Reader response: Do you still trust Bill Gates?

Cnet ^ | Tuesday, February 22, 2005 | verdyp

[r5boston]

Even if there's a newer IE 7 coming before the next Windows release, I won't trust what [its company] says. Nothing says that Microsoft will really secure its browser against silent and malicious ActiveX installations, and nothing says that IE 7 will support the many users who still have Windows 98 and 98 SE (and the few users still using Me who bought a "new" OS, which was really so deceptive that they won't even try to upgrade to XP...).

What is consistently frightening is that Bill tries to convince everybody that the only way to browse the Internet is to use the latest version of Windows, in order to be allowed to get security updates on a free browser. Just think about it: IE 6 is no more secure on Windows 98, and Bill decided to stop all developments for Windows 98. Those who didn't want IE on Windows 98 have long since chosen another browser. And IE 7 will not work on Windows 98.

So it's time to really think about what Bill has wanted: to create a captive market where users are constantly required to update their OS every three years, just to be allowed to get decent updates for the tools they need every day, like a browser.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..So it's time to really think about what Bill has wanted: to create a captive market where users are constantly required to update their OS every three years, just to be allowed to get decent updates for the tools they need every day, like a browser..."

Ya think?

[pageonetoo]

http://www.mozilla.org/

[Izzy Dunne]

Do you still trust Bill Gates?

Still?

Whaddya mean "still"?

Never did.

Apparently MS can now deliver a browser that's separate from the OS, whereas just a couple of years ago, the browser couldn't be separated from the OS (at least that's what BG told DOJ).

[TomGuy]

I learned 15 years ago to not install the latest patch or upgrade until it had been 'out' 6 months. That would give the developer time to fix the bugs the patch/upgrade created.

lol.

IE7 would be no different. No one outside MS seem to know how it will be better or improved or what new features it might contain. So, when it is released, any users should be skeptical in rushing to install it.

I remember with the release of Win 98, one of MS's vp's was giving a demo on a TV media blitz. He said Win 98 was the most tested software in history and it was basically infallible. Then, the demo crashed. lol. The red-faced vp made some excuse about equipment failure.

[Sandreckoner]

I don't trust Gates, but it has nothing to do with his browser or OS. I've been running the same install of XP, flawlessly despite thrashing it, for a few years, with an updated antivirus, pop-up blockers and anti-spyware aps that cover malicious installs. Never really had a problem with it. I now use MS's antispyware beta and it's fantastic (bought from another company). If that's integrated into the next browser or OS, well, hey, so much the better.

I don't trust Gates because of his recent comments at Davos, in several interviews. It's clear that Gates (along with many top American business leaders - and believe me, I'm very pro-business most of the time) appear to be angling to leech from and drain the United States as it looks toward a future in China. The many comments talking down the dollar were shocking. A few would not have been surprising, but the across-the-board comments were frightening.

[wolfpat]

http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm
I use Firefox too, but this is my favorite. It's what IE would be if they fixed the problems.

[Born to Conserve]

Browsers are soon a thing of history. All applications will one day see the internet as if it is one big hard drive. The browser will not only get integrated into the operating system, it will completely disappear.

WinFX is coming. Get used to it. Developers are using it, and so shall you.

I will be as unavoidable as city water. You can try to use bottled linux water, but you won't always have a choice.

[pageonetoo]

I use Safari and Firefox for browsing. Both keep me safe and clear of obstacles...

As a Mac user since 1984, I have little use for Bill Gates products, but... they gotta make a living! (Just not from me!)

[Izzy Dunne]

Ah, yes. "We are Borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

I've heard it all before.

I still like my Macs.

[rdb3]

Apparently MS can now deliver a browser that's separate from the OS, whereas just a couple of years ago, the browser couldn't be separated from the OS (at least that's what BG told DOJ).

---

Exactly. I made this argument here when this case was in court.

B2K, what happened between then and now where IE can be separated from Windows? Before, it couldn't be separated. Now, it can be separated. What gives?

[thejokker]

as a computer technican i work with browser related problems everyday. microsoft is on top because they produce a superior product. it is "market forces at work". persons having problems with internet explorer do so because of a lack of knowledge. it is equal to blaming your car because you drive into a telephone pole. i tried firefox and was not impressed.

[steve-b]

persons having problems with internet explorer do so because of a lack of knowledge

Yeah -- people should know better than to use that bug-ridden open portal for virii, worms, and crackers.

[edchambers]

a captive market where users are constantly required to update their OS every three years

I think not,I still have three computers happily chugging along with 98se, and no need to "update" them.On the other hand I'm sure Mr. Gates would like us all to think we need to update our OS's.In reality this usually creates more problems than it solves as new OS's are designed to use more system resources they will work like crap on your older computer without serious upgrades.

[MAWG]

I dont trust anybody who lives in Seattle.

[MAWG]

I have used Netscape from day one.

[Brilliant]

I trust him about as much as I trust any businessman. Probably more than I trust the majority of Congressman.

[Hostage]

Maybe you can tell me why the new notebook I bought my wife that runs XP Home with IE 6 SPK2 will refuse to connect to the internet after coming out of standby or hibernation (what's the difference?).

Control panel internet shows she's connected but the IE screen times out after launch and shows the well-known 'This Page Not Found' etc. I switched power management so that it never goes into hibernation while connected to an AC power adapter but no luck.

I have to reboot it to get it to connect again to the internet.

BTW I have trouble trusting Bill Gates and am somewhat paranoid that his browser software has the capability to let someone in and monitor what I am doing with my computer. My only crime in life is being a closet conservative in Seattle. But Gates and his family are liberal to the extreme on some issues.

Gates is a control maven. His father pushes to establish an income tax in Washington State. His wife is a very strange gun control supporter.

[sticker]

I always get a laugh from MAC heads bashing Microsoft as being
so controlling, when they are in love with a company that produces both the OS and the hardware.

[Hostage]

There is a conservative underground in Seattle and the demographics are changing such that extreme liberalism is no longer growing and appears to be losing some numbers.

But there is a Marxist mindset in Seattle that is frightening and confrontational, sometimes militant. It is part of the city government, city college and the government unions. Moveon.org is one of their political activist outlets. The liberals that control Seattle are the ones I suspect of voter fraud in the recent governor's election because as some of them say 'it is payback for Bush-Gore 2000'.