views may be safely dismissed as sour grapes. That’s what MS is trying to do right now. As for me, I am deeply offended by their portrayal of us Vista objectors as a crowd of sour grapes.
Incidentally, judging from what you’ve said here, you’re not a fan of Microsoft, either. You don’t like Windows more than Apple. You like the applications available for Windows more than the applications available for Apple. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — in fact, there’s a lot right with that, individuals getting to decide what works best for their needs and all — but from what you’re saying, you’re not a Microsoft loyalist. You’re an applications loyalist. :)