Ugh! those arguments are so old and out dated!
Im not saying Im a big fan of Microsoft, but:
1) Fair enough. Most people don’t like change, so if they grow up using windows they’ll probably carry on doing so. It doesn’t help that there isn’t really any OS aside from OSX which can compete with windows.
2) WGA only checks on Windows and its relevant extensions. Its “just” DRM. Annoying, but get over it.
3) There’s plenty of vendors who will now offer Linux in one form or another. And since Linux is free, you can just grab a copy of it and install it yourself. The main reason why they wont offer it, if that’s the case, is because, yes, they get a bigger discount from MS, but also they’d have to retrain all their support staff to know about Linux, and Linux isn’t exactly the simplest OS to get about, no matter the distro.
4) You can accuse Ubuntu, Apple, Adobe and all companies of the same thing. Legacy support for old outdated software is a huge drain on resources for all companies. They need to keep making money.
5) fair enough. MS like to use their own proprietary formats.
6) Stupid stupid. Almost all music online is DRM free, and its not as if WMP is adding DRM to the music. Buy it elsewhere.
7) All OSs have vulnerabilities and exploits. MS didn’t act quick enough to block them initially, but things are much better in newer OSs (Upgrade!). Linux and OS X happily live in comparative obscurity where their vulnerabilities don’t get exploited.

Quit your whining! feel free to stick with Windows XP if you want, or use Ubuntu/Linux/OS X. Microsoft is a business, and where they used to exploit a lot, they’ve been sued and legislated into not being able to do so as much.

These have been valid criticisms of Microsoft for some time.

Even if you can’t convince someone to ditch Windows, you probably *can* convince them to at least dump some of Microsoft’s proprietary lock-in formats.

OpenOffice.org has real ODF support, you can use it for free, it’s just as good as, I’d argue better than MS Office, and it can open OOXML files so that you may edit them and save them to the ODF standard.

In a pinch, if you simply have to export OOXML, Novell has a plug-in that lets you do that, and you still don’t need to pay Microsoft any money. (Free Novell registration is required for the OOXML export plugin)

Novell OOXML exporter: http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=NADNBLbBgPY~

(Windows users want the oxt file, just double click and OpenOffice will install it)

Latest OpenOffice: http://www.openoffice.org/

As for internet browser, both Firefox or Opera (I’m using Opera 10 RC right now and love it) will get you past that icky bloated security hazard known as Internet Explorer.

As for multimedia, the patent-free and public domain Ogg Vorbis makes a great replacement for MP3, listening tests show that the AoTuv (forked) encoder even blows past WMA 10 Professional and AAC by a considerable margin at most bitrates.

You can get away from Microsoft formats and still use Windows, and when you do make the transition off of Windows, you can take your data with you.

Microsoft invents nonstandard formats and protocols because they know that if you have gigabytes of data that you can’t take with you, that you’ll hesitate to switch when you’ve had just about enough of them. (Also, when open source has to reverse engineer Microsoft formats, it gives a pretense of legitimacy to Microsoft patent claims.)

BTW, Windows 7 *does* have (minimal) support for several industry standards that Microsoft has avoided supporting in the past, these include:

MPEG-4 AAC audio: Decoder only, but Windows Explorer can edit the tags. Nero AAC+Foobar2000 make for decent encoding should you need iPod compatibility or something.

DivX and h.264 video: Decoding only, but at least you can watch said files without a “codec pack”.

MOV files: So you don’t need a “codec pack” or to haul in Quicktime.

OpenDocument Text (ODT) support: It’s a trap, basic text documents will survive Wordpad, but tables won’t, use OpenOffice, you’ve been warned.

Of course MS will never support Vorbis or Theora, but you can get those encoders and decoders elsewhere.

Winamp users can get AoTuv/Vorbis encoding as a first class citizen by installing the Winamp Essentials pack:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/150126

I think everybody has the right to choose. Some people choose to pass this right to someone else. So this someone else chooses for him. Microsoft does this and Linux wants to do it too.

I’m a Linux user and also a Windows user. Each system has its own public and market destination. I don’t think they compete against each other. Instead of fighting against each other, they should focus on what’s better for their users.

Windows is very good for the desktop. Linux is very good for netbook and mobile gadgets. [ Mac is a piece of art. ]

Anyway, this debate could last for days. I don’t want to impose my opinion unto anyone. Agreeing or not, that’s just my opinion.

Regards to all

While I do agree that showing a child only Windows will probably lock them into habitual recognition and loyalty, do remember that Windows is much easier to use than Linux and is more cost effective than OSX. There are also much more software choices for Windows, as well as games and supported drivers for 3rd party devices like mp3 players. Don’t blame the consumers too fast. They just go with what works and what’s available.

@Claudio Henrique: Regarding choice, I’d consider MS Office and Windows Media users the most inconsiderate of other people, although many of them are simply unwitting pawns.

When I make an Ogg Vorbis audio file or a Theora video file or an ODT document and give it to you, you may have to go get a codec or a plug in to use them on Windows, but it does not force you to stop using Windows, and there are no fees or royalties that are inflicted on you for simply opening the files I made.

When an Office or Windows Media user creates an OOXML, WMA, or WMV file, you have to use reverse engineered filters and codecs that may not work right and may not even be legal unless you pay somebody money who turns around and pays Microsoft some money. (Novell and Fluendo are perfect examples), and even if you can open and listen to a file someone has created, your usage rights may be constrained by the format, and DRM’d files won’t work at all.

What it really boils down to is that I’m asking you to get a 2 MB free plugin, and you’re asking me to pay Microsoft and/or switch to Windows. I think I’m being far more reasonable.

Still you get people that are like “What is that? Why do I need that? Why should I get that? It may be spyware!” (Microsoft Security “advice” says to be cautious of “free software”) even though most Windows users have Limewire sharing their tax returns while they routinely run “keygen” viruses, and these are the users MS thrives on that pull the unwilling 10% along with them.

I think Microsoft has realized they’ve reached the end of the number of users willing to pay them for Windows, so they’re trying to set up a feudal system out of bogus patents and nonstandard formats and protocols, where they are the “lord” and you have to give them the “road tax” and some of the milk from your cows even if you aren’t one of their citizens.

>>>>the “road tax” and some of the milk from your cows even if you aren’t one of their citizens.

Now THAT is funny. LOL.

I use Ubuntu for my email and for my blogs.
I use XP for my desk top publishing, including Print Shop and Photo Shop.
We don’t have a big enough base with Ubuntu to really help each other. So that I am waiting for Google Chrome then we will have a big enough base, and if they can keep all the good stuff from Windows and leave the other stuff out, it should be the best system in the world for the immediate future.

It is fair to tell you that I am 61 years old and have been using Debian for the last 4 0r 5 years. My last MS operating system was XP Media Edition. Once it got to service pack 2 it was ok.
Personally, I didn’t care for Microsoft’s proprietary attitude. I paid
good money for XP and couldn’t use as I liked. So I dumped it and threw all the disks away. If I can use Linux any body can and I commend anyone who does.
Thanks,
Leon

I’m always amazed at how people defend people who make money off of them – and how they make money off of them. They rationalize their rights away as if they’re getting a bargain.

Making deals with hardware manufacturers to preinstall Windows is anti-competitive. Hardware manufacturers trap everyone and have created a culture of software that is counterproductive. That’s changing, slowly. Too slowly for some.

There are deeper issues with Microsoft – such as behind-the-doors deals with educators, governments and more. And while they do enough these days to stay out of court for anti-trust, people need to remember that there are some countries that lack those laws – and Microsoft is all too happy that this is true.

Software shouldn’t be about marketing. Software should be customizable by users – through the code if the users are willing to do it – and they should be able to own the changes that they make. That’s why the GPL isn’t evil – it’s a challenge to Microsoft’s position that it came by through breaking laws.