Print - WinInfo Short Takes: Week of May 30

An often irreverent look at some of the week's other news, including a wet spring in New England, Windows 2000 UR1, WSUS RTW, new Office 12 file formats, more OS X on Intel, Longhorn vs. managed code stupidity, XP x64 upgrade confusion, and so much more!

Short Takes Blog

I read a story yesterday that caused me to bang my head repeatedly on the table, triggering a sort of reverse "Flowers for Algernon" effect. Apparently, Arizona is experiencing a heat wave, with temperatures around 110 degrees for the past week. Believe it or not, I'm jealous. Here in Massachusetts, temperatures have been in the 40s or 50s almost the entire month--or 10 to 20 degrees below normal--and it's been raining, every ... single ... day, for a week. I suddenly understand the somewhat suicidal feelings that overcome people in the Pacific Northwest, although I know from experience that it's never this bad there. Anyway, thanks to the record-breaking weather, I've had enough. I need sun. I need it now.

Update: As I wrote this, the sun peeked out from behind the mantel of clouds that has blanketed this area for a week. Because my request for sun worked, I'll try another request: I need money. I need it now.

If you haven't visited the SuperSite for Windows recently, please do: I've been kicking butt with my Xbox 360 coverage and have recently uploaded a slew of Xbox 360 screen shot galleries, which you might find interesting. As is typically the case, many of these screen shots are of cut scenes and not of actual game play, but I'll update them--and add more--as new imagery becomes available. I'm serious about Xbox 360. It's a first-class citizen on the SuperSite now, along with Windows XP, Longhorn, and Windows Server, because it's a major part of Microsoft's strategy going forward. Plus, it's just freaking cool.

That said, I recently renewed my Xbox Live subscription and have been regularly humbled in my Halo 2 and DOOM 3 death matches online. This is disconcerting because I'm actually pretty good at this kind of thing, but then I've done most of my gaming on the PC, with its familiar keyboard and mouse combination. I'll keep practicing. But in the meantime, if you're interested in beating me up virtually, my Gamertag is Paul Thurrott. If you want to literally beat me up, contact me via email, and I'll let you know when I'll be in town.

Monday is the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, so we're closed on Monday. If anything important comes up, I'll post it to the WinInfo Daily Update Web site. Otherwise, have a great weekend, and we'll be back on Tuesday. Same Bat time, same Bat channel.

This Week's Other News

Exclusive: WMP 11 to Be Major Release; Beta This November
Microsoft's original plans for Windows Media Player (WMP) 11--formerly code-named Aurora--were fairly low-key, with just a few minor new features. That's all changed: Microsoft has canceled Aurora, and the company is moving the Longhorn media player to XP. Now code-named Polaris, WMP 11 will be a major release. There's just one problem: Instead of shipping in November, as per the original plan, WMP 11 will now ship in a public beta during that month, coinciding with Longhorn Beta 2. The final release is roughly scheduled for early 2006. You heard it here first.

Exclusive: Windows 2000 UR1, WSUS Coming in Early June
Windows enterprise customers will be happy to hear about two impending releases that will coincide with the start of the Microsoft TechEd 2005 trade show in early June. First, Microsoft will ship Update Rollup 1 (UR1) for Windows 2000--you know, that "thing" that replaces Win2K Service Pack 5 (SP5)--on June 1. On June 6, the company will release Windows Server Update Services (WSUS, formerly Software Update Services--SUS--2.0) to the Web (a type of shipment Microsoft calls Release To Web--RTW).

Exclusive: Steve Ballmer to Champion New Office 12 File Formats
Speaking of TechEd, you can expect Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to announce details about the new file formats that Microsoft Office 12 will use. Microsoft Chairman and (ugh) Chief Software Architect Bill Gates briefly hinted at these file formats this past month at the
company's CEO Summit.

Now "Fortune Magazine" Has Corroborated My OS X on Intel Report
I reported earlier this week that "The Wall Street Journal" had corroborated my earlier report about Apple Computer considering a move to Intel microprocessors. Now, "Fortune Magazine" has corroborated another part of my report, noting that it, too, has discovered that Intel is currently testing OS X running on Intel hardware in its labs. I took a big chance writing about what many people consider to be the longest-running rumor in the tech industry. But I'm glad I did. Coupled with two independent sources, the enormity of this news simply puts it over the top. Now, with mainstream business publications confirming details of the companies' collaboration, I guess I can breathe a sigh of relief. Apple might simply be pressuring its current chip supplier, IBM, rather than actively moving to Intel. But Apple and Intel are clearly exploring the possibilities.

Not News: Longhorn Won't Be All Managed Code
I've received a couple of email messages from people who are concerned about a "breaking news story" that claims Longhorn (gasp) won't be rewritten in Microsoft .NET managed code. News flash time: Microsoft never planned to rewrite Longhorn in .NET managed code. Like its predecessors, Longhorn is built on an upgraded version of the same Windows NT kernel that Microsoft has been using for its enterprise-class OSs since 1993. That kernel, and most of the Win32-based subsystems that populate the rest of the OS, are written in C, C++, and, occasionally, assembly language. Longhorn is late enough without Microsoft undertaking the dubious task of rewriting key portions of this code in C# or whatever. Will there be new C# code in Longhorn? Of course. Will there be new C/C++ code in Longhorn? Again, of course. That was the plan all along.

Not News: Xbox 360 Controllers Will Be Windows Compatible
I wrote about this on May 13, but in case you missed it, the Xbox 360 controllers will be compatible with Windows-based PCs, using an included controller-to-USB cable (the Xbox 360 controllers are typically used wirelessly). For some reason, this was a news story on May 16 as well. More here .

Microsoft Ends x64 Upgrade Confusion
When Microsoft first unleashed XP Professional x64 Edition last month, some people were confused about who qualifies for the free upgrade (customers who got XP Pro with a new PC, primarily) and where they would get it (usually from a PC maker). Now, the confusion is over: All XP Pro users, regardless of how they acquired their copies of XP, are now eligible for a free upgrade to XP x64. The details of the new agreement are available at the newly renamed XP Pro x64 Edition Advancement Program Web site. Just one bit of caution: You almost certainly don't want XP x64 because of driver and application compatibility issues. If you do "upgrade," you lose the ability to reinstall your old 32-bit version of XP.

Intel Aims for the Home
I attended a Webcast of a live event yesterday in which Intel spelled out its plans for reinventing the company and tackling the consumer market. First, Intel is now a platforms company, not just a microprocessor company; this means that Intel is now concerned with the entire PC "ecosystem" and will work to ensure that future PCs are more device-like (read: reliable and quiet) and secure. Intel has unleashed its first mainstream dual-core processor for home users, the Pentium D. This processor features x64 compatibility and will ship with a new chipset that's capable of accessing 8GB of RAM. It all sounds interesting, but we'll need to see what PC makers do with it. All the usual suspects (e.g., Dell, HP) have already announced new systems based on the Pentium D.

Palm This: PalmSource Palms Off Palm Name to palmONE
Here's some funny naming confusion. When the original Palm split into palmONE and PalmSource, the former took control of devices, whereas the latter got the Palm OS, which it then licensed to palmONE and other companies, such as Sony. Now, palmONE has repurchased the rights to the Palm name and will change its company name back to Palm. As for PalmSource--which, remember, makes the Palm OS--no one knows for sure what its plans are. For the short term, PalmSource will continue to be called PalmSource, but the company will eventually change its name ... to something. I hope it's something that doesn't have the word Palm in it.

OneNote PowerToy Contest
Microsoft is hosting a PowerToy for OneNote contest , in which contestants can submit small tools that enhance Microsoft's note-taking application in unique ways. I have a suggestion: How about a PowerToy that locks notes so that they can't be accidentally edited at a later date? If I take notes during a meeting, for example, I don't want to go in later and accidentally delete portions of those notes (which I've done), something that's made all too easy by the fact that OneNote doesn't ever prompt you to save changes when you've made an edit. It's the one truly silly problem in an otherwise excellent application. Surely someone out there can fix this.

New Netscape 8.01 Release Breaks IE
The irony is somewhat delicious. Last week, Netscape released the latest version of its once-interesting Web browser, Netscape 8, and then immediately updated it to Netscape 8.01 when the company discovered that the original version included a massive security flaw. Netscape 8 is based on Mozilla Firefox but is bloated and lame-looking. It does have one cool feature, however: You can switch, on the fly, between Mozilla and Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) rendering modes, making it a perfect browser for testing Web pages or occasionally dropping into IE when you hit a site that's incompatible with Mozilla. There's just one problem: According to Microsoft, Netscape 8 breaks IE's XML rendering capabilities. And the only way to fix it is to uninstall Netscape 8. So let me get this straight. Microsoft, which invented the concept of breaking competitor's applications, is complaining that another application breaks one of its own? Isn't IE technically broken, anyway? Seriously, unless you really need it for specific sites, you shouldn't use IE at all, just as you shouldn't drive a car in which the seatbelts have been ripped out. It's called common sense.

After thinking about it, it's not so much a question as to how much of longhorn will be written in managed code. Rather how much of the new features will be managed code accessable.

Paul wrote "Seriously, unless you really need it for specific sites, you shouldn't use IE at all, in the same way that you shouldn't drive a car in which the seatbelts have been ripped out. It's called common sense." What nonsense! IE is the most secure browser available.

"Isn't IE technically broken anyway? Seriously, unless you really need it for specific sites, you shouldn't use IE at all, in the same way that you shouldn't drive a car in which the seatbelts have been ripped out." I agree 100%, at home, I ONLY use Firefox, Safari and Mac OS X!!!

Ben Goodger (Firefox lead engineer and Google employee) posted exploit code that would destroy a PC running Firefox 1.03 or before (95% of the users) or Netscape 8. It was good of Ben to demonstrate conclusivley that only suckers trust their browsing to childish teenagers who would subvert the PC of most of his customers because some other company actually had the temerity to treat open source code as open source - rather than as a club to attack Microsft which is what the OSS movement is supposed to be about.

"Ben Goodger (Firefox lead engineer and Google employee) posted exploit code that would destroy a PC running Firefox 1.03 or before (95% of the users) or Netscape 8." What are you talking about??? Destroy a PC. I saw nothing about this on his blog. And you are mistaken about the OSS movement. It certainly was not about attacking Microsoft or any other company. It is about offering quality applications for free. I also would say that the programmers of Firefox are not childish teenagers, but many of them are all grown up and lead fulfilling lives. And apparently the paid emplyees of Microsoft can't always get it right. Check out the vulnerabilities as Secunia. Not just the number, but also the severity. IE has major problems, and I anxiously await IE7. I'll feel much safter running that on my network than I will IE6.

You take every chance to self promote yourself as exclusively releaving that Mac will switch to Intel. You neither reported it first nor were exclusive so why don't you drop the high and mighty routine?

ROFLMAO! So, let's see: Longhorn won't be all .NET after all. So much for that. Longhorn's APIs are all being backported to Windows XP, and analysts have said only 35% of computers will be running Longhorn by 2008. OS X already has every single feature Longhorn has been touting for years. Office 12 is going to change file formats AGAIN. This should be fun. OS X's marketshare is skyrocketing, and Apple's stock is performing better than Microsoft's. Windows and Office revenues are down for the first time in history. Paul Thurrott himself said "OS X is simply better than Windows. Especially for power users." Macs are cheaper than PCs in every way--longer upgrade cycle, less breakdowns, no need for endless "security" software to protect you from the 'net, and new versions of OS X improve performance rather than bloat it like Windows (have fun buying 3ghz just to display windows on the screen). Plus, the interface is light years ahead. Why do you kidz stay with Micro$oft again? I guess sticking with an illegal convicted monopolist who used sleazy OEM deals to kill superior systems like OS/2 is all right with you, even if it means you're stuck using an inferior platform that makes more money for Microsoft. LOL

You left out: Microsoft using Apple hardware for their X-Box 360 appearance at E3. HAHAHAHAHA!!

since it's been proven that macs are cheaper than pcs, i wonder how long people are going to flush thousands of dollars down the toilet upgrading and maintaining and buying new pcs constantly just to run the latest versions of windoze? microsoft bloats windoze on purpose so that oem manufacturers make money off hardware sales. they're all in bed with each other, and you guys are pawns who buy into it for no other reason than everyone else uses windows. it's the ultimate high school sheep pressure

Wow, Windows Media Player is still around? Nobody uses that piece of crap. Everyone switched to Winamp and iTunes years ago WMA is a dead format, all thanks to Apple and the iPod. Good riddance! WMV is on its way out thanks to the superior Apple H.264 codec which will be used on HD-DVD and Blu-ray. H.264 spanks WMV in quality and bitrate. Seeya, M$. It was a fun monopoly run for a decade, but it's all over now. Google and Apple are killing your ***, and all you have left are Windows sheep who think it's okay to run with admin privileges in the year 2005 and have a "Patch Tuesday" to fix their randomly rebooting machines. Click "Start" to shut down? Haha. Microsoft's design aesthetics suck ***.

"What nonsense! IE is the most secure browser available." Yeah, I know, I rooted your box and made sure to download the latest patches for you. I'll be back on next week to configure your firewall

Hell, Windows PCs can't even play H.264. You need the power of a PowerPC G5. You know, the same architecture Microsoft is using in the X-Box 360 and Sony is using in the Playstation 3. You intel droids are on the way out...as is M$. Changing Office file formats again? Oh, yeah, that went real well last time this illegal monopoly did that...they're trying to force you to upgrade again because Office revenues are down. And you sheep play into it every time. Have fun waiting another two years for Longhorn! I already have all its features in the vastly superior OS X. lol

Windows--millions of viruses, trojans, and exploits. MS.Blaster rebooted two-thirds of the world's PCs for a whole week. OS X--no known viruses, trojans, or exploits thanks to UNIX security permissions and a smart platform design. Windows--run an "installer" that writes crap to your registry. The registry grows every day you use Windows, slowing down the system. Run an "uninstaller" to remove it. OS X--drag the self-contained bundle to the Applications folder (or anywhere else). Drag to Trash to remove. Windows--runs in admin privileges. Longhorn will fix this, and Microsoft fanboyz will proclaim it as another glorious M$ innovation. OS X--has run in a least-privileged account since its inception five years ago. Installing something requires a password. Leaked Longhorn screenshots show Microsoft even ripping off the password dialog from OS X. Windows--based on 20 years of antiquated and bloated APIs sitting on an old NT kernel. OS X--a brand new, clean OpenStep-based design centered on the industrial-strength BSD kernel subystem running on a Mach microkernel. Windows--requires the use of crap like "Ad-aware", anti-spwyere, anti-virus, and firewall software. Ships with a hole bunch of ports open for no reason whatsoever. OS X--ships with no open ports, so the firewall is pointless because there's nothing to guard and so disabled by default. No anti-spyware or anti-virus software needed. Windows--a broken interface that has been proven in studies to be slower than OS X. Floating menubars slow the user's hand by forcing them to pinpoint with the mouse cursor. Everything takes at least three more clicks than it would in OS X. OS X--award-winning interface design where every pixel is sweated over by Apple designers. Users usually slam the mouse up to the top to get to the menu, proven to be faster. "Yes No Cancel" dialogs aren't used; instead, buttons describe their actions at a glance for faster use. I could go on and on and on and on...

Well, now that Paul is confirming Microsoft's slow, agonizing death, how long before all the Windows defenders here try out a Mac, are blown away at how advanced it is, and pretend they were Apple fans all along? Using Windows makes you realize how most of the world is seven years behind in computing. Microsoft is holding back the computer world. Windows is a videogame platform and nothing more.

Fortune didn't corroborate YOUR Intel report. You act like they were responding to your specific report on it instead of the WSJ's. Dvorak has been reporting on this for a long time. Intel rumors come out every year. They usually come out before IBM announces a new PowerPC chip. Everyone was saying Apple was switching to Intel right before the G5s were announced. Apple has always kept an Intel version of OS X running internally, for portability reasons. Haven't you heard of Darwin x86? You're so full of yourself, Paul. Go back to your Powerbook.

Moving to x86 chips would be a downgrade for Apple, as PowerPC chips are RISC-based and execute more instructions per clock cycle. This is why when Windows users mock your clock speed, you can smile and shake your head at the ignorance in the world, and the way people accept things without questioning it as though clock speed is the only thing that makes a computer fast, and not instructions PER clock cycle, bus speed, chip cache, instruction ordering, RAM, and so on. It's also why G5s consistently eat x86 chips for breakfast in benchmark tests. Microsoft is even using PowerPC for the X-Box 360, so it's hard to defend x86 anymore. Even Microsoft wants to abandon them.

Paul is totally right about the Pacific NW... it rains every single day for 10 months out of the year. The other two months you get some sun, but mostly clouds with some rain. I urge people to believe this... so ya'll don't move here!

". I'll stick with Firefox" Firefox is rubbish. Got more security holes than sieve. Screw Firefix!!

AHAHAHAHA!! All this bullshit about .NET that we've been hearing for years, and it turns out to be yet ANOTHER scaled-back "feature" of Longhorn! Is there *anything* that's going to ship with this thing that was promised from M$? Thank god I switched to Mac last year...I already have all the stuff Longhorn was supposed to have!

"Wow, Windows Media Player is still around? Nobody uses that piece of crap. Everyone switched to Winamp and iTunes years ago " WMP is the DOMINANT streaming media format on the internet today! Even Yahoo has switched to ONLY WMP, and CNN is going all WMP for their premium content come June 20. Only losers and weasels are still sticking with the doomed, inferior piece of garbage called Quicktime.

"Microsoft using Apple hardware for their X-Box 360 appearance at E3" What a moron! You left out Microsoft using IBM Power PC based PC running a Microsoft XBO X360 OS to run their demos at E3. No CRAPPLE software here.ROTFLMAO!!

"OS X's marketshare is skyrocketing, and Apple's stock is performing better than Microsoft's" Ummm OSX market share..still a measely 2%!! That is "soaring"? HEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHE. Yep. Soaring alright..right down to as close to ZERO as it can. :) BTW, Microsoft stock since MSFT went public, has outperformed CRAPPLE stock by at least 10 times! Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.. Don't mention to any of your CRAPPLE fanatic loser crew. They might just cotton on to how really stupid they are. Just like you. :)

"And you are mistaken about the OSS movement. It certainly was not about attacking Microsoft or any other company" Nonsense! The OSS movemnet is the biggest congregation of rabid, vicious haters you can get anywhere on this planet, displaying as it werwe, a pathological, pathetic, and really sick hatred of Microsoft. Even Al Quaeda terrorists, don't come close to the amount of hatred and venom the OSS NUTCASES are displaying today.

" Thank god I switched to Mac last year...I already have all the stuff Longhorn was supposed to have! " Except you can't run most vital business applications that Fortune 500 companies rely on to run their companies. THat is why overwhelmingly , Fortune 500 and 1000, and S & P 500 companies use Windows by over 90% ascompared to lessthan 2% for CRAPPLE. :) 'nuff said!!

" Microsoft is even using PowerPC for the X-Box 360, so it's hard to defend x86 anymore. Even Microsoft wants to abandon them" Because Microsoft got a better deal from IBM than from Intel. Its mostly about COSTS in the vid game business. This year alone over 200 million Intel based PC's are going to be sold. That sounds like a very good defence of the X86 to me. :) Meanwhile, its old CRAPPLE that is aneaking around having secret talks with Intel about the X 86. You don't find DEll doing anything so sneaky. :)

"Windows is a videogame platform and nothing more." Is that right? Is that why practically all Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 andS& P 500 companies use Windows to run nrearly all their businesses? Funny way for Motorola and Siemns to be using "a video game platform" to run their businesses isn't it? The really funny OS is your CRAPLE toy OS. NO surprise you can't get the top businesses to waste much time running it. Wake up from dreamland, loser!!

"Hell, Windows PCs can't even play H.264. You need the power of a PowerPC G5. You know, the same architecture Microsoft is using in the X-Box 360 and Sony is using in the Playstation 3. " #1, Windows PC's have the superb WMP 10, which totally ROCKS on Windows, and is the best streaming media software on the planet. Why on earth will they need the inferior H.261 or whatever? # 2, if your G5 is so good, how come CRAPPLE is sneaking off under cover of darkness to go beg Intel to give them chips? :) You don't find Dell going to IBM for processors do ya? Heck, Dell wouldn't even use AMD coips, let alone IBM G5's, and look how super succesful Dell is.

"WMP is the DOMINANT streaming media format on the internet today! Even Yahoo has switched to ONLY WMP, and CNN is going all WMP for their premium content come June 20. Only losers and weasels are still sticking with the doomed, inferior piece of garbage called Quicktime." Doomed and inferior? Is that why the MPEG association has chosen the Quicktime container format as the official video format for HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming formats? LOL..windows kidz are absolutely clueless about facts.

"What a moron! You left out Microsoft using IBM Power PC based PC running a Microsoft XBO X360 OS to run their demos at E3. No CRAPPLE software here.ROTFLMAO!!" They weren't running a "Microsoft XBO X360 OS." They were running OS X, as confirmed by Engadget. Next!

"Except you can't run most vital business applications that Fortune 500 companies rely on to run their companies." Most vital business applications in the enterprise market are UNIX. Guess what OS X is? Next. "THat is why overwhelmingly , Fortune 500 and 1000, and S & P 500 companies use Windows by over 90% ascompared to lessthan 2% for CRAPPLE. :) 'nuff said!!" They use Windows for their desktop workstations because Microsoft is a convicted monopoly. I love how M$ fanboys cover their ears and pretend the years of the late 90s never happened. I guess NASA, universities, Pixar, the entire media industry including film and music, and so on are just crazy when they all use Macs! Hahaha...Microsoft is dying.

"Doomed and inferior? Is that why the MPEG association has chosen the Quicktime container format as the official video format for HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming formats? " MPEG? Who cares about them? WMP RULES for streaming video on the internet, with Real a distant second, and CRAPPLE barely scratching at the bottom. Yahoo doesn't even use Qucktime anymore. Neither does the web sites of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel etc etc to stream their news. WMP is simply clobbering everyone. And the gap is only getting bigger. Meanwhile, BOTH the Blue-Ray and HD-DVD formats have made WMP based VC-1 from Microsoft an obligatory standartd for both formats. Just this Christmas, Time Warner is going to be releasing all their DVD's in the Microsoft WMP based VC-1 formet. Who exactly ammongst the content companies is releasing anything on Quickime? Answer: NONE!! Game over CRAPLE!!

"Because Microsoft got a better deal from IBM than from Intel. Its mostly about COSTS in the vid game business." ROFL! It's not because they got a "better deal." It's because the PowerPCs are better chips. Microsoft would have preferred x86 because it's easier for them, but they're going with hardware Apple already uses. "This year alone over 200 million Intel based PC's are going to be sold. That sounds like a very good defence of the X86 to me. :)" It's a good defense of a monopoly. 5 million people are also going to contract the AIDS virus. "Meanwhile, its old CRAPPLE that is aneaking around having secret talks with Intel about the X 86. You don't find DEll doing anything so sneaky. :)" They're not having secret talks. You just made that up. Apple has always had an x86 version of Darwin. You're the same troll from the last X-Box 360 article who got crushed by Sony's E3 announcement. Sucks to be you! ROFL

lol, i remember this troll from last time. if anyone's wondering, here's his MO: "CRAPPLE...haha...Microsoft is flawless...CRAPPLE...CRAPPLE..haha...CRAPPLE." that's pretty much it. it actually proves my case about Windows kidz! I love when he posts

"Is that right? Is that why practically all Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 andS& P 500 companies use Windows to run nrearly all their businesses?" Enterprises use Linux and Solaris. Next! "The really funny OS is your CRAPLE toy OS. NO surprise you can't get the top businesses to waste much time running it." Top businesses like NASA, Pixar, and the entire media industry? You know the music you listen to--do you know 100% of them are recorded on Macs? All the films you watch int eh theater are edited on Macs? "Wake up from dreamland, loser!!" LOL. Two more years of Windows XP... "OS X is simply better than Windows. Especially for power users." - Paul thurrot

"#1, Windows PC's have the superb WMP 10, which totally ROCKS on Windows, and is the best streaming media software on the planet. Why on earth will they need the inferior H.261 or whatever?" H.261 or whatever? Okay, you're just an idiot who hasn't even researched what we're talking about. H.264 is the official codec of the MPEG group, required to be implemented for all future next-generation movie formats like Blu-ray and HD-DVD, as well as officially being adopted by streaming television providers. H.264 provides the best quality at the lowest bitrate. WMV doesn't even compare. "# 2, if your G5 is so good, how come CRAPPLE is sneaking off under cover of darkness to go beg Intel to give them chips? :)" It's not. Intel owns the StrongARM chips, a line of chips Apple once used in the Newton and might be in the 5G iPods. Intel also makes other chips, such as the processor in the Apple RAID controllers. "You don't find Dell going to IBM for processors do ya?" No, Microsoft's too busy outbidding them. ROFLMAO.

"ROFL! It's not because they got a "better deal." It's because the PowerPCs are better chips" Better chips huh? Guess who went sneaking over to Intel, begging to be allowed to use Intel chips. Hint, it wasn't Dell. :) CRAPPLE loses again ROTFLMAO!!

"Microsoft would have preferred x86 because it's easier for them, but they're going with hardware Apple already uses. " Why would they, when CRAPPLE tehmselves are doing everything they can to escape from IBM chips? LMAO!!

Now that it's official that Longhorn will barely be using .NET at all, what was the point? Oh, yeah, more marketing vaporware from Microsoft. But nobody's buying it anymore--Google, Sony, and Apple are chasing Microsoft away, which is why their stock has been in a slump and their revenues are way below projections.

"Intel's CEO is recommending Apple! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! " Inte's CEO is stroking Steve Job's ego, so he can get him to sign on the dotted line. What d'ya expect? CRAPPLE still SUCKS! :) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

WMA has been kicked to the curb thanks to Apple's AAC and the iPods, and now WMV is already being replaced with H.264. European broadcaster are already using it to stream their television shows. What happened, Microsoft? You used to be the innovator. Now you're busy chasing Google Maps with "MSN Virtual Earth."

"WMV doesn't even compare" WMP RULES for streaming video media on the internet. Period! Its got the highest market share by far! Plus its the BEST streaming media software on the planet! Today, nearly all major news organisations have standardised on Microsoft WMP. CRAPPLE is nowhere to be seen. LMAO!!

"Inte's CEO is stroking Steve Job's ego, so he can get him to sign on the dotted line. What d'ya expect? CRAPPLE still SUCKS! :) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Wait, weren't you praising Intel chips in the last discussion? What kind of moron are you? Didn't you start challenging people's sexual prowess after a while? What a dumbass troll.

This war between the two chips to which is better is stupid, vis-a-vis the console market. Since the hardware is a loss leader, you will NOT purposely go to another platform just because it is the better processor. You go where things are cheap and good at the same time. I'm sure that IBM has a great deal going on to help keep the PowerPC alive. Remember, IBM doesn't work for nothing. In order to keep investing in a platform, they need money and sales. The millions of Xboxen that they will sell keeps the business model alive for them. Therefore, IBM is more than willing to best Intel or AMD on price. Standard and simple business practice. Not some war between two competing chips, OS's, or whatever is being fought in this comment section. The notion that enterprises will switch to OS X because it is "BASED" off of Unix is ludicrous. OS X is NOT Unix. There are tons of different flavors. I don't see corporate America rushing to use X Serve. Big deal, they have 1U server now available. A corporation that is running a Unix flavor (most likely Linux in the smaller shops) is certainly going to buy the hardware from HP, IBM, or some other credible plaer in the corporate space. Apple is not there yet. I certainly have also not seen companies flocking to use QuickTime either. I don't even use WMP. I use the featureless, but working, Media Player Classic, open source from SourceForge. And these talks of Microsoft going down the toilet are just not true. Do any of you actually read (whoops, already too much to ask, you guys just work on iEmotion) and digest the financial performance of companies? Microsoft is not going anywhere any time soon. Big Blue themselves, IBM, couldn't take them down, so I can't see how Apple is going to. I would be more concerned with Linux if I were Microsoft, which is a much better choice for running your bueines than Apple is.

"OS X is simply better than Windows. Especially for power users." - Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott is saying on Internet-Nexus that the Intel talks are for that rumored Apple tablet. There's even a secret "landscape" option in OS X Tiger.

"No, Microsoft's too busy outbidding them" No, IBM took their cell, secretly to Dell, and Dell told them where to stick it! Hint: its at the posterior section of your obesse ugly body. LMAO!!

Apple has 90+% of the music player market. WMA is dead. All Steve Jobs has to do is introduce the iPod video, and the world will go H.264 overnight. It's a sad thing seeing Microsofties in denial.

"WMA has been kicked to the curb thanks to Apple's AAC and the iPods, and now WMV is already being replaced with H.264" WMP is the # 1 streaming media software on the planet, being used by over 300 million internet suRfers to listen to their internet radio andw atch internet news andcurrent affaires and msuic videoson MSN, Yahoo and AOL, Fox News, MSNBC etc etc every single day. Umm how many ipods have been sold altogether again? A measly less than 20 million? You don't even begin to compete creep! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

"Apple has 90+% of the music player market. WMA is dead. " CRAPPLE has less than 15% of the streaming media market on the internet as at today, and still falling. No major news organisation has stadardised on CRAPPLE Quicktime Not even one!! Meanwhile every single major news org out there is using WMP! Go to Yahoo for their highly popular music vidoes. What are they using exclusively? The superb WMP again. CRAPPLE Quicktime is on life support!! LMAO!!

"Wait, weren't you praising Intel chips in the last discussion? " Never had a problem with Intel chips. Been using them on my PC's for decades. Love 'em That doesn't mean CRAPPLE doesn't suck. because .. CRAPPLE REALLY SUCKS BIG TIME!!

"What kind of moron are you? " The kind that has more intelligence in his little finger, than all the super creapy, increbibly stupid CRAPPLE fanatics combined. :)

"Didn't you start challenging people's sexual prowess after a while? What a dumbass troll" No,you did. Confirmation, if any were needed of how inadequate you are in bed. Dumb, can't get it up, and vicious as anything, that is you in a nutshell. No surprise you spend your life on the web site that caters to Windows, users together with your other dumbass CRAPPLE vermin. Very sad indeed.

"No,you did. Confirmation, if any were needed of how inadequate you are in bed. Dumb, can't get it up, and vicious as anything, that is you in a nutshell." You said you'd put your sexual prowess up to the test of any mac user. It was bizarre. you've pretty much killed the discussion thread, which was your goal. congrats. i've alerted paul thurrott about your trolling

"WMP is the # 1 streaming media software on the planet, being used by over 300 million internet suRfers to listen to their internet radio andw atch internet news andcurrent affaires and msuic videoson MSN, Yahoo and AOL, Fox News, MSNBC etc etc every single day. Umm how many ipods have been sold altogether again? A measly less than 20 million? You don't even begin to compete creep! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" A measly 20 million? That's over 90% of the music player market. Dude, you're in such denial. Even Bill Gates owns an iPod.

"CRAPPLE CRAPPLE CRAPPLE CRAPPLE CRAPPLE CRAPPLE CRAPPLE" Meanwhile, Apple owns 90+% of the digital media market. LOL.

"A measly 20 million? That's over 90% of the music player market" You are very funny. # 1, Last quarter Creative alone sold 2 million WMP based units to CRAPPLE's 5 million That alone takes CRAPPLE's ahre of the market to less then 72%. Add in the huge WMP based MP3 sales of Samsung, Iriver , Dell etc etc and CRAPPLE's share doesn't even come close to the 90% you are claiming. # 2, legally downloaded music is a VERY VERY VERY TINY percentage of music played on computers or of the use of media players on the internet. Microsoft WMP simply DOMINATES the media player use on the internet by far, with practically all top news sites using it

"Meanwhile, Apple owns 90+% of the digital media market. LOL" Meanwhile, CRAPPLE quicktime has less than 12% of the media player market on the internet, while Microsoft WMP dominates, as usual. CRAPPLE loses yet again. LMAO!!

Sigh..yet ANOTHER idiotic and repetitive Mac vs. Windows debate. Look guys, we get it. You love your Macs and OS X, and anything else Apple related. I'm happy for you, and it is indeed a fine platform. However, as hard as this may be for you to understand, for a large number of people (just based on the HUGE number of Windows machines in operation) Windows does what people need it to do in everyday life, whether it is business or personal. There is just no reason for grown men to be on a message board posting the ridiculous and juvenile comments that you do (not all of you, but a lot). Please grow up and realize that they're calling names doesn't prove your point - it only makes you look foolish and immature. To the people that present their opinions and debate intelligently, thank you.

"Now, "Fortune Magazine" has corroborated another part of my report" They reference Paul Thurrott's Nexus site in that article. Paul, I think it's obvious that you are their source, so I think it's shoddy reporting to claim this is corroboration. You are corroborating your own report. It doesn't count as another independent source confirmation. Geesh.

errm, to the user just above, are you aware also of the Windows fanatics ridiculous and juvenile comments or are you blind to them?

"Seriously...you shouldn't use IE at all, just as you shouldn't drive a car in which the seatbelts have been ripped out. It's called common sense." Replace IE with "Windows" in the above quote, and you actually say something that makes sense.

"# 1, Last quarter Creative alone sold 2 million WMP based units to CRAPPLE's 5 million That alone takes CRAPPLE's ahre of the market to less then 72%. Add in the huge WMP based MP3 sales of Samsung, Iriver , Dell etc etc and CRAPPLE's share doesn't even come close to the 90% you are claiming." - -http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/04/apple_flash_share/ as you can see, 90% of the HD Market and 58% of the flash. "Creative, maker of the Zen Micro, for example, saw flat salesduring the quarter, compared to the last three months of 2004. It shipped 2m music players, both Flash- and HDD-based units. Apple, by contrast, shipped 5.3m in the same period, up 17.8 per cent on the Q4 2004's 4.5m." Creative and co didn't even make a dent....

What nonsense! IE is the most secure browser available. ---- *speechless.. *IT Pros + Lies = Job Security

And WMP does not DOMINATE.. okay? It's actually a close race.. iTunes means QT is going up.. WM is flat and Real is declining.. this is the current state..

To end all the Creative BS.. here's the TRUTH Apple's total share of the market for mp3 players= 75% HD player share: 90 % Flash share: 60 % Their share of the music sales (70%) Does Apple dominate the market.. duh! Of course! Check Creative's stock price sometime.. they don't like the shuffle..

To the guy who posted about my earlier comments, yes I am aware of the same juvenile behavior by some of the Windows fanatics here. It's no different than the behavior of the Mac fanatics, and equally as stupid. And since I don't visit Mac websites, it could be just as bad over there. What I don't get is why every time Paul posts an article, the Mac people have to jump in with nothing constructive to say, choosing to start another pointless flame war about how much Microsoft sucks and Apple rules. Of course the Windows supporters are going to strike back, although ignoring the dumb comments altogether would be a better strategy. I mean, from what I've read, OS X is a great operating system, but why waste your time and energy bashing people who use another company's OS and software? The name of the website is windowsitpro.com, and it focuses on providing information about WINDOWS-related issues. If Mac fans feel that their product is superior, that's great, but you don't have to hijack the entire comments section on EVERY ARTICLE bashing Windows users. I used to enjoy reading comments on Paul's articles because some of the readers have great insight, but now it's just trash.

Paul, please turn off the comments. I'm a Windows user and I feel really stupid. I'm gonna go buy a MAC and when I come back I better not be able to comment on this website!! Or else!

OOOOOhhh! IE7 has TABBED browsing. Microsoft SUCKS. Apple was spot on with the "Redmond, Start your Photocopiers" banner. Interesting, in that the bookstores used to be filled with 3 racks of MS Press and assorted garbage MS books. Now, they take up one rack, and Linux/Unix takes up those 3 racks. Times are a changin'. Sorry for you MCSE idiots.

That's funny u mention that. I did notics that "trend" in our Barnes & Noble lately. Definitely less of a focus on Microsoft training books, and lots of them in thr "bargain bins".

My machine is perhaps one of the most secure machines on the net. I browse the internet every day without issues. My machine does not crash (save for a defective video card that I just fixed). I receive no blue screens, red screens, or polka dotted screens. I use business and productivity software every day without fail on my machine for work and for school. I have no problems with my computer at all. What am I running? Windows XP SP2 with 1 GB of RAM, 100 GB hard drive, ATI 128 MB video card, and I browse with Deepnet Explorer because it already has tabs. However I'd uninstall it if the browser already came with tabs. Just because someone else invented it, does it mean that competing companies can't duplicate it? If that were true, Edison would own the US and Ford would be monopolizing the auto industry. I'm not saying that my machine is any better or worse than anything that the Mac guys run. More power to you guys for running exactly what you like. I just don't like being called a loser for running a stable machine with the OS and the software that I like to use. Zealots are everywhere. MS and Apple alike. Folks who come to this site need to knock out the smoke and read the posts that mean something. I really could care less who has the MP3 market tied up. When I go to a site, I use whatever they ask me to. Honesly 9 out of 10 times, I'm using WMA, but all I want is the content as long as it looks OK. I'm just a computer tech who just wants to get his job done with whatever hardware that I am required to use to perform said job and I think that most of us geek boys are the same. Lets all just get along and stop using terms such as WINTARD, CRAPPLE, Netscrape Aggrivator, Loonix, Internet Exploder, etc. and just start discussing the business that most of us are in. Mac's on the whole of the entire system are just as good as PC's and visa versa. Get it?

It's widely proven that's Macs are, by default more secure with regard to zero open ports, and, not surprisingly, zero viruses. The permissioning on the Mac OS is much more protected. With Windows, you (and every app you run) has unencumbered access to every file, system, & service running on the box. Your single data point means little. Look around at the headlines. Start with the Zombie Counter, currently at 172,000 new zombie computers per DAY. ALL OF THEM WINDOWS. http://news.com.com/ZombieMeter+keeps+track+of+hacked+PCs/2100-7355_3-5722305.html PC's as good as Macs? Not even close.

"'m just a computer tech who just wants to get his job done with whatever hardware that I am required to use to perform said job and I think that most of us geek boys are the same." Yup, that's how I felt when I first entered the IT field. However, in running a highly successful consulting company, our computers get plugged in to many business' networks, many of them calling on our services because their network is inundated with viruses & spyware. The Powerbook is the machine of choice to plug in, scan, & diagnose those networks without ANY fears of compromising our own machines. When I get back home, or back in the office, the last thing I want to do is update /monitor the fortress of software required to maintain a reasonably secure Windows installation. With the Macs, they are secure out of the box. Time is money.

PAUL. DISABLE THE COMMENTS. NOW. The stupidity in here from all sides is not only overwhelming. It's BREEDING.

"My machine is perhaps one of the most secure machines on the net." "What am I running? Windows XP" You are TRULY delusional.

Fanboy's and fangirls are really scary, specially when they can post comments, I love to read these and laugh, it's like i'm back in 3rd grade watching 2 kids fighting over who's toy is better, "Mine is! No MINE IS BETTER!" Maybe Paul should turn off the comments, maybe then all the crazy people will leave this place. It's funny but I don't see Windows fanboys flocking to any Apple sites to post and rant on like Mac fans do at this website. Well whatever, it matters not, I to run Windows XP SP2 and my system is stable and solid, the only thing that can take it down is some bad beta drivers, but then again, bad hardware drivers will take down ANY OS. I've had Linux and Unix core dumbs before, and even messed up filesystems when something wasn't unmounted before it got shut off. Nothing is perfect at all, and all this talk about MS copying Apple's idea or whatever, OSX is a good OS and it works, no one's saying it doesn't,but you have to keep in mind Apple themselfs couldn't get it right after 9 versions. It finally took Unix to help their OS. Even then the first 2 versions of OSX sucked. only until 10.3 did it start to work like it should've from the start. That's over a year of upgrades to a new OS, which not to mention aren't free for most people. Then we have iTunes, if you've used iTunes on Windows then you know it just sucks, it's very very slow, maybe in v5.0 they can fix it, but then maybe they don't want to fix it. I personally don't like iTunes or the iPod because of one simple fact. You are LOCKED into using just those, iTunes won't work with ANY OTHER mp3 player, only an iPod. Vender lock in to the max, and thaat's never a good thing in my book. Other's here are then bashing the MS DRM or DRM in general, but it's Apple's DRM that keeps iTunes and iPods locked up, but hey, Apple can do no wrong it seems. It matters little to me, i've got a good working mp3 player from Creative.

Longhorn not being 100% writen in .NET isn't even news, it's nothing new. No one at MS said it would be from the start so I don't see why anyone expected anything else. Having your core in native code is the best, and doesn't matter much, it's all the stuff ON TOP that's going to be in .NET and that's what matters, those are the things that are often buggy and security risks. I don't remember the last time MS put a patch out to fix a security hole in the NT kernel, it's all mostly IE and other top layer parts of the OS. Lot's of the mac fans are also saying OSX has features longhorn won't have for another year, if they just mean Spotlight and Virtual Folders then i'm sorry to say, but Longhorn won't have just those features. I can't see how people make a big deal out of spotlight anyways, I manage my system and it's file just fine, when I download a video or audio file I put them into specific folder's i've created before hand, I know where everything i've made/downloaded is on my harddrives. I really don't see any need, for me personally anyways, for something like spotlight. Others who don't manage their systems as much as I do probably do, but to each his own. One last thing, the Xbox 350 does use a PowerPC cpu BUT it's NOT A G5, the Powerpc cpu in the xbox360 is a speciallized chip built from the ground up to play games, it was made with MS and IBM working closlly together on the specs, with it's 3 cores at 3.2ghz each. The fact it runs faster then todays G5's is because it's so different and only has the parts it needs to run video games. And the OS is a modified version of the original Xbox OS which is again a modified version of Windows 2000 There is no Apple software in any alpha or beta/final SDK's

I am not delusional at all. I just know how secure my machine is. Mac's are secure out of the box because no one attacks them. If someone knowledgable enough wanted to he/she could take down a Mac. My machine is secure because I know what I'm doing. Sometimes I think that people should be required to take a class before they buy any computer, no matter what... In fact, a customer's Mac had been coopted to use sendmail to propigate Melissa. His Mac may not have been crashed by it, but processor power had been stolen and bandwidth had been stolen on a supposedly secure Mac. Nobody's safe if they don't know what they are doing, no matter what computer they use. My computer is secure because I made it that way. I couldn't use a Mac because I'm uncomfortable in that environment. Plain and simple. God bless you if you use a Mac. You'd hate being on a PC for that reason alone. (never mind flaming me on the other "reasons"). I'm not delusional, I'm just that good.

"If someone knowledgable enough wanted to he/she could take down a Mac." Speculate all you want, I'm talking about reality. Compare the number of successful exploits against Windows vs. OS X. And I don't care about reasons why or why not, I care about end results. "You'd hate being on a PC for that reason alone." Outside of consulting, I support ~250 Windows Servers; an enterprise Active Directory deployment, SMS, along with a few large Exchange 2000 clusters. I'm intimately familiar with how PC's work. : ) "In fact, a customer's Mac had been coopted to use sendmail to propigate Melissa." "Coopted"? Cute word, because however you try to spin it, you CAN'T say hijacked or infected. Blaming a mail transport for Melissa is like blaming the taxi driver for driving the rapist to the victim's town. "I couldn't use a Mac because I'm uncomfortable in that environment." That's your own fault. I'm fluent in most all (recent) versions of Windows, Unix, Linux, and OS X. It provides perspective. Under the hood, OS X is FreeBSD, Postfix, Samba, Cyrus, Apache, IPFW, OpenLDAP, etc. Knowing how to configure those services inside & out goes a long way in making big time $$. "I'm not delusional, I'm just that good." Really? My customers don't pay me to be "uncomfortable" with anything in technology. Knowledge = Revenue. Feel free to continue sitting in the corner while I get all the business in your "uncomfortable environments". LOL.

Wow what is that bs the macs are cheaper than PCs. Unless you consider the mac mini, your are horribly wrong. Considering you can get a pentium 4 for 499 dollars, i woudln't call it cheap. The only chip that is comparable to the p4 is the g5, which costs 1299. Since mac users always compare 2000 dollar dual g5s without a monitor to 800 dollar dells with a 15 inch lcd moniter included, i would say PCs are cheapers. And all this bs about how you have to upgrade constantly with PCs. Considering there hasn't been a new OS for 5 years now, i'd say that's a good lifetime for a PC considering Apple rolls out a new OS version each year and charges over 100 for them. And 3 % of the comp users that use macs usually upgrade. If you look at how much profit apple makes PER SALE, it is signifactly larger than microsoft.

I don't use Macs...but I support them. -- Other way around.. Apple hauls *** to make sure they work well with Windows. Try using a 'MAC FILE' or a 'MAC DISK' on Windows.. *groan.. but any file created in Windows should be usable on a Mac.. not because of MS, but because Apple has made sure things just work. That's what happens when you have about a 5% marketshare.. Oh God.. did someone just compare the P4 to the G5?! *sigh

"i like you you forgot to add all the free software you get when you buy a Mac. " What free software does mac have the a PC doesn't. Macs come with imovie. Ok PCs have windows movie maker, macs have iphoto, PCs have photo express, macs get quicktime, PCs get windows movie player. Desktop Searching for Windows unlike Apple is free. Apple may have other programs that people never use or could download for free via third party.

. Macs come with imovie. --- There is no comparable software on Windows.. lets make that quite clear. Your little checklist of mediocrity isnt gonna fly buddy. They obviously come with all the standard mail and internet apps, plus a basic works suite in appleworks plus the usual games and encyclopedias etc. comparing iMove or iDVD to anything coming out of Redmond means you really dont care about software quality at all.. AT ALL. Drop the checklist stuff.. MS isnt even close.

"Even then the first 2 versions of OSX sucked. only until 10.3 did it start to work like it should've from the start. That's over a year of upgrades to a new OS, which not to mention aren't free for most people." 10.2 was just fine. Really. No worse than WindowsXP for day to day use and arguably better included applications and built in UNIXness. "Then we have iTunes, if you've used iTunes on Windows then you know it just sucks, it's very very slow, maybe in v5.0 they can fix it, but then maybe they don't want to fix it." Works fine on my Dual 366 Celeron Windows 2000 box with only 256MB ram and a TNT Ultra2. I imagine it works even better on newer kit. " I personally don't like iTunes or the iPod because of one simple fact. You are LOCKED into using just those, iTunes won't work with ANY OTHER mp3 player, only an iPod. Vender lock in to the max, and thaat's never a good thing in my book." No you're not. Here's a list of all the 3rd party MP3 players supported by iTunes... http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93548 "Other's here are then bashing the MS DRM or DRM in general, but it's Apple's DRM that keeps iTunes and iPods locked up, but hey, Apple can do no wrong it seems. It matters little to me, i've got a good working mp3 player from Creative." If you don't want DRM, then just use MP3 or AAC format, neither of which have DRM and both are supported by the iPod and iTunes.

"There is no comparable software on Windows.. lets make that quite clear. Your little checklist of mediocrity isnt gonna fly buddy. " Um windows movie player. It has more affects, easier learning curve.

Same thing here: God I hate this site now. I used to read it regularly. Why does everything turn into a "Mac" debate? I use Windows. I LIKE Windows. I have no spyware. I have no viruses. I have games. I am a professional programmer. I am a professional designer. I work (very very long hours) on two flawless XP based desktops, one at home and one at work. To call me a "sucker" because I made a choice that can be validated by simple discussion. So Windows has a "registry". So what? Do you think it upsets me that my operating system uses something called a "registry"? What do I care? I never touch it. It just works. Let me set one thing straight: Windows is an entirely reasonable choice for many users, home or professional, with many positives and many negatives. Security can be an issue, but with regular AUTOMATIC maintenence is no longer a problem. Viruses, malware, etc, are more often a product of poor education than operating system, something exacerbated by certain microsoft interface decisions (too little transparency of what exact programs are starting up, for example). To bag out Windows in such a foolish way only makes you look like an idiot. There are good things about Windows, there are good things about OSX. There are bad things about both. Personally, for me there has never been and probably will never be a compelling reason to go to an operating system with less software support, expensive and non user-maintainable hardware and some of THE most annoying fans in the world. That was a CHOICE I made, and I stand by it. Back off. If you want to flame me: matt@australiangamer.com

oops... "To call me a "sucker" because I made a choice that can be validated by simple discussion. " Add... "is dumb" or something on the end of that. Missed it.

Bunch of Mac zealot idiots. P*ss off back to your rightful place inside Steve Jobs' colon. Benders. I've got a Mac Mini and I'm f*cking ashamed to be associated with you people. Perhaps you should stop trolling Windows sites for ten minutes and go take a walk? Off a bridge? Sleep with the fishes? Please? Hell fire.

Straight talk from a programmer who plays video games. Damn. That should shut everybody up. Not. Flawless XP box. Ah, excuse me, do you actually think before you type this ****? I've used XP many times...*cringe.. replace the word 'software' with 'games' and the truth starts to reveal itself. Why else would you crack open the PC to put a new graphics chip.. oh.. games.. got it.. games... Of course, everything on a Mac is changeable except the graphics..and the processor.. which.. you know.. games.. Yeah, I love that line "I use Windows. I have no spyware. No viruses." Liar. At university here, we get these oh-so-attractive Powerpoint presentations.. my prof has a VAIO.. he doesn't even flinch when a "you've got a dangerous file/spyware" Window pops up. We're so used to seeing it.. how f**king pathetic.

He said that he had no viri. He is talking about his computer! All computers are individual. Guess what. I have no spyware and no viri either.

"Liar." Have you run a virus scanner on my computer lately? I'm going to guess no. I have. I have a virus scanner. Which was free, by the way. And a firewall. Which was free. Automatic updates are free. SP2 was free. How much was Tiger out of curiosity? And the cat before that? "Why else would you crack open the PC to put a new graphics chip.. oh.. games.. got it.. games... " No, actually. I bought a new graphics chip for better DVD playback. This is true. I don't play games on my PC, though it's more than capable of it, with an exceptional range of games. (ie, more than three). I have an xbox, gamecube and PS2 for gaming. My PC is for work. And as for "replace the word 'software' with 'games' and the truth starts to reveal itself". No. I mean software. The design program I use is Macromedia Homesite. Which is on of the few Macromedia application which NOT available for Mac. And I can't live without it. I also extensively use MySQL Front for database administration. (Not available for Mac.) And run Sokkit as a development server (Not available for Mac). I use Photoshop on my PC as well, which (according to a lot of benchmarking I can't be bothered looking up) runs FASTER on a PC for less money, but more importantly I OWN Photoshop for a PC. Why would I change? "At university here, we get these oh-so-attractive Powerpoint presentations.. my prof has a VAIO.. he doesn't even flinch when a "you've got a dangerous file/spyware" Window pops up." Your professor is an idiot. I don't know what that error is, as I've never seen it, but presumably it's either Powerpoint seeing an error (in which case he should update Powerpoint, which is easy) or it's a popup from Norton, or some other anti-virus program. In either case there are permanent solutions to the problem that he should have taken long before now, and his ignorance should NOT be taken as a guide to Windows in general.

"Flawless XP box. Ah, excuse me, do you actually think before you type this ****?" What the hell is your problem?! What **** are you talking about?! I wrote what I think was an entirely REASONABLE and LOGICAL comment and you respond with ignorant personal attacks. This is the EXACT problem with any zealots and is the exact sort of nonsense I was complaining about in the first place. If you want to define why it's "****", please feel free. If you want to comment on WHY you question my thought processes, please do. If you have a valid reason for your comments, I'd love to hear them. Using this kind of blanket idiocy as an argument undermines any actually GOOD points you may actually have (though haven't bothered to bring into the conversation in this case). Your argument so far is as follows "Windows is OK. I like it." "Well you're a poo head! NYER!" Very mature debating style. There are valid criticisms to make of Windows. There are serious flaws in MS in both their code and their business operations. How about commenting on THEM rather than simply calling other people "****"? matt@AustralianGamer.com

"First, Microsoft will ship Update Rollup 1 (UR1) for Windows 2000--you know, that "thing" that replaces Win2K Service Pack 5 (SP5)--on June 1." So, it's June 2nd, where is UR1?