Stephen Vaughan-Nichols is a troll who just toots anti-windows-8 propaganda like a parrot. I followed his articles for a while and they're all kind of the same, really.

another tin-foil hat comment. Steam's DRM is an example of DRM done right. Deal with it. Even if it were unnecessary, the games cost $5. I'll be as sad if I get locked out of them as I will be if the milk in my fridge spoils. Pray tell, what platform do you use to play non-DRM games that also has a social network built into it, achievements, holds 75% sales, and is owned by a company that makes the best games of all time (half life, portal)? Didn't think so. Face it. There is no perfect platform. But Steam is so close, it's worth it.

while this is an issue, I don't see it as a serious one. Who do you know that actually pays for online content? Sure, some of my friends use Netflix but they routinely complain that their selection sucks. Whenever this happens, we log onto my computer, watch a movie [TOTALLY legally] and if I liked it, I download it when we're done. Sure the law sucks, but if it's that easy to [OBEY], why do you care? A common comeback to this argument is "well, what about the non-tech-saavy people?" to which a PhD friend of mine has replied "I don't see why those who can't use the Internet should have access to it." It sounds mean, but it's akin to letting people who can't pass the citizenship test vote. If you're so dumb that the only way you can get media is by paying money to hollywood to rent it, that's your problem.

Oh, if I had mod points, you'd get them. This IS what Google wants. They've openly said it. I'm not saying it's smart but I am saying Google was honest about that. The UK can just use the NSA search engine instead.

You can do anything as long as you don't get caught.

you get to decide what PhDs should do with their time? Interesting. That, would in no way be a dictatorship. Or perhaps we should get some sort of government body to dictate what is ok to research? Nobody - on here especially - would complain about that, calling it fascism. Look, on a serious note, I understand your concern, but this was their decision and you have no right to tell them otherwise. Google doesn't tax you (not nearly as directly as the real government does), so you don't get representation. The people at Google wanted to do this. So they will. If it sells, great, otherwise, they'll know to stop. If their PhD's decided to wank all day, they'd be able to do that too.

the amount of tin-foil-hat crazy on here needs to stop. From what I gather, this is not only optional, but is even then just a tool to show cool stuff to people. Ever buy a new _ and tell people about it? Or get a message from a friend about their cool new _? That's all this is. Get over yourselves. I like Slashdot because it discusses what other news sources ignore, but every time I see crazy on this scale, I start considering finding a new source. There's also this thing called Ebay. And places where you can store your stuff. Time to jump off a cliff? Please hurry, and leave the rest of us alone.

Exactly. Google seems to have come to the conclusion that since everything on the internet makes them money somehow (Ads), a way to increase profit is to get people to load up the web faster. You connect to the web faster, you're more likely to click an ad faster. Or just buy from Google Shopping direct. I've seen some stuff on there that beats Amazon's deals. And don't get me wrong, probably some goodness of their heart too.

In my experience (and admittedly one data point isn't worth much) you're just gonna miss out on a fruit basket. See if I care.

At the end of the day, if you can't turn off your phone, it's your fault. If you have a job that's so miserable that you'd be better off not thinking about it, that's your fault too. If you can't finish your work fast enough to go home and enjoy time with your family / relax, totally your fault. People like to blame society for their own faults. Go to work, finish your work, go home, have fun, enjoy the weekend. It's pretty simple you guys.

Well, our nation is bankrupt both morally and literally, so that's kind of expected, don't you think?

This author is simply a troll. A journalist's duty is to present an argument based on his experiences. While we can't guarantee a lack of bias, this man penned Windows 8's death before it came out. That's not journalism; it's fanaticism. Linux users have every right to hate Microsoft. In fact, everyone has every right to hate anything that doesn't live up to their standard. However, when we throw a parade every time anyone says anything anti-Windows 8, it just makes us look sad and pathetic. Do we really have nothing better to do? It's an operating system that made drastic, and probably poor, changes to a UI people were used to. If you don't like it, don't use it. I probably will, but only for gaming. There is no need to fill the internet with articles on articles on article response commentaries on how one guy didn't like Windows 8.

Are those people stupid? Regardless of your feelings towards Microsoft/Linux/Mac/etc, Windows XP is at the end of it's life. It lacks very basic functionality (automatic windows splitting for instance) that everyone who upgraded has been enjoying since Vista. Even visually, it just LOOKS old. And while I love tinkering, there is probably at least a little something weird with you if you'd rather devote your time to manually patching your system. Is this what Slashdot has become? People who grumble about Windows Vista+ while making their own patches for XP? How sad; get a life. Windows XP had a GREAT run. It been Microsoft's best OS in a long time, maybe forever (though Windows 3.1 still seems to have a fanbase). But it's old. Give it up. Windows 8 costs ~$200, which is remarkably little if you plan on not upgrading again for another three versions. $200 is trash compared to rent, food, toys for your kids, etc over a 5 year period. Windows 7 would be much, much cheaper still. Just buy it already. Some of you need to watch Toy Story. Causes you're having trouble growing up.

There is no way you can't turn this off, and really, who watches porn on their phone? That just seems like a terrible life choice. Small screen, horrible data speeds, smudgy finger marks.

Exactly this. Ubuntu is very friendly and even if it isn't what you're looking for, you should work on it until you know enough to install that. The move on to something like Mint or Arch (I've never used either).