Topics pertaining to software and software development, mostly for Microsoft Windows or Linux, and mostly in C or C++.
It seems that Microsoft has realized the foolishness of last year’s unsubstantiated assertion that Linux “violates 235 of [MS’s] patents.” Failing to scare corporations away from Linux, and failing to scare Linux distributors like Red Hat into paying them extortion money, they’ve backed away from that claim and are making friendly overtures to the open-source …
Continue reading ‘“All That Got Stolen Was Microsoft’s Thunder”’ »
Joel Spolsky has hit the nail right on the head, yet again. This time, he’s talking about Internet Explorer 8 and the decision whether or not to automatically follow web standards, and the eternal flame wars that are going to erupt over it. He also points out that this is the same reason that Windows …
Joel Spolsky has an interesting article in February’s Inc. Magazine (readable online here). It might explain something I’ve never been able to figure out: why no one else seems to be seriously pursuing Project X, even though the idea behind it is hundreds of years old.
Last night, just after midnight, my RSS reader picked up a notice that the new 5.0 version of TrueCrypt (my favorite cross-platform drive encryption program) is now available. It has several very neat-sounding new features, including the ability to encrypt the system drive (under Windows), a standard GUI under Linux (it only had command-line support …
Great. If it reverses some of the truly bone-headed decisions that Vista was graced with — such as the Hollywood-friendly but user-hostile DRM stuff that’s built in — then it can’t come soon enough. And apparently even Microsoft secretly agrees… Pulling such a major release forward would be out of character for Microsoft. Could this …
Continue reading ‘“Vista successor, Windows 7 to be released next year? | APC Magazine”’ »
After several days of using ThunderBayes/SpamBayes, I’m happy to report that it’s just as awesome as it was rumored to be! 😀 Even better, I’ve been able to fix one of the problems that I had with setting it up (the multiple-accounts bug). I sent the code changes to Daniel Miller, the original ThunderBayes developer, …
Every so often, some company will say something about a virus or antivirus program (such as this), and the comments on it (if allowed) will be filled with an OS flame war. I’ve used PC-based computers since 1989 or thereabouts. In that time, I’ve been attacked by two viruses — one in 1997, a DOS …
Color me shocked. After my post on the recent Office 2003 debacle, I expected Microsoft to do what they’ve always done (and what they continue to do with Windows Vista): ignore the complaints and forge on. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. But apparently they heard enough complaints that they’ve backed off on this one. …
Continue reading ‘“Microsoft admits Office 2003 ‘mistake’”’ »
After all the government kerfuffle over the last couple years about moving to an open format for office documents (because proprietary formats could be discontinued by the vendor at any time, rendering documents stored in them unreadable), I’m shocked to read that after the latest Office 2003 update, Office can no longer access older format …
Continue reading ‘“Office 2003 update blocks older file formats”’ »
For those who strongly dislike Microsoft’s latest offering and how it’s being crammed down everyone’s throats, I offer this article. The last few paragraphs say it all: What would it be like if a single piece of software were simultaneously afflicted with all the maladies listed above? It would surely be a gloomy prospect. To …