It's true: Windows is caught between Mac and Linux

One thing thats important to remember is who ultimately drives the consumer market. The corporations all have computer networks. All of them have Microsoft contracts that they aren't going to give up. All of them are going to start up dating to Vista in 2009 when they do their annual updates. Then the whole consumer market will switch over because all of their work related applications will require a Vista machine. As far as Avro arguments goes, you've obviously have no idea about me or the real world around us. I have used various different variants of Linux. And I'm speaking as the devil's advocate. For the average joe who doesn't want to bother with all the time consuming headaches that is Linux. You can spout all your philosphies about Linux, the bottom line is that it doesn't make a damn of difference. Corporations will adopt Vista in 09. The consumers will follow. The biggest one will be Bank of America. Why? 1. My facts are not lacking. I'm talking from users who just recently used Ubuntu 7.04 and could not use their iPods. Who could not adapt their Microsoft Office documents over. Who couldn't run any of their music because all the Ubuntu applications disk didn't have a music player that could play those files. Perhaps its you who don't know your product as expertly as your philosophy says. A test group done here in Dallas couldn't get rid of Linux fast enough. Also one of the PC companies who did computers for Dallas ISD also experimented with Red Hat Linux. Again, even with all your "message boards" and documentation, the out of the box experience for the average joe was rated very low. 2. Buggy and vunerable? Firefox right now has a critical vunerability! Of the vunerabilities in browsers, right now Internet Explorer 7.0 for this year has 2! Firefox has 3! Second, Office has code bloat? Don't you mean OpenOffice.org? Right now the critics are severely critizing OpenOffice.org specifically because of code bloat! Fact, OpenOffice.org criticized for slow start times and extensive CPU and RAM usage in comparison to other competitive software such as Microsoft Office. In comparison, tests between OpenOffice.org 2.2 and Microsoft Office 2007 have found that OpenOffice.org takes approximately 2 times the processing time and memory to load an application itself along with a blank file; and took approximately 4.7 times the processing time and 3.9 times the memory to open an extremely large spreadsheet file. The source? George Ou of zdnet.com. How can you even claim to know anything about Linux when its been widely reported that OpenOffice.org doesn't run upto MS Office speed? Do you just make this stuff as you go? 3. Accountability? Its called the United States v. Microsoft! Thats right. They went to court and Microsoft had to answer to the federal government. So when Linux quite literally ripped off the Windows Interface who did Linux have to answer to? Microsoft attorneys in a federal court. No more Lindows. And you say Linux is not Microsoft? How about today where Red Hat is selling subscriptions for Red Hat Linux? Where is the free software? Sounds like they are making a good profit off you Linux boys. One way or another, you have to pony up the cash. Whether it goes to Redmond, Washington or Raleigh, North Carolina, we all end up paying someone for our OS. When you guys need the tech support! As for your comment on Windows fix it sites, they have helped keep my Windows systems running well since 1997! They have helped millions of computer users find what they need without calling a technician. See most of us humble Windows users aren't the idiots you guys paint us as. Yes, we do tweak and make registry changes on a regular basis. No, we aren't absolute fools and obviously, if Linux was really that good, it have greater marketshare. (And since computer servers keep track of the OS that most people use, along with PC sales, OS sales, and polling.... Thats how it has been determined that 96 percent of the world desktop market uses Windows. Yet you claim to know everything about Linux but you don't know how we keep track of OS marketshares?) 4. Money is a poor motivator? Really, then how the heck do you have a home, food, clothing, transportation, and the money to afford the computer your typing on? Why don't you ask all those guys in college studying? Why don't you ask that homeless guy sleeping under a bench somewhere and ask him if money is a poor motivator. Why don't you ask Bill Gates if Money is a poor motivator? Wars have been fought over money, natural resources, or anything that can be bought or sold for currency. Are you paying attention to the whole Iraq debacle? All that really has to do with oil and money. Over 4,000 American lives lost because of greed and a president not held accountable. And you say money is a poor motivator. 4. Its funny how you spin things. That means 60% of college freshmen are using Windows. Also, as far as Mac Market share goes, your statistics of 14 percent is Mac fanboy spin. Currently based on current market information as of February 2008, Microsoft at the most has 7.46 percent of the U.S market and 2.87% of the world market as Paul has reported. Don't try bring that Spin like Bill O'Reilly, because I'll be the Keith Obermann to call you on the spin. 6. Everyone knows about the Mac themed for Linux. Yawn. 7. The problem with FOSS is that companies like Red Hat shatter the illusion that its all free. You need money to run this empire or al that web space and computers that run Linux would simply not have the power to be operating. Unless market economics radically changes, you still need cash. This is completely contrary to the FOSS theory. Just like the theories of the JFK assassination, the evidence just doesn't hold water to the facts. Show me a Linux company that doesn't use a single penny in its organization to run, operate, pay bills, or pay employees?? Without having a real job to cover the expenses of running and maintaining a computer, and somewhere a great crime is being committed. Bottom line, nice try with the spin, but it doesn't hold a candle to the factual truth. You are no different than the Republican conservatives spinning on that Fixed Noise channel known as Fox News. Next time, bring me facts, not just spin. Next topic, PLEASE!