A huge +1.

Guys (or girls for that matter) in computer shops might not know very much at all about hardware or software, in particular if they are in sales. If you tried talking to the techie who does system builds, RMAs etc out back there is a much better chance of them not just knowing what a liveCD is, but actually using them quite often.

The number of times I've been told thing that are just flat-out wrong by computers salespeople is shocking.

BTW, I get the 'winblows' etc renaming, I sometimes do it myself (I'm very fond of 'microsloth'), but keep it in mind that its not very mature, and just pushes both camps (windows and linux/BSD) into futher into respective corners.

Swearing, 'rough langauge' etc just makes things even worse.

I have a tech right here who thinks that Linux is a left-behind and unusable OS, and calles Windows "superior product"

When his shiny new server with Windows server 2008 was boken into within 2 weeks from installation (and he asked the whole world on regaining access, cause all those "crack admin password" stuff he tried didnt work, meh. Windows still better

When I picked an "obsolete old burned that won't run any modern OS" (his own words) mainboard from the dumpster next to him, and installed it as a working Core 2 Duo (got the CPU second hand for cheap), meh (a few days before that he laughed that "i won't find I7 in the dumpster so why do I bother")

When I have 6 (!) different webcams and some moderate sound cards that were thrown because he lost the driver disks (and all worked plug and play for me), meh

You both are right, there are some really stupid and ignorant people out there. But they are stupid and ignorant people regardless of the OS they use. Ever tried to talk with a real Ubuntu-fanboy about Debian? Or vice versa?
Stupidity has nothing to do with the OS the people use, they also would be stupid if they wouldn't use a computer at all.

I did, got banned from the forum cause the bastard was the admin

The funny thing is that MS will always be blaimed/hated for something, whatever they do.

Add more security => MS nazis don't allow me to do anything!

Add less security => MS doesn't care about security and is dangerous to use!

Uhhh... how about the benefit of not having to re-train thousands of end-users?

Windows definitely has its place in the enterprise. It's just that, since it consistently scores dead last in RAS measurements (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability), it has no place in a mission-critical system. If the solution can be down for a little while and customers won't immediately revolt and take their money elsewhere, then Windows is an option. Desktop applications can be down, because there's always an open desktop in another cubicle. If email is down, the customer hardly notices.

Then there are the companies who insist on moving mission-critical systems to Windows. I was in a meeting recently on moving an application that runs great on Linux over to a Windows platform. Someone actually said the phrase, "Windows is a fantastic platform" with a straight face during that meeting... but even he went on to make the case for why it should stay on Linux. And he's a Windows guy.

IMO, attitudes like this are harmful to Linux community(they scare new users away), and they will destroy Linux eventually.
Throwing shit at microsoft will not improve linux. In my opinion, if you feel the need to prove the world that your OS the "the right one", you have some kind of serious problem. I prefer to use computer to do what I need, regardless of the OS.

Because this is not the job of the operating system, and because Microsoft is not obliged to include such tool into the operating system. Standard file manipulation APIs return single integer code indicating success or failure of operation. Linux works the same way, AFAIK. There is no way to return list of all pids that has this file open. Anyway, there are 3rd party tools for the task, so use them.

Nobody forces you to use Windows, so stick to your favorite system without being loud.

Windows is real OS, whether you like it or not.

Humanity has been able to progress with Microsoft during last 25 years, so your argument is already invalid.

Every operating system has its use, so I'd advise to grow up and stop blaming Microsoft for everything.

Did anyone else spot the Microsoft employee on this forum?

Nope, have you?
Or do you mean to take side with someone make you to an employee?
Or is it the lack of fanboyism that does it?

I am an ex-duhs employee and I say I love windows.... (sarcasm intended).
Get real guys, it was only after I installed (or was installing) linux I really understood hardware.
If I would say here duhs users are smarter than linux users I am afraid I would start a flame war (and I do not want to) all I wanted to emphasise how ridiculous does the statement sound.

…possibly somewhat off-topic, but does anyone else think this is starting to go off into "Linux vs. Windows" land, and should thus be merged with the giant "Because Shiny Things are Fun" thread?

++1

...not that i do it, but i do not understand why is it such a sin to bash W$...

Bashing W$ is a way to fight M$, and M$ is the worst enemy ( or one of the worst ) of freedom of choice... :

1. They use monopolistic practises to make HW vendors stick to their OS specifications, thus, making life difficult to whoever "dares" to use another OS...

2. They use the same practises to have SW developers stick to their OS, thus reducing the breadth of opportunities for a computer user to have a SW product available to run natively in the OS he chooses... Autocad used to be a Unix product... since W$ beginning, no more... after years of ostracism, they "finally" decided to release a version for Mac... do i feel M$ hands behind the choice of platforms Autodesk decides to release their products to...?! ... just a "not so innocent" question... and when i say autodesk, i say the same about lots of SW vendors...

Therefore, i must conclude that M$ is enemy of freedom of choice, enemy of OSS, and of everything that FSF and GPL stands for.

Being that M$ is all that i pointed... being that it is a "profit-and-nothing-else centric" corporation, i believe that the best way for us users to fend for ourselves, is cutting down their profits, relentlessly... by bashing their products, and using available options... DOWN WITH THESE D**B F**KS... They are our enemies, their greed makes them so... let's not forget it.

Does this makes me a Fanboi...? if it does, so be it... at least i can rationally explain all my choices, in terms of the assumptions that i take, and the conclusions that i reach.

Bashing Microsoft is simply wrong because it isn't doing anything good to the Linux community. It just let you look like a Linux fanboy.
Would you please be so kind to explain to me why bashing Microsoft on a Linux forum helps to fight Microsoft?
How is bashing their products on a Linux forum is cutting their profits?

If you want to bring down Microsoft, wouldn't it be a way better tactic to discuss fair about it's pros and cons in comparison to Linux, instead of simple bashing the product? Or spreading FUD like many Linux fanboys do (something like "I have to constantly update my system, it will restart every half an hour and crashes 5 times in between." or "I have to re-install every 2 months and re-installing will cost me 2 days.", as I have seen many times).
If you think that Linux is the better system (at least I do) then prove it. Just saying "Microsoft is evil, so I have to bash their products." will not bring anything good to Linux and the community.

This reminds me of Kenny_Strawn, haven't seen him for a while here.

It is NOT a way to fight M$, because anything you say against microsoft will have zero effect.
They care only about money, so your opinion will be important only if you represent majority of their customers, and until that happens, you are irrelevant.
The way to fight microsoft is to either buy them out (good luck with that), make competing product (good luck with that too), or abuse law system to force them out of business(good luck with that). Forum squabbles never changed anything - how many people may change their opinion because they read your reply? 1? 2? dozen? It will be still nothing compared to entire user base.

From my experience, majority of "linux prophets"(I do not mean you, but there were several people like that on LQ) I encountered on forums during course of years are newbies that are all talk. They bash microsoft only because that makes them feel special by belonging to "elite", and not using same OS as "majority", and following ideology of "opensource"(which they treat as a cult). That's all about it. They don't try to understand position of commercial entity, they don't try to understand good portions of rival's OS, they don't try to understand needs of different user groups, they refuse to see problems in their own system, and so on. Feeling "special" is all they want. From my opinion, this is stupid, such people deserve no respect, and are harmful to software development in general. Those(not Microsoft) people are the enemies of linux community, because they will stall software development (by refusing to acknowledge existing problems) and they will scare away new users (by being fanatical). I consider such attitudes to be harmful, so it was really disappointing to see senior member post something with similar attitude. If you like your OS, then try improving it instead of showering some other OS with dirt - because actually doing something will be waaaay more useful for other users.

On other hand, maybe even explaining this is pointless, and there will always be people that will keep thinking that using different OS actually means something. Well, whatever.