This is part of where your $$ goes when buying MS software....

[oldsk00l]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/12/13/gates.malaria.grant.ap/index.html


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Combating malaria has been one of the primary goals of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and its latest gift of $42.6 million will fund a nonprofit drug company's high-tech take on an ancient Chinese remedy.

You can hate Microsoft all you want, but I don't see to many other filthy stinking rich people giving anything comparable to Bill's history of philanthropy.

I still think Bill Gates is a great guy, and his company may suck, but the Gates foundation has given billions in aid in a very direct fashion with minimal infrastructure.

[Sazar]

agreed...

bill is the greatest philanthropist around... after rockafeller... but that great man is no more...

[superklye]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/conditions/12/13/gates.malaria.grant.ap/index.html



You can hate Microsoft all you want, but I don't see to many other filthy stinking rich people giving anything comparable to Bill's history of philanthropy.

I still think Bill Gates is a great guy, and his company may suck, but the Gates foundation has given billions in aid in a very direct fashion with minimal infrastructure.
I have always been an MS/Gates fan and this just solidifies my respect for the man.

[ynnek]

He must have found a couple of bills stuck under the couch cushions.... Besides, it'll do good for tax deductions too!

:p

[Ninjaman09]

Yep, Gates-bashing is something stupid bandwagon-hopping retards do. I've always used and loved Microsoft products and most of you have too. Elitist nerds or dumbasses trying to be all anti-establishment love doggin on Bill but he is a great guy.

My favorite slur on Microsoft is the old "$ instead of S" thing. What's that supposed to mean, Microsoft is out to make money? OH NO! SAVE US FROM THE EVIL COMPANY TRYING TO TURN A PROFIT! God damn, people are so stupid sometimes.

Besides, it'll do good for tax deductions too!
The tax advantages aren't as great as you think. There is a cap on how much money in charitable gifts you can deduct from your income and he donates a lot more than this.

[CaptNKILL]

Yep, Gates-bashing is something stupid bandwagon-hopping retards do. I've always used and loved Microsoft products and most of you have too. Elitist nerds or dumbasses trying to be all anti-establishment love doggin on Bill but he is a great guy.

My favorite slur on Microsoft is the old "$ instead of S" thing. What's that supposed to mean, Microsoft is out to make money? OH NO! SAVE US FROM THE EVIL COMPANY TRYING TO TURN A PROFIT! God damn, people are so stupid sometimes.

I agree 100%. I love Windows and I actually enjoy working with DOS. I cant say that I have ever worked with linux (or anything similar) but Ive seen it and it looks over complicated. I did a research paper on Microsoft a few years ago and it really showed that although Gates is deffinitely a tough (ie great) business man, he has also done a LOT of great things.

I personally think we wouldnt even have the technology we had in 1996 right now if it werent for windows "monopolizing" the software industry. If there were 5,000 different operating system (all of which would probably be more complicated and have less features than windows), all with equal user bases then im sure most people would probably opt for other forms of gaming\communication than attempt to research and understand computers. Bill Gates and Microsoft have pretty much blanketed the planet with computers capable of communicating with eachother reliably. They donate millions of dollars worth of computer equipment to schools all over the world to teach everyone how to use them.

The way I see it, the only way we could have the technology industry we have today is if a single company took charge. Even if there were only 10 equaly important operating system companies, there would be MUCH less software and hardware available because it would be so expensive to develope for each different OS and it most likely wouldnt be as profitable (like i said before, most people would rather just go without than be confused with a mess of different systems and incompatibilities).

So heres to MS (cheers)

[oldsk00l]

I don't love windows at all, not a damn bit.

Fact is I think it's kind of a racketeering pile of crap. However, MS has done alot to spur things along. I do like the XBox quite a bit. As far as Bill Gates goes, he da man, and he's usually spot on in asessing markets.

I do admire him quite a bit.

[r2d2d3d4d5]

I can't believe you guys.

Competition has always been the best incentive for innovation.

If nVidia or Intel had 90+% market share do you honestly believe that we would have the great graphics cards or CPUs we do now?

MS sold us pretty much the same OS (9x) for 5 or 6 years with minor tweaks in the GUI and fixes that should have been there from day one. IMO the only good OS MS have come up with so far has been 2k (later refined and skinned with XP).

[CaptNKILL]

I can't believe you guys.

Competition has always been the best incentive for innovation.

If nVidia or Intel had 90+% market share do you honestly believe that we would have the great graphics cards or CPUs we do now?

MS sold us pretty much the same OS (9x) for 5 or 6 years with minor tweaks in the GUI and fixes that should have been there from day one. IMO the only good OS MS have come up with so far has been 2k (later refined and skinned with XP).
Well that sounds good, but IMO an Operating system SHOULD stick around for a long time. If a company of Microsoft's size, with all of their resources cant absolutely perfect an OS in 6 years (9x still had its bugs when it finally died) then I dont think things would be better if there were dozens of different operating systems with incompatible software, run by companies with a fraction of the resources that MS has.

Innovation is good, but 20 different innovative products that are constantly changing (to keep up with their competitors) would make it hell for software and hardware developers to do their thing. I think this would have both slowed the industry AND completely eliminated some of the great things that have happened (major game releases, graphical achievments, leaps in hardware speed).

Think about your comparison to Nvidia or Intel. Their clear goal is to do more in less time (faster graphics, faster programs, better looking graphics...). And thats what probably everyone wants. Theres a LOT of room for innovation there. But on the operating system side, the general idea is to make things WORK. We dont need 20 companies innovating and complicating things with ideas to out do competitors while neglecting the basic goal of making it WORK (and something would have to be neglected because with a split market like that, none of them would have the resources to do everything they wanted).

That said, Im glad there is competition in the hardware markets, you are right it brings us tomorrows technology today. But with OSes I (along with probably 90% of users and software and hardware developers) would probably rather have one company make their operating system work properly with all others (since they own them all) than have a bunch of smaller companies competing and making problems.

Try installing ATI, Nvidia, SIS, S3, 3Dfx and Intel graphics cards and drivers all in the same machine and thatd probably be like what the computer industry would be without microsoft (ie, a mess).

[oldsk00l]

I have to agree with CapNkill

Imagine if MS hadn't run with x86 as well as they had. What kind of doorway would open for non-X86 CPU's and how many arches would we have to deal with? There wouldn't even by NEAR the ease of installing a program on multiple machines and backwards compatibility would be in the toilet for alot of users.

I'm glad MS has been around for so long, and even being a Linux user...we owe MS their work in keeping a unified platform that we are able to just plop down any variety of distros on a STANDARD SPEC of hardware.

[DaveW]

You can hate Microsoft all you want, but I don't see to many other filthy stinking rich people giving anything comparable to Bill's history of philanthropy.


They all give to charity. Usually in the form of "sponsorship" for a certain event or resource (which results in the company logo being displaying somewhere). Its a form of advertising except that it can be written off as a tax exempt expense. If you ever worked at a non profit, you will know how it works.

[noko]

I do see Linux coming in as the OS of choice in about 10 years. Kinda like a public highway which in addition you can use but anyone can build, improve etc.. As Linux progress I see more manufacturers wanting the ability to get the OS working with their new stuff vice waiting for MS to incorporate the new changes into their nex patch or OS down the pike. Also as more and more countries adopt Linux as their preferred OS including a number of cities in the US the quality will continue to go up. It is about time I tried Linux again I guess, I didn't like it the first time around. Yes I do like Windoz since it does work and in the long run it really doesn't cost too much in the end considering I had W2K for 4 years now and it is still very well supported. I like XP but really don't see any realy advantage over W2K in the end.

[Rakeesh]

The thing that bothers me about MS is that they tightly integrate practically all of their middleware into their kernel making it non removable. I personally don't care whether or not they include it, its just when you have a computer that needs to go to a specific purpose, e.g. a dedicated game server or something similar, you always have a web browser and part of a media player loaded in memory. Sure you can argue that you should have a lot of memory to begin with, but that is moot when servers, or any application for that matter, reach critical mass. Having unnecessary components removed from memory can make all the difference between completely smooth operation and periods of downtime.

Frankly I don't see why such tight integration is necessary. The only way microsoft has used it before is to work their way around antitrust suits.

The thing I like about linux is you can configure any damn thing however the hell you want. The only reason it isn't my primary OS is due to the fact that IHV's and ISV's don't provide much support for it. Hopefully something like reactos can change all of that.

[r2d2d3d4d5]

Well that sounds good, but IMO an Operating system SHOULD stick around for a long time. If a company of Microsoft's size, with all of their resources cant absolutely perfect an OS in 6 years (9x still had its bugs when it finally died) then I dont think things would be better if there were dozens of different operating systems with incompatible software, run by companies with a fraction of the resources that MS has.

Innovation is good, but 20 different innovative products that are constantly changing (to keep up with their competitors) would make it hell for software and hardware developers to do their thing. I think this would have both slowed the industry AND completely eliminated some of the great things that have happened (major game releases, graphical achievments, leaps in hardware speed).

Think about your comparison to Nvidia or Intel. Their clear goal is to do more in less time (faster graphics, faster programs, better looking graphics...). And thats what probably everyone wants. Theres a LOT of room for innovation there. But on the operating system side, the general idea is to make things WORK. We dont need 20 companies innovating and complicating things with ideas to out do competitors while neglecting the basic goal of making it WORK (and something would have to be neglected because with a split market like that, none of them would have the resources to do everything they wanted).

That said, Im glad there is competition in the hardware markets, you are right it brings us tomorrows technology today. But with OSes I (along with probably 90% of users and software and hardware developers) would probably rather have one company make their operating system work properly with all others (since they own them all) than have a bunch of smaller companies competing and making problems.

Try installing ATI, Nvidia, SIS, S3, 3Dfx and Intel graphics cards and drivers all in the same machine and thatd probably be like what the computer industry would be without microsoft (ie, a mess).


Standards can be a great thing and they do generally make consumers’ lives easier.

One of the issues is that MS (and Intel (with some input from AMD)) set so many of those standards and they do so for their own reasons (i.e. profit/market dominance).

Come to think of it things weren't that bad before the MS/Intel dominance. There were still standards. OK there were different standards set by different companies but people could choose what was best for their needs/budget. For a lot of average users there was more choice. Not just in which OS/type-of-comp to use but also which office type app to use (average user=person that sticks to MSOffice/Windows and one or two other apps). OK, you can now have more of a say about what goes inside your computer but lets face it most people don't go down that route and there's always a risk that that software/hardware that is supposed to be compatible with your PC doesn't quite work for some reason (with or without prebuilt PCs).

I'm not sure if just following one CPU/OS route is always the best way to go. Especially with regards to innovation. I realise there's still plenty of innovation going on but unfortunately most users never get to see it and a lot of it gets very little investment. Lets face it MS/Intel can't afford too much of change otherwise they risk alienating a lot of their users.

[Skrot]

I have to agree with CapNkill

Imagine if MS hadn't run with x86 as well as they had. What kind of doorway would open for non-X86 CPU's and how many arches would we have to deal with? Ahh, just imagine it. No dodgy hack that is the x86. Mmmm...

Windows mostly sucks, but it's okay for people who don't want to know anything about a command line, and just like pretty buttons. MS completely sucks. Fsck you Microsoft. You are bastards!

[oldsk00l]

rofl

If only PPC caught on for mainstream PC's.

argh

I hear you there, but it's not as much fault to MS as it is Intel. I think they earned quite a bit of bile, so has AMD. Worst of all, us consumers for buying it.

I don't think MS is all bad, and I'm a huge Linux user. I still find value in both platforms, I just prefer Linux for the CLI and stability. If Longhorn can be configured not to suck, and be quite quick with a good GUI I'm sure it'll be worth a look.

[nIghtorius]

Ahh, just imagine it. No dodgy hack that is the x86. Mmmm...

Windows mostly sucks, but it's okay for people who don't want to know anything about a command line, and just like pretty buttons. MS completely sucks. Fsck you Microsoft. You are bastards!

and what OS are you using?

try pressing Windows+R and type "CMD" and enter.. OMG!!!! a CLI OMG OMG OMG

[vampireuk]

Ahh, just imagine it. No dodgy hack that is the x86. Mmmm...

Windows mostly sucks, but it's okay for people who don't want to know anything about a command line, and just like pretty buttons. MS completely sucks. Fsck you Microsoft. You are bastards!

:rofl

This is just for you
http://www.vampireuk.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/m$.gif
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20030630l.gif

[CaptNKILL]

:rofl

[Skrot]

:)

I've never called Microsoft M$, and I live with my girlfriend :)

I'm using Linux as we speak, by the way. And the windows command line is, shall we say, completely ****. It's sorta like the Matrix. You cannot be told what it is about linux that is better, you must see for yourself. Or something :)

Edit: What use is the windows command line, anyway? There's a difference between something existing and something being worth using (and oftentimes more efficient).

[nIghtorius]

:)

I've never called Microsoft M$, and I live with my girlfriend :)

I'm using Linux as we speak, by the way. And the windows command line is, shall we say, completely ****. It's sorta like the Matrix. You cannot be told what it is about linux that is better, you must see for yourself. Or something :)

Edit: What use is the windows command line, anyway? There's a difference between something existing and something being worth using (and oftentimes more efficient).

the Windows CLI can do everything you can do with the Windows GUI. even applying security and rights.

[Skrot]

the Windows CLI can do everything you can do with the Windows GUI. even applying security and rights.How do you mean applying security and rights? To files?

[vampireuk]

Excuse me while I go play some fun games :p

[Vash]

I like Linux. I also like Windows. And, if I get a chance, I'll probably also like OS X.

For me, which OS I use boils down to what I'm going to use it for. Windows, for me, is for games. I want to learn Linux, so I am using that for everything else. And thus far, it's working out wonderfully.

Gates, himself, is a very interesting guy - and very shrewd. I don't blame him personally for the stuff that his company does. I do enjoy Microsoft products on a daily basis. I just don't feel the need for them to be a one stop shop.

[FierceDeityLink]

How do you mean applying security and rights? To files?
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