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ABM (Anything But Microsoft)

Qs23Qs23 Registered User regular
Hey, so I've decided to see how far I can get in my life without paying Microsoft a dime (and doing it legally). So here's a thread I hope can be filled with programs, products, tips, ideas, etc. of things that are ABM (anything but Microsoft). But before we fight, we must "Know Thy Enemy"

Microsoft Products:

OS - XP & Vista
Web Browser - IE
IM - MSN Messenger
Media Player - Windows Media Player
Portable Media Player - Zune
Gaming Console - Xbox 360
E-mail - Outlook
Office Apps - Microsoft Office
Video Editor - Windows Movie Maker

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head...

PASig.gif
Qs23 on
«13

Posts

  • ZetxZetx 🐧 Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Spaces - Online Storage
    Hotmail - Web Mail
    Live - Other Online Services (bwuh?) [edit: Online portal?]

    [edit 2]

    Oh, MSN.com - Online portal (again?)

    Honestly not sure about the last two :|

    Zetx on
    76561197966849367.png
  • TrukkleTrukkle Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I like playing with this idea on my second partition, and regularly use:

    OS - Xubuntu or Ubuntu with Gnome
    Web Browser - Opera
    IM - Pidgin
    Portable Media Player - DS with an R4
    E-mail - Opera
    Office Apps - Abiword, resorting to open office if I really have to.

    Ubuntu has a ton of games these days once you enable the repositories, and I hear Wine is getting better (I just suck at setting it up, it seems).

    In windows, I use:

    OS - XP Home (Came with the box and a real disk, so I'm not going to complain)
    Web Browser - Opera
    IM - Pidgin
    FTP - Filezilla
    CD/DVD burning - Infra Recorder
    PIC programming and simulation - MPLab
    Anti-Spyware - Spybot S&D, HostsXpert, Ad Muncher (not free),
    Media Player - Foobar2000, Media Player Classic and VLC
    Portable Media Player - Ds and R4
    Gaming Console - Wii, piped through Dscaler
    E-mail - Opera, googlemail, my own hosted email account
    Office Apps - Abiword

    As far as I can remember, this is all free and ABM.

    Trukkle on
    trukkle.png :|:...:
    sig.gif
  • Zilla360Zilla360 21st Century. |She/Her| Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    "And the Enemy of my Enemy is Thy Friend"

    OS - Ubuntu & PCLinuxOS
    Web Browser - Firefox & Opera
    IM - Pidgin
    Media Player - KMPlayer/Amarok
    Portable Media Player - Ipod Nano?
    Gaming Console - Nintendo Gamecube (Or Wii if you have no interest in running Linux natively?)
    E-mail - KMail/Evolution
    Office Apps - Open Office
    Video Editor - Cinelerra

    Zilla360 on
    |Ko-Fi Me! ☕😎|NH844lc.png | PSN | chi-logo-only-favicon.png(C.H.I) Ltd. |🏳️⚧️♥️
  • MumblyfishMumblyfish Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    If you want to put your Retard Drive into overload (if you have not done so already; "Know Thy Enemy"? Jesus fucking Christ):

    Refuse to patronise any businesses that utilise Microsoft Server technology, including Microsoft's automated telephone and speech recognition systems or do their accounting with Microsoft Money. Many businesses will use NetMeeting. Don't let them anywhere near your precious money, or Microsoft will get their cut!

    Don't forget to refuse to purchase any programs made using the vast Microsoft Visual Studio, or anything that requires the DirectX API or Microsoft .NET. They were programmed with the blood of a thousand independant developers.

    Murder any Microsoft Certified Professionals in your path, as well as anyone who has benefited from the Microsoft Academic Alliance and any Microsoft Student Partners. Don't forget to tell the news networks why you did it. Know Thy Enemy!

    Speaking of news networks, kill yourself if you get any news from MSNBC.

    Actually, why not just kill yourself right now, before Microsoft roll out industry-destroying ranges of knives, guns and nooses. End your life now, while you may do so independant of Microsoft's vile business practices.

    Mumblyfish on
  • Zilla360Zilla360 21st Century. |She/Her| Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I only replied to this because he didn't use any $$$$ signs. *shrugs*;-)

    Zilla360 on
    |Ko-Fi Me! ☕😎|NH844lc.png | PSN | chi-logo-only-favicon.png(C.H.I) Ltd. |🏳️⚧️♥️
  • CentipeedCentipeed Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    If you want to put your Retard Drive into overload (if you have not done so already; "Know Thy Enemy"? Jesus fucking Christ):

    Refuse to patronise any businesses that utilise Microsoft Server technology, including Microsoft's automated telephone and speech recognition systems or do their accounting with Microsoft Money. Many businesses will use NetMeeting. Don't let them anywhere near your precious money, or Microsoft will get their cut!

    Don't forget to refuse to purchase any programs made using the vast Microsoft Visual Studio, or anything that requires the DirectX API or Microsoft .NET. They were programmed with the blood of a thousand independant developers.

    Murder any Microsoft Certified Professionals in your path, as well as anyone who has benefited from the Microsoft Academic Alliance and any Microsoft Student Partners. Don't forget to tell the news networks why you did it. Know Thy Enemy!

    Speaking of news networks, kill yourself if you get any news from MSNBC.

    Actually, why not just kill yourself right now, before Microsoft roll out industry-destroying ranges of knives, guns and nooses. End your life now, while you may do so independant of Microsoft's vile business practices.

    I would lime all of this, but it might look like too much. I agree with it all wholeheartedly though. Hating Microsoft just because they're Microsoft is as silly as you can get. Hating a Microsoft product because it is a bad product, on the other hand, is sensible, but that goes for any company and is on a product by product basis.

    Centipeed on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Centipeed wrote: »
    Mumblyfish wrote: »
    If you want to put your Retard Drive into overload (if you have not done so already; "Know Thy Enemy"? Jesus fucking Christ):

    Refuse to patronise any businesses that utilise Microsoft Server technology, including Microsoft's automated telephone and speech recognition systems or do their accounting with Microsoft Money. Many businesses will use NetMeeting. Don't let them anywhere near your precious money, or Microsoft will get their cut!

    Don't forget to refuse to purchase any programs made using the vast Microsoft Visual Studio, or anything that requires the DirectX API or Microsoft .NET. They were programmed with the blood of a thousand independant developers.

    Murder any Microsoft Certified Professionals in your path, as well as anyone who has benefited from the Microsoft Academic Alliance and any Microsoft Student Partners. Don't forget to tell the news networks why you did it. Know Thy Enemy!

    Speaking of news networks, kill yourself if you get any news from MSNBC.

    Actually, why not just kill yourself right now, before Microsoft roll out industry-destroying ranges of knives, guns and nooses. End your life now, while you may do so independant of Microsoft's vile business practices.

    I would lime all of this, but it might look like too much. I agree with it all wholeheartedly though. Hating Microsoft just because they're Microsoft is as silly as you can get. Hating a Microsoft product because it is a bad product, on the other hand, is sensible, but that goes for any company and is on a product by product basis.

    I have no such qualms about liming it. I laughed my ass off Mumbly, good job. :lol:

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • ZoolanderZoolander Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I've missed you Mumblyfish.

    Zoolander on
  • EvilBadmanEvilBadman DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Buying a 360 is furthering Microsoft's global dominance and should be avoided so you can retain your high horse stance.

    How's the stone age going for you?

    EvilBadman on
    FyreWulff wrote: »
    I should note that Badman is fucking awesome
    XBL- Evil Badman; Steam- EvilBadman; Twitter - EvilBadman
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Centipeed wrote: »
    I would lime all of this, but it might look like too much. I agree with it all wholeheartedly though. Hating Microsoft just because they're Microsoft is as silly as you can get. Hating a Microsoft product because it is a bad product, on the other hand, is sensible, but that goes for any company and is on a product by product basis.

    Thank you. Microsoft makes a half-assed, bloated, user-unfriendly operating system, the latest version of which somehow has less compatibility with my computer than Ubuntu. On the other hand, I'm quite happy with my Xbox 360. Don't be retarded, OP.

    Daedalus on
  • RonenRonen Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I run all Macs at home, none of which have MS Office installed. I think its a pretty ok solution.

    Although depending on who you ask, (our glorious overlords at) Apple are just as evil as MS, so YMMV.

    Ronen on
    Go play MOTHER3

    or Brawl. 4854.6102.3895 Name: NU..
  • DusdaDusda is ashamed of this post SLC, UTRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    It really depends on how far you want to take this no-Microsoft thing. For instance, EBay uses IIS servers, several of their internal tools are written in .NET, and a handful of their Web Services are written in ASP.NET. Amazon uses ASP.NET. Hell, using anything involving Web Services at all involves using technology at least partially influenced by Microsoft.

    I guess you could browse Slashdot using one of those classic text-only browsers.

    Dusda on
    and this sig. and this twitch stream.
  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator mod
    edited December 2007
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Moe Fwacky on
    E6LkoFK.png

  • ben0207ben0207 Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Ronen wrote: »
    I run all Macs at home, none of which have MS Office installed. I think its a pretty ok solution.

    Although depending on who you ask, (our glorious overlords at) Apple are just as evil as MS, so YMMV.

    Ditto. The only MS thing I use (without being paid to do so) is my 360. Not some anti-MS bias, I just think their software is shit.

    ben0207 on
  • AndorienAndorien Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?
    ben0207 wrote:
    Ditto. The only MS thing I use (without being paid to do so) is my 360. Not some anti-MS bias, I just think their software is shit.

    Ever used Visual Studio?

    Andorien on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Andorien wrote: »
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?

    Avoiding giving Microsoft any money by directly supporting their products, instead of going overkill in an ideological fashion that would make RMS proud as suggested by some of the morons* who have posted in this thread.

    *By morons, I'm including Mumblyfish for getting the ball rolling, as well as EvilBadman and Dusda for following in his footsteps.

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • AndorienAndorien Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?

    Avoiding giving Microsoft any money by directly supporting their products, instead of going overkill in an ideological fashion that would make RMS proud as suggested by some of the morons* who have posted in this thread.

    *By morons, I'm including Mumblyfish for getting the ball rolling, as well as EvilBadman and Dusda for following in his footsteps.

    Seems to be that not buying any MS products is going overkill already.

    Edit: By the way, it's not only about not using his own money. Last I checked, media player was free. So is MSN messenger. And IE (but that's a piece of shit, so don't get it 'cause of that, not 'cause it's by MS).

    Andorien on
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    Andorien wrote: »
    ben0207 wrote:
    Ditto. The only MS thing I use (without being paid to do so) is my 360. Not some anti-MS bias, I just think their software is shit.

    Ever used Visual Studio?

    Visual Studio is nice but have you ever tried to accomplish anything with their database products?

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • AndorienAndorien Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    ben0207 wrote:
    Ditto. The only MS thing I use (without being paid to do so) is my 360. Not some anti-MS bias, I just think their software is shit.

    Ever used Visual Studio?

    Visual Studio is nice but have you ever tried to accomplish anything with their database products?

    Nope, but the point is, that not all their software is shitty shit shit. Oh sure, some of it is, but due to the way that MS is structured with lots of different competing teams, there's no real standardization of quality. Some of it sucks, some of it doesn't.

    Their OS division in particular is crap, but other stuff not so much.

    Andorien on
  • ben0207ben0207 Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Oh, I agree. But I don't need to use V Studio, so that's a moot point. And compared to iWork Office is an abomination (I quite like the ribbon thing in '07 though)

    ben0207 on
  • AndorienAndorien Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    ben0207 wrote: »
    Oh, I agree. But I don't need to use V Studio, so that's a moot point. And compared to iWork Office is an abomination (I quite like the ribbon thing in '07 though)

    Alright, fair enough (I don't like Office much either, I'm a WordPerfect man). I'd just rather people judge individual products, not the whole thing. MS is so god damn huge that you can't really say how something is gonna turn out before trying it. Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes it's a piece of hellspawn that shits on everything you know and love.

    Andorien on
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    My point is that even within their suite of "professional" grade software, a lot of it sucks, a lot. While Visual Studio makes a lot of things really easy and that's nice, their database products are pretty much shit from the ground up and the abominations that are the licensing agreements available for them are some of the least friendly you'll ever see, anywhere. I think IIS might be the only thing that's shittier to license.

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • ShmorkyShmorky Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    My point is that even within their suite of "professional" grade software, a lot of it sucks, a lot. While Visual Studio makes a lot of things really easy and that's nice, their database products are pretty much shit from the ground up and the abominations that are the licensing agreements available for them are some of the least friendly you'll ever see, anywhere. I think IIS might be the only thing that's shittier to license.

    Yeah, I used to work with a lot of that stuff, and I'll have to agree about the databases. The worst part about them though, is the fact that they constantly change their interfaces and how the user interacts with them everytime they put out a new version. It's like you have to relearn all of their software every time they put out new versions of anything.

    Shmorky on
  • Epyon9283Epyon9283 Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I am loathe to use Windows although Office is quite good (not the Mac version...). On Friday at work I attempted to obtain a user certificate on a Vista machine using the web interface of a 2003 box running MS certificate authority. Stupid POS thing told me that I'd have to update the pages to support Vista. They linked me to a KB article explaining it. A couple of things bothered me about this. Number one is that the message was added in SP2 after it was found that the activex component used previously wouldn't run in Vista. Thats all well and good but why if they know its broken, and they have a fix, would they not just include it in SP2? Instead they just include a message saying its broken? WTF?

    Their solution sucked just as much. It basically amounted to copying the pages from a 2008 >Beta 3 server. What the hell kind of solution is that?

    Anyway, I'm mostly MS free at home (have a 360 and use office for Mac) although at work I have to use their stuff for testing.

    Epyon9283 on
  • AndorienAndorien Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    My point is that even within their suite of "professional" grade software, a lot of it sucks, a lot. While Visual Studio makes a lot of things really easy and that's nice, their database products are pretty much shit from the ground up and the abominations that are the licensing agreements available for them are some of the least friendly you'll ever see, anywhere. I think IIS might be the only thing that's shittier to license.

    There's nothing wrong with not liking software. There's nothing wrong with not liking any of it. But wanting to not use something just because it's "omg teh M$" is retarded.

    Andorien on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Andorien wrote: »
    Seems to be that not buying any MS products is going overkill already.

    How is that a problem? I use Linux (Ubuntu) almost exclusively, with the odd reboot for when I want to play any games that will run on my PC. I still use Windows 2000 because XP and Vista offers nothing that I care about, and won't be upgrading until it is no longer covered under the extended support phase (meaning when it no longer gets security updates).
    Edit: By the way, it's not only about not using his own money. Last I checked, media player was free. So is MSN messenger. And IE (but that's a piece of shit, so don't get it 'cause of that, not 'cause it's by MS).

    Those are likely supported from the purchase of Windows. Besides, if XP or Vista is an "enemy" I don't know why the hell he would be using any of those applications since he shouldn't be using an OS that supports them ;-)

    That said, I find VLC or Mplayer to be superior than WMP on the video side of things. Perhaps it was a bug in the CCCP release I was using, or the DirectShow decoder was slow, but 720p video that was (IIRC) encoded in H.264 absolutely killed WMP, giving me incredibly choppy playback on my machine (which uses an old Athlon XP-M 2500+). Mplayer handled it without a hitch.

    Pidgin > MSN messenger, but I'm also a person that doesn't give a flying fuck about webcams and prefers having a single application for all of my IM needs.

    I'll go ahead and admit that I'm not your typical PC user.

    EDIT:
    But wanting to not use something just because it's "omg teh M$" is retarded.

    If that is your sole reason, sure. But I don't see anything wrong with not wanting to use software by a company with despicable business practices any more than, say, not wanting to buy clothing from a company that uses sweatshops for their labor.

    That said, you'll have to blacklist a lot of companies if you want to apply that standard across the board.

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    Andorien wrote: »
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    My point is that even within their suite of "professional" grade software, a lot of it sucks, a lot. While Visual Studio makes a lot of things really easy and that's nice, their database products are pretty much shit from the ground up and the abominations that are the licensing agreements available for them are some of the least friendly you'll ever see, anywhere. I think IIS might be the only thing that's shittier to license.

    There's nothing wrong with not liking software. There's nothing wrong with not liking any of it. But wanting to not use something just because it's "omg teh M$" is retarded.

    Trying to generally avoid a company's products because you've been burned after having tried to use a number of them is pretty good sense, though.

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • MonoxideMonoxide Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    My point is that even within their suite of "professional" grade software, a lot of it sucks, a lot. While Visual Studio makes a lot of things really easy and that's nice, their database products are pretty much shit from the ground up and the abominations that are the licensing agreements available for them are some of the least friendly you'll ever see, anywhere. I think IIS might be the only thing that's shittier to license.

    There's nothing wrong with not liking software. There's nothing wrong with not liking any of it. But wanting to not use something just because it's "omg teh M$" is retarded.

    Trying to generally avoid a company's products because you've been burned after having tried to use a number of them is pretty good sense, though.

    I don't know, I don't specifically avoid any of Microsoft's products, I just tend to use alternatives because they're better. I switched to Firefox because IE6 sucked. I switched to VLC because Windows Media Player doesn't play nice with all codecs or new video types. I switched to Pidgin because MSN and AIM are both terrible clients. I switched to OpenOffice because I'm not fucking paying hundreds of dollars just to open Word documents.

    And I prefer OS X and Linux over Windows because I don't have to install a bunch of applications on top of it to get some simple functionality. I mean, grep? cat? awk? What the fuck, how does Microsoft not have a decent set of command line tools, let alone some of the more useful things you get out of Leopard or any linux window manager?

    If Microsoft comes out with something new, I'll check it out, and if it's good, fantastic. But with so many alternatives that are better, there's no reason to use 90% of their software.

    Monoxide on
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    Well the thing is, after you have to switch your browser, your media player, your mail client, your database product, etc., you start to just look for the non-MS alternative before you even bother with the MS solution. So it makes sense to have a listing of MS alternatives.

    Doing it for some childish "eff M$!!" reason is silly, but who cares why people use the listing?

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • EvilBadmanEvilBadman DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?

    Avoiding giving Microsoft any money by directly supporting their products, instead of going overkill in an ideological fashion that would make RMS proud as suggested by some of the morons* who have posted in this thread.

    *By morons, I'm including Mumblyfish for getting the ball rolling, as well as EvilBadman and Dusda for following in his footsteps.

    Except that he actually mentioned the 360 in his OP, and excluding such a fine system because of it's manufacturer is retarded.

    EvilBadman on
    FyreWulff wrote: »
    I should note that Badman is fucking awesome
    XBL- Evil Badman; Steam- EvilBadman; Twitter - EvilBadman
  • PheezerPheezer Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    EvilBadman wrote: »
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?

    Avoiding giving Microsoft any money by directly supporting their products, instead of going overkill in an ideological fashion that would make RMS proud as suggested by some of the morons* who have posted in this thread.

    *By morons, I'm including Mumblyfish for getting the ball rolling, as well as EvilBadman and Dusda for following in his footsteps.

    Except that he actually mentioned the 360 in his OP, and excluding such a fine system because of it's manufacturer is retarded.

    Yeah, there's really no denying that.

    Pheezer on
    IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
    CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    EvilBadman wrote: »
    Except that he actually mentioned the 360 in his OP

    So? Saying:
    Buying a $productname is furthering ${company}'s global dominance and should be avoided so you can retain your high horse stance.

    How's the stone age going for you?

    isn't being very constructive. I'm sure that the OP would feel that your reply was unneeded, as it would appear that the purpose of this thread was to request additions to his list of Microsoft products that he might "unwittingly" purchase (I find that the company logo sticks out like a sore thumb), not to solicit condescending responses about his choice to avoid supporting Microsoft.

    If he wants to lose out of the games that are available on that platform, that is his choice. I can't say that I agree with Microsoft's attempts to buy their way into the console market, but more competition with Sony can't be a bad thing. It certainly isn't enough to make me swear off buying another 360 sometime in the future.
    excluding such a fine system because of it's manufacturer is retarded.

    I find that the unreliability of the 360 to be good enough of a reason not to own one. I sold mine at the beginning of the year since it was locking up after a few hours of being on and I didn't feel like playing the console lottery. I missed out on some good games, but that just means I'll have to leech off of a friend.

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • MblackwellMblackwell Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    It would be more constructive over all (in my eyes) to list Microsoft products, and then list alternatives to those products, especially alternatives with the same file type support.


    That's not only useful for the OP's wants but also useful in general. Heck I'd like a list like that. It's always good to know what choices I have available.

    Mblackwell on
    Music: The Rejected Applications | Nintendo Network ID: Mblackwell

  • typhoontyphoon Registered User regular
    edited October 2021
    .

    typhoon on
  • DusdaDusda is ashamed of this post SLC, UTRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    DrDizaster wrote: »
    EvilBadman wrote: »
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    Andorien wrote: »
    _______moe wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure he's attempting to not spend any of his own money directly on MS products, not avoiding every MS product and service ever made.

    Then what's the point?

    Avoiding giving Microsoft any money by directly supporting their products, instead of going overkill in an ideological fashion that would make RMS proud as suggested by some of the morons* who have posted in this thread.

    *By morons, I'm including Mumblyfish for getting the ball rolling, as well as EvilBadman and Dusda for following in his footsteps.

    Except that he actually mentioned the 360 in his OP, and excluding such a fine system because of it's manufacturer is retarded.

    Yeah, there's really no denying that.

    I chimed in on the "no to all MS stuff" because he wanted to exclude the 360. It implied he wanted more than just a list of alternative software to use and I, like the others, chose to highlight some of the more commonly used services on the web that rely quite heavily on Microsoft products. Hardly overkill, in my opinion.

    Dusda on
    and this sig. and this twitch stream.
  • FyreWulffFyreWulff YouRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2007
    Windows and Linux use the same TCP/IP stack

    check and mate

    Also, disable XHTTPRequest capability in your browser. Besides the fact that everyone and their mother uses it on their site now, including this one.

    FyreWulff on
  • MblackwellMblackwell Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    What's wrong with disagreeing with a company and therefore actively avoiding the purchasing of their products when possible? EG: It doesn't matter that Banana Republic makes some damned nice clothes, if you have a reason not to shop there (for instance we'll say they use child labor, which I have no idea if they do or not but for the sake of argument) don't. It doesn't mean you are necessarily going to stop reading every magazine with Banana Republic ads in them, or throw a fit and cause a pileup every time you see a Banana Republic billboard, it just means you're not going to buy their damned products.

    So why would you come back and bitch about what the OP said. The Xbox 360 is a Microsoft product. He doesn't want to buy Microsoft products. It doesn't matter if said product is of good quality, he has chosen not to actively support the manufacturer through patronage of their products.

    Mblackwell on
    Music: The Rejected Applications | Nintendo Network ID: Mblackwell

  • Kuribo's ShoeKuribo's Shoe Kuribo's Stocking North PoleRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    the ps3 runs linux

    just sell your 360 and buy a ps3! problem solved!

    Kuribo's Shoe on
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  • nyxtomnyxtom Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I'm not sure you know this, but there are plenty of Microsoft technologies that you don't have to pay for. For instance, you can develop web services in C#.NET with Microsoft Visual Web Developer or C# Express. You can develop XNA games with XNA Game Studio. And when you finally decide on where you want to put it, there are plenty of options on deployment that allow you to choose either the Microsoft or other paths.

    I try to avoid paying for technologies whenever I can, but when I have to purchase for my own needs I politely make amends. There's nothing wrong with endorsing a product when it meets your needs.

    nyxtom on
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  • Qs23Qs23 Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Great googly moogly! I didn't expect all of this. Ok, where to start...

    First off, I guess I really need to watch my wording. The "Know thy enemy" line was supposed to be a light hearted jab, not the war-cry of a fanboy. I apologize to anybody who took it the wrong way.

    Secondly, I was originally going to have this thread be about XP/Vista OS alternatives, but it was 3 am and I got to thinking that if we were going to talk about different OS's, why not branch out a bit and hence the list of all the other things that are Microsoft products to keep this thread going after the first Linux post. And plus, i thought it could start up other threads (Anything But Apple, Anything But GM, Anything But Dell, Anything But Facebook, Anything but Google, etc.)

    Thirdly, I don't hate Microsoft. My current desktop and laptop are both running XP, I just BOUGHT the Office 2007 Ultimate Edition and while my Wii is sitting in a box (I don't remember which box since it's been so long.... side note: if you want to buy a barely used Wii, PM me.) the 360 is sitting right next to me with Halo 3 being the last disc it saw. But they are a large company who's products span lots of software and even now hardware, and who have a huge market share with most of them. And so it would be a perfect litmus. Oh, how does this alternative compare to what Microsoft has got?

    Finally, I hope I cleared up a little of the mess. If you guys feel that this thread can get out of the mud, I'm fine with continuing it here, but if anybody wants to start this all over again on the right foot, I'm fine with that too.

    Qs23 on
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