Quoth the subject: "If I may interject".
The term "slaveryware" is a little extreme, but not out of reality. Microsoft does take steps to make themselves the *only* operating system out there (heck, they are even putting Windows on Macintosh!). They do not physically harm you if you switch Operating Systems, but they make it as hard for you as you can. For instance, the moment Windows XP sees ANYTHING else in the MBR of it's current HDD, it shuts down, and will not work until you replace the MBR with it's own code. This is obviously to make it harder for Linux users to share a HDD with Windows. As far as NTFS, they are keeping that code to themselves (last I checked). Why? So other people have a much more difficult time reading and writing NTFS from another OS (Linux).
Another big hook to keep you on Microsoft, is DirectX. Most of the big games are DirectX, and will not run on anything but DirectX. (I know, UT, DOOM, and Quake are for OpenGL). These keeps all gamers nailed down into Windows (Cedega/Wine help, but my experience has been less than satisfactory. Only Starcraft works well under Cedega for me, but that's another story). I'm a gamer, I know a lot of gamers, and guess what? We all have a windows OS. Only a few other people I know run Linux, but even so, we still using Windows for gaming. If windows would release the numbers on DirectX, everyone that I know (at least, the gamers), would be running linux (as they are all interested, but don't want to dual-boot). There are a few other examples, but I think you all get the point.
The term "slaveryware" is a little extreme, but not out of reality. Microsoft does take steps to make themselves the *only* operating system out there (heck, they are even putting Windows on Macintosh!). They do not physically harm you if you switch Operating Systems, but they make it as hard for you as you can. For instance, the moment Windows XP sees ANYTHING else in the MBR of it's current HDD, it shuts down, and will not work until you replace the MBR with it's own code. This is obviously to make it harder for Linux users to share a HDD with Windows. As far as NTFS, they are keeping that code to themselves (last I checked). Why? So other people have a much more difficult time reading and writing NTFS from another OS (Linux).
Another big hook to keep you on Microsoft, is DirectX. Most of the big games are DirectX, and will not run on anything but DirectX. (I know, UT, DOOM, and Quake are for OpenGL). These keeps all gamers nailed down into Windows (Cedega/Wine help, but my experience has been less than satisfactory. Only Starcraft works well under Cedega for me, but that's another story). I'm a gamer, I know a lot of gamers, and guess what? We all have a windows OS. Only a few other people I know run Linux, but even so, we still using Windows for gaming. If windows would release the numbers on DirectX, everyone that I know (at least, the gamers), would be running linux (as they are all interested, but don't want to dual-boot). There are a few other examples, but I think you all get the point.
In short, Microsoft tries to pull you into using their products over a 3rd party product, even if the latter is much better. Half of this is greed, since you have to pay for most Microsoft software. If you *have* to use this certain kind of DVD burning app on Vista, since that's the only one Microsoft will support (or else the computer will lock, on purpose, or something tricky like that), then Vista users are forced to pay Microsoft to get that application if they want to burn DVDs. Apple employs similar strategies, but that's another thread (which I'd be glad to have a discussion about, email me off gentoo lists.)
As far as flamewars, they do nothing but take up time, anger, and email. However, not every argument is a flamewar. A flame war is the typical "KDE vs. GNOME, which is better". This has no basis in reality, as "better" is a subjective term. Perhaps someone likes the look better for KDE. You don't argue taste. A real argument would be "Which has better support for... CD burning applications". Or "Which runs faster at a certain system specification." Or even "Which has a wider choice of customization (with every "aspect" having equal value to the next)". A good, logical argument is a very good thing, since all parties generally leave enlightened, usually bringing out the truth and destroying the falsehoods.
--
Samuel (shardz)
Noha+Shardz Productions: nsproductions.co.nr
Registered Linux User #410639
amarok.kde.org
usmc.mil
