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After thinking about this OneCare thing I'm beginning to suspect this will hit the independent PC repair people hard. I can see now why M$ is greatly expanding its operations in India. All you need is an agent running on a user's PC and remote control into it and you can diagnose/fix 90% of any software-related problems. It's actually a home-user version of what corporations are already doing with their IT support operations.

Smart move...

Just one more reason not to use MS. I just switched today from Entourage to Mail et al. Slightly feel like I'm shunning some good guys in the Mac BU who have done well with Entourage to be fair. But I really want to demonstrate more Mac software to people.

Not a bad MDN line that:

"Switch to Mac: you'll think you've jumped forward a decade!"

Too true.

And to Windows User; of course some people have problems, just like some can't cook, or drive, or sing. But to laugh at someone because they need help to achieve something is pretty sick and says more about you than them.

Bill...we're bending over now.

How much further do you need to stick your hand up our asses?

"Does Apple offer support via E-mail, phone or chat for an affordable price?"

It's called AppleCare. For an iMac, it's $169 for a total of 3 years of support for software and HARDWARE!!

I have been a Windows user for some time, but I'm slowly switching over to Mac for these reasons.(waiting for 64-bit Intel chips) And also for the fact that their stuff has and is just crap, tired of all the security updates, and they have no vision.

I'll quietly admit too that I've worked for the evil empire for the past five years. I'll just say the company has major problems from the top down. Arrogance being one of them, besides having a lack of or no vision. This just takes the cake.

bubba wrote:

"microsoft is a new car.
you have to buy extra options (security) like you do a sunroof on your new car."

It's worse than that. Try this:

MS is a new car. You have to buy a service contract (with annual fees, of course) so it'll stay running.

As MDN put it, anyone who bought such a car & then payed for annual service protection would be a damned fool. Why wouldn't people shop around for a more reliable make/model (one that didn't NEED the service) and save themselves the grief??

Save your $50.00 mofia fee and buy a Mac.

I keep wondering which strong-arm tactic it will take for the world to wake up and see what's happened to them.

Its extortion pure and simple, but people keep on buy'n it!!!??? And IT people keep acting like the worst thing in the world to happen to them is Macs.

I really just can't figure it out...

You got it all wrong....

Your computer is a car.
You have to pay for gas to make it work right
Same thing with a computer. You need to keep it running.
If you don't pay, the computer doesn't work due to viruses, malware, etc.
I'm surprised they aren't charging $50/mo.

MW: enough.... have you had enough yet?

MDN welcome back!

Nice to see the old gritty, sarcastic commentary. Keep it up!

Mr. Peabody

It's real easy. Microsoft makes out that the MCSE is hard to pass. In reality it's a piece of piss (even I've got one, or two, depending on what electives still count I think). But what MS do is teach people a bunch of Microsoft-centred procedures and tell them they should be proud of it. So all the MCSEs go out into the world thinking they've actually achieved something, and wanting to use their new knowledge to prove how useful they are.

It's quite sad to watch. Especially when the shit hits the fan, and the penny drops that really they don't understand what they're doing. It's that look of disappointment/frustration mixed with the fear of no longer looking like an expert that's quite heartbreaking.

Once in place, no subscription, no support.

$50/yr

That's a bargain for all the work that needs to be done to keep a Windows box secure.

I don't get it. If you buy Windows, you have Virus, spam and security holes. If you pay $50.00 more a year, you won't..WTF

This is why he's worth $40 billion.

@ mac bill

It's like smokers who complain that they get lung cancer. Windows users are IDIOTS!




People who don't smoke get cancers and people who do don't. Stop associating lung caner with smoking. Sick of this shit

Microsoft will die when Bill Gates dies.

I love how the comments on Paul's Wininfo site are like, "only problem is they gotta get the naming straight"

who's drinking the kool-aid now?

"Your computer is a car.
You have to pay for gas to make it work right
Same thing with a computer. You need to keep it running."

Hmm...

Windows PC's should have a Malware Meter on the task bar, like a gauge on a car's dash. It would read from "Normal" to "Infested". When the PC's meter neared "Infested", you'd pay MS $25 to reset the meter & prepare your PC for another week of use. Roughly the same as filling up your car.

"MW: enough.... have you had enough yet?"

Sigh. If only the other 90% of computer users had had enough...

PREDICTED LONG AGO

See this picture

http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/.Pictures/funwithlonghorn3.jpg

smoker, you are a dumbass

Smoker:

You have an extremely poor understanding of basic statistics and the definition of relative risk. I reckon you have never seriously examined the data regarding the prevalence of various cancers, and pulmonary and cardiovascular illnesses in tobacco users as opposed to non-tobacco users.

One person out of one hundred may kick an 800-pound gorilla in the nuts and live to tell the tale, but a reasonable person wouldn’t attempt to punt the nads of an 800-pound gorilla. Savvy?

"Your computer is a car. You have to pay for gas to make it work right Same thing with a computer. You need to keep it running."

Based on this analogy my Mac doesn’t need fuel to perform.

Okay everyone, on the count of three let's peg those Mac smug-O-meters! One, two, three...(peg...peg...peg.)

Go Apple!

Smoker:
"People who don't smoke get cancers and people who do don't. Stop associating lung caner with smoking. Sick of this shit."

You sound like my mother, she preached same line to me my entire life...until she died of lung cancer. So be careful.

MS before the monopolist case: "We will cut off their air supply."

MS after the monopolist case: "the software giant insists that its aim is not to run those companies out of business,"

I love the car analogies here is another one. Brand new car, door lock and key, 50$ extra.

Pathetic.

Three words - conflict of interest.

MS is absolutely begging for the Department of Justice to insert its nose deep into MS' ... business.

Next up, for just $50/year, the following institutions will try harder:

Banks - Deposited funds will actually go into your account.

Electric utilities - Huge blasts of voltage will be prevented from frying all your domestic appliances.

Schools - Deadly poisonous snakes will be kept out of classrooms.

Automakers - No leaking gas tanks.

Pharmaceutical makers - Lower levels of strychnine.

Airlines - Mechanics will look at the planes from time to time.

Does anyone else see this as not just ridiculous or pitiful, but a textbook example of the necessity of consumer protection agencies?

eople who use Windows get what they deserve. It's like smokers who complain that they get lung cancer. Windows users are IDIOTS!"

Its funny how you all think your so superior yet you buy up whatever Jobs releases to the market and praise it as a god send. Yet you call a windows user an idiot. We are the ones who turn on our MP3 players and have to be shown a sad or happy face to know whether its working.

Yesterday I had some idiot call in on a support line asking for help connecting his Mac to the internet. I actually laughed at him... You know why? I said to him its a Mac aren't you just supposed to be able to plug it in and it does everything for you? Apple sells its self as easier and better yet they require just as much setup they are only in a prettier box and on that note I tell you... Your all a bunch of conformists. Everyone of you owns the same machine with the same specs built by the same people at least windows users actually like a choice see thats what you get when you by a PC you get a choice not a bunch of Big Brother propaganda being shoved down your throat. ie.. You must buy and use this software only. .... Your itunes songs that you paid for can only be played on your iPod and not on any other music player.

Sounds to me like someone telling me how to use everything I buy the way they want me too.

Like Bill Gates telling me I can only print Word .doc's on a microsoft printer. Sounds stupid doesn't it

What a bunch of losers.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Wrong on all counts...what kind of dickhole goes to sites that don't interest him/her. What choice are you talking about? MS windows, MS internet explorer, MS Access, MS Office, Windows Media Player, you seem like a pretty big asshole. Some one calls you for help which, I assume is your job, and you act like well, a really big asshole. Maybe you couldn't answer the question & felt inadequate, or are a really big asshole. You seem to forget that most Mac users use Winblows in some capacity. It's unavoidable. Pay you're 50 dollars for security, bend over & take it up the giggy. You seem to think it's fair. Don't come here & whine like a little bitch. Use what you want. Nobody gives two shits about what you use or your opinion. I'm pretty sure that most of the "people that call you" are worse for doing so. Go pound salt up your ass. You little whiny bitch.

So, after the $50.00 bucks payment, and you still get a virus - do you get your money back?

When are people that buy Windows going to call MS on their shit. This is no different than the neighborhood thug coming around and demanding money or else you will get beat up.

Something is definitely wrong here. But you've got to hand it to Mr. Gates for taking lemmons and making people drinks some very sour lemmon aid.


MW: Church - Which one does Gates attend?

That is funny, mafia$oft puts shit on your desk and than charge you to clean up. It doen't make sense for smart users. But if you think it's fair to pay 50 bucks to mafia$oft to do it you're stupid and than you deserve have a "ruin dous" garbage PC.

$50 big ones for security and it comes to the market place just months before a supposedly fully secure M$ OS is released? WHY?

Who are they trying to convince? The hordes who already have flakey systems or the new breed that will suck up Vista and feel more secure by paying another $50, just to be doubly sure!!!!!!

What happens if the $50 subscription is paid and it doesn't work? Can those payed up folk take a class action for damages and cost of repairs, revenue lost and stress encountered in the process of trying to fix the problem on their PC?

Could happen eh! Some folk sue corporations for shitty little things like losing their hearing because they forgot how to use the scroll wheel, so this seems like another shitty little thing, why not wait a few weeks after purchasing and jump on the bandwagon and sue. There should be enough M$ users out there who will encounter problems to make it a really BIG Class action.

Leo

Maybe Dvorak was right, that the actual CEO of Microsoft is Frank Nitti.

maczealot, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics. That's not cause and effect, there are many kinds of carcinogenic air pollution, like the bazillion tons of benzene pumped into the air in auto exhaust. You obviously don't understand the scope of industrial pollution either.

MW - "death" (no kidding), as in this could be the death of Microsoft.

i don't really dig the whole notion of everyone calling everyone else "idiot" because of this or anything like it. windows users aren't "idiots". but people who bash apple without even giving them a try are idiots, though. most (and i really DO mean MOST) windows users don't realize that there's an alternative. or perhaps they're aware of the alternative but they don't understand that computers are like nearly anything else in that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
the moron above (Windows USER), who tried to say that macs are nothing more than a prettier box, has obviously never used OS X, and therefore can't make a reasonable argument against the platform. he obviously isn't aware of how easy OS X really is to set up and use and (gasp!) MAINTAIN. ZERO VIRUSES, numbnuts! ZERO MALWARE, ZERO SPYWARE! the only programs i have on my mac are THE ONES I WANT ON THERE! and i don't have to pay $50 a year to keep it that way!
macs are just as easy, if not easier, to use as windows PCs, and they are currently infinitely more reliable and secure. that's just the FACTS, mister help desk windows lemming. if you can't deal with the facts, then it is YOU that is the idiot.
returning on-topic - isn't it just sick that microsoft would sell both the problem and its solution (to paraphrase what was said earlier)? and isn't even more sick that many out there (IGNORANT, but not STUPID, there IS a difference) will take it as some sort of blessing?

neomonkey:

Obviously, you have the intellectual capacity of an 8-pound simian.

Firstly, I never said industrial pollution doesn't cause health risks.

Secondly, the "pollutants" in tobacco smoke are similarly as toxic as those that are expelled from some industrial plants and regulated by various local, state, and federal agencies.

Thirdly, anyone who doesn't comprehend statistics ought not to attempt to criticize the science based on a flimsy quote by an ill-informed and ignorant nonstatistician.

Fourthly, several people have been shot through the brain by firearms and have lived. According to your twisted logic there is, therefore, no "cause and effect" established between a 240-grain bullet passing through a persons head at 830 feet per second and nervous tissue damage. So, why don’t you try this experiment at home?

Whether or not it causes lung cancer, smoking does harden your arteries, meaning you're more likely to have a heart attack.

It also ages your skin and rots your gums.

You really want to pay good money for something that does that to you?

Why not make Windows itself secure?

Cuz then they wouldn't be able to charge their duped users 50 bucks a month. Duh.

Your all a bunch of conformists.

Oh, the irony.

If MS really cared about it's customers and wanted to retain them, they'd offer this service to ALL their users for FREE. This is just a way to swell the coffers in Redmond. Yawn.

Class action, class action, class action. Its been mentioned, but largely ignored.

MIcrofuck sells an OS that is broken. Plug your brand new machine into the internet without safety measures and your stuffed within 15 mins. This is a risk that continues to grow exponentially with each passing minute.

If I bought a car, coffee machine, printer, iron, whatever, and the thing was guaranteed to be broken within minutes of using it for what it was designed for then my purchase is DEFECTIVE.

When people tell me they just bought a new Windows PC, my only response is why have you bought something that is already broken. Why are you paying again to have it fixed? Particularly when the repair is not guaranteed???? Why in ever other industry certain standards apply to consumer protection?????

Why does a vexation litigant get airtime for sueing Apple about the volume for an iPod, yet the world ignores the piece of crap that Windows is?

"Microsoft Security," a misnomer if ever there was one?

The word you want is "OXYMORON"

You know there's one thing that really gets up my nose and it's the arrogance of some members of the mac community who are insulting in their attitude to windows users. Many windows are not stupid they may be IT illiterate but that doesn't make them stupid.

If you look at the reaction of Windows User you can understand the reaction of the of this person to the outright insults that many people on this site have when talking about windows and its installation base.

What about the switchers? Does it mean they are idiots until they start using macs and then, lo and behold, once they start using a mac they then shed their idiocy. Does Apple treat windows users like idiots when trying to switch them over to macs? Of course not!

Last but not least there are many readers/posters on this web site that have switched their friends/ colleagues/family members over to macs. Were these ex-windows users idiots? Hell no! Until last year my sister was a windows user and now she happily uses an eMac. And I resent anyone calling any member of my family an idiot.

Apple has spent millions of dollars trying to switch windows' users over to macs and by the arrogance of some people on this site you are doing a disservice to Apple by insulting and inflaming windows users. Why would you want to try out a mac if people called you an idiot. And you know who inflamed readers on this site to insult windows users…MacdailyNews for calling windows users stupid.

Last year I tore into MDN for their arrogant attitude and for a while it looked like they got the message. I guess old habits die hard.

If you want to convert windows users you don't call them stupid or call them idiots you commiserate with them and calmly say that you understand their problem, but if they used a mac they wouldn't experience these problems. I sometimes wonder that who is really the idiot and who is just plain misinformed.

One final point, I switched over to macs after suffering the trials and tribulations of Windows 3.1. I never considered myself an idiot, I just realised I'd made a mistake.

This may actually be quite a risk for Microsoft. There is no guarantee that they will make any money on $50/year, unless Windows/Vista become more secure.
Microsoft may be expending a lot of bandwidth and toll free telephone time helping the billions of Microsoft users clean up the virus/spyware/etc. that has infected their computers.
It can sometimes take the better part of a day to clean up a badly infected machine. In some cases I've seen techs virtually throw up their hands and to a complete re-install just to rid computers of maleware.
I say, good luck Microsoft hope you have an upgrade program ready for, say oh, maybe $500/year.

Although I agree with bikersrule for the most part, I do have to point out that many of the comments calling window users stupid were directed at those who would take part in this silly OneCare program. At that point I would have to agree with the commenters. You would have to be pretty dim to do that.

P.S. Smoker....Is stupidity painful? Then you must really be in agony........

MDN magic word....research as in...do the basic cancer research you idiot

Move along, ther's nothing to see here
http://www.bkpfd.org

I hate to give any more attention to the woefully pathetic "Windows User" that posted above, but...

...does it occur to anyone else that his little story about laughing at the hapless Mac user makes no sense?

He claims to work on some sort of tech support line. One can assume from his attitude that it isn't Apple's help line, nor any company associated with Apple products. In fact, one can only logically assume that he works for either Microsoft, or some company that makes Windows-oriented software.

So why, exactly, would a Mac user call him or his company? Answer: they wouldn't. They didn't. His whole story must be the fabrication of a disturbed and twisted little person who loves his Windows operating system so much that he goes and lurks on a Mac-oriented website.

What sort of looney does that?

Sheesh. Windows USER (love that capitalization), go get a life. A girlfriend might help.


Marty


MDN Magic Word: "knew," as in "I KNEW that that story was complete bs."

Evil MS User thinks outloud, "Let's, see, 'bout $17 per PC, but I just got one PC. Shucks, I'll just buy 2 more PC's and saves money on this Windows OneCare thing. Boy, am I smart."

IPFREELY SPEWED: "at least windows users actually like a choice see thats what you get when you by a PC you get a choice"


Let's see here,

Dell comes with Windows XP
Sony comes with Windows XP
Gateway comes with Windows XP
HP comes with Windows XP
Lenovo comes with Windows XP
Toshiba comes with Windows XP


That's so much choice it practically makes my head explode! How do you PC users handle it?

"This is unethical. Microsuck should be providing a product that is secure. Users should not need to "buy" security from them. If a vulnerability comes about, it means the software was not designed well in the first place and Microsuck should fix it for free.

Go Apple!"

I completely agree. I mean, what's keeping them from making their platform MORE insecure, just plain not concerning themselves about security, and charging possibly more money. It's nothing short of robbery.

stuart: I think this is the first step towards charging users a subscription for Windows Update.

You have to admit, Microsoft truly is an innovator when it comes to finding new and unexpected ways to charge people. That's been their main contribution to the industry.


MW: "cent", as in "Not one CENT of my money is going towards paying for Windows Update."

Does anyone else see the similarities between Microsoft and the Boy Who Cried Wolf? They say, "this time we've focused on security". How long until people finally stop believing in their lies? This just seems akin to a double anal penetration (pardon the crudeness) in that they f--- you with the operating system, in both the wallet and in security, then f--- you again with forking over money for software to fix the holes, or at least slow the leak a small bit. Almost makes my ass hurt out of sympathy, almost.

MDW, lead. Microsoft lemmings still are following Bill "The Pied Piper's" lead.

This is just plain unethical. It's like Philip Morris USA running a chain of cancer care clinics.

Or like Citibank or American Express' "no-late-fee" credit cards that jack you with default interest if you pay late.

2006 is the year the cracks start showing up in the Microsoft Empire. Nothing lasts forever.

MDN MW: "action"; as in we need to take action against Mafia$soft