Working on the Dark Side – Part Six

Microsoft just came out with their new OS XP. Once you buy into this OS, you will find that you cannot own it, nor can you use it on more than one computer. (We never really owned our software anyway, if you read the fine print on the software you purchased.) Microsoft however, takes this command and control paradigm to new heights for those of us who must use its products, and endure its fascist methods.

Under Microsoft, you no longer have the right to make copies of music or games that you own. You no longer have a choice of which browser, or which video or music player you want to use. I would not be surprised to find that your choice of any non-MS software will also be limited or otherwise somehow thwarted.

Under Microsoft’s new method of upgrading and updating your software, beginning with Windows XP licensing program, your cost of using their applications will double or triple in the coming year. You will no longer have a choice to upgrade or not. These will be mandatory, not just for your operating system, but also for all your MS applications. From now on, you and your company will have no option but to go along with their expensive upgrades.

Under Microsoft, you can lose the right to use your software or operate your computer at any time. Microsoft alone will determine if you are compliant in how you use their software. This means your business will essentially be out of business until Microsoft says you can operate again, once you pay whatever ransom they demand. Could you ever believe that this could happen here? This is so anti-American; I cannot begin to find the words to express how I feel about this!

Under Microsoft OS XP you will never again have any privacy on your computer. Big Brother is watching you. This is much more terrifying than Orwell’s 1984, because that was just a novel. This is real in corporate America here and now. You feeling like Neo yet?

Such loss of computing privacy goes much farther than just Microsoft watching over your shoulders as you surf the Internet. This also means that Corporations now have less privacy to conduct their businesses and to protect their products and patents from unfriendly eyes. A corporation that uses Microsoft Windows XP operating system has less protection against outside invasion from hacker’s viruses, corporate thieves and spies, and from Microsoft itself. I would not be surprised if you and I read headlines about this last one in the coming months, for Microsoft has truly become the 500 pound gorilla of monopolies, for now through their new OS they can have complete access to all your company files.

On a personal note

You know, you are very lucky. You probably work in a company that can do something about your situation with Microsoft. I do not. My company is a great organization, filled with talented and hardworking people who work for a government customer that has mandated Microsoft applications and software in their product.

Microsoft even has a large presence here to make sure this happens. Funny thing is, we have yet to be able to deliver a viable product to our customer due to inherent MS software problems. It is becoming a distinct possibility that we will never be able to deliver such a product running on MS applications and servers. This means layoffs and even a company shutdown, in spite of all our efforts. Thank you, Microsoft.

What can you do?

You only have one choice if you wish to avoid these potential disasters for your company: Don’t use Microsoft products.

You have many options from Linux, Unix, Sun Microsystems, and others, for both an OS and for Office applications. One of the best of these is Sun’s free StarOffice. There are other excellent software applications and suites, which in many ways are superior to Microsoft Office. Consider other applications from Lotus, WordPerfect, Paradox, Adobe, and Quark. There is a long list of excellent software that your company can use to do its business, that is far more productive and less likely to cost you hundreds or thousands of hours of lost time, that your use of Microsoft applications has already cost your company.

Here is a comprehensive list of non-Microsoft applications

Somehow, you and your boss, and your finance officer, have to overcome the hypnotized stare and the numbing state of mind that says Microsoft is all there is in the world, because it isn’t. It never was.

Microsoft was just the biggest software company. It is also the first company to sincerely try to own the whole world, whatever the cost, and who currently has the funds and the means to make it happen. This fact makes it is the worst software provider on the planet, and your organization should not even consider using its products.

If enough of us do this, Microsoft will go away. Together we can do something that even the United States Government could not do: Put Microsoft in its place. That is small enough payment for the trillions of dollars in wasted productivity their poorly coded software has caused its users, don’t you think?

There is something else you can do

Get a Macintosh. You will find it is a much more powerful computer. You will also find its cost of ownership is less than any PC. Its operating system is far more stable and free from viruses. You will discover that doing your work on a Mac is something wonderful, for it always works, effortlessly, while it seamlessly integrates with other computers and with other files on your network. There is nothing like using a Mac. Believe me, for I cannot use one on my job, and I feel the vast difference every day I work.

If you really want to improve your business’s bottom line, your productivity, and your company’s morale, by all means, stop using Microsoft applications, and get some Macs for your people. Chances are, your best competition is already doing this, or haven’t you noticed? Want to know more?

Be well,
Roger Born

Roger Born