There'll be no XP for me
Oct. 10th, 2001 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottobearThe following are some of the reasons that XP feels to me like a downgrade rather than an upgrade.
* You need a Passport. Despite the severe security weaknesses of Microsoft's Passport authentication system (see http://www.avirubin.com/passport.html for an AT&T Labs analysis), XP repeatedly requests the user's e-mail address and password to create a Passport e-commerce account, and Microsoft made Passport a requirement to use Windows Messenger and other features.
* Spam I am. The Passport agreement, which you accept when you click OK, permits Microsoft and its partners to send you an unlimited number of commercial e-mail messages. Furthermore, you can't rescind Microsoft's permission to use your e-mail address. You must unsubscribe from every partner's e-mail list individually. One marketing study found that many well-known companies won't take you off their e-mail lists even after several requests (see http://brianlivingston.com/011008 ).
* We don't need no stinkin' contract. The same agreement says that Microsoft can change the contract's terms at any time, merely by editing a Web page. Every time you use Passport, you're supposed to reread this page to see if you detect any changes. Right. I predict that one day the contract will read, "If you use Passport after the 1st of next month, a $4.95-per-month charge will be placed on the credit card number you registered."
* Weak Java. Instead of including the latest version of Java support, as a recent Sun-Microsoft lawsuit settlement would suggest, XP will default to a 4-year-old version. Users can get a new Java download, but its 5MB size will discourage many.
* No plug-ins. Internet Explorer loses support for all Netscape-style plug-ins, including embedded QuickTime clips (unless you download a kludge from Apple). New users surfing the Web under XP will undoubtedly run into sites that IE will no longer handle properly.
I haven't even gotten to XP's Product Activation scheme.
What all these new XP "features" have in common is that they make Windows more convenient for Microsoft but less convenient for users. I think I'll stick with Windows 2000. (and chug along with a happy unix environment if I want to work outside of that)
People ask me why I don't like Microsoft and then try to convince me that Windows is a great OS and that IIS is a great web server. Now, don't misunderstand me. I don't hate Microsoft software, I hate Microsoft. More specifically, I hate Microsoft's incredibly unethical and monopolistic business practices. I regularly and happily use Microsoft software on Windows and am pleased that Microsoft has some brilliant engineers working on some incredible technologies and writing great software. What I don't like is when Microsoft uses its monopoly position in the OS and Web browser markets to hurt the competition. What I don't like is when Microsoft treats their customers like crap because they know they've got most of them locked into a technology choice.
* You need a Passport. Despite the severe security weaknesses of Microsoft's Passport authentication system (see http://www.avirubin.com/passport.html for an AT&T Labs analysis), XP repeatedly requests the user's e-mail address and password to create a Passport e-commerce account, and Microsoft made Passport a requirement to use Windows Messenger and other features.
* Spam I am. The Passport agreement, which you accept when you click OK, permits Microsoft and its partners to send you an unlimited number of commercial e-mail messages. Furthermore, you can't rescind Microsoft's permission to use your e-mail address. You must unsubscribe from every partner's e-mail list individually. One marketing study found that many well-known companies won't take you off their e-mail lists even after several requests (see http://brianlivingston.com/011008 ).
* We don't need no stinkin' contract. The same agreement says that Microsoft can change the contract's terms at any time, merely by editing a Web page. Every time you use Passport, you're supposed to reread this page to see if you detect any changes. Right. I predict that one day the contract will read, "If you use Passport after the 1st of next month, a $4.95-per-month charge will be placed on the credit card number you registered."
* Weak Java. Instead of including the latest version of Java support, as a recent Sun-Microsoft lawsuit settlement would suggest, XP will default to a 4-year-old version. Users can get a new Java download, but its 5MB size will discourage many.
* No plug-ins. Internet Explorer loses support for all Netscape-style plug-ins, including embedded QuickTime clips (unless you download a kludge from Apple). New users surfing the Web under XP will undoubtedly run into sites that IE will no longer handle properly.
I haven't even gotten to XP's Product Activation scheme.
What all these new XP "features" have in common is that they make Windows more convenient for Microsoft but less convenient for users. I think I'll stick with Windows 2000. (and chug along with a happy unix environment if I want to work outside of that)
People ask me why I don't like Microsoft and then try to convince me that Windows is a great OS and that IIS is a great web server. Now, don't misunderstand me. I don't hate Microsoft software, I hate Microsoft. More specifically, I hate Microsoft's incredibly unethical and monopolistic business practices. I regularly and happily use Microsoft software on Windows and am pleased that Microsoft has some brilliant engineers working on some incredible technologies and writing great software. What I don't like is when Microsoft uses its monopoly position in the OS and Web browser markets to hurt the competition. What I don't like is when Microsoft treats their customers like crap because they know they've got most of them locked into a technology choice.
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no subject
Date: 2001-10-10 09:27 am (UTC)*shakes her head*
Re:
Date: 2001-10-10 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2001-10-10 09:37 am (UTC)You can thank Sun for getting Microsoft's Java Engine removed from XP, and you can thank Netscape for Microsoft getting rid of the old "plugin" architecture.
No bother, you can download a new Java Engine straight from Windows Update, and Quicktime has released a small (around 300k) ActiveX version of their plugin. Problems solved.
About the passport.. don't use Messenger then. Just uninstall it or remove it from startup. It won't bother you anymore. Also it should be known that when you make a hotmail account, you've just made a passport as well. :)
The product activation system hasn't caused me any trouble yet, and I've even changed out my video card/network card/sound card all at once. And when I first installed it, it activated me online. No calls, no hassles. Just did it's thing.
I just think you need to give it a chance :) You sound like a Unix/*BSD type of guy though.. so you might be partial off the bat.
Re:
Date: 2001-10-10 09:46 am (UTC)(and for what it's worth, I forgot my passport workaround... set up a dummy hotmail account.)
I'll be still playing with it on a brewmaster machine here at work, but I can't reccomend it systemwide when win2000 works just fine now... another reason to stick with it is that *Everything works right now* :)
no subject
Date: 2001-10-10 03:27 pm (UTC)I also agree I don't like Microsoft's business practices (although, I don't consider all those issues to be a symptom of this), but as I can't actually find *anything* wrong with Win2K, I'll stick with it for now.
Re:
Date: 2001-10-10 03:39 pm (UTC)getting some, but not all comment notifications
Date: 2005-10-09 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2001-10-11 02:21 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2001-10-11 06:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2001-10-11 11:09 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2001-10-11 11:18 am (UTC)