Post your desktop

[Ross Hendrie]

Rogue hates IE as evidenced in his sig . And also he has a Mozilla icon there too.

[Bajoran Rogue]

Now you comment on the IE icon, after all the other images of my desktop I've posted with it there?
I never use it anyway, if Firefox isn't working for some reason then I'll use Opera with its ads rather than IE until I can get Firefox working again, and as I use Windows don't I need IE for somethings anyway? I'm planning on getting my computer dual booted with Linux and Windows once its been upgraded after Christmas, even then as it will have Windows on it I'll need IE for somethings.

[Ross Hendrie]

Yeah you need IE to do things such as access your Program Files and that.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

Rogue hates IE as evidenced in his sig . And also he has a Mozilla icon there too.

I'm well aware of that, but I like no trace of IE. At all.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

Now you comment on the IE icon, after all the other images of my desktop I've posted with it there?

I dunno. Never really noticed it before.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

I never use it anyway, if Firefox isn't working for some reason then I'll use Opera with its ads rather than IE until I can get Firefox working again, and as I use Windows don't I need IE for somethings anyway?

News flash -- Opera is now free and comes without ads. I strongly suggest you upgrade to Opera 8, which is the newest version. Also, I am aware you do need IE for some things, but you don't need it for anything specifically internet-related. And for everything else, you wouldn't access your computer by double-clicking on Internet Explorer, you'd access it by opening My Computer or something similar. So you still wouldn't need the icon.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

I'm planning on getting my computer dual booted with Linux and Windows once its been upgraded after Christmas, even then as it will have Windows on it I'll need IE for somethings.

That's fantastic news about Linux, Rogue! Please contact me as I can definitely help you with some tips and tricks and recommendations for you. Have you chosen a distro yet? If not, I strongly recommend Ubuntu Linux as it's very simple to use, comes with many things you need, and is still very easy to customize. I've tried many Linux distros and I can tell you with confidence that Ubuntu is the best I have tried. Anyway, keep me informed. You have my e-mail address, right?

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

Yeah you need IE to do things such as access your Program Files and that.

As I said above, yes, but you certainly do not need it for anything internet-related, and as long as you're not using it to connect to the internet, it's not insecure. So that's perfectly fine.

[Ross Hendrie]

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

As I said above, yes, but you certainly do not need it for anything internet-related, and as long as you're not using it to connect to the internet, it's not insecure. So that's perfectly fine.

But you cant stop it from connecting to the internet when you open it up.

[Bajoran Rogue]

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

News flash -- Opera is now free and comes without ads. I strongly suggest you upgrade to Opera 8, which is the newest version.

Wow, no ads, that's a surprise, but I still prefer Firefox over Opera anyway, Opera's layout seems too cluttered to me.

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

Also, I am aware you do need IE for some things, but you don't need it for anything specifically internet-related. And for everything else, you wouldn't access your computer by double-clicking on Internet Explorer, you'd access it by opening My Computer or something similar. So you still wouldn't need the icon.

I'll still have it there anyway, if not for any reason other than I'm too scared to ger rid of it as I don't know whether its a shortcut or not.

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

That's fantastic news about Linux, Rogue! Please contact me as I can definitely help you with some tips and tricks and recommendations for you. Have you chosen a distro yet? If not, I strongly recommend Ubuntu Linux as it's very simple to use, comes with many things you need, and is still very easy to customize. I've tried many Linux distros and I can tell you with confidence that Ubuntu is the best I have tried. Anyway, keep me informed. You have my e-mail address, right?

Ubuntu is the distro I had decided to try anyway, so long as it is compatible with the wireless thing.

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

But you cant stop it from connecting to the internet when you open it up.

As I said, it depends how you open it up. If you open up My Computer, it won't connect to the internet anyway, and that's all I was endorsing doing, so what you're saying really doesn't matter at all.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

Wow, no ads, that's a surprise, but I still prefer Firefox over Opera anyway, Opera's layout seems too cluttered to me.

I am, of course, the same way.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

I'll still have it there anyway, if not for any reason other than I'm too scared to ger rid of it as I don't know whether its a shortcut or not.

It is, and you'll still have a link in the Start menu. And if you really regret deleting it, I know how to put it back.

Originally Posted by Bajoran Rogue

Ubuntu is the distro I had decided to try anyway, so long as it is compatible with the wireless thing.

Wireless can be easy to set up (works out of the box) or difficult to set up (through a utility called ndiswrapper that uses Windows drivers to make your card work in Linux) but either way I am confident we will get it working. Like I said, e-mail me for help.

[Ross Hendrie]

What's inherently bad about Windows anyway? Apart from IE of course.

[Danny Stewart]

It's full of Microsoft propriety, security holes, bugs, problems, constant threat of viruses and spyware, instability, incompatibility with other operating systems and even other Windows computers... would you like me to go on? Because I can if I need to, although I think I've proved my point.

[Bajoran Rogue]

I wouldn't be surprised if the security companies pay Microsoft to keep the security flaws in Windows. If there are no more security flaws, no more buisness for the security companies.

[Danny Stewart]

It wouldn't surprise me either, but the point is, they are there.

EDIT: Just for fun, here's the Security section of the Microsoft Windows article on Wikipedia. Hopefully it will help illuminate my point a bit better.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Security has been a major weakness of Windows for many years. Due to the widespread usage of Windows on desktops, many crackers (also known as Black Hat hackers) have targeted Windows rather than the lesser used operating systems such as Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, and FreeBSD. Additionally most modern operating systems were designed for security in a multi-user and/or networked environment and have a relatively small number of security issues. Windows was originally designed for ease-of-use on a single-user PC without a network connection, and did not have security features built in from the outset. Combined with occasionally flawed code (such as buffer overflows), Windows is a continous target of worms and virus writers. In June 2005, Bruce Schneier's Counterpane Internet Security reported that it had seen over 1,000 new viruses and worms in the previous six months.

A study conducted by Kevin Mitnick and marketing communications firm, Avantgarde, found that an unprotected and unpatched Windows XP system lasted only 4 minutes on the Internet before it was compromised. The AOL/National Cyber Security Alliance Online Safety Study of October 2004 determined that 80% of Windows users were infected by at least one spyware/adware product.

[Ross Hendrie]

What's so perfect about Linux then?

[Danny Stewart]

It's not perfect. In the computer world, nothing is. In response to all my original negatives about Windows, though:

Microsoft propriety - simply not present in Linux, it's a cooperative environment that uses different software from different places for different things and supports universal things that Microsoft doesn't
security holes - much fewer security holes, fixed much faster
bugs - I won't lie, Linux has its share of these as well, but they work to fix them fast
problems - obviously this really depends on the user, but I find them few and far between
constant threat of viruses and spyware - virtually unheard of in the Linux world
instability - well known and world renowned for its extreme stability
incompatibility with other operating systems - Linux is extremely compatible with virtually every other operating system

[Ross Hendrie]

Is it true Linux is made by Apple though?

[Shawn]

I swear if you start another IE v. Firefox argument I'm going to come to your house and hit you with one of those giant plastic baseball bats for five hours!!!

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

Is it true Linux is made by Apple though?

WHAT?! Where the hell are you getting that from?

Mac OS is made by Apple... Linux is made by no one. There are thousands of different versions of Linux each made by a different person, individual, group, or organization... If it was made by a company such as Apple, it would cost something, and Linux is free and the source code has been made available to the public. I am shocked to hear you say something like that.

Originally Posted by Shawn

I swear if you start another IE v. Firefox argument I'm going to come to your house and hit you with one of those giant plastic baseball bats for five hours!!!

Nice to see you back around these parts, Shawn, even if it is only for a post like that. Hate to break it to you, but... My board, my rules. You don't have to visit any threads you don't want to but I'm allowed to post them, so bugger off if you don't want to participate in the argument. (Besides, that's not even what we're arguing about... yet.)

[Ross Hendrie]

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

WHAT?! Where the hell are you getting that from?

Mac OS is made by Apple... Linux is made by no one. There are thousands of different versions of Linux each made by a different person, individual, group, or organization... If it was made by a company such as Apple, it would cost something, and Linux is free and the source code has been made available to the public. I am shocked to hear you say something like that.

Wait a minute? Different people, individual, groups, and organizations... doesnt it contain viruses and spyware etc. then?

I think it's Linux vs. Windows this time Shawn lol. No need to worry.

[Shawn]

[sarcasm]Well nice to see you in a happy mood as usual Danny.[/sarcasm]
To spare Danny the pleasure of ripping apart my post and qouting point after point I shall reduce it to one sentence.

Windows runs Lineage 2, Linux does not, I find the Penguins lack of faith in Lineage 2 disturbing.

I see no point getting into another post war with Danny, cause it never ends. He has a seeminly impenatrable shield of stubborness.

Anyway I hope your campaign to get everyone to switch to Linux works, because according to theory all the hackers will analy rape it and leave us tiny pathetic Windows users alone; finally.

Perhaps I wouldn't have to argue with Danny all the time if half our MSN conversations didn't involved 50 reasons why I have to switch to Linux and Firefox or burn in hellfire...

[Danny Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie

Wait a minute? Different people, individual, groups, and organizations... doesnt it contain viruses and spyware etc. then?

Yup, riddled with it. I'd be surprised if you can survive 30 seconds without getting hit with some.

Ross, it's made by people who want to make the world of computing better for everyone, not people who are out to get other people. Besides, as I said above and you seemed to ignore, there are no Linux viruses, there is no Linux spyware. In addition, these projects are actually overseen by people. Assuming it did exist, it would never be allowed in. All these things are made, as I said above, by people who care about others and want to make things better for all computer users everywhere. That's what gives it such a pleasant environment to be in and makes it such a pleasant experience.

Originally Posted by Shawn

[sarcasm]Well nice to see you in a happy mood as usual Danny.[/sarcasm]

I'm not in a bad mood, I just don't like being shut down by someone as closed-minded as you seem to be sometimes.

Originally Posted by Shawn

To spare Danny the pleasure of ripping apart my post and qouting point after point I shall reduce it to one sentence.

Oh, how kind.

Originally Posted by Shawn

Windows runs Lineage 2, Linux does not, I find the Penguins lack of faith in Lineage 2 disturbing.

This, my friend, is the reason for dual booting, and also running Windows in a VMware session inside of Linux. Both solutions work very well for me, and I'm sure if you gave them a shot, they'd work well for you.

Originally Posted by Shawn

I see no point getting into another post war with Danny, cause it never ends. He has a seeminly impenatrable shield of stubborness.

Serves me well, although I'm sure you would disagree.

Originally Posted by Shawn

Anyway I hope your campaign to get everyone to switch to Linux works, because according to theory all the hackers will analy rape it and leave us tiny pathetic Windows users alone; finally.

You know, that attitude helps no one, really. I'm sorry you don't see eye-to-eye with me on this one but if you're going to just be contrary then no offense, but just don't participate. No one's forcing you to.

Originally Posted by Shawn

Perhaps I wouldn't have to argue with Danny all the time if half our MSN conversations didn't involved 50 reasons why I have to switch to Linux and Firefox or burn in hellfire...

I've never said anything of the kind and I kind of resent the implication. I may talk about why I prefer it and why I believe it to be better, but I never said anything about the fact that you should switch and I certainly never mentioned hellfire or anything of the sort, whether or not you were being serious.

[Shawn]

The old "Either you're with me or shut the hell up" line, pwnage. Honestly, I'm tired of the whole Linux v Windows and Firefox v IE perpetual argumentation. Luckily the only RP I was actually interested in on here has gone to lax because of your not caring about anything but how fast you can download the next Dr. Who episode; or who you can bug about Linux and Firefox next. I'm out, ban me if you want.