I Bought A Windows PC....Is Something Wrong With Me?

vansmith said:

Microsoft, like every company, has developed good and bad things.

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Just to be argumentative (I'm still low on coffee), what would some of those good things be (other than MS Basic)?

Every other good product that I can think of they didn't really develop per se, but copied (MS Word, Excel, Office in general).

Razormac said:

Just to be argumentative (I'm still low on coffee), what would some of those good things be (other than MS Basic)?

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I like the Xbox - I had the original and loved it. Visual Studio is also a pretty decent development tool. I also like WP7/7.5. Some good games have also been made under the MS umbrella (in some form) including Halo and Age of Empires. Office for the Mac isn't bad either. And, although not related to their products, they've got a fairly good reputation for their treatment of LGBT individuals.

Razormac said:

Every other good product that I can think of they didn't really develop per se, but copied (MS Word, Excel, Office in general).

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Did they not buy Office from someone? I may be wrong on that one.

vansmith said:

Some good games have also been made under the MS umbrella (in some form) including Halo and Age of Empires.

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Oh now you REALLY can't give MS credit for those. Halo was under development by Bungie long before MS bought Bungie out, and they bought them out specifically for Halo to launch with the XBox. As of AoE, they only published it… the actual development was by Ensemble Studios.

That aside, I do disagree with the sentiment that everything MS makes is garbage. For example, I use and prefer their "Natural" wireless mouse. No one else makes one that I find as comfortable to use. My sole dislike is this massive wireless dongle it needs. I wish they'd re-do this in Bluetooth, or with the really tiny dongle like Logitech has these days.

lifeisabeach said:

Oh now you REALLY can't give MS credit for those. Halo was under development by Bungie long before MS bought Bungie out, and they bought them out specifically for Halo to launch with the XBox. As of AoE, they only published it… the actual development was by Ensemble Studios.

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With regards to Halo - fair enough. They certainly had a hand in it and more so now with 343 but weren't the main developers. As for AoE, Ensemble (the developers) were bought out by MS in 2001 so part of the franchise was developed under their name.

I was really just being argumentative . . . and I was aiming at new products developed by MS rather than copies or updates of existing products.

FWIW I do use and enjoy the following MS products, prefering them over alternatives

MS Word
Excel
MS Project


I have never touched an XBox, but would probably class it as a PlayStation clone in keeping with the original intent of my post

Don't recognize WP7/7.5. What is that?

Razormac said:

Don't recognize WP7/7.5. What is that?

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Windows Phone 7 or 7.5. Having given it a run around and seeing what MS is doing with it, I have to say that I like it. I really do wish that it was a widely adopted third option in the market. Unfortunately, it looks like MS is going to run into Android-esque fragmentation issues.

Aaah! I see.

I wouldn't even consider a Windows phone . . and that has nothing to do with Windows itself (at least directly). Integration of contacts, messages and reminders between my iPad and iPhone is a must.

As long as I use an iPad I will also use an iPhone. So, there is one scenario for me switching, if I trade my iPad for a Surface Tablet.

Razormac said:

I was really just being argumentative

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Ah, I see I've been rubbing off on you. I get the feeling that in real life, we'd either get along really well or not at all.

Razormac said:

Aaah! I see.

I wouldn't even consider a Windows phone . . and that has nothing to do with Windows itself (at least directly). Integration of contacts, messages and reminders between my iPad and iPhone is a must.

As long as I use an iPad I will also use an iPhone. So, there is one scenario for me switching, if I trade my iPad for a Surface Tablet.

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You know, there are other services other than iCloud. (Me being argumentative this time!)

vansmith said:

Ah, I see I've been rubbing off on you. I get the feeling that in real life, we'd either get along really well or not at all.

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You mean this isn't real???

I took my BP this morning so I'm still kicking.

Regardless, I assure you I am just as charming (or annoying) when I am physically present.

vansmith said:

With regards to Halo - fair enough. They certainly had a hand in it and more so now with 343 but weren't the main developers. As for AoE, Ensemble (the developers) were bought out by MS in 2001 so part of the franchise was developed under their name.

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Developed under their name by a studio that was allowed to run independently as if they had never been acquired. Or so I gather from the Wikipedia entry. So no… I don't see how MS can be credited with anything more than funding the existing development team.

They are still ultimately employed by MS - independence doesn't mean that they weren't directed or funded by MS. In fact, I'm sure many divisions in a company have some semblance of autonomy but are still beholden to the parent. Either way, I don't really care - it's largely irrelevant to my earlier point.

Let me see, and as many who know me would call me a MS hater (Am not in reality). Office is great, MS Project was nice. Windows 7 is a wonderful OS. XP at the time it was released blew any Apple OS out of the water. I love MS Security Essentials for an AntiVirus program.

Some will cringe at this one, but I loved MS Works for a basic suite of apps. When I was flat broke it helped me greatly till I could get office.

Their keyboards are great and preferred over anything else by many and some also prefer their Mice. The Xbox is a very good gaming system.

I Love Windows Phone 7.8 and the new Windows phones. I would take one over any Android phone.

dtravis7 said:

I Love Windows Phone 7.8 and the new Windows phones. I would take one over any Android phone.

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I actually agree. I haven't played much with the new stuff, but my first windows mobile phone(HTC MDA) was nice...even though it's slow as molasses in today's time.

dont get why you even posted this. so you bought a dell. big deal. lots of people run both.

Because, Dell is Swell!

A Dell will run Linux very well.

(Sent from a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Linux Ubuntu 11.1 where it also runs very well).


John F

Yes it will, but will Open Office open any spreadsheet and any document made on Office? Will The Gimp truly equal Adobe Photoshop? Those are two things that keep me away from Linux as my main OS.

lifeisabeach said:

Oh now you REALLY can't give MS credit for those. Halo was under development by Bungie long before MS bought Bungie out, and they bought them out specifically for Halo to launch with the XBox. As of AoE, they only published it… the actual development was by Ensemble Studios.
...
So no… I don't see how MS can be credited with anything more than funding the existing development team.

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So, Microsoft can't be credited with innovation because all they did was fund developement of a pre-existing product produced by a pre-existing company that they bought-out?

Seems fair...

*Cough* Siri *cough*

;D

safarisurfer said:

dont get why you even posted this. so you bought a dell. big deal. lots of people run both.

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So why post anything...? there's a photography thread, car thread, space pen thread, etc....

Ctrl-Opt-Del said:

So, Microsoft can't be credited with innovation because all they did was fund developement of a pre-existing product produced by a pre-existing company that they bought-out?

Seems fair...

*Cough* Siri *cough*

;D

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Yes. And? I realize you are being snarky, but I didn't say MS can't be credited with innovation. I merely argued that those games weren't good examples of it. And yes, Siri is a fairly apt comparison, except perhaps for the fact that "Siri" isn't operated as an independent unit of Apple unlike those game developers continued to be once MS bought them out. Or so I've read. *shrug*