No one’s noticed the never ending consumer loop? New software requires bigger badder faster computer. New OS means new software and then again bigger badder faster machine.

Now, if MS would ever bother to perfect something prior to release…something they have never done, that would be one thing, but the business of selling crap continuously, consumers all sing BAH in unison, while bending over.

Oh, for the record, the only MS product I ever bought was a dos1.0 to run on an antique I had. All the rest were donated to me from my brother when he upgraded to the newer crap. AT least my crap was free.

You’re going to add Thousands of cat photos?

Anything I want to do I can do with XP. I have a firewall and run AV. If I want to watch TV, there is one in my living room and bedroom. If I want to listen to music I can put something for background while I work at the computer or I can relax in the living room for the high end stuff. If I want a pretty looking desktop, I have one now.

I just removed Ubuntu. Not because it was a bad system. I just didn’t use it and I wanted to use that HDD to store more photographs.

I really would like a new laptop computer for music performance but I will not buy one with Vista on it. XP works just fine with my music applications and hardware. Vista can only mean brand new driver problems — even though I am using the external gear I have had for years! And, that’s not to mention the way the new kernel has been bound to DRM and, now, the latest spy controversy. And, of course, the usual bunch of bugs that are rampant in any new operating system will certainly plague Vista.

Why are we being forced to buy an operating system that we don’t want or need? If Microsoft wants an income stream why not issue annual updates and mods to their existing system? They could offer subscriptions to that service. It would certainly be much better than having to completely change operating systems every few years.

I too plan to make my next system a Macintosh.

XP was the first operating system I ever installed on my personal computer where I couldn’t identify and close all the open and listening ports. I still can’t. The first dynamically assigned port opens before you even log in to XP and you can close it with a firewall but then the next available dynamically assigned port opens – ad infinitum.

I don’t know why it’s open or why it’s always listening for something to connect to it. I asked but it’s the first question I ever asked on the Internet where I didn’t eventually get a satisfactory answer.

It’s probably nothing but I did immediately switch to Linux, where I either know or can figure out exactly what’s happening on my own computer.

There are many ports continuously open to the Internet on XP and there are good explanations for some of them but it just freaks me out, not being in total control of my own computer. After all, I bought XP but of course I don’t own it. According to the legalese on the package, Micro$oft owns it.

I suspect Vista is a nightmare of mysterious open ports but I’ll never know because I’ll never allow it on my computer. Recently I’ve been setting up a lot of dual boot machines where my friends use Ubuntu on the ‘Net and XP for games but XP is NOT allowed Internet access.

This may be the way of the future for intelligent people who don’t like virii, spyware, worms, rootkits, etcetera.

Scroll down to “Download this document from…”

This jerk is clearly just another apple/FOSS troll trying to change the world to fit his own private worldview!

It would be nice if we could read the article, rather than just the abstract claiming that “Solove critiques the nothing to hide argument and exposes its faulty underpinnings.”

Have a read at this: ‘I’ve Got Nothing to Hide’ and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy