The Code Crusader

Microsoft Products sucks. There. I said it. Their products are headache. From Dev, Office Productivity, Games and yeah, the Operating System that popularized the use of Ctrl+Alt Del(which was originally programmed for debugging purposes) and the Blue Screen of Death... hhmmm ok fine, HALO's cool but come to think of it, it was Bunjie Studios who was acquired by Microsoft that made it. Also, there are rumors going around that Bunjie will be leaving Microsoft. If you really ponder on it, the great stuff inside Windows are usually the apps that are made by other companies. Games for example. Most people are having seconds thoughts moving to MAC or Linux since they don't have as much games as MS Windows. There are also popular apps like Adobe Products that needs a lot of tweaking when you "wine" it under Linux though MAC fan boys don't have a problem on this one. The problem with MS products are bugs. There are too many bugs that later on results to system crashes, security holes, development obstruction, troubleshooting the same problem all over again, portability, upgrades(vista's a memory hog) and lots of other stuff. Microsoft just got lucky that a lot of company's are supporting their stuff through drivers and useful software which doesn't usually have(if not for their community).

I'm a Windows user and has been using MS Operating System since DOS where you even need a boot disk and a system disk to execute utilities like format, copy, diskcopy, etc. But after I learned Linux both on the Desktop and Server side, I have been thinking of moving to nix. I'm using a dual-boot laptop installed with WinXP and Ubuntu 6.06(Upgraded to 6.06.2). So far, the experience was quite normal and the only reason I go to WinXP is for unproductive purposes like games and chatting. Because of this, I made a plan by having Ubuntu for my desktop(installed with XP just incase someone needs it just like my Linux Prof who's wife uses XP), CentOS/Fedora/Solaris(unix) for my servers. Im planning to do this both at home and work by April 2008 because Ubuntu 8.04 will be released by this month.

Now, why am I making this blog entry instead of shutting up and just enjoy tinkering with my servers and desktop? Well you see, I experience a virus and system corruption problem under Windows. My Outlook 2000 here in the office can't send and receive a damn email. I never experienced this with Thunderbird since I got my Gmail account which was by invitation only before. Windows also encounters a lot of bugs and the virus problem I told you about. The virus(a locally made here in the Philippines) is a VbScript virus. As a programmer and a computer enthusiast, I was able to dodge, prevent or even manually remove viruses without the need of a anti-virus since most cases, anti-viruses doesn't detect these types of locally or small time virus. But after what happened, I say I had enough. It's not that I can't fix it, I'm just tired fixing the same problem even if I can or know how. Also, since I know Linux, I already have the option to migrate. So today, I will start slowly migrating my stuff at home and at work to Open Source. Yeah, I can't remove WindowsXP here in the office because most doesn't know how to use Linux. I can't also remove WindowsXP in my personal laptop since I might need a WindowsXP when I go to conferences or meetings where not everyone uses Linux but I'm 100% sure, I'll be seeing less Windows(aside from servers running old Windows Server) starting this April and my use of Windows Applications will start to decline starting today. I'm not sure if I'll be having the standard problem since people here in the office uses Outlook 2000 but I think as long as I can take responsibility of my actions and do my job effectively without having negative effect on other people, I think everything's going to be fine. Casualty for today? Microsoft Outlook 2000.

Last January 7, I saw a very funny video/presentation about Bill Gates resignation. The video was about Bill's resignation from Microsoft. It's been about 30 years since Bill(MSFT) and Steve(Apple) have started 
revolutionizing the computer industry. They started back in the days
where companies dont believe that there is a market for desktop computers in every home. That's why a person such as Bill resigning 
his post at Microsoft is quiet unusual since Steve Jobs at Apple is 
still enjoying his innovation and contribution very much.

Bill Gates started Microsoft in 1975. Almost the same time with Apple. As Steve puts it, Microsoft is the only software company that time and the first who knows what a software should be. When Microsoft started, everyone are creating their own softwares and hardware for fun, hobby or for their own research. No one knew that they could make profit from it just like how Steve Jobs believes that there is a big market for desktop computers that no big companies ever realized.

Today, after years of innovation and development that he contributed in the IT industry, I guess
he'll have more time for himself now, for his family and the Gates Foundation that he and his wife
founded. He maybe the person that gave us the blue-screen-of-death(that we are still experiencing)  right and popularized the use of ctrl+alt+del, we can't ignore the fact that he contributed so many great stuff in the computer industry especially in creating great softwares.

Here's a link to a CES 2008 Keynote video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEWMC4usElM