A Newbie Rant

[AdamskiAirsoft]

Hullo,

Since I am sick at home, I figured I might do a little bit of reading on C++. This got my thinking... why am I learning C++ again and not C#? Because of Microsoft's greedy hold on everything it can.

In my opinion, Microsoft does have some great things. They will have DirectX 10, they have C#, they have a new image format, WMP, and Visual Studio.

For the most part, people I think agree those are great things, but come at a price. DirectX 10? Developers will be using that, and in a few years most games will come standard with it. This will require gamers to get a Xbox360, or Windows Vista. Those will cost money, in addition to the hardware for your computer to run bloated Vista.

C#, I love that language. But it's only for Windows. The .NET framework is required also. I made a text adventure in C# for my spanish class, it was about 500kb's, but the .NET Framework bumped it up to 23. Not to mention the framework wouldn't even install on the computers. And their not releasing newer versions of it for Windows 2000 or below.

I programmed it in Visual C# Express. It was nice, besides having a 30 day trial, and being very slow to open.

WMP I'm sure is just another way Microsoft will take hold of a product group.

I use Windows 2000, even though my computer came with XP. Why? Cause XP is bloated. And yet, 2000 runs into errors, and will require restarts every now and then for it to keep running fast.

I believe Microsoft will continue taking over the market. Yes, some people will learn and switch to an alternative, but the majority will keep giving in to Microsoft. Once Microsoft has complete reign over the market, I think their quality will lower, security will lower, and its bloatedness raised. Consumers will notice this, and look for alternatives.

EDIT: After looking on these forums, I noticed it is not nearly as active as many other forums. I was expecting for this to be much more popular, but I guess Anti-Microsofters are few and far in between.

[Refalm]

Hello AdamskiAirsoft.

For the record, you can program C# in Linux too, using the Mono project.

On DirectX 10, you forgot to mention that every game that was programmed in DirectX 9 or below will run slower, because the prior versions of DirectX will be emulated.

I don't think WMP will catch on if Apple, Canon, Macromedia, etc. won't support it.

And on the popularity, well, most of the anti-Microsoft people are on Linux and Mac OS forums and such.

[Pathos]

believe it or not C# and .NET are open formats.

http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

C# is a very nice language, really its a rip off of java but better.

Unfortunately the features in Visual Studio .NET (incremental compiling) just mean it will be slow. If you don't think its the same for OSS try eclipse (although thats written in java ).

What kind of problems are you experiencing with win 2000 ?

PS MS bashing is more a hobby than anything else

[AdamskiAirsoft]

The main problem with Windows 2000 for me, is the fact you need to restart sometimes after installing or uninstalling, I've read this is because how all programs are connected and dependent on each other, while on say Linux, everything is independant. So if Firefox freezes, you can restart it, but say keep on coding.

Another problem, is that my computer can get sluggish if I dont restart in about half year to full year.

BTW: I forgot to mention this, but I don't think Windows is really all that, non secure. I mean, the majority of the script-kiddies out there hack Windows. There is to few users of Mac or Linux to even bother.

Also, alot of people say they get huge ammounts of spyware, adware, viruses, etc. and have to restart or even reformat sometimes. Thing is, that's user error. I keep my computer on 24/7. I am connected through the internet in so many ports 24/7. I'm hosting my on website on my own computer 24/7. I download ALOT of things too, and yet, I have NEVER had a problem with spyware, adware, viruses, or anything in the 3-4 years I've had this computer.

[worker201]

Another problem, is that my computer can get sluggish if I dont restart in about half year to full year.

That's called a slow memory leak.  It's caused by shitty programming (most likely from some kind of third party tool).  If you can go for half a year, that's pretty good.  Most computers are well served by restarting once a month or so.

Except for certain Linux boxes.  I have one running Slackware that I use as an FTP server, and it only gets shutdown when there is a power outage.

Actually, my Mac does pretty well also.  It has run for months on end, only being restarted when system software gets updated.

Anyway, a memory leak that slow is nothing to worry about.  I remember there was a skinner for IE back in the Win98 days that would crash the computer every couple days or so.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Loads of software contains memory leeks, OpenOffice does, try loading the quick starter, look at the memory usage, now open some and close some documents and it uses more memory than it did when it was first loaded!

[piratePenguin]

A new image format? Fucking brilliant.

[cymon]

Oh shit, they've got a whole new image format? Given MS's track record with image formats, (WMF anyone), I think I'll just skip this one by. Not to mention that we already have formats like jpeg and png that work just fine.

Not to mention the main reason Windows has so many exploits is because users are stupid.  I don't know where someone got the idea that running with a passwordless root account idea was a good idea.  Most spyware and other crap comes from IE, which is coincidentally bundled with windows, and is the most used browser.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Oh and let's not forger their greatest innovation the .bmp.

[pofnlice]

I thought the BSOD was windows greatest innovation.

[Jack2000]

no it was the "NEXT" button!

[mobrien_12]

Oh and let's not forger their greatest innovation the .bmp.

What's wrong with the .bmp exactly?

[mobrien_12]

believe it or not C# and .NET are open formats.

No.  You are not allowed to use the Common Language Infrastructure for anything but C# without a licence.  Thus, .NET is not an open format, only a tiny subset of it is.

[worker201]

What's wrong with the .bmp exactly?

All raster images are based on the same technology as the bmp.  It's just that the bmp has no compression algorithms running through it whatsoever.  So the files sizes tend to get out of control quickly.  The only way to control file size is to limit the amount of memory each pixel is allowed to store.

That being said, I think the main problem with bmp is Microsoft's bullheaded insistence on using it for everything, when there are so many other image formats to choose from.  And those formats are all, in some way, superior to bmp.  Microsoft's endorsement of bmp as a standard is more wrong than bmp itself.

[Lead Head]

All raster images are based on the same technology as the bmp.  It's just that the bmp has no compression algorithms running through it whatsoever.  So the files sizes tend to get out of control quickly.  The only way to control file size is to limit the amount of memory each pixel is allowed to store.

That being said, I think the main problem with bmp is Microsoft's bullheaded insistence on using it for everything, when there are so many other image formats to choose from.  And those formats are all, in some way, superior to bmp.  Microsoft's endorsement of bmp as a standard is more wrong than bmp itself.

Like how all the wallpapers and icons are in .bmp?