Discussion Group

Macs are still better
Aradia and I are planning on getting her a Wintel box so that she doesn't have to deal with Elroy the iMac's superior user interface.

Ahem.

So I've been looking into what's what in the PC world and I must say, hey, Microsoft is still a bunch of monopolistic heathens, aren't they? Walt Mossberg, who isn't getting paid enough for what he does, has a very nice rundown on Windows XP. What the Q & A doesn't make clear is that Software Activation not only keeps one from horribly bootlegging your copy of XP onto your kid's computer--damn you, you pirate hacker you--but it also makes you call Microsoft for permission to add new hardware to your own computer.

When you first install XP you get it for 30 days before you have to activate it. To activate it, Windows XP generates a key, based on the software's ID number and the specific configuration of your hardware. If you move XP, or so much as upgrade your damn modem, XP ceases to function.

Microsoft tech support is going to be buried in pissed off geeks who just installed a hot new video card so they can pound their friends at Everquest.