The world needs to be rid of Microsoft. Microsoft's products reflect mere minor innovations in the thought processes of old, and our advancing world needs to be able to say no to this giant when we want to, instead of having its bloated and insecure products always shoved in our faces in a proprietary fashion. In addition, there remains an intense desire in the world for free and open software that is secure and well-maintained, and sadly Microsoft does not adhere to any of these standards. However, freedom may never be found, as developers and publishers the world over merely adhere to Microsoft's reign of terror, churning out new Microsoft-dependent software year after year. This makes it nearly impossible for Microsoft's users to escape their icy grasp of death, as the tangle of a downward spiral of proprietary dependency gets tighter and tighter. The reason that we may never be free is this: Everyone is too scared. Users are too scared to use something different, because of the unfamiliarity and the fact that the software they are accustomed to is not present on other platforms. Their fears are well-founded, because application developers and publishers are scared as well. They are fearful that if they make the jump to open solutions, their fearful customers won't be able to follow them. Their fears have a fair basis as well. Lastly, open platform developers are scared as well. They are scared that, should they overreach their boundaries, they will be left with no market share and no users to support them. Thus, they continue moving forward at snail paces to ensure that they always remain safe. And yes, the fears of open platform developers are just as legitimate as those of end users and application developers and publishers. The key to breaking this chain of imprisonment is, obviously, for everyone to just stop being scared and take the plunge. I know it sounds crazy, but users, developers, and publishers need to make choices based on their true wants and intentions, not completely on a comfort and cash basis. If we all just do our best to contribute to the global cause for open systems and software, and involve ourselves in them, we may attain freedom one day. Oh, and by the way, I actually like Microsoft Office (I can stand XP too), but that is it.
Thrive on some links:
SourceForge
Ubuntu
OpenOffice
How to Kill Microsoft
Wine
It's a start: Paint.net
Getting warmer: GIMP
Mozilla
Open Video
VLC
Pidgin
AbiWord
Audacity
Ardour
HandBrake
Android
And my favorite (even though, ironically, it's only for Windows at the current time): Chrome
Music as Genius
12 years ago
