|I will never buy another Microsoft computer.
| gerald Keene
|
Microsoft doesn't produce computers.
Microsoft is the company that twists the arms of actual computer companies
to coerce them to install operating systems with a lousy security model.

...but on the No-More-Money-To-Microsoft sentiment, I say "Amen, brother".

|When a company can buy off the virus control companies[...]
|
A red herring.  It ignores the fact that
M$ software is an open wound just waiting to be infected.
If an OS/app is **built from the ground up to be SECURE**, it isn't an issue.

...and M$'s latest *half-fast* (read that phrase quickly to get my point) effort
plods along at half the speed of their previous effort
--when run on hardware that is twice as powerful as what the last one required.

...then there's DRM. http://www.google.com/search?q=broadcast.flag+vista+nbc

|I'm going to keep my old 98SE but, I'll keep it off line.
|
If you have the disk space, you can make that box a dual boot setup
--with the other OS being something UNIX-based
(which *IS* safe to use to go online).

...and as Steve said, infections have traditionally been about *human behavior*
(and about people still using M$'s crappy browser and crappy email client).

|But I'm going to get myself a Mac Book.
|
*Anything* UNIX-based is better than anything M$ produces.
More below.

|I won't need any virus program with it.
|
Well, if you send email to someone with a Windoze box,
they might get PO'd if you forward them something that contains a Windoze infection.
(That would be the only reason to have AV on a Unix system--which OS X *is*.)
If that is the case, look into ClamAV; it's gratis (and libre).

|I think that's what we all ought to do, buy a Mac.
|
A company that wants me to not install any hardware after I receive the computer
is completely off-base.

...and single-source hardware is not an option, IMO.
The "open architecture" of IBM-compatible boxes is the better model.

...though Apple has moved away from PowerPC hardware and to x86 hardware
--and there has recently been a "Hackintosh":
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/30/2253255#23259450
which may prove to be even better than Apple's offering:
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/20/177244#23480244

OTOH, the named-after-cats OSes have earned their good reputation.
I think Steve got into the game a little early.  8-(
Early adopters often have a lousy experience (see "half-fast", above)
--though I don't expect Vista to EVER be a contender.


For cheapskates (like me)--and for folks who don't like
when software companies try to tell them what they CAN'T do:

There is probably no reason that your old x86 hardware can't run LINUX.
I already mentioned the dual-boot option.

It costs you $0 to 
try Linux (and likely no more to use it). 
cache of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions#Cost

If you scroll down on that page, you'll see the number *23000*
which is the number of applications Ubuntu/Kubuntu/etc. supports.
You can get the majority of those FREE via their "package manager"
which I bet you'll find much easier than anything Windoze has to offer.

You DON'T even have to INSTALL Linux to try it; you can boot to a "Live" CD
and run everything from there for as many "test drives" as you like.

Ubuntu is the current darling of the Desktop Linux crowd;
Kubuntu and Xubuntu are variants (which former Windows users tend to like).
You can get Kubuntu delivered to your door gratis--even the postage is paid. 
cache of http://https://shipit.kubuntu.org

Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux can run on even more anemic boxes.
Customize the app suite to your heart's content.

As Novell has made (patent-encumbered) 
pacts with M$,
I now actively advise AGAINST  using 
their distribution (SuSE/OpenSuSE).


If you get really crazy about Linux, there's something called WINE
that allows you to run Windows-compatible apps without any Microsoft code
and you can finally say "GOOD RIDDANCE, REDMOND".

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