Message-ID: <01FD6EC775C6D4119CDF0090273F74A4021F88@emwatent02.meters.com.au> From: "da Silva, Joe" To: "'opendos AT delorie DOT com'" Subject: RE: DOS v. Windooozz Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 13:11:02 +1100 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Content-Type: text/plain Reply-To: opendos AT delorie DOT com This is crap. Well, at least in part ... Mere mortals would NEVER be able to get by with Windoze, if not for people like us "holding their hand" and "replacing panes of glass" (Windoze is fragile!!!) for them! Mere mortals are just as capable of using DOS as Windoze, particularly with any of a number of menu programs, etc. Just give them some motivation, like a game, and watch how quickly they pick it up!!! They have merely been mislead by Gates into thinking they have ANY chance of coping with this Windoze crap by themselves. I still remember the disgraceful Windoze ads where an oldish secretary, returning to work after a 5 year break, and never having touched a computer before, goes for a job interview. While left alone for a few minutes, she accidentally touches the mouse, starts experimenting, and within a few minutes is creating spreadsheets and graphs and the like! What complete, utter, unmitigated crap!!! This is the sort of total misrepresentation that Gates used to convince the public and company executives (who are quite computer illiterate, yet make all the decisions on IT policy!) that with Windoze, anybody can use a computer! Total BS!!! ... There, I feel better now! ... I for one, don't "Use Windoze but dabble in DOS" ... rather I use Windoze only out of necessity - for most things I prefer DOS - it's cleaner, more efficient, and more transparent! Joe. > -----Original Message----- > From: Thomas Webb [SMTP:tawebb AT earthlink DOT net] > Sent: Tuesday, 20 February 2001 5:36 > To: opendos AT delorie DOT com > Subject: Re: DOS v. Windooozz > > Windoze was the natural result of a need to "dumb down" computer use so > that mere mortals could get the benefits. We have Apple and MicroSoft to > thank for the massive growth in the microcomputer industry. Without the > "consumerization" of the technology, we would still be running CP/M on > $8000 8-bit machines. (I was there, and believe me, those were not the > "good old days") > > If you want better tools, they are out there in the form of all the > flavors of unix, DR-DOS and the like. The reason Windoze has a virtual > lock on the world is that it is ->MARKETED<- big time and is > shrinkwrapped in an attractive package. Windoze is a perfect example of > the victory of style and cosmetics over content, but it and systems like > it will live forever because most of the buying population buys style > and content, not substance. Personally, I can't afford the time spent in > keeping MicroSoft stuff running cleanly. I use Linux/Xwindows with > StarOffice and it is bulletproof on an old Pentium 133. DR-DOS and > Arachne are a great combination for 486 and older machines, and Arachne > gives you a gui desktop for launching other DOS applications. We are > using DR-DOS and Arachne as the default platform for computers we run > through the recycling operation, and have had excellent luck with it. > > The sense I am getting from this thread is that there are a lot of > people running Windoze that are dabbling in DOS, but staying firmly > entrenched in Windoze. My own experience has been that your experience > would be much more pleasant and enriching if you would get an old > clunker 486 for $25-$50 and put DR-DOS on it by itself. Bill G never has > played well with the other kids, and there's little reason to believe he > ever will. > > -- > Tom Webb > Come visit at http://wordwonder.com