That's cool, it doesn't work for you. But trial and error on Google does.

Personally I like Bing. It has been my only search engine (except for the default on my Windows Mobile phone strangely) for over a month, and I miss Bing when I use my wife's computer which defaults to Google.

The obvious answer to this story is...start another botnet.

If botnets were added to the supercomputer ranking, where would they be? And how many are Russian?

Not only that...

But the Bing API is the best search API that I've seen.

Amazingly open.

Too bad most people will miss it.

I'm a programmer, and admittedly not a genius. I couldn't come up with a decent search algorithm to save my life.

BUT, all of those differences you mentioned are a piece of cake- even a moron like me could do it. It really is simple stuff.

Bing is pretty much brand-new. Give them some time to add on the little niceties. It will come, and it won't take too long.

I disagree about Bing sucking...personally I really like it.

I like the short 'preview' of the page in the right column. I like the photo search. I like the maps (and the aerial view is MUCH newer where I live than Google.)

Overall, I think it is a great search engine, and it is a relief to be using something other than Google. It's not like Microsoft is any worse than other companies that have achieved a near monopoly.

The fact that Bing is my default search engine on Chrome tells the story of how things are changing for the better.

Well, the question would be: "What does it mean to you?"

You may have your own definition of 'open', but mine in this case is:

"Can I modify the software to do what I want it to do? Can I write programs and install them on my phone? Are there artificial limitations in place?"

The answer to all of these is, 'no' in the case of Windows Mobile.

Good point- money...

Is it possible that Microsoft does not sell their products in those countries, therefore anyone using their software is using a pirated version?

If so, then this could be a business plan- not a censorship issue.

Honestly...I completely forgot about Android.

But I have had quite a bit of trouble with Symbian, much less so with Windows Mobile.

Just a little more-

Windows Mobile 6.5 has been widely available for a while, and Microsoft hasn't raised a fuss. Apps were ripped from it (Facebook for instance) to run on previous versions...and Microsoft actually supported it!

Windows Mobile?

When it comes down to it...like it or not...Windows Mobile is the most open phone OS.

They are the most supportive for developers. No roadblocks, nothing. I can write a program today, and distribute it over the web without any problems.

Every part of the Phone OS is open to me. My carrier cannot block a single thing from running on my phone.

No problem with that at all- Don't upgrade!

I've got a computer at home that runs XP- and it is just fine for me. One important factor is that I don't upgrade it, and I don't upgrade my software.

At work I am constantly upgrading software and hardware. I run the very latest of everything...so I stay up to date on my operating system. I'll run Windows 7 as soon as it is available.

Oddly (to me at least, maybe it is a well known problem) I have a laptop where the wireless card works...but the range is decreased drastically when using Linux.

Under Windows, I can use the laptop all through my house, and the garage. Under Ubuntu 8.x I can only get a signal in the room with the wireless router, or the rooms directly adjoining that room. At about 20 feet and one wall, the connection dies.

More important to me is the perspective of the change.

Vista came out directly after XP. So there were a lot of machines being upgraded from XP to Vista. OR, there were a lot of machines being sold that could *barely* run Vista. Either way, Vista was slow.

The fact that Windows 7 is not a lot SLOWER than Vista, is a move in the right direction. Had Windows 7 followed the normal trend, it would be 20% (or a lot more) slower. But it isn't.

Remember, XP runs a lot slower than most of the preceeding operating systems- it just seems really fast now...after new hardware and a lot of updates.

Sadly, the HR departments of the world have no understanding of this. All they care about is matching up the acronyms and buzzwords.

I've been turned down for jobs because of this bias by the hiring group.

"What is your greatest strength?"

My method is to understand the business process, communicate with users, and develop code to achieve the business goals.

"Oh, we're looking for a senior advanced journeyman JAVA coder."

Well eff me. Offshore the job and write me a letter when your system doesn't do what you wanted it to.