What a pity. Ruse was one of the major RTSs that I was looking forward to this year. Pity Ubisoft is distributing it.
I guess I'll just have to keep my hopes on Supcom 2 and the next Total War game . . .

I've never tried Eclipse, so I wouldn't know how it handles in that area. I am quite happy with KDevelop though, and I only use Codeblocks because it has a Windows version (back when KDevelop was Linux only). In any case, it seems to me that in the end it's more a matter of people being used to VS, rather than other IDEs lacking in capability.

All of these things I've seen in the other IDEs I've used. C++ code completion is in all of them, and viewing the data in complex structures (including STL) is in most of the modern ones.

I used Visual Studio quite a bit, and I'm not sure why everyone seems to think it's so great. I've used Codeblocks and Kdevelop since then, and find that I much prefer those IDEs. Lately I've been working on using Vim as an IDE, and after a bit of adjustment, I'm pretty sure it will end up being my IDE of choice. As for debugging, gdb does an excellent job. (And those complaining about setting breakpoints . . . have you even used gdb?)

I'm rather curious though. What features does VS have that make it so "superior?"

I'm currently working on switching away from my IDE to vim. There are plenty of plugins to put it on par with most IDEs, and honestly, a lot of the stuff in modern IDEs is just fluff. As for loading down Vim with all the extra stuff, I don't have the plugins autoload, but rather load after I run a script to transition it to my own "IDE Mode." This keeps Vim small and fast when I'm doing ordinary editing. I'm still in the transition phase, so I may not have seen all the disadvantages yet, but as far as I can see, the advantages outweigh them.

I'm also aware that Emacs does it quite well, but I'm more of a Vim user, so I'll stick with that unless I run into a wall and have to use Emacs in Viper Mode instead.

In my experience, most Linux distributions come with wifi drivers that work for just about any machine nowadays. The main issue is the software, and often the default software is lacking for some activities. However, WICD is an excellent alternative to the default network managers, and it has always worked flawlessly for me.
(There was an issue with hidden static networks recently, but from what I gather, that's been fixed in the latest version.)

Please elaborate. I've been using OpenAL for a long time now, and I've come to prefer it to any other audio API. It may be lower-level than most, but it's fast, robust, and cross-platform. (Of course, it depends on what you're developing for, but to say that it's a joke of an API, you imply that it's useless. From what I've seen in the industry, it seems to be gaining quite a bit of momentum.)

I have, and I love it! The Ubuntu Studio guys do a great job of putting together their distro, and I hope they continue to support it for a long time.

The situation is not quite that bad, though the summary makes it seem so. From what I gather, it wasn't a major part of the development team that was released, but rather 3-4 people in a small satellite team. Of course, there would definitely be bitterness about this, especially in this economic climate, but the job cut definitely wasn't extensive.

As for AA3 being flawed, the only major issue it's had is that the authentication servers have been overloaded by the hoards of new players trying to log in and play the game all at once. Obviously something like this can't be predicted, so no one is to blame. (I'm sure many of us recall Quake Live being hammered when it was released in open beta for similar reasons. And Demigod as well.)

The game itself is a LOT smoother and cleaner than any of its previous iterations. There are some occasional bugs and glitches that need ironing out, but thus far I haven't seen anything drastic.

(Yes, I am an AA player, and I have enjoyed for quite a long time. No, I'm not at all interested in joining the US Army. I realize it's a recruitment tool, but that doesn't mean there's any reason for me to shun it as a game.)

I used DevC++ for quite some time until I found out that it was out of date as well. Since then I've used Code::Blocks, and I find it to be quite an improvement. Since it's cross platform, working on different operating systems is pretty easy too.

KDevelop is my alternative choice. For all intents and purposes, KDevelop is my favorite IDE, but since it's only on Linux at the moment, Code::Blocks is my best choice for now. (Still, KDevelop is quite powerful, and I'm eagerly awaiting the cross-platform release.)

Eclipse is also a great choice, though I haven't used it nearly as much. I feel it's a little more focused on Java development, but many /.ers swear by it, so it's probably worth a try.

And on a final note, I've been using Vim a lot more often lately, and with the IDE plugins detailed in the Ars Technica article, I may make that my IDE of choice in the near future. (For others, there's Emacs. Both are great, take your pick.)

I work at Office Depot currently, and I can assure you this is not standard practice where I work, and certainly wouldn't be allowed by any of the managers or corporate. With regards to the issue about people lying about laptops being out of stock, yes, there were some salespeople who were doing that. As soon as it was found out, the practice was halted and everyone was informed that under no circumstances was it to be allowed. (And logically, even selling a laptop without the extended warranty is better than not selling it at all.) I so know that if any of this happened at the place I work, the employee responsible would be fired with no hesitation.

It is true that Office Depot does tend to push for these warranties, add-ons, etc, but you'll find that just about every other store, from Best Buy to Fry's does the same. Like it or not, that's how the business is run.
As a customer, it's annoying, but you just have to put up with it and move on in life, just as you put up with club cards, coupons, mailers, and all the other little annoyances that just about every store dumps on you these days.
As an employee, it can be stressful, but it's unlikely that you'll get fired if you don't contribute to the "quota." (And remember, this is retail. Working in retail sucks in general.)

And just as a final word, I'm not a manager, or corporate, or any higher up at OD. I'm just a lowly employee working there to pay for my textbooks because the hours are flexible enough to accommodate for my classes. I don't particularly have much company loyalty, but it does tick me off that people are spreading what is essentially tabloid journalism without giving any thought as to whether it's a widespread practice, or just some individuals who are giving the company a poor image.