how do you windows users put up with this?

The BBQ Pit
1

(Disclaimer, the following is incoherent rambling from a rabid Mac Fanatic, so bear this in mind when reading, i know my views about pc’s are horribly distorted, so don’t bother telling me that, i already know that and frankly, i don’t care :wink: )

anyway, on with the rambling…

i had to put an old 98SE pc on the test bench (it’s used to program our phone system) to check it out, as we need to reprogram our phones, i ran the standard diagnostics and needed to update a couple drivers (CF card reader and microdrive), so i put the machine on our network and grabbed the drivers off the net, i also downloaded Ad-Aware and Spybot, as well as Firefox, and went about securing the crapbox

first off, i turned off all the “allow applications/websites to install software” crap, then i set up Firefox as the default browser, turned on ad blocking and turned off auto-installs, i was only on the web for about a half hour…

after i got the drivers and other crap i needed, i ran Ad-Aware, and it found 175 potential spyware apps, and i was only on the web for a half hour, and i was only hitting legit websites like versiontracker, mozilla.org, and the Microtech website, the spyware crap was deleted, and after all that, the frelling card reader still isn’t being seen…

it’s times like this that really make me appreciate my Macs, no spyware headaches, no viruses, a web browser that actually works and doesn’t attempt to hijack my system, and no drivers needed for the flash card reader, i just plug it in and it works, it only took 5 minutes on the peecee before i felt like putting my fist thru the screen

will someone tell me how, for Og’s sake, m$ was able to brainwash the public into thinking that windoze was actually good…

yes, yes, i know that 98SE is old and outdated and that XP probably (if you believe the marketing drones) works well, runs stably, and whitens your teeth as you use it, but i don’t believe it for a second, XP is just 98SE with a “Fisher Price™” interface on it, but honestly, i don’t care, hate windoze, and i will never use it myself…

still, part of me wants to get a cheap, low end “wintendo” system just to see how bad it is, so when it does break, i have to repair it, besides, i really should learn how to repair “dark side” crapboxes, as it’ll make me more valuable in the workplace…

you know the old saying, “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer…” i consider billy-boy-gate$ and his brainless minions of evil my mortal enemy

so, strange question time, what’s the lowest quality cheap crapbox out there, i’m looking for something that will break, so i’m forced to learn how to troubleshoot windoze, i’m looking for a machine that will have hardware and software issues, i figure the SW issues are easy, just run it unsecured on the web, no anti-spyware apps, no antivirus stuff, and visit “adult” websites…it’ll only be a matter of hours before i’m forced to reinstall the OS, right? :wink:

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Umm… I think I know what you’re asking here. As for low-quality Windows machines, when they break, it’s going to be because of hardware issues, not the actual OS. So it won’t really teach you much about troubleshooting Windows (except for the time spent trying to figure out what happened until you realize it’s hardware). XP is in fact quite a bit better than 98 and much more stable. Go for a Windows ME or something; those usually have a lot of problems if I remember correctly. If you really want to learn from the beginning, I would say build your own computer. You could probably do it for well under $100 since you’re not looking for a power house or anything. Build it and you will learn a lot more than if you try to troubleshoot a POS that’s most likely failing due to hardware.

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So you put a W98 machine on your network and it got infected with all sorts of malware in short order? Sounds like you have some security issues in your network. Yes, of course Win98 isn’t a particularly secure OS in its plain vanilla form and it is a far more popular target for attack than Apple Macs, in fact, all of your criticisms of Windows/MS may be true, but it sounds like you’re telling us there’s no firewall between your network and the internet - which is not a good thing.

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blinks

Not exactly a fair comparison, is it?
Try running your Mac on OS8 and tell us how well you go. IIRC, OS8 and Win 98SE were about the same generation.

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This is actually completely false; You could describe XP as a tarted up version of Win2K or even NT, but XP is not a direct descendant of Win9x at all.

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Probably most of the “spyware” was just tracking cookies.

Having used about every Windows flavor from 3.1 to XP, XP is a world of difference. I’m not a big fan of M$, but you just can’t beat the price difference. I just can’t afford to pay 2-3x the price for a Mac. Sure, they’re pretty and user freindly, but the price is just too dang high. Someday I’m going to get motivated and move to Linux anyway.

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I’m sure you meant to start this thread in The Pit.

I’ll move it for you.

Cajun Man
for the SDMB

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I figured as much, remember, i said i wasn’t overly familiar with windows, and i knew 98 was outdated, still, it was somewhat depressing to see a system infected with malware within a half hour

as far as the network goes, yes, the boss hasn’t put any effort into securing it, i’m talking to him tomorrow about that, i mean, the AirPort base station didn’t even have a password before this afternoon (i implemented it), i’m reccomending a total lockdown, password protection, hidden SSID, MAC address filtering, the whole 9 yards, we don’t need to be serving up free wireless for the local area, our network’s slow enough as it is…

so, i’d be better off with a build-it-yourself machine, any reccomendations, i just want the basics, and to be able to play some of my old pc games like Worms Armageddon, Star Trek Armada, and Dungeon Keeper 2…

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Perhaps they don’t share your admitted “horribly distorted” views.

Is this a rant against Microsoft, or are you pitting your own stubborn and willfull ignorance here?

So you spend ten sputtering paragraphs calling peoples’ computers “crapboxes,” assume they must be somehow brainwashed to chose the OS they did, and then ask them for advice? Phrased a different way, I would have happily answered your question. Now? I don’t think so.

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To seriously answer your original question – we don’t put up with it. There’s no particularly good reason to use a six-year-old OS. As previously noted, WinXP is not a tarted-up Win98, any more than OS X is a reskinned OS 9. The core of the OS itself changed, and is much better.

Why do I use the system that’s the target of so many malware and spyware attempts? Because I play games, and games come out for the PC years before they come out for the Mac, if they come out at all. Sure, there are notable exceptions like World of Warcraft, but they are exceptions. If you want to play City of Heroes, Half-Life 2, Knights of the Old Republic II or almost any other game released in the last two years, you need a PC.

You even need one to play older games, because with the tiny installed base of home users, the market for Mac games just does not justify the cost of game development or porting.

Plus, the inane refusal of Apple to realize that a second mouse button offering contextual menu options is a system-level Good Thing is just ridiculous.

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As soon as MACs become popular enough for slimeballs to write spyware and viruses for them, they will.

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…and on the very same day, there will be a snowball fight in Hell.

I like Macs. I used to use them for work. But there’s no way they’re ever going to have significant market share. They are simply Too Fucking Expensive. Even the Mac Mini is twice as expensive as a similarly-powered el cheapo eMachines box.

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We put up with them because we can’t afford Macs. This is like asking a Kia driver why he doesn’t buy a Mercedes.

BECAUSE HE CAN’T FUCKING AFFORD IT!

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But for some reason most apps are written for windows.

No I don’t want to hear about emulators.

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We need a new word for threads like this:

macsturbation

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You Mac folks are funny!,
I am still waiting for one (1) specific example of why PC’s are inferior, every time I ask a Mac person I get the “head shake of despair” and the line “you just don’t understand”.
As far as that Mac mini thing, megabucks for an underpowered machine with no monitor, keyboard or anything is freakin’ ridiculous and Mac people have told me that!.

Unclviny (who understands the “hate the rich guy” thing but doesn’t let it control his life)

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[QUOTE=MacTech]
will someone tell me how, for Og’s sake, m$ was able to brainwash the public into thinking that windoze was actually good…

I don’t think it did. It’s just that whole world had already embraced DOS-based computers simply because of the cache IBM had at the time PCs began to hit the market, and the Mac-like Windows interface was the obvious solution to user desire for the more intuitive icon-based interface popularized by the Mac.

To me, it seemed like a large and respected machinery maker named General Motors developed a car with a clunky 3-speed manual transmission at the same time that Lotus Flower Mtr. Co. came out with a beautiful, well functioning automobile with a smooth and perfectly functioning automatic transmission, and the whole world went out and bought the 3-speed…simply because General Motors was well known and respected and Lotus Flower sounded lightweight and silly.

Thus the success of Gates and Microsoft and the marginalization of Apple.

In my opinion, this really sucks…but there you have it.

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You are assuming that there was no spyware, cookies whatever on the machine when you fired it up. This appears to be a mighty large assumption for a box that is what 6 years old?

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Apparently, Macs have no shift key. That’s all I came to say.

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Your flawed analogy is actually somewhat apt, since a Lotus costs far more than most GM cars.

And as I’ve said countless times in countless threads, there are pros and cons for both OSes. To prop one up as a paragon of operating system excellence and assume anyone who uses the other has no valid reason to do so is ignorant at best, and disingenuous at worst.