I use Linux at home, but at work, I have a W2k machine. A few weeks ago I went to the microsoft.com website for a security patch and was amused to see an icon in the upper right of the website that said “Protect your computer”. It wasn’t my computer that needed protection… it was the operating system.

For those needing an office suite, you can go to www.openoffice.org and download a free wordprocessor, spreadsheet, presentation package… etc. And it’s all compatible with Micro$oft file formats. Cute, huh? (Hope you have a fast internet pipe, as the installation file size is +63Meg.) There’s also a Mac OS-X version available.

Chris:

Amen. I haven’t switched to Firebird yet, but the pressure is mounting. I find it difficult to believe that you and I are alone on this.

I think the Mozilla family of browsers still has more funky HTML rendering behavior than IE, but Microsoft’s intentional decision to stop “innovating” will put a stop to the browser monopoly free market-style, regardless of any of Firebird’s shortcomings. Features like tabbed browsing and built-in popup management will drive users to competitive products. IE will never go away, but I predict that a growing competitive threat will either get Microsoft back in the saddle of IE development or will break their browser hegemony forever. Either way, internet users win, and the Justice Department didn’t have to lift a finger.

Tim

How?, how? can you blame someone like Bill for your wanting to prove to yor neighhhhbors that you are more savvy than they? If you buy a bucket of dung at a flee market it does not mean theres a relationship between the flee and your your Liberal mind, does it?

Bill:

I’m not sure to whom you were responding there. In the context of the browser discussion, I blame Bill [Gates] only for using profit from successful OS and office productivity suite products to gain monopoly-level market share of the web browser market, then cynically letting the browser product stagnate. I predicted the situation would self-correct without any government intervention. We should be able to test my prediction over the next year or so.

And ironically, my next-door neighbor tends to keep up on this stuff a lot better than I do. :)

Tim

Mark/Tim,

Linux is getting easier and easier to use and it will only grow in business use. You can run Office XP on the Xandros distro. Knoppix allows people to run Linux from a CD without even installing it, etc. Eventually MS will be forced to offer Windows nearly free to compete —as it did recently in Thailand (if I recall correctly).

Windows XP is a very good OS for stability, but Windows Me was a lemon and a scam. IE in XP crashes far too often still. The threat of Linux use has made MS more accountable to Windows users, and the threat of Mozilla use may make them fix and develop IE too.

Hey Chris, I couldn’t agree more. Have you been to www.localareasecurity.com? It’s a Knoppix kernel built with a bunch of wireless tools. Release 0.4 should be ready by Monday (with several corrections and fixes).

Chris,

I couldn’t agree more.

Bill, what in the world are you talking about? Do the extra ‘H’s in your rant have some coded significance?

And who said anything about a relationship between Bill (Gates) and anyone’s mind?

…on second thought, nevermind.

Open Office? Puh-lease. Give me WordPerfect any day. Word is frustrating piece of trial ware in comparison.