The trident HTML rendering component is not required for windows to function. I have successfully removed all traces of mshtml.dll, mshtmler.dll and mshtmled.dll from windows 2000, xp, and windows 7 without crippling the os. The only things affected for me are windows help, the "enhanced" services screen in the computer management mmc snapin and a handful of applications that were foolishly written to use that library. On a slightly related but still off-topic note, I would like to point out to those that claimed that the internet options control panel applet was a system wide internet settings component (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=445158#c59) and not an Internet explorer options dialog, that this applet also ceases to function with trident removed. It appears that it's dialog may be housed within the trident engine's dlls.

While Apple dictates the terms on their hardware, they do not dictate the terms for their competitors. On the other hande, as I recall, Microsoft leveraged their position in one market to squash their competitors in others and strong armed all of the major hardware manufacturers into only offering their OS. The point is, Apple I'd not out there coercing Nokia, RIM and Motorola into only offering phones with their OS. In fact, it's the opposite. Their competitors are not prevented from offering phones running Android, Windows (flavor of the season), etc. Apple has not created a hostile environment where everyone is forced to use their mobile devices exclusively. We get it, there are Apple Haters out there. But please, let's get some perspective. There is no vendor lock-in with Apple. Monopolies don't apply to a single product itself, but rather to an industry as a whole. Only being able to run windows apps on the windows os did not constitute a monopoly. The fact that over 90% of desktops in the world were running windows did. So can we let go of these bogus claims of an Apple monopoly? The only monopoly that they might have is with iTunes over the digital music industry and last I checked you can take music from their and play it on any number of devices, even cd players.

Simply changing the core GUI for windows will not result in apps being pleasant to use via touch. I used to want a full blown OS for a slate. I was one of the people hoping that the iPad was going to run full OS X. Even after it was announced, I held out hope that some sort of iPad Pro running OS X would be announced later. However, I still pre-ordered the iPad. It has now been well over a month and in that time here are my observations: 1. Applications for a touch based device have to be rethought from the ground up. 2. This device serves mainly consumption use cases. 3. A full blown OS would likely not respond quite like a mobile one does on a device like this (not without generating major heat, using major electricity, and requiring components that weigh more) As a software developer, I spend all day at work in front of my pc at work. I have found, since getting my iPad, that I went from spending an additional 4-6 hours daily on my desktop/laptop at home to less than 1 hour a week. The iPad has allowed me to do virtually everything computing related that I am interested in doing at home without having to go to my study or pull out my laptop. Yes, that even includes typing up is comment. I am no longer waiting for a full blown OS slate, as the iPad does more than enough already, and I really don't need more reasons to spend time using it. In fact, we are getting two more iPads soon. One for my wife and one for my daughter. By the way, though somewhat off topic, I would like to point out that the costs for apps for this thing are very reasonable. They are often free. And for the ones that I have already purchased, it is really nice to know that I won't have to repurchase them for the next two iPads.

My wife and I decided that we are going to be canceling our directv soon. We wanted to be able to watch sites like Hulu, YouTube, etc. After trying unsuccessfully for a couple of days to get TVersity and PlayOn to stream Hulu to our brand new PS3, I decided to stop dealing with those hassles and just get a mac mini with Bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse. I was able to get it up and running quickly and we were watching hulu in a matter of minutes after unpacking it. I am so impressed by how easy it was, that we will be getting a couple more mac minis for the other TVs in the house. I've since installed Boxee on it to browse videos from various sites on the net in one convenient place. I will also be picking up an apple remote this weekend for it.

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