Pretty much every distro installer I've used asks whether you want to install the bootloader, and to which drives (usually right after the partitioning step).
The Windows installer doesn't give you a choice - it just overwrites the boot sector on C:, which makes restoring the original bootloader a pain.
The complaint is not that Windows installs a bootloader, it's that there is no way to prevent it from doing so. It's also worth noting it hasn't been just a consumer OS since XP - it's also an enterprise OS and the ability to load things like RAID drivers during the installation reflects that.

Driving a car is not intuitive - there's a reason it takes a while to graduate from a learner's permit to a full license. What is it is familiar - most cars are driven the same way with some minor variations (which side the indicator is on, where the handbrake is, etc.) and only one major one (manual vs. automatic transmission). I'm not convinced that anything is truly intuitive, given that even simple things like handwriting need to be taught.

I agree that there is something to be said for making technology better to use. However, the problem is needs to be approached at both ends - the most powerful programs do require above average ability from their users. e.g. there are scheduling programs on Android that let you perform arbitrary tasks like toggling wifi when multiple conditions are met, but you need to understand basic boolean logic to use them. Coding is probably overkill, but it does encapsulate those concepts in a concrete manner.

We're not talking about creating 'truly great programmers' though, any more than we teach literacy with the expectation of everyone being Pulitzer prize winners, or maths with the expectation that everyone understand complex analysis. I think the desired base level of ability is along the lines of simple Python scripts that do things like resize all the images in a folder.

Of course most people aren't outstanding - the idea they could be is inherently contradictory. The point of this discussion is what skills we want the average person to have in order to maximise productivity.

Also, could you explain the connection between critical thinking and programming? I've been thinking a lot lately about whether they're connected or not, and I'd like to hear your opinion on it.

Depends on your card processor. I know that here in Australia, the Visa debit cards have all of the same protections as their credit cards.

Just make a backup copy of the game before you run Steam. Last I checked, they let you cancel the update if you want to play *right now*.

For now, anyway. There have been attempts to put provisions blocking parallel legislation into the TPP and other treaties, although thankfully they've been unsuccessful so far.

To counter your anecdote with my own, I got Left 4 Dead 2 for free on Steam at one point.
Prices fluctuate all the time, and a brick and mortar store is subject to different pressures than an online store.
Steam is popular because it frequently discounts games, and will even email you if a game on your wishlist is discounted.

Microsoft has a history of announcing some very cool things from their research division, but failing to follow through. I'm not getting my hopes up until they at least have a shipping date...

Or you could just Right Click -> Properties.

Out of curiosity, how exactly do you download the Play store before you have it installed?

What's wrong with UUCP?

That would be injecting noise on to the power lines, which means either it screws with the rest of the grid, or it's small enough that other devices could swamp it with noise. There's been some interesting work done on hiding signals below the noise floor using frequency hopping, but that's excessively complex.

My experience is that in car parks, you can hear the tire noise easily. If the only problem is the visually impaired, why not put the synthesized sound above the range of human hearing, so that only guide dogs and assistive devices can detect it?

Amusingly, the kernel is probably one of the better examples of how to do OOP in C - the VFS code is a good example of this. (The file_operations struct is basically a vtable.) So given that they already had a working solution, they wouldn't have gained anything from C++ except additional complexity.

I agree entirely. That's what using a GMO identifier would enable - the database of what changes they correspond to and when they were approved should be publicly accessible. If you think about it, that's basically the same level of transparency we currently have with various additives.