My school gives outdated versions of software...

[Howling Wind]

If this gets locked no big deal. But I wanted to make a topic about this because it kind of pisses me off.

My school gave out copies of Microsoft Office to students who don't have it (and a lot of us didn't).

The kids from the tech lab are pissed because they got a 3 year old version of Office and the kids (like myself) from the Graphic Arts Center are pissed because we also got a 3 year old version of Office. Basically everyone is pissed. My teacher would be hanged if he dared give out old version of Photoshop to anyone in the classroom! CS4 was what we got last year, NOT CS3!

So what does the freaking english teacher give out?

Okay first they give out software for two platforms and this software happens to be Microsoft Office.

It's now (checks menu bar) November first 2010.

What we get.

Microsoft Office 2007 Business

Microsoft Office: Macintosh Home and Business 2008

Okay. Now to be fair we could have got home and student so the school isn't COMPLETELY cheap!

Office 2010 has been out on Windows ALL FREAKING YEAR!!
Office 2011: Mac? Um... not long but long enough. And if they didn't have it yet why not wait till next week and at least give me the latest version?

WOW! Just WOW!

I wanted OUTLOOK! NOT ENTOURAGE!

Do people realize how screwed up compatibility is between Office 2008 and 2007? It's almost like trying to get a dog with 3 legs to win a race against a dog with 4!

Microsoft (Macintosh Business Unit... same freaking company, different division) SAYS Office 2011 for Macintosh is 100% compatible with Office 2010 for Windows.

Now for Office 2008 this just isn't true. I don't care what anybody says... it's just not. Microsoft admitted that. And Office 2008 is JUNK SLOW. No macros NO NOTHING!

I would rather use Office 2004 for Macintosh since one of my teachers is still using Office 2003. At least it runs a millisecond faster!

Why am I so pissed off?

Because it just so happens YESTERDAY I tried Office 2011 over at my uncles house. IT BLAZES! IT HAS MACROS! IT HAS OUTLOOK.

Ugh...

Okay so to the actual point. This is a licensed copy. I was wondering if because I got it for education... could I still pay a SMALL fee to upgrade to Office 2011? I don't want Home and Student because for features as far as stuff like Outlook and active sync its a downgrade compared to what I have now (Home and Business).

And since this version is home and business, maybe I can get a upgrade from Microsoft to the 2011 Home and Business? Like as long as I tell them I didn't... get it from school or anything?

Anything software wise that pisses you off at school? Slow computers in the tech lab? Anything?

Please share so I don't look insane!

And thanks for any help anyone can give me! ^^;;

[Alpha]

<3 Office 2007. 'Tis perfectly adequate, and its installed at work, uni, and on my laptop, so no issues with just sticking something on a flashdrive and using/printing it wherever (print at work to save money heh heh).

With regard to annoying software, try using ArcGIS. ArcGIS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. So damn temperamental. It will just decide to collapse on you, with no explanation. So you develop the habit of saving after each and every action you perform. A tedious habit, but a necessary one. Sort of backfires when it decides to crash when you're saving. Coupled with the fact that everyone is accessing the same, incredibly large files on the university computers at exactly the same moment. Ugh. And I still have another GIS paper to take next year (though by then we will have version 10.0, so hopefully some problems resolved).

F'in computers man.

[Meier Link]

All I have to say is.. wow.

The school is curtious enough to dish out the money for you the student to have a usable program to encourage a better learning experience and people get mad at them for doing it?

Damn you school system for not making the parents of the students supply the required software that would cost the parents upwards of $100 for 2007 or dang near $300 for 2010.

Ok seriously my age is coming out in this post, back when I was in school it was up to the parents to provide all things to ensure their children obtained the best education not the school system. If you didn't have it or if you couldn't afford it there were after hour programs where a computer was made available for you.

I don't see a problem with the school system handing out outdated programs at the expense of saving a buck or two. In the end they still function very similar.

Oh and our graphic arts program included no computers. Everything was done by mind and the swing of a brush (the real kind). Not a $100+ computer program.

So just feel lucky that your school is willing to provide that for you.

And to catch the last part of the OP. Anything is available on the web for upgrade as long as you are willing to pay the price.

[DragonHeart]

At least they're bothering. I'm currently taking a (required) computer class that uses Microsoft Office. Microsoft stopped putting full versions of software on PCs years ago, so I'd been using Open Office. My school didn't give out copies of Office, though they'd be perfectly happy to sell me one for close to $100 (with the student discount). I would have had to buy it except a friend had a copy of the business edition, which is licensed by volume, that he could send me to use.

Considering that most people (and businesses) don't upgrade their software every single time a new version is released, I think it's great that they're giving you 2007. I'd be very thankful that the school can provide any software at all, if I were you.

As for your question, you probably could, if you were so inclined. Try going to Microsoft's site and see what it says about upgrading. I think I recall seeing something about it when I was checking pricing there myself not too long ago.

~DragonHeart~

[Victoria]

You don't need Outlook. It's retarded. Thunderbird is better if you need something like that, but really, just use a web browser and go to your email.

And not to sound offensive, but I'm with Meier on this, and you sound extremely spoiled.
In my opinion, 2007 is the better version of Office (if you have to use Office at all... I use OpenOffice..)

But yeah... really, just be thankful they even gave you something at all, rather than your parents having to shell out $100+ for Office 2011 and $700 for Photoshop CS5. Oh, and the Student+Teacher edition of CS5 is $1,000. (Although it's on sale right now for $180, but that's besides the point.)

Bottom line, stop being so spoiled. It's really not that big of a deal. You go to school for free (so I assume) and they provided it to you for free.

Or maybe... this is just a guess, that perhaps your school can't afford the latest versions?

If there's 1,000 students in your school, that'd be 1 million dollars they'd have to shell out for CS5 for everyone. ...Or they could just buy one copy and burn it, but I don't think schools are into piracy. xP

[Howling Wind]

I'm not spoiled. I just said my graphic arts teacher would be hanged if he gave outdated versions of software. Its wrong and the teacher "could" get in trouble for it. Students are totally free to buy a copy from Microsoft but when a school gives out a version (at least mine) not having it up to date can be a problem.

Also. I have no problem with Office 2007. I'm starting to wonder if I explained it well enough.

It's Office 2008 that's the problem. It's not nearly as compatible with Office 2007 compared to the compatiblity between Office 2010 and Office 2011.

To make sure nobody gets confused.


Office 2003 (Windows)
Office 2004 (Macintosh)
Office 2007 (Windows)
Office 2008 (Macintosh)
Office 2010 (Windows)
Office 2011 (Macintosh)

The Macintosh versions are usually 4 to 6 months apart from the Windows versions and its usually later in the year so they get next year names.

Office 2007 is great. Office 2008 is a sorry excuse. Office 2010 is great. Office 2011 is great.

I will try that though. I don't care if I have to find some way to cough up 100 bucks... as long as I don't get in trouble for having incompatible file types.

My point being most teachers use 2010 in my school so my english teacher giving us 2007/2008 could be a disaster. Not saying it will be but it could be.

And Thunderbird?

Unless it uses Sync services I basically need Entourage/Outlook (preferably outlook since most of the teachers are using 2010).

So no. It has nothing to do with me being spoiled. Its just I need to get my school work done and if I can't read Macros from some assignment a teacher emailed me I'm crap out of luck.

No macros... no work.
No office 2011 ... well, no work xD

Sorry for being snappy... guess I didn't explain it well enough.

MAJOR EDIT.

The total number of students who were in the classes that actually need Office is like maybe 50. And Microsoft probably gives major discounts to schools buying Office for computers so no its probably not nearly that much at all.

But that was my bad... I totally forgot to mention that.

[Aerif]

Wow, Howling Wind, I know it's been said already but you're acting very spoiled.

According to your profile, you're thirteen freaking years old! In the UK, you'd be in High School, but in the US, junior high?

I'm at one of, if not the top Universities in Scotland offering Games Design as a Degree. The Graphics Designers here uses Photoshop CS4, no problem, the rest of the Uni 'survives' on Office 2007, and the Games Lab don't give out the tools needed for home use.

Saying your school is cheap because it's forking out thousands of dollars on software you don't need is awful. They have to buy these programmes from Microsoft directly, who won't give them the student version if they meet certain requirements. In the case of Photoshop, that's $10,000 for every 10 students. Do you know what a school could get for $10,000?

I fit bothers you SO much, there are ways to get this software for free. But at thirteen years old, why would you need Office and Photoshop?

EDIT: I haven't factored in anything you said in that previous post, apparently it takes me half an hour to make a post. But a lot of the things still apply

[Howling Wind]

Well try reading the post above and the first post before calling me spoiled.

I need photoshop because I am taking Graphic Arts.

I need Office because the entire school uses it. 50 people were GIVEN copies of office that are SUPPOSED to be up to date. You don't give out three year old software to students and ASSUME that its going to work with the newest software most teachers in my school are using. There is nothing spoiled about it. Fact is, my teacher effed up and gave out OLD versions of software and I CAN NOT GET MY WORK DONE.

The funny thing? I just got a email from one of the techs apologizing for not getting the new copies of Office to my english teacher. So apparently the 40 or 50 of us that were actually given a copy just MIGHT get the updated version we were SUPPOSED to get in the first place.

My school DOES NOT buy Office at full price.

I NEED every bit of software my school gives me. Yeah... I'm 13 years old and use Photoshop. The school only updates software every 2 or 3 versions (save for the students and teachers that buy their own) but when we DO get handed new copies and the majority of teachers are using the latest... matters mostly for Office (in my case) the students (few that are given copies) are supposed to get the latest version.

This creates COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS with the rest of the school. Not to mention if one person is using 2003 and the teacher is using say 2007 or 2010 and he is explaining how to do a certain thing... the person with 2003 is going to get lost if he/she doesn't know what he is doing because of UI changes. See my point? I'm not SPOILED its common sense! I'm talking about 50 people out of the whole school... not the entire school. One teacher didn't get the latest copies of software.

For crying out loud... people could at least read my freaking posts before going off about how spoiled I am. I'm talking about 50 measly people out of the whole school and not just me.

Since I'm basically not attending day to day school... I do most of my work from home... my teacher has Office 2010. I can't go author data with her over the internet with 2008. I have to have 2010 to do that. Okay... so my parents could go out and buy it or I could save up and buy it myself but thats not the point. Someone screwed up.

Does everyone understand now? Or do I have to explain more?

Also my school didn't buy CS5 for any of us. Most of the PS software is donated and I got CS5 from a family member.

With photoshop it doesn't really matter as much what version you have. With Office... especially when you have people there that use Linux/Macintosh/Windows and whatever else it does matter.

[Aerif]

I read your post, hence why I edited mine to acknowledge it. Unfortunately it changes nothing.

Oh and might I add, I'm actually the third person to call you spoiled. Although I'm sure targetting me and ignoring past posts is just an oversight .

You don't understand that being given free software off of your school, which is under no obligation to give out computer programmes, and then complaining about it, is spoiled.

So it's out-of-date, would you rather get nothing?

I think you overestimate the discount Microsoft will be giving the school. They might get around 5%-10% off, in bulk terms, 50 copies isn't really all that much.

They won't have to pay a lot for every copy installed on your school's network, however these seperate copies aren't included in that initial cost since they're connected to no network.

Compatabillity problems are easily solved. There are simple patches created by Microsoft that eradicate issues like this, and you just need to do a quick search on MS's website. How do I know this? My father's computer only has Office 2000 on it, and with a simple patch it's able to open 2007 files.

Yes, there may be some issues with the difference in User Interface. But it's Microsoft Word, it's supposed to be simple-to-use, and with a software as common as Office, there are thousands of online tutorials.

Once again, I read your posts. You are blowing things out of proportion.

Please tell me what's wrong with downloading a quick patch, or at least saving a file in compatabillity mode.

Now it may be unfortunate that you're unable to use a few features such as authoring. and if it's a necessary feature you may have to make some adjustments, such as using Google Docs or Office Web Apps.

Oh and you keep hitting CAPS LOCK as you type

[Howling Wind]

Part of it is just raging. I'm not serious! It's supposed to look like I'm over reacting. It's the internet. Why is everyone taking things so seriously and calling me spoiled?

I have no idea if my school gets these copies directly from Microsoft. They could buy them from Amazon for $100 dollars off (making it 179 or so a copy x 50 = what.. 8000 something?)

Plus 10 of us didn't get copies because we already had it. So its probably less than that or even more depending on how much they paid for them. I'm going to save up money and upgrade myself.

And what people don't get is I don't use Office because I want to I use it because I have to. You should see those Linux users at my school quacking about why OpenOffice didn't open the Word document exactly how the other person's computer did. Most of the teacher tell them just to boot into Windows so we can work and not go over each others problems.

Nothing spoiled about it. Its how my school works and I'm just a little pissed (like the few others) that the teacher screwed up on the copies. The last time my school updated Office was before I even went there. Office 2003 I think. They skipped upgrading students to 2007. I already have 2008 for Mac so when my school gives me a copy I already have its kind of stupid.

Half of it was just a rage. I don't know why everyone thought they had to jump all over me. When the school finally does upgrade software they give out the latest. We were supposed to get 2010/2011 and the english teacher didn't get the small box of however many copies from the tech guy I got the email from a few hours back.

I haven't slept at all today and I felt like raging. No big deal =/

it was supposed to be kind of a funny topic raging about school computers and such but instead everyone decides to call me spoiled.

And no... Patches don't exactly add stuff like co authoring and Outlook to a version of Office for Macintosh. Microsoft wants my money they aren't going to give me those features for free. They don't add newer versions of Office's UI changes, either.

Now you could say WELL THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR USING A MAC! but the fact is... Outlook should have been in Office for mac a long time ago. Outlook isn't exactly the problem and its not just about word.

When you set it up to get a copy from school and they say you will get this version and you don't it kind of pisses you off. I mean its not about me being spoiled. I basically already explained it... someone messed up and they are going to fix it. I will probably be using Office 2011 until the next 3 or 4 versions afterward. The school doesn't update every version because there isn't a need to. But from 2003 to 2010/2004/2011 is a big step and is important for the school's users of both platforms to work together. Its not that I really WANT Office 2011 its more that I need it.. as do the rest of the school.

I'm really surprised Alpha, victoria and the other older members who replied reacted so seriously. I mean seriously... I thought you guys knew me long enough to know I rage for fun. It's called PRETENDING to be serious and angry. You know... sarcasm =/

I guess I better make a WARNING! POST IS ONLY SLIGHTLY SERIOUS next time.





Seriously

Also... when did I ignore any posts? I read all of them I'm not targeting anyone. I told victoria Thunderbird and OpenOffice doesn't exactly work. It's free. Microsoft is the big giant corp and Office is the dé facto standard. OpenOffice is great for what it is but compatibility with a school using Office isn't exactly it's strong point.

[Victoria]

We reacted seriously because your post sounded serious. And no, we don't know you long enough to know that you rage for fun.

At least I don't. I never even talk to you, so how would I know?

And from an outsider's perspective, your first post came across as spoiled and whiny, no offense. You didn't explain anything at all, it was just full of rage and whine.

So yeah. I understand the issue now, but before you made the second post, you had just come across as spoiled, that's all.

[Howling Wind]

We reacted seriously because your post sounded serious. And no, we don't know you long enough to know that you rage for fun.

At least I don't. I never even talk to you, so how would I know?

And from an outsider's perspective, your first post came across as spoiled and whiny, no offense. You didn't explain anything at all, it was just full of rage and whine.

So yeah. I understand the issue now, but before you made the second post, you had just come across as spoiled, that's all.

Fair enough xD

Maybe that was secretly my plan and I'm just too sleepy to realize it.

But sticking to the topic I noticed Alpha posted something that annoys him. Just wondering if anyone else has any tech rants... doesn't even have to do with school if you don't want. Just good plain old swearing at your computer!



Example.



NO!!! curse curse curse!

*throws computer out the window*

[Aerif]

I had no idea that Macs were capable of having an error .

Up until 2006, I had Windows Millenium Edition, that was the worst thing ever. I think that half the time that computer was on it was showing a Blue Screen of Death, and I know people exaggerate about these things, but it was there so often it actually burnt some of the pixels blue.

Actually looking at it in perspective, it's probably made me a a much more calmer and patient person, now I only get irritated when I lose important files.

I also used to have a lot of trouble with TFF, since I was basically never outside of the RP forum. Because I kept typing all of my messages straight into the reply box, every time something went wrong I lost thousands of words, so I started typing every post in Word. Now with the Firefox add-on 'Lazarus', I don't even have to worry about posts like this getting lost, since they can be automatically recovered.

God, technology has come so far! It's wonderful to be able to go through an entire day without getting an error message.

Oh, an Howling, please don't think I was attacking you or anything. This is one of the more serious boards on the forum, with things such as viruses being discussed.

Seriously, anyone will tell you I'm one of the nicest guys here

[DragonHeart]

Sarcasm doesn't work over the internet. At least, not without an obvious disclaimer/smiley. And us older members may be jumping on you a little precisely because you're younger and complaining about something that we never got when we were your age. When I was 13 the only computers my school had were in the library and one computer lab. And they ran on Windows 95.

Raise your hand if your first computer was an Atari! /raises hand

I don't really rant much about technology, more just annoyed grumblings. I work with absolutely terrible software at work so I've long since learned to manage any frustration I get from computers. These days most of my rants are aimed not at the computers/software but at the helpless desk I have to call to get them fixed.

~DragonHeart~

[Howling Wind]

Windows Mistake Edition is the worst. My dad loves all technology and agrees Windows ME sucks. He didn't use the word sucks he used "flawed" but you get it. The computer isn't slow or crappy either. It just BSODs for nothing. If you can get through one day on that computer with no BSOD... not one STOP THE PRESSES!.

If my dad were here he would raise his hand. We have one of those Atari computers in the basement and I think it still works. I tried a Apple II he had down there last year and I can't even figure out how to use the thing. The IBM-PC with DOS was easier though.

And don't worry about it. I never really made posts in this forum before I guess I just assumed (bad thing to do) that jokes went down here like everywhere else.

The tech lab at my school still uses Windows Vista and I don't really see what all fusses about. Maybe its better now than it was when it came out. But Windows ME makes Vista seem like heaven.

Also, Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah... I think) was pretty bad. It lacked important features and was a lot slower on the same hardware compared to Mac OS 9. Come along way though probably like Vista has. Mac OS X wasn't really a replacement for Mac OS 9 till 10.3 back in 2003. Or so my dad says. I used it on a old iMac my mom gave me a few years ago (a 1998 or 1999 computer). This was before I got a new one.

I have actually only seen that restart screen once. I was making a partition on my hard drive and made the mistake of trying to delete files and manage a bunch of Finder windows at the same time. Apparently it was too much for the HD to manage at once and it crashed xD.

But yeah if someone tells you Macs never crash they are lying. People claim Apple says that but they say "Rarely" which last time I checked doesn't mean "Never"


Fanboys -_-

Me? I love ALL technology! (Blame my dad)


PS

Windows 7 is still better than Vista even if Vista isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

[Furore]

You raise a very good point about compatibility actually.
Some of my OpenOffice documents came up with screwy formatting under the MS Office the teachers at my high school were using at the time and some of us actually lost marks for 'poor presentation' over it.

If I actually gave a shit about getting high grades I probably would have been blowing my top. As it was, meh.

If it's the school's policy to hand out recent software (or anything else a course requires) then they really should hand out whichever items are most relevant OR at the very least run a free alternative on their own PCs which they can let the kids know of so that preserves the work's intended form/functionality.

[Howling Wind]

What ticks me off about programs that claim to be "Compatible" is they aren't. I have never used ONE word processor that can export to .doc perfectly. Apple Pages included.

It opens in Word with every page with the paragraphs starting down one line. Like someone put the curser at the start of a page's paragraph and pressed return (or enter on a PC) once. So naturally you have to go back and click in front of the line and hit delete (backspace on a PC) and move everything back up to the very top of the page on EVERY PAGE.

I honestly can't deal with that and neither will the teachers. I like Pages I think its fast and the UI is excellent. But the bottom line is Microsoft Office IS THE DOMINATE SUITE. Now don't get me wrong I like Office just that 2008 was bad... and its really the only poor version for Mac in my opinion. And it was partly Apple's fault for switching to Intel a year before. Microsoft needed to write Intel and Power PC code into the package but ship in time so everyone would be compatible... it was left with bugs and missing features. With 2011 its 2010 now. Macs using Power PC processors are 4 to 5 years old. In a year or so when everyone upgrades to 2011 will probably be upgrading their computers anyway. Power PC has been dead long enough. Mac OS X doesn't support it.. so why should Office?

So now they have one set of code and that's Apple Mac OS X/Darwin and Intel. Not those two + Power PC. Its fast now, takes up less HD space and has compatible features.

And like a few said... not everyone upgrades to new software right away so people wont be bummed about getting rid of their 4/5 year old Macintoshes because Office 2011 doesn't run on Power PC processors... they will just wait a year or two till they upgrade their computers.

Good news is... I don't think Apple will be switching to another processor any time soon. And if they DID it would probably be AMD which is x86/x64 anyway just like Intel. You wouldn't have to change anything to get stuff to run because its the same architecture as Intel.


Basically Microsoft KNOWS people like to use Mac OS X and Apple software but in the business world its Office. Microsoft's contract to release Office and Microsoft software for Mac ended years ago but they are still doing it. Why? Because the people that like to use Macs will buy Office to be compatible with the rest of the world. Microsoft surely makes money or they wouldn't be doing it and I think that its great that they are making money and continuing to do it. I mean like I said I love all technology and would get used to using Windows as my main OS but why do it if I don't have to?

EDIT

@Silver

Good point. Do I think my school would save money having everyone run OpenOffice? Yes. I don't know why they don't do it and I'm kinda scared to ask xD

[DragonHeart]

I use Vista on my PC, it was all I could get when my old XP machine self-destructed. I haven't had too many problems with it, but it probably helps that I disabled all the useless shit it comes with, like UAC. I also replaced or removed all the bloatware with better alternatives. I'm convinced that many of the problems people have with it come from them not knowing how to use their system properly. It's amazing how many people own computers and still don't know how to operate it. Of course, the same can be said of most forms of technology.

~DragonHeart~

[Howling Wind]

Amen to that. I mean no offense to the technologically dense but most are so quick to blame Microsoft/Dell/Apple ect. before realizing it could be just them not doing something right. A computer is only as smart as it's owner.

I myself never had problems with Vista either. ME on the other hand is a nightmare on the old compaq we have. Maybe that fact that it is a compaq is also a problem xD

[Unlucky Rufus]

I myself never had problems with Vista either.

I think vista is just horrible, i didn't have "problems" per say, it just didn't preform well at all.

[DragonHeart]

There is that as well. I don't have performance issues, but I also didn't settle for a cheap computer just because it'd be a good deal. As a result, mine is more than capable of running Vista and just about anything else I need it to. I know not everyone has a say or the personal resources to buy a good computer, but it's also certainly possible to downgrade (or upgrade, as the case may be) an OS to match their operating specs too.

My mom's computer, for example, can barely run XP. It's a system that was admittedly bought on the cheap. When I do maintenance for her I bring a book or my DS with me cause it takes forever to do even minor updates. My mom and stepfather are constantly frustrated and complaining about it. The fact that they're running a 10+ year old system with heavily outdated hardware never seems to factor (in their minds) into the reasons why it may not run that well. At least my mom is attempting to learn a little bit about computers; Joe's pretty much hopeless. I may gift them a new computer this year just so they'll stop complaining lol. A lot of average users really don't seem to get that it's not about the software at all, it's about the piece of shit computer that was obsolete when you bought it a decade ago.

And don't get me started on the people who claim they've never had a virus and don't run antivirus software. XD Wanna bet?

~DragonHeart~

[Howling Wind]

I know right? I run antivirus and I'm on a freaking Macintosh! One of the main reasons though is I don't want to be responsible for sending one of my Windows friends a virus but the fact is Mac OS X might not have "viruses" but that doesn't mean it doesn't have trojans. Apple jumps on the patches for them OK I guess but still better safe than sorry. People say I am wasting system resources but I don't notice any performance hits. And I know the UNIX part of Mac OS X automatically makes it more secure but with Macs gaining marketshare lately I will be the one who will be the most safe even if the viruses/trojans/spyware or whatever happens to hit only sticks around for a few days.

Maybe I'm paranoid but if you don't run antivirus... especially on Windows you are asking for trouble. Small stuff like spyware doesn't always show up to the end user. It could be on your computer forever and you would never know about it.

Speaking of crappy computer hardware. My cousin had this really cheap acer computer and was complaining about how slow Vista 64 bit home premium was. So I took her disk and installed it in bootcamp on my computer and it ran like a charm. She wanted to slap me. Can't really compare a $600 computer to a $1600 computer I guess xD


BTW is it weird that my old Elementary school still has old beige boxes running Windows 98? I thought it was weird...

[Unlucky Rufus]

And don't get me started on the people who claim they've never had a virus and don't run antivirus software. XD Wanna bet?

~DragonHeart~

I swear to god i've never gotten a virus, ive been using ubuntu. No antivirus software needed.

[Victoria]

I swear to god i've never gotten a virus, ive been using ubuntu. No antivirus software needed.

You say that now, but once Linux becomes the industry standard/extremely popular, you'll be singing a different tune.

(Yeah, it's never going to happen, but I think you catch my drift.)

[Unlucky Rufus]

You say that now, but once Linux becomes the industry standard/extremely popular, you'll be singing a different tune.

(Yeah, it's never going to happen, but I think you catch my drift.)

yeah i get you, that advantage is indeed do to Linux's unpopularity.

[Howling Wind]

Though more market share wouldn't "help" the security of Linux and UNIX systems there is still the glaring fact that UNIX is built completely different than Windows NT.

Microsoft is starting on the good road though. I heard they closed a crap load of open ports when shipping Windows 7 this time. It was amazing how stupid is seemed to have ports to china on your OS when booting a brand new computer with Windows XP... complete with launching a internet browser.

The point is, UNIX has just been around for so long that its a lot more solid especially in the security sector.

I mean... you could use the market share argument and though its true you would be at a bigger risk it doesn't take away the fact that its more secure than NT.

For example.

Mac OS 9 had much less market share than Mac OS X has but it had a handful of viruses and junk. Mac OS X may have its trojan threats every now and then (none I know of actually got into the system AND completely a task.. mostly they are bugged and don't know what to do once they get inside the OS)

So well what you are saying is partially true its not just about "it has no market share". It does help yes, but it still isn't the swiss cheese that sadly is Windows NT.

I'm just happy Microsoft is finally realizing NT has major holes and is trying to patch some of them up.