Why do so many people hate Microsoft.

[Dakota]

I've seen so many people who hate Microsoft so my question to you all is why?I'm not mad or anything I'm just wondering. :?
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Its height.

[Glen Cott]

Because they're monopolising the market, and they are mean ol' bullies!!

I'm sure there are many more reasons, but that's mine.

[Schala-Kid]

that's exactly what i was going to say - but for most things to work, and information to be shared, they've got to be universal, so, the same system helps, and it'd always be "Get what's compatible with everyone else" or "use the reccomended programs", and most all tend to be microsoft products.

as to their monopoly, i guess seeing it's profitability, you'd wonder why it sees smaller companies as threats, but again, in the business sense, it's a threat, and if you got the $$$ to back up the legality to protect your business, you damn sure will try.

it's easy to vilify their high profits and success, but business isn't always pretty, and the only way to stay on top, includes keeping everyone else at the bottom. it sucks, but if it wasn't microsoft, it'd be someone else, and they'd be doing the exact same thing (regardless of what they say now as an underdog)

[Alseid]

[Aurelien]

I don't hate Microsoft at all to be honest. I like using Windows, it's easy to use and wouldn't be as complicated compared to Unix. And most, if not all, games are compatible with Windows while might be only some are compatible with other operating systems. So yeah, I like Microsoft.
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~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Elc]

I don't hate Microsoft because they're mainstream, I hate them because not only do they control the PC market, they overcharge their products to the consumers. Windows XP Professional costs $450 Canadian (the Amazon.ca price, before any taxes) whereas the latest Microsoft Office is $650 Canadian (before taxes).

From my own experience, they operating systems aren't all that great, since there's a 50% chance I will get the Blue Screen of Death when trying to perform a simple function such as shutting down the computer. There are too many security holes which should not be there, which renders Windows vulnerable to any number of worms and viruses.

Then there's Internet Explorer, not an overly-terrible browser, but certainly not one of my favourites. Somebody at Microsoft got the brilliant idea to integrate the Internet Explorer browser into the Windows operating system. So, whenever IE crashes, there's a good chance it will wreak havoc on the OS as well.

Perhaps the biggest reason I dislike Microsoft (hate is such a strong word) is their insatiable greed. They started out as a software company for computers, but as the company has grown, they've done what they could do to buy out their competition. Then they noticed how profitable to home entertainment sector could be (like the richest company in the world needs even more money) and got involved in the home console market, buying up development houses left and right.

A couple years ago, I also heard they want to replace the projectors in movie theatres with a version of Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Now the last thing I want after paying $10+ of my money to see a movie is the show cut off halfway and display an illegal function error.

I'd better stop, since even thinking about what makes me dislike Microsoft can set me on an incomprehensible rant with no end. However, I don't want to see any company monopolozing any markets.

I do, however, like some of Microsoft's computer-related hardware (no, not the Xbox) such as the natural keyboard and optical mouse. I have had a glitch or two with the mouse, not sure if it's hardware or software related but I digress, though it's nothing that clicking on the scroll bar doesn't fix.
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[Schala-Kid]

[Alseid]

[Aurelien]

[Elc]

Bugg, I can't speak for Windows XP as I am running Windows 98 Second Edition. I can't recall any appearances of the blue screen while working on college computers running Windows 2000, though Internet Explorer did have a tendency to force you to go through the setup process at random. I've tried numerous things to eliminate the ocurrences of the blue screen, including defragmenting the hard drive, but it keeps happening. It's a recent problem, as well, so I'm not sure if it has anything to do with any of the Windows Updates which my system sometimes advises me to do... if it was a side-effect, that wouldn't do anything to improve my opinion on Microsoft.

Alseid, I don't think it's right with Sony or Nintendo either. We shouldn't forget that until a couple years ago, Nintendo owned a good chunk of Rare, and when they opted against buying the company outright, Microsoft swooped in and bought them up. We should also remember that it is because of Nintendo that Sony entered into competion with Nintendo with the PlayStation. Companies also jumped over to the PlayStation because of the CD-based nature of the system, while Nintendo stuck with silicon cartridges. Had the Nintendo 64 been a CD-based system, it's possible Final Fantasy VII would have been released as a Nintendo game, and there wouldn't have been a falling out between (then) Squaresoft and Nintendo. It's just my opinion, of course, but Microsoft doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to quality. That's my biggest worry when it comes to a potential Microsoft-monopoly in the home console market.

Of course, there are two sides to the coin, being that if a company doesn't want to be bought out, they don't have to sell.

Schala-Kid, I understand the concept of business growth, but in the video game market, it is more profitable for development houses to get their games on as many of the consoles as they can. Each have their strengths and weaknesses and each have genres which they specialize in. At this point, Microsoft is actually losing money with the Xbox and some stuff I've heard online (I wish I could provide links or sources, but it was quite a while ago) suggest that Microsoft blames the less-than-stellar performance of the Xbox sales wise to being released at least a year later than the PlayStation 2, so they plan to cut the life of the Xbox short and release its successor before Sony can release the PlayStation 3. Personally, I don't think it will make much difference. Sony has an established fanbase which will most likely stick with a PlayStation, and the same person may also get the successor to the Xbox. Microsoft may get better sales, but I don't think they'll overtake Sony in the long run.

I just can't understand how Microsoft, which is supposed to have the best programmers in the world, churns out stuff which is so susceptible to attack. A few years ago, I had been considering upgrading to Windows XP, but the security issues and the whole "product activation" nonsense put an end to that. If you pay such a price for the license, you should be able to install it on any computer you own. My brother had a burned copy (not condoning piracy) and when he went to Microsoft's site to look for a patch, they killed the OS. So that's another reason why I dislike Microsoft, they'll bleed their customers dry for mediocre products and then have a fit when the consumers have had enough and won't hand over their hard earned money?

Like I said, I'm not condoning piracy, but if they would lower prices to a more acceptible level, resist the urge to rush out products which will need patch after patch just to work properly, and cut the product activation crap, I know I'd be more willing to give them a chance. With their bank account, they can afford it but when you're on a tight budget you can't. I have more sympathy to a working person who doesn't make very much than a greedy corporation worth $40 billion plus.
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[Jebus]

I'm going to have to agree with the idea about it being popular to hate Microsoft. At least in nerd circles. However, in my experience, Windows seems to do nothing but crash and contract various viruses and the like. When I used Macs this never happened once.

Of course this could all just be a bunch of coincidences, and even if their not, nobody listens to me anyway. :D
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[Alseid]

It's also remarkable how using Macs seems to be considered "hip" as well... That can't be a coincidence.
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All the way to the edge of this world

[Saben]

I dislike Microsoft, but not enough to say I hate them, nor move to Linux. If I did hate them as much as Elc seems to, I would not be using a Windows based system, though. Indeed, even so I intend on my next computer being a Mac (hopefully). If you really do hate Microsoft, then either change systems or just put up with it, or if you hate all Operating Systems either stop using computers or just create your own OS. I think the issue is similar to Bush-haters, most people are just on the "cool" bandwagon, there are legitimate concerns and reasons for disliking both Bush and Microsoft, but very few people hate them for those reasons or even understand the reasons.

[Aurelien]

[Elc]

A change in my operating system is on my list, though I've been contemplating whether I should keep Windows 98 as well. In another thread (I believe it was the Fable one) it was mentioned Windows 98 is th best for gaming. I don't do a lot of computer gaming, but one option I could do is get a second hard drive and keep Windows 98 on it and use an updated operation system on my main drive.

It may also be possible that the copy of Windows 98 I've got is a bit faulty, as the computer I have now was built entirely new (save the floppy drive) several years ago, and Windows 98 seemed to argue even then. It could use an upgrade, and I'll most likely get a new operating system then.

As for the blue screen of death, I've been lucky and pleased that it hasn't been as prominent lately. *knock on wood*
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."