I find both relatively easy, I just have had more problems along with harder to find solutions on linux systems. Windows is made for the dummy user, linux really is not. I do not understand how a person who is proficient at installing/upgrading software on linux has a harder time doing the same thing for Windows.

I think this statement really gets to the heart of why I have problems with Windows. It is geared toward dummies. Even as they work on improving the underlying OS, the interface looks more and more like it is designed for pre-school children. I'm an administrator/developer, and I really hate when an OS tries to hold my hand and tell me what to do. There are quite a few GNU/Linux based distributions that also drive me nuts, and I do what I can to avoid them as well.

I do admit that a Windows box must be restarted more often than linux boxes but the amount of times a reboot is really needed for Windows has been so low in my experience that it does not matter.

Another good point. For many people, Windows needs to be rebooted after almost every little upgrade because Windows tells you that it needs to be rebooted. Things are getting better in that area, but not from the normal user point of view.

While not a "production activity" it does give Windows a big advantage over other OS's for people who do enjoy games. Talking about games I was responding more to when you said "Maybe some day it will mature enough to be useful", this is a very useful feature to a game player, I was just stating that Windows can serve some useful purposes.

This is a part of OS discussion that I prefer not to spend too much time. I'm not a gamer, and feel that playing computer games is a waste of time. If I have enough time to sit and play a game, I have enough time to go outside and see the real world. If I want to pick up a sword and go attack someone, I grab my gear and go find someone to spar with. If I want to walk around a city and talk to random people, I go outside and walk around while talking to people. The best part is that the real world has better graphics and doesn't charge me for sitting on my rear. To me, the game arguement goes along with Windows being designed for dummies with an interface for the pre-school crowd.

I bet if you left an unpatched linux box open to the world it would get owned as well.

I have to disagree with this statement as a general principle. Unless I install some type of daemon that responds to external queries, it would be almost impossible to "own" the system. A clean base install should have nothing more than a console login and all the drivers needed to work with the hardware in the system.

I responded late at night when I was tired and did not sense any sarcasm at all (which is easy to do on the internet).

How strange.. I normally have this problem when I wake up first thing in the morning. I fully understand the issue with typing while tired. I've had to appologize many times for things I've written while half asleep and didn't have the sense to hit cancel.

Yet another statically typed language?

A statically typed language provides a little bit of value: The compiler does a small bit of the testing you should be doing anyhow. In return, static typing extract a huge cost in language complexity (templates, anyone?). Many of the patterns in the GOF book are only there to let you get the job done when the type checking system is trying to stop you.

This language may appeal to those who don't like C++ but think that the particulars of the language is the problem. It's not the particulars that are the problem. It's the static typing, the separate compile step, and all the complexity that supports these basic language decisions.

Playing with the various VoIP solutions is a bit of a hobby of mine, so allow me to share some of what I have learned:

Vonage is a great company, they have area codes in a lot of places, and they also support number portability. The downside is you're stuck using their equipment (cisco ata-186). It's a nice box, doesn't require a computer, provides a plug for normal phones, and works quite well behind a Linux firewall. If that's what you're looking for, then by all means, go with Vonage. I currently have a personal line, and a business line w/ fax line through them.

Packet8 is another company where you're stuck with their equipment. I've heard of problems with their service, but I have yet to experiance anything. The price is right, and the quality is good enough, and they also support lots of area codes. I currently have a personal line through them, but I've only had it for about 4 months.

iConnectHere is another one that supports lots of area codes. The quality is ok, but I had lots of lag issues with them. The price is pretty good, but you have to supply your own equipment. The good news is it works well with most sip devices (I've used an ata-186 with it, as well as a few soft phones). You'll hav problems using softphones behind a firewall though, but the good news is, it integrates pretty well with Asterisk, the open source pbx software. I used their service for a few months, but I no longer have it, the lag issues were too much for me.

VoicePulse is my current favorite solution. Aside from SIP, they also support IAX (via their VoicePulse Connect! service). With IAX, it integrates extremely well with Asterisk even behind firewalls. They have a pretty good pricing plan, and you get all your incoming minutes for free. You can add as many phone numbers as you would like, but the only problem with their service is their limited area code availability, which will hopefully get better over time. They support multiple inbound and outbound calls simultaniously, and several codecs, so you can balance your requirments of bandwidth vs. voice quality. VoicePulse also has a service that's more like what Vonage offers, but I haven't tried that. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm currently using the VoicePulse Connect! service as my PSTN gateway for my Asterisk PBX, and so far it's been working remarkably well.

I hope that helps!