In the Apple camp, you have a small number of hardware options on offer by one vendor and one current OS to choose from. On the PC side, you have about a trillion hardware options and more OS options than the average home user can comfortably juggle in their heads at any one time (and that's without adding Linux to the equation).... Hands down, Apple is the easiest choice for bewildered consumers.
Now I make no secret of the fact that I believe that Vista Home Basic exists solely as a way for OEMs to sell cheap, underpowered, mediocre PCs (which I call CHUMPs). I'm also no fan of the linguistic trickery that Microsoft used in the naming — just what is the different between "Premium" and "Ultimate" or "Vista capable" and "Vista ready"?
Altruism, you might ask?More information about the Student Innovation Suite can be found on Microsoft's Web site. The low-priced software suite is part of Microsoft's Partners in Learning program, a five-year, $250 million plan to help educators distribute software and training to students.
I guess this will help partly replace the wink-wink-nudge-nudge policy regarding piracy of Microsoft Products in developing nations.""You'll find that Microsoft would be fairly open if pushed that they don't go into a market for philanthropic reasons," said Clive Longbottom, founder and analyst of Quocirca, a technology research firm in London. He said Microsoft has to find more creative ways to distribute its software in emerging markets where open-source software and Linux have a foothold.
How many NASA managers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? "That's a known problem... don't worry about it."
