May have been asked before somewhere in the world, but the answer still eludes me.

How about you?

Another questions: If MS code is so secret, how can we be sure it's not stolen? Very suspicious, don't you think?

I think all government agencies should only use Open Source as they can clearly check the code isn't stolen. If they haven't assured themselves the may be committing an IP-crime!

Think about it!

Questions about Windows go in General. Moved. (please read the forum descriptions before posting)

it doesn't elude me!, MS can make it easy for you to get viruses/worms/add-ware/spy-ware/spend more money to fix problems they caused!

about MS stealing code, its a well known fact that they do, at least they buy the code (or get a license) and then sell or give it away for free saying they made it!, example of this are : Internet explorer

almost everything they "made" they actually just bought then said they made it and run the person that actually made it outa baseness

From clicking on about Internet Explorer.

Based on NCSA Mosaic. NCSA Mosaic(TM); was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Distributed under a licensing agreement with Spyglass, Inc.
Contains security software licensed from RSA Data Security Inc.
Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
Contains SOCKS client software licensed from Hummingbird Communications Ltd.
Contains ASN.1 software licensed from Open Systems Solutions, Inc.
Multimedia software components, including Indeo(R); video, Indeo(R) audio, and Web Design Effects are provided by Intel Corp.
Unix version contains software licensed from Mainsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1998-1999 Mainsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Mainsoft is a trademark of Mainsoft Corporation.
Warning: This computer program is protected by copyright law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

Looks like they give credit to the creators to me. Maybe you should do a little research next time befor you give examples.

not always, but it is misleading!, how many people read the "about" part of software!, they make people think they made it! until they give credits in a place were everyone can see it (o say the startup, or even on the ads for it!, and on there website), then i say its misleading, plus seance they gave it away for free, that spyglass thingy wont be getting much more money

and it proves they didn't make the software

It's no different to the about Mozilla page - as long as the credit is there, it's all above board. In a similar way to the film credits - I rarely read them (unless I want to know the name of an actor) but they are there.

They may not have made all the components, but they put them together and have credited the people who provided them - if the original component creators are happy, why aren't you?

mainly cause IE is really only the top of a long list of dirty greedy acts

How about this - MS is the 'norm' in the workplace (okay, at least MY workplace), and everyone exchanges MS Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.

Are there Linux applications that can read and write Word and Excel formats?

Thanks,

Sean

Open Office seems to do it ok for me but I don't use either format that much.

microsoft can give up that wonderful blue scren of death.

-Joey

Windows can run any applications created for Windows. Linux has a problem with some, even when using a decent Windows emulator like Wine or Crossover Office. Lightwave and Photoshop, for example, are beautiful programs. Running them in a Windows emulator can work to a point, but some features are missing or faulty.
Fortunately, most windows programs have equivalents that run natively in Linux, and most alternatives are open source and free.

from what I've heard it can spread a virus fairly quickly via email

Really now! If that is really true, Please help me get my Microsoft Sidewinder joystick working in Windows 2000 Professional. 10 months now and I have no success with it and I have the CD that came with it.

First, let me be the first to clarify that Microsoft Sidewinder joysticks are not applications, they're hardware. Point taken though, I can't seem to ever get my Sidewinder Gamepad to work too long with Windows.

Anyway, back to the topic of this thread, things Tux can do that Windows can't...

how about this:
work natively as a multi-user environment instead of emulating one
have consistantly long up-times without much loss of performance. I know the NT branch isn't as bad as the 98 branch, but I still have to reboot after using a hungry program if I want to play a powerful game.

Sorry, that's all I can think off the top of my head right now, but it might also be because I have other things I'm pushing off (like homework).

Oops, I seemed to mis-read this article:

okay, what can Windows do....
sorry, I can't really think of anything that isn't sarcastic. The only real differences I see are things that could be remedied by software companies porting over to Linux. As an operating system, I don't see anything that Windows can do that Linux can't.

On topic, possibly good things Microsoft Windows can do that Linux can't:

1. render mis-coded/non-standard html code that other browsers can't.
2. run more games.
3. can display the pages with Shockwave (people keep sending me e-mails with those stupid e-cards they "made" for me).

Then there is the bad things that Microsoft Windows can do that Linux can't:......, nah, do a search on any security or uptime reporting site.