Because they come preinstalled because Microsoft controls the market through illegal and unethical means?

That's it!!

So, i agree that windows is very cool sometimes (i won't even try to ask my girl install Linux ) but the _agressive_ monopolization made by Microsoft (R)(TM)(..copyrights .. ) is annoying!!!

... And another reason is that opensource rulez !

always important to remember that just because one company holds the marketshare doesn't mean that their product is better. It means that they just hold that marketshare. Millions of possible reasons why. Look at it objectively. Why do you think MS holds the desktop market? If you really believed windows was better than linux, then why are you here? So i have to reason that you didn't think that. But you wanted to find out.

One more thing I must say is that we are discussing good and bad think of MS and Linux but here we are missing one thing that although these companies are earning profit but how many people in the world have their jobs due to these companies. I am really thankful to these companies like Oracle, MS, Linux etc. The growth of these companies will increase more job opportunities and better businesses.

Now if someone is using MS products for last couple of years will support MS and same with other platforms. Actually it's the comfort zone that we don't like to accept others.......

Comments please...

i don't know about comfort zone being an issue with me, but it defenitely could be with others. Just so long as we use linux and pay for the tech support they will keep employing people. Mind you what some companies would save in switching to linux from microsoft they could spend in some other field thereby providing employment for individuals. And still getting thier cheaper OS solution.

Imagine if there is no Oracle, MS, Linux and their products then how many people will suffer?

if they didn't exist then something else would. That is my belief. Things always have a way of working out, you know?

these proprietry sofware companies have created the IT industry. so a lot of us - not only IT workers - should be grateful for that. the Teach that they have build and are rightly rewarded for is good and the morality of some of their business practices seems to be the major gripe against them. the majority of consumers just don't care enough about this. its the end user that counts and where this battle is to be won or lost.

if their moral malpractice in the business world (since when was this a game for nice boys?) come round and bites them in the ass then so be it. its their mistakes that they have to pay for. i will use the best software for my computing needs. end of story. i dont care whether it is free is pricey as long as the price/performance is the best.

i experiment only with linux as i have a perfectly stable, reliable win 2k with the best suite of office software and a decent internet browser, the best hardware support so upgrading is rarely a problem and pretty much all level sodtware. is that not the majority of

if and when i decide linux is 'better' for me then i'll move full time. thats it and thats the question the consumers that make up the OS market will use to choose their OS.

Linux has a bit to do yet.

this is a whine i have heard a lot in the past, oddly enough i saw the perfect comment just 5 minutes ago. let me quote it directly for you and provide the hyperlink to the page:

from http://promote-opensource.org/module...=0&storyid=247

WalMart was worth more than General Motors, all the US Oil Companies, and Microsoft all put together. Ooops!

well that's rubbish isnt it.

nice well thought out reply you gave there. yes, most impressive. i particularly liked the way you backed yourself up with figures and evidence.

It might be that MS Office is the best, compared to other (open source) "offices". But if you want to write documents that are nice to look at, you shouldn't use Word, or any other of these word processors. Use latex. The difference is striking.

Uhm, not a very good comment, but a comment

calum - was this:

"nice well thought out reply you gave there. yes, most impressive. i particularly liked the way you backed yourself up with figures and evidence."

in reply to my post?

yup.

while we're here,
i can give you a whole handful of reasons from reputable sources why this is definitely not the case:

BBC News: The Hidden Dangers of Documents
Please Don't Send Word Documents by Email
FSF: We Can Put an End to Word Attachments
do read those, anyone thinking of posting a kneejerk reaction. reading something you later rant about shows intelligence and generally commands respect.

Well, my point was that people should use latex instead of these WYSIWYG word processors, so thank you for strengthening my case!