On 2/11/06, taharka <res00vl8@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > By Jan Stafford > 09 Feb 2006 | SearchOpenSource.com > > Microsoft may not make flawless software, but its proprietary strategy > is hard to fault. In particular, Microsoft has mastered desktop lock-in, > undermining users' confidence in any alternatives and creating a slew of > minor difficulties that irritate those who do switch. > > Full story at; > http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/columnItem/0,294698,sid39_gci1165420,00.html I expected to see "two ways Microsoft sabotages Linux desktop adoption" but didn't see anything Microsoft is doing to sabotage adoption. They had some users that decided they didn't like OpenOffice and thumbed their noses at management by installing Windows and Microsoft Office again. That's not Microsoft's doing, that's management's inability to control their employees. As for the laptop, yes, not every piece of hardware is going to be supported. There's a wealth of information online that indicates what works and what doesn't, all maintained by people with personal experience. If folks aren't willing to take advantage of that information, then I can't work up a lot of sympathy when their hardware doesn't work. Hardware support isn't Microsoft's issue, either. It's a vendor issue. Vendors need to be willing to write drivers for their hardware or release specifications so someone else can write the drivers. This is how Microsoft handles it. Vendors write drivers for Windows when they release a piece of hardware and either release that driver on an installation disk, or send it to Microsoft for inclusion in the Windows OS release. If the laptop vendor didn't care to do the same for Linux, it's not Microsoft's problem. -- Chris "I trust the Democrats to take away my money, which I can afford. I trust the Republicans to take away my freedom, which I cannot."
