# A lame, apathetic Microsoft whine **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 14, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042 "2002-06-14T14:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/21 "2002-06-16T08:09:21Z")
.Net is either MS’s way to wrench control of the Internet from AOL, or worse, tries to emulate AOL La-La land, which is not the real Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/22 "2002-06-16T10:35:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ankh\_Too \* > \*\*at least it’s consistent. \*\* that MIGHT have something to do with the fact that all three of those programs were written at the same software company? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/23 "2002-06-16T10:36:14Z")
Well the ms passport was originally ms’s way having one registration for all its online services , So you used it in msn its travel services salon ect and some services that dont exist anymore … Now it seems it’s using it across the net , Is it still set up so you cant do much with out a passport on msn ? ---
**Author:** ![EnigmaOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EnigmaOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnigmaOne)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/24 "2002-06-16T16:44:19Z")
“at least it’s consistent.” …and M$ OSes consistently perform like a brick. This is somehow an up-side? “that MIGHT have something to do with the fact that all three of those programs were written at the same software company?” Written? Ha! Bought? Maybe. Ripped-off? Most likely…just like M$ ripped off ClearType ([GRC.com](http://GRC.com)). I preferred ^ks or ^kd myself, until I tried esc-:w 😃 (~3 years up-time, and never a crash) ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/25 "2002-06-17T09:36:57Z")
… Because we all know that it’s against the laws of reality for anything even remotely positive to come from Microsoft… ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/26 "2002-06-17T11:12:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Ripped-off? Most likely…just like M$ ripped off ClearType ([GRC.com](http://GRC.com)). Oh wonderful, a link to the great loony himself. [Here’s](http://grc.com/cleartype.htm) the actual link. From his main page he says > [@](#): > > Microsoft says they invented their “ClearType” technology, but I quickly and independently “invented” the same thing . . . as had others who came years before. It is very cool, but rather obvious. Which in fact means that once he’d had the idea pointed out to him by MS’ Comdex announcement, he wrote an implementation of it. Not “independently invented” it. He then wurbles on about how he and “Woz” (Steve Wozniak) invented it umpteen years before. He conveniently glosses over the fact that their work was aimed at CRTs, and MS have developed their system for LCDs. He then claims: > [@](#): > > Thus, Microsoft’s ‘ClearType’ application of sub-pixel text rendering does not represent the dramatic breakthrough that they claim and it can not be the valid subject for intellectual property acquisition. Which displays a fairly major misunderstanding of the intellectual property system. Steve, face it. MS had the idea of applying sub-pixel techniques to LCDs before anyone else, including you. They deserve their patent. Deal with it. If you want to see more of Gibson’s quite astounding self-promotion, name dropping and general daft bigheadedness, perusal of his website is an education, it really is. Note how he claims to have been “requested by the FBI” to write program X, which turns out to mean he wrote a program to address a problem the FBI are publically concerned with. Gasp! at the insidious threat that is raw sockets in XP, but forget! that the same thing exists in every implementation of UNIX, and has done for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/27 "2002-06-17T13:11:06Z")
Dammit I might have guessed this thread would turn into a Linux soapbox - I should have suffered in silence. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/28 "2002-06-17T13:22:53Z")
Christ. Mentioning linux/unix makes a thread a soapbox? The only ‘soapboxing’ I saw was jinwicked and white-tigress’s tongue-in-cheek comments (which also irritate the fuck out of me, but people like EnigmaOne make them somewhat unavoidable) ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/29 "2002-06-17T20:20:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Venoma \* > \*\* > that MIGHT have something to do with the fact that all three of those programs were written at the same software company? 😉 \*\* Well, since everyone else is doing it that way now, too, it doesn’t much matter. I can CTRL+S on every program on my computer, regardless of its original designer. Ditto CTRL+V, CTRL+C, and CTRL+X, among many others. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/30 "2002-06-18T00:09:58Z")
Windows isn’t _that_ consistent – you can still find folks who have to decide between CTRL-Q and ALT-F4 to quit a program… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ankh\_Too](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Ankh\_Too](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ankh_Too)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/31 "2002-06-18T03:01:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EnigmaOne \* > \*\*“at least it’s consistent.” > > …and M$ OSes consistently perform like a brick. This is somehow an up-side? > > “that MIGHT have something to do with the fact that all three of those programs were written at the same software company?” > > Written? Ha! > Bought? Maybe. > Ripped-off? Most likely…just like M$ ripped off ClearType ([GRC.com](http://GRC.com)). > > I preferred ^ks or ^kd myself, until I tried esc-:w 😃 > (~3 years up-time, and never a crash) \*\* Oh, good god. I was simply trying to point out that the keyboard short-cuts that are availible in linux are also availible in Windows and, I assume, Mac OS as well, so that the claim _“Doesn’t take nearly as long as File-Save As”_ was a stretch, at best. The statement about it being consistent was an attempt to contrast the several different commands illustrated by **Venoma**. I simply chose first three text/word processing programs that sprant to my mind. It’s not as if it’s limited to only Microsoft products. My html app Homesite (yeah, I’m a pussy, I actually use a coding app) uses it, Hell, even Adobe products use it. That said, I like linux. I’ve got a little Celeron 400 sitting on my rack here which I’m using to (slowly) teach myself linux and apache administrating. Open Source software definitely has a place in the world of computing, but so does Microsoft. I’ve got another Celly running Windows 2000 Server and IIS 5, because it has a place in computing as well, and I’d like to be able to work on both. The benefits of one operating system or program do not automatically mean that there are no benefits to a competing product. You may not like Microsoft products, but in your enthusiasm to spread the gospel, you may want to take a look at [Venoma’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=120912) thread in the pit. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Venoma_ > \*\*Christ. Mentioning linux/unix makes a thread a soapbox? \*\* I certainly didn’t take your comment to be soapbox-ifying, nor did I think was my reply. However, that said, I think anytime someone decides to trash anything connected to Bill Gates _He Who Leads Us All Into Darkness[sup]TM[/sup]_ and starts tossing out the rather childish M$ slogan, definitely qualifies. Upon further review, I see **Winnowill** has already made the point I was originally trying to make. I’m going to go stand in the corner now. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/32 "2002-06-18T04:45:41Z")
If you’re going to quote Steve from GRC, at least be faithful to the text: > [@](#): > > **Microsoft** _says_ they invented their “ClearType” technology, but **I** quickly and independently “_invented_” the same thing . . . as had _ **others** _ who came years before\*\*!!!\*\* Steve is funniest when read aloud. He’s like the formatting version of madlibs. ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042/33 "2002-06-18T10:11:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Windows isn’t _that_ consistent – you can still find folks who have to decide between CTRL-Q and ALT-F4 to quit a program… 😉 \*\* You forgot ctrl-alt-del enter Some of my games are really stubborn. “No, really, you don’t want to quit now…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-apathetic-microsoft-whine/114042.md?page=1)