Firefox XP Tweak

I made a registry key that when imported changes your "Internet Explorer" Default Icon on your desktop so it takes you to firefox instead. It displays the Firefox Icon and opens non-safemode firefox.

To use it,

• double-click the .reg file
• click yes
• click okay
• go to your desktop and press F5 to refresh.
• change the name from "Internet Explorer" to "Firefox"
• enjoy

If you've already gotten rid of your IE icon, this should bring it back as firefox.

Download here

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

This happens automatically when you install FF, doesn't it?

Besides. Desktop Icon's aren't for web browsers. Quick Launch for t3h win!

It doesnt happen automatically, it creates a shortcut, not a CLSID entry. This is an Icon like "my computer" that sorts above all other icons when you hit "arrange by name" and if you're a diehard firefox user, it rids you of the IE CLSID.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Oh... cool. Nevermind then :smile:

I just use the command line for most all my program executions. I don't have time to wait for pathetic menus to load.

But, that's cool. You should make a bat file for installation (which just calls this thing) and one for uninstallation, which would turn back the change.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

You should make a bat file for installation (which just calls
this thing) and one for uninstallation, which would turn back the
change.

agreed

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http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/8521/windows981dk.jpg

Nickelplate is my dad

You can't really make a batch file for these, they're registry keys. Plus, If anyone needs to change it back, I have the .reg that reverses it.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

What are you talking about? Of course you can.

You can either, A: import the registry key, or B: put in the manual commands in the bat file.

You wouldn't have to make bat files though, turns out, since you could just make a reg file that changes the values back, instead of removing the enteries. (Hint, hint, it'd be a good idea to put both in a zip named install and uninstall, if you like)

http://www.chaminade.org/MIS/Articles/RegistryEdit.htm

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I just use the command line for most all my program executions.

That's still too slow for me. I hotkeyed every single key on the
keyboard, and I Ctrl-Alt-[key] all the programs that way. It's
teh pwn!

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

No ... because I also type in whatever file I'm opening. It's mostly handy for internet browsing.

Not to mention, I wouldn't be caught dead with multimedia buttons on my keyboard :razz:

I also usually have the command line window already open.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

<div><div>

<DIV class=quote style="WIDTH: 90%; HEIGHT: 239px">
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Crono</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>What are you talking about? Of course you can.

You can either, A: import the registry key, or B: put in the manual commands in the bat file.

You wouldn't have to make bat files though, turns out, since you could just make a reg file that changes the values back, instead of removing the enteries. (Hint, hint, it'd be a good idea to put both in a zip named install and uninstall, if you like)

http://www.chaminade.org/MIS/Articles/RegistryEdit.htm </div></div>

</DIV></DIV>

Dude, it IS a reg file! you run it and it changes your IE to Firefox. OR you run the OTHEr one in the zip file (just added it) and it brings it back to normal!

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I know. I was suggesting that you add it. That's all.

Before, for some reason, I was thinking the registry key had to be deleted or uninstalled (which there's a command for). In any case, either way would work ... which is what I was saying as well.

Not to mention, your link is broken on this end. Leads to a custom 404 error.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Pfft. Key bindings are for lazy people. I access the internet through telnet. HTTP GET ftw.

---

"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

http://www.dimebowl.com/Misc/IEtoFF.zip sorry, I forgot to capitalize the M in "Misc" Unix makes it case sensitive. sigh See how you like this Crono. :biggrin:

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Pfft. Key bindings are for lazy people. I access the internet through telnet. HTTP GET ftw.

I strongly suggest using another shell. Telnet is terrible, the default is public mode.

Get something with SSH.

Yes, Nickel, Unix is case sensitive. Here, have a cookie.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono, I bet more people Don't know (that Unix is case-sensitive), than do.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Cygwin + ssh & scp = teh win!

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http://maze5.net

Crono, I bet more people Don't know (that Unix is case-sensitive), than do.

It's pretty obvious if you payed attention to the snail and the frog. :rolleyes:

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

mazemaster said:
Cygwin + ssh & scp = teh win!

uuhhh, what??

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Cygwin is a UNIX emulator for Windows. SSH Allows for secure connections to servers, be it through an FTP, shell, whatever. SCP, I believe is an FTP program which utilizes SSH.

Personally, I use Putty or the SSH client/FTP. I don't have a UNIX emulator on my Windows machine anymore, don't see much point.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Danke. If there's one thing I don't know about on computers, It's the Unix/Linux world

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

You'd think more people would know about it, since it was originally released in 1971 ... first "universal platform" version was '73.

I like how everyone uses UNIX systems everyday and don't even realise it. There'd be no "Internet" without it.

And unlike the overall opinion that "newer technology is better", UNIX has been accepted as the international standard by the IEEE! (I know that means nothing to you, but it's important)

Also, the only thing Linux and UNIX have in relation really is that Linux is based off of a stripped version of UNIX (MINUX) meaning the base, subsystem, is the same. Pretty much everything else is different. Such as development! Then there's all sorts of other flavors that UNIX has spawned.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
I strongly suggest using another shell. Telnet is terrible, the default is public mode.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm now accessing the internet by tapping the binary code into a phone line with an old Morse key. I'll never look back.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Don't be a dick, I was helping you!

When you use telnet anyone can just put in your computer's address and watch what you're doing. This also means that they can monitor what keys you're pressing, thus acting as a key-logger.

Taking that shells are most often used to log into foreign system accounts, this is not good for you.

If you use a Shell, something free like Putty is a good choice.

If you would have actually looked for SSH applications, you'd have seen that Mozilla supports it :rolleyes:

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Sorry, shouldve used sarcasm colour on both my posts there. Heh.

Then again, what do I care about security? I use IE!

---

"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Then you have my apologies :smile:

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

the telnet program used to be good, but then they switchd it to DOS-based crap. I use internet explorer and I have never gotten a Virus or adware or spyware. You can use IE if you're prudent enough to know what to click and not.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Do I really have to explain this again? You don't need to click on anything to get "problem" programs through IE. Especially if you're using ActiveX, vile thing.

I'm not saying, "Don't use these programs", just, at least, be aware of what is possible. Saying, "I've never gotten a virus through IE" is very doubtful.

Not to mention, ad-ware, spy-ware, and virus removal tools don't know all threats that are out and in all actuality most viruses aren't removed properly anyway.

You're never really secure, there's just more precautions you can take. Being aware of dangers is one way. Just don't be as pride filled about your computer usage online with "bad named" programs, that type of thinking will really backfire ... just like in any other situation.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Dude, seriously. I've just never had any problems. I just don't go to hacking, warez, and pron sites. I use ActiveX, I just have it so it doesn't execute the script until i look at it.

"Do i have to go through this again.." nice.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I never said the problems would be obvious, or even ones you'd notice, I just said there's a high chance they'd be there. In all likelihood, you have things on your computer, right now, that you did not willingly download.

Also, I know for a fact that just connecting to some of the MSN sites will give you some stuff you wouldn't like to have on your computer. (How do you think the msblast virus spread so quickly?)

It's just something you should be aware of. It happens with all browsers, it's more or less a Windows flaw then an IE one, but IE doesn't help by being integrated.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I just used Spybot and AdAware. They found some cookies and an innate problem with windows called "DSO Exploit." But cookies can't really do anything anyway. And I know there are ways that you can get that crap from just about anywhere, in fact I am at a computer installing windows updates for a guy that I bet could get spyware from eating a popsicle. Fixing computers and removing spyware and all that s**t is what I do, I just know how to avoid most of it, you know?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Yes, I know. I know limiting the sites you go to can help prevent it.

Actually ... cookies, as far as I know, can store code. Which means it can do almost anything.

But, the thing that makes it vulnerable, really, is that it can download/install programs without you knowing. (which, yes, is more common on sketchy sites, but still exists in many places)

The one thing that makes it the most vulnerable is that it's integrated into the OS, which gives it access that the use User has. Which is the entire reason why it can write stuff to the registry.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

True that. That's one of the reasons Firefox was so spyware free. I've heard that more people are getting spyware from FF though.

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Well, I believe those people are going to sites that most people wouldn't and downloading questionable files that are laced with detrimental software.

But there's also a chance those people turned on Active X and automatic downloading ... effectively eliminating the main inherent difference between that and IE.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I just figured that spyware makers had gotten wise to the new "spyware-free" browser. If there's a good thing on the net, greedy spywaremakers and spammers will ruin it, that's for sure.

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Well, yes. But, it's kind of the same deal as Unix and Linux. The reason why they're more secure is that you do not always have root/administrative access. Which is what, basically, Mozilla/Netscape/Firefox have done in the browser buisness. However, you can make IE do this as well, but it effects performance, since you have to turn the security up all the way (which, I believe blocks all images, amongst other things, like cookies)

And that defeats the purpose, yeah?

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yeah, I see about that root Admin access thing. Today at work one of the lil bastards put spyware in his roaming profile somehow and now every computer he visits gets the "Mirar Search Toolbar with related sites and bargains" and all sorts of rebate s**te...

I think windows is a quick and easy OS solution for those that don't have time for "shells" and "kernels" and s**te like that. And also for those(like me) who are just too lazy to deal with it. Yeah, there's lots of advantages to linux, but MS is TRYING to be more like linux now, so maybe things will get better...

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Not sure how you came to that conclusion.

It's funny though, because the reason programmers/developers/engineers like Linux (besides the ideology and the security precautions I mentioned) is because it is fast. The shell takes little resources and is very useful. No time to use a mouse!

However, I've met some people that take it a little overboard. One of my CS instructors hates the mouse and the shift key, specifically. I think it goes back to the fact that she's a big fan of Vi.

I have a different view, since I also play games.

Oh well. I don't think a lot of people should use Linux, just because of the software support. However, if it had the same software, I'd suggest it, simply because the GUI is just as easy. Not to mention, you can download a billion different interfaces. I like Gnome, personally, it just looks nice. KDE is a beast. There's so many other interfaces though, it's really for whatever interface suits you.

Also, if you're having a problem with something like configuration, it's very easy to find a solution. And new things are always being developed.

But, for the average user, who just wants it to work, it isn't suited right now. However, I believe I've heard of some easier interfaces around and installs. I'd really like to find a x86 Version of OSX. Built on Unix and has a very intuitive interface.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I think another reason why people are intimidated by Linux is that there are so many iterations. Gnome, KDE, SuSe, Red Hat, Mardrake, Knoppix, Lindows, and many more I don't even know or remember. The average guy wouldnt know WTF to choose, you know? and since most people start out as average guys they pick windows because it's so mainstream and available. Then once they get comfy with MS, they never go to Linux.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

:smile:

Gnome and KDE are desktop environments, not suites. SuSE, Red Hat, Mandrake, Slackware, Gentoo, Knoppix are all developers and/or the names of their suites.

Lindows isn't really linux as much as it is a shell OF linux emulated on Windows, however, it does run like Linux and such, just on a Windows File System. The only reason to use Lindows is so DirectX applications still work. But that's really the only thing that the end user would notice. Such as, the entire root access thing works like Linux and not Windows. I do wish that Window's "limited" mode just required Administrator passwords when you did things that needed that type of access. It'd make things so much easier. But there'd be people that would have no idea what that means. I mean, there are people who, by default, use the Administrator user ... which is a bad idea, of course.

Well, the other thing is ... I know there are a lot of people who overpraise Linux, blow it out of proportion and in turn make everyone they know sick of it. Many people already think Macintosh software is garbage (which isn't true, of course), so what else is there? Solaris ... and just flavors of Unix. (Besides Windows, of course) And I'm speaking of currently used operating systems, no one really uses OS/2 anymore, for example.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yeah, there was a guy with the Linux penguin as a tattoo. :rolleyes:

What the world needs now... is more computer literacy taught in such a way that kids wont want to make viruses all the time..

that owuld get eh ball rolling on the way to better PC environments

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Actually, a lot of viruses (not incredibly bad ones) get made on accident. And if you're in the field ... there are classes to take that teach you how to write a virus. To be honest, having that knowledge would just mean you have more commandment of the programming constructs and the hardware you work on. Whether or not you actually do terrible things with it is another topic.

However, honestly, I don't think most viruses are written by people who would have ever used their talents for productive things. You really have to be a dick or have some weird ass fetish to really want to make viruses (I mention fetishes, since a lot of viruses are used to break servers and change things, like web pages)

There's a good chance, those people aren't thinking like they should.

With the Linux penguin ... a tattoo? That's overboard. However, I do like the keyboards that replaced the windows/apple key with a penguin key.

I wonder if anyone else here actually gives two s**ts about what we're talking about.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
I wonder if anyone else here actually gives two s**ts about what we're talking about.

I really don't think they do. This is mostly like a really slow IM session for us more or less.

You obviously know your Linux stuff better than I know mine, or else you know your Wikipedia. Lol. TBH, I don't think I'll ever use Linux Except for Knoppix. Simply because I'm happy where I'm at with Windows XP with the idiot-proof stuff turned off, and being careful what sites i go to. I can do anything i've ever wanted to do in windows, because I've worked with it so long.

If anything ever happens, I have backups and stuff. I have been thinking lately, and even though I LOVE my computer and i spend a lot of time on it, it's still not worth stressing out about most times. Life's too short to worry about so much trivial stuff like SPAM, you know?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I run WinXP, because I play games. If I were to run Linux, it would be more of a fun project with a spare computer than for day-to-day use. If I have an assignment due tomorrow, I dont want to have to recompile my kernel because I've been fiddling with it too much (and I know I would...)

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

That or you'd keep backups like a good programmer. :razz:

A slow instant message ... that's an oxymoron if I ever saw one.

The reason I have Unix-ish stuff is really for ease of development.

But yeah, the only reason I have Windows at all are games.The thing is now though, not only do games require Direct X they were also developed in a .NET environment, so they need that framework too!

I suppose I could always switch a machine to Lindows or something, so I could keep compatibility and still have a shell that isn't across the Internet.

As for word processing .. I use Open Office anyway and that comes with most Linux suites (Star Office is the older version).

The IDE I use (if any) is eclipse ... which was a Unix first type deal ... no problem there.

Yeah, just games. I could emulate things like Photoshop, or little programs here and there, but I'm sure .NET requirement would be the kicker.

On a complete side note, though, I HATE how some hardware manufacturer's are "Windows Only". It pisses me off so much. They don't give many clues on how to write a new driver for their product (You'd have to disassemble the current, Windows, driver) and it's just really annoying. This is so common with Wireless cards, it's not even funny.

The only "no work done by me" ways I've found require wrappers (which makes sense) but the wrapper programs cost money. It's kind of like, "Do you know who your market is?"

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

in conclusion: I want everyone to download my firefox windows tweak, so that they will all be happy.

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

On a complete side note, though, I HATE how some hardware manufacturer's are "Windows Only". It pisses me off so much. They don't give many clues on how to write a new driver for their product (You'd have to disassemble the current, Windows, driver) and it's just really annoying. This is so common with Wireless cards, it's not even funny.

The only "no work done by me" ways I've found require wrappers (which makes sense) but the wrapper programs cost money. It's kind of like, "Do you know who your market is?"

So true... When I first installed Ubuntu (supposedly a "just-works" distro), it took forever to get everything working. First my USB phoneline network card has windows only drivers, so I have to check around for fixes. Can't connect via ethernet as the room is not wired up for it. Sooo... I search around the web for a few hours from another computer trying to figure it out. Finally I get ndiswrapper which I set up.

Oh, wait now I have to recompile the kernel (!?!) Got to go figure out how to do that. Ok, so I recompiled the kernel, got ndiswrapper using the windows drivers, set it up to load on boot. I restart, and guess what? It doesn't work. Apparently ndiswrapper doesn't work correctly for my specific card. Doh.

Alright so then I want to play my .mp3's or divx movies. Just load up the default media player, right? Nope, Ubuntu decided not to support those closed formats, so I have to go stfw and get all the necessary stuff.

Now I want to play games. Oh wait, they are windows only. Got to go get poor quality emulators, or pay for something like WINE.

To top it off, Gnome has this annoying mouse acceleration, but the thing is that you can't turn it off without making the sensitivity ridiculously low. For me thats practically a showstopper for me right there (like the lack of alt-click context menus in mac software). Sure I have the source so I could probably mess around and change the mouse acceleration/sensitivity issue, but that would take a ridiculous amount of work.

My point is that I had a ton of difficulty getting basic functionality out of a supposedly "easy" Linux distro despite the fact that I am rather computer savvy, have experience with Unix and have no problem dropping a terminal/command prompt.

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http://maze5.net

Annoying though it may be, its a typical marketing ploy. Windows is the top dog in shear numbers, so what exactly would entice any corporation to invest in the smaller numbers?

Case in point. I had a fairly top dollar surround sound system with its own DVD. I also had a mid-level DVD/VCR combo. I was forced to purchase a no nothing bargain DVD to play all the features I required. I will not specify which, sufice it to say the option was slightly illegal.

Moral, the cheaper brand had options no name brand has, so as to entice more people to buy it.

I ask you this, you seem to complain incessantly about windows things, why do you NOT complain that your hardware not come with the necessary drivers to mesh the two properly? Would it not more be the responsibility of the hardware people, than the windows software ones to provide functionality?

I get the impression that you guys have a hard on for the Microsoft corp. and will stop at nothing to bellyache about them.

If I misread or misjudged you, I beg your forgiveness. Perhaps I misjudged you the same as you do Microsoft.

---

There is no history until something happens, then there is.

[update]I apologize for the length.[/update]

No, actually, a lot of developers would create Linux support, but the thing is ... Microsoft licenses. Saying "this product will only work out of the box for Windows [version number]".

Don't think Microsoft has no say in it, because they do. However, yes, some manufactures simply don't support it. But, you never know which reason it is, because there's nothing explicitly out there saying so.

Also, most of the gripes I have in regards to Microsoft is 100% their fault, since it's their practices. Even when I mentioned that hardware issue ... I blamed the manufacture.

Ndiswrapper is exactly what i tried using. Guess what! Once you get it up and running THEN it decides to say, "To purchase a key go here" ... what kind of underhanded s**t is that? I think it was the distro you were using. I've never had THAT much trouble. Just trouble with games and the wireless card.

The point is, the "minority" as you put it isn't as large of a minority as you might think.
Have you seen the numbers that has MS's panties in a twist? It's their "Piracy" numbers. It's in the billions, I think. But, basically ... they're misleading with the number, who ever has Internet access (since they wouldn't really know about you otherwise) and doesn't use windows ... or has an un registered version of windows is considered "a loss to piracy". That means, all the Unix/Linux and Mac users. Not to mention the slew of other machines out there.

I'd honestly say that probably 58% to 64% percent of the populous of Earth use Windows exclusively. That would be a guess though. But billions of people use something else, so, don't think it's a major minority of like 2% or something that wouldn't be worth profiting off of. There's a reason why so many Linux distributions stay alive even though they're free. If you want proof that there is enough demand, look at video card drivers. They support ALL kinds of operating systems. Even when they were making the Cg languages, incorporating DirectX was kind of a separate thing from the rest of the language. No one wants a singular operating system, the goal was to have everything working together in harmony ... but .. it is't.

The thing that really takes the cake is that, the very principles that the Microsoft corporation were founded on are exactly the same principles they ignore! The entire point of windows was to make the operating system independent of the hardware. AND the hardware independent of the operating system. And it's just coming full circle. However, it's not as bad as it was ... oh geez.
But, that's really the point, I think. At some point they decided they rather have money and put out a shoddy product. Since, Windows 95 was, at least, decent for being one of the first heavily graphical operating systems (as in, 32-bit color and all that jazz). The really big flaws started when people wanted to go online with it ... when they developed another Windows for network use ... NT. It wasn't as easy to use though, but, for the most part, it had the kind of security and protection needed to open your computer up to the online world ... You see where it's come out to now.

Anyway, I've never come out and just said, "Microsoft sucks". I always give valid and, whether anyone realizes it or not, IMPORTANT points about the company. They're probably one of the largest examples of an "evil" corporation that still exists. Even all the other "evil" corporations, in the technology world, aren't as "evil" anymore. Look at IBM for example. They used to be the big bad guys ... they had complete market control and all this other stuff ... I believe it bit them in the ass and forced them to change their ideology.

It just comes to a point where you have to ask yourself, "Do I really want to get money from raping people, or should I rather, get the same amount of money and better the industry?" Because as it stands, MS isn't really trying to better the industry, they're trying to control it. I know they've backed off in the last few years, but figuratively speaking, a change over five or so years doesn't mean much. It's the change over 20 years that matters. And, I doubt they'll change for the better.

I don't know how else to explain it.

Oh, I just thought of something else. Microsoft, until a few years ago, openly bashed opensource, period. The thing I never understood is they never talked about Unix (since it isn't open, natively) but, they went to town on Linux ... and it's like, "They're the same thing!". They tried to make a PR move to discredit a competitor. That isn't okay, in fact, business ethics says it isn't okay. Which is a large part of running a successful business. It's especially not okay, because it was unfounded. They lied.

But, something else they've done, to limit compatibilities and force people to use Windows is: On a lot of printers (mostly photo) they use specific languages to interface with the computer. Microsoft licenced ... or created, or something, a new language and paid people to use it in their printers. Well, Windows is the only OS that outputted in a compatible language. (CDC, I think it's called ... not sure though). I know some manufactures would create other drivers, more like wrappers, for Mac OS, just because, honestly, that's a larger printer market, but, there was no all around support. A 3rd party group had to develop a wrapper so printers could work with other OS'. And, you may see that as not a big deal, but it's an example of their ideology and their practices. It's the same reason they made DirectX the way they did (It could have been an easy to use suite ... but it's not, it's a fully integrated type of deal). It's the same reason they made .NET the way it is. The idea is good: make it easy to write one piece of software seamlessly between many languages ... you need a framework ... which only runs on Windows. Then you pay developers to use .NET.

Now, the only people that don't see how that isn't okay are people who really have little knowledge in the area. They see it as, "Okay, so it's good business practice, so what?" and the "so what" part is that, as a consumer, it screws you. It'd be very similar if gas companies were paid to slowly stop offering regular, or something like that. (I know that's a bad example, since that's ridiculous, but, it is a representation of what I'm talking about. The point is, in this theoretical situation, the fuel would no longer be compatible with your current car)

I like using cars as examples, because it's very easy to conceptualize how frustrating this would be. And then there'd always be the people who would say, "So what? Just buy a new car!" ... but, let's say the cars that use that special fictitious gas cost $60,000 and up. It's pretty much the same type of situation, the numbers are higher, just to amplify my point and make it clearer ... and I hope it is clearer and not more confusing.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
I apologize for the length.

O.K. I accept.

I do not doubt you but in all honesty, of the people I know (the numbers only extend into a few 1,000) I have met maybe 3 people who do not use windows at all, and maybe 10 who use something other, sometime.

I am hardly in the know, but I am thinking maybe 80% of the USA uses windows exclusively. Remember, 90% of the world is not computer savvy and buy right out of the box. At least 90% of my world does. As far as I know, I am one of the few whom dares to buy machines in pieces and builds my machines to suit myself. Everyone else I know buys from Wal-mart or Bestbuy.

Anyway, as I said, I am hardly in the know. I doubt if we could even poll this because most here probably own some form of a gaming PC. I doubt 10% own an out of the box PC. Has it been polled yet? Anyone know?

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.