posted on July 30, 2002 09:53:32 PM new
Windows XP already communicates securely with the vendor. My XP PC is constantly trying to get internet access by Windows applications to contact the Microsoft web site. Part of this is to stem piracy.
Bill now wants to have all applications supplied online and you pay a monthly fee.
posted on July 30, 2002 10:48:50 PM new
to all who are experiencing this...think long and hard about switching...then switch!!!...If I were you I'd switch to Mac platform, but there is linux too, I use it also...forget all the old saws you have heard about...Apple is going broke, there are no app's...Linux is too geeky.....it's all hype, lies and old wive's tales....My Mac has all the software you have,NONEof the viruses, it almost never crashes and when it does, a simple restart fixes it..My linux, which runs on the same Mac, has a jillion FREE programs available for download and it is rock-stable...you DON'T have to live with Microsoft....so DON"T......
posted on July 31, 2002 05:42:30 AM new
REAMOND is right, Windows XP and its applications are constantly trying to communicate with home base. Set the firewall to stop such nonsense, and you get constant notifications that this program and that program is trying to access the internet.
But it is not only Microsoft. I have other programs for listing to music and watching DVDs. The music-play program tries to access the internet each time a new song is played, the DVD player tries to access the internet each time a DVD is started up.
All of these programs are trying to build databases of our computer use, what songs we listen to, what movies we watch, etc. They are all building up their databases with as much information as possible about each and every one of us.
posted on July 31, 2002 07:56:42 AM new
What in the world is going on? With Windows XP and Sony constantly trying to communicate with each other and me and various programs, I am feeling like a communications director. Crazy me, I thought that a firewall would end it all but instead, I have another problem to deal with.
I don't want anything else to update. I don't care about ports and who might visit them. Most of the applications and programs ....games, radios, movie players, messengers, etc., I don't want. I estimate that 75% of the nonsense on my computer could be eliminated if I only knew how to remove it without causing the computer to crash.
It's clear that I have been overwhelmed by Microsoft. Now, I'm beginning to think that they are spying on me. Every now and then, I get a message assuring me that my personal information will not be compromised, BUT, they would like to check it out anyway... with a dialog box to check yes or no or may we try again later? HaHaHa!
posted on July 31, 2002 08:05:55 AM new
even the windoze-centric PC magazines are getting fed up, here's an interesting opinion piece from one of them....
posted on July 31, 2002 08:23:21 AM new
You can turn off the XP auto update. And CD players access the internet to download the artist and song selections, you can turn that off also. I doubt Palladium will fly. And if it did, Apple won't save you. Gates could crush Apple in a minute if desired. The only reason it exists at all is because Gates pumped in a few hundred million when hey were almost bankrupt and promised to continue to have applications for Apple. At the time it would have looked real bad in the MS lawsuit if Apple folded. If the Democrats push this through Apple will have to tow the line or Bill will crush them.
posted on July 31, 2002 09:08:32 AM new
DeSquirrel
Microsoft's supposed "saving" of Apple is an old saw that just does not matter any more, if it ever did. Gates "bailed out" Apple at a time when he desperately needed to prove that there was real competition in the marketplace, so he bought 150 million dollars worth (not hundreds of millions) of NON VOTING stock and agreed to keep it for 3 years and continue to ship MS Mac products, Apple agreed to include Internet Exploder on it's new models and to drop it's suits against MS...that's all... You'll notice that Apple today is one of the very few computer companies out there that has remained nicely profitable throughout the tech downturn...so, Bill could crush Apple how? by selling off NON VOTING shares?? Apple currently has virtually NO debt and 6 billion dollars in cash reserves....the idea that they are somehow in existence TODAY by the Grace of Microsoft just doesn't wash...in addition, Apple continues to distance itself from MS...I expect to see in the future the abandonment of Office for Mac, not because it's sales are lower than MS hoped for, but because Apple and Sun are reportedly working on a port of Sun's Office competitor. It's a great program, tight, stable, does everything that bloated Office will do and more, and it doesn't cost your soul to buy...
Even in a worst case scenario, there will always be Linux, it cannot be controlled, because it is open source, free, and constantly being worked on by developers around the world..it continues to improve and become a more user friendly platform, and by virtue of it's essentially non-commercial nature, can't be crushed by Mr. Bill, or even those nasty Democrats.. there ARE options.....
posted on July 31, 2002 09:22:31 AM new
Like I said, Palladium probably won't fly and Apple is a pimple on the a** of the computer world. And what rules is not necessarily what anyone likes. Years ago when I installed most of the computer base here I used Wordperfect. But now days if a customer sends you a document or requests one, it's Word or Excel. So a few of us still have WP, but the world runs on Office.
posted on July 31, 2002 10:15:59 AM new
pimple...good one, name calling invariably happens when MS adherents are out of arguments.
as long as tech customers allow themselves to be dictated to by Microsoft, they will continue to "rule"...business networks may have a hard time switching due to infrastructure costs, but for home users it's a breeze, there is no reason for any home windoze user to continue using it if he or she CHOOSES not to...
posted on July 31, 2002 10:29:48 AM new
Perhaps the worst thing in the world is when a proponent of something allows himself to become deluded and separated from reality. I am not a MS proponent and if anyone would ask which (fill in the blank) was better, as an IT manager I would say "whatever you're used to".
But if I really, really, really loved my purple i-book and kept it on my pillow, Apple would STILL be that pimple.
posted on July 31, 2002 11:35:05 AM new
Let us hope that they don't try to come up with some scheme where the web pages or mail their software creates can not be viewed if you don't use their OS and browser just like the word prosessor documents will be controlled. Wouldn't put it past them.
posted on July 31, 2002 12:04:49 PM new
It is already happening. There have been some web pages which I can not view using Netscape Navigator. When I email the webmaster, their solution is to use the latest version of IE.
.
Reality is a serious condition brought on by a lack of alcohol in the system
posted on July 31, 2002 01:40:01 PM new
deSquirrel wrote
"Perhaps the worst thing in the world is when a proponent of something allows himself to become deluded and separated from reality"
nah...the worst thing in the world is IT managers who would convince people they don't have a choice, just because they don't understand the choices available.....
posted on July 31, 2002 11:55:15 PM new
Your movie and music viewers will soon go online to get an update that will not allow you to play "pirated" media on them. This would also include media that you own and have converted to digital for use on your PC.
MS is launching an update for the MediaPlayer that will not allow anything to play without the proper watermark.
I have considered buying the equipment to convert my VHS collection into digital, but if the media corporations have their way there won't be anything that will play the converted media. Result- you'll have to re-purchase the collection in digital format.
