New Windows Stuff Rocks!!!1!!!!

At least, according Bill Gates it does.
An article at Dailytech discusses Bill Gates' reaction to his users, and to the Apple advertisements.

"Internet Explorer 7, which is offered to all Windows XP users as an
optional update. According to Gates, less than a third of Windows XP users
downloaded the new browser, and even less take advantage of less advertised new
additions. So how many people have upgraded to IE7? “I would say it's less
than 30 percent,” Gates replied. “We’ve had this incredible desktop search
[available for download] that won every review, and I’ll bet that less than
10 percent of Windows users went and got that..."

I actually agree with this. The reason so few people actually upgraded to IE7 is because it is cumbersome to use, isn't as intuitive with the tabbed browsing as Firefox or even Opera, and they changed the UI around just because they could - moving (removing) frequently used buttons and menus from one location in IE6 to a completely different location in IE7. Some of the elements can be put back (the menus), but other buttons have been moved in the "upgrade" and you can't hack them back into place. The only option is to revert back to IE6.
Or switch to Firefox or Opera.

And that Desktop Search mentioned above? Why do I need that? I have 160GB HD and all my files are organized into directories and subdirectories. If I need a file, I either know exactly where it's at because I put it there, or I have a really good idea of where it will be and can find it in a matter of minutes. The only value I could see to a massive local search engine would be in a networked environment where you might have files spread across several different PCs and servers too. However, most home users don't have anything that complicated.

“And I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it’s superior. I don't even
get it. What are they trying to say?” Gates continues to express his disgust
with the Apple ads...

I'm a die hard Windows user. And I firmly believe the Mac OS is a better operating system. Windows is, always has been, and always will be bloatware. A massive amount of code to do simple things. From what I've heard and read and seen, the Mac OS is more streamlined, the code itself is revised instead of just added onto, and installing it doesn't slow down your computer. An operating system should make your computer use it's resources in the most efficient method possible. Windows does not.
Windows is relatively easy to use, because, for the most part, it hasn't really changed any in 15+ years. The multitudes of PC buyers are familiar with it and have gotten used to it, and don't want to try to something different.

“I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think
of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say
they are,”

Mr. Gates is right. We, the Windows users of the world, do not consider ourselves dullards. We're not. We're just afraid of change and risk.

At home, I could back up all of my files to DVD, wipe my hard drives, and install Linux on my PCs and then spend some time learning the ins and outs of that OS, and teaching it to my family. At work, our massive IT department could spend millions of dollars backing up every computer and server on their networks, wipe all the computers and install Linux.

It wouldn't cost be anything to do this at home, besides time and effort. Linux is free.
But as I mentioned, it would probably cost millions for my place of work to switch from a Windows OS to anything else. Time, manpower, training on the new OS. It all adds up to a hefty price tag.

For the time being, I'll stick with Windows. If I get a new computer while my kids PC still works, I might use the kids PC to tinker with a Linux installation and use that to learn on.

But I wouldn't just make the switch without a fallback.

New Windows Stuff Rocks!!!1!!!!