That didn't work the last time. Remember the '80s? Oh, how we laughed at the KGB, Stasi et al. and their invasive ways. Listening to everybody, having half the population on the payroll and informing on the other half, reading all mail etc.
How superior we felt, with our freedoms.

Now look where we are.

You better not hook up to the amplifier. There's a slight possibility of overload.

While I agree that the prefs interface could use improvement, please don't suggest they reduce the number of preferences. I use VLC because it's configurable to my tastes.

Decent RJ45 cables come with a sleeve that fits over the tab. This should have been mandatory instead of an option.

Passive amplifiers are perpetual motion machines. An echo chamber doesn't amplify, it merely minimizes attenuation.

Do I understand the difference correctly? Transponder = optical receiver, processing equipment and laser which sends a new signal. Amplifier = EDFA?

Well, the electrical and optical conductors are in the same cable, but yes.

Indeed. It seems the word is subject to...

inflation.

But is 95% enough? It reduces the problem for a while, but as long as there are viable mosquitoes left, they'll start breeding again until you're back where you started.

Yes. Categories help, and once I see the name, recognition is usually instant.

In OS X, the Applications folder is one click away. Not ideal, I'd rather have a menu with all of my applications (and I used to have that in OS 9).

You're forgetting that there's not just one Start Menu folder in Windows, there are two: one user-specific and one for all users. So two locations to scan. Are you seriously suggesting this is a good replacement for the Start menu?

Hothardware.com has all of its headlines in English, but using Hebrew script instead of Roman, making the site unreadable. Or is that just me?

Sure, it's faster for the programs you use often enough that you remember their name. That's maybe 20 out of the 200 programs I've installed. Many of those I need twice a year, and searching them by name doesn't work because I can't remember what they're called. I do know I filed them somewhere in Programs->XML tools (or one of a few categories I've set up and that make sense for me). Accessible via one click and a bit of moving the mouse around (in XP or with Classic Start Menu installed), or more clicking and scrolling (in Windows 7). Windows 7 was a regression in this regard, and Windows 8 threw my method under the bus.

Different strokes for different folks. I like the Search option, but for the love of God don't make it the only option.

I, for one, like new things if, and only if, they are an improvement over the old things. That's why I use a computer in the first place: to improve my life and make things easier. Anything that gets in the way of that gets the vitriol poured on.

For something as fundamental as the UI, I have a substantial investment in the old way of doing things. Throwing that away means I have to start learning again, and it'll take a while to get up to the same speed I had with the old UI. This is all wasted time, so the new UI has to be a lot better than the old one to make a switch worthwhile.
Many of the UI changes in Windows have not been improvements at all. Instead MS seemingly randomly moved things around (Control Panel), or they removed functionality (Start screen). So yes, we consider this change for change's sake. I, for one, would welcome some actual improvements instead.

There's also the alienation factor. A new UI feels as if people have broken into my home and rearranged things.

Great: Gb internet. Not so great: provided by Google, who now have even more access to your internet activity. My ISP may be a stodgy old fart incumbent telecoms company, but at least it's not got an advertising agency as its main profit center.