Boycott Microsoft, the Dictator of Computer Systems

Written by: Dragonfire

Microsoft. The very name strikes fear into the hearts of small tech companies everywhere, and inspires hatred into many individuals.

Well, I can say that I’ve had enough. This giant computer company has, for years, been able to assimilate numerous small tech companies into its giant mass, not only ending the good names of these small companies, but attributing their beautiful products to the evil that is Microsoft.

And now, my friends, the time is right to boycott this company and end its reign once and for all. Microsoft strikes a particular chord in me that makes me hate it more than anything else simply because it’s too big for its own good, it makes great products go bad, and its founder Bill Gates stole code from Apple.

Before you get excited and call me a member of the Cult of Mac, know this: I have never owned an Apple of any kind, with the exception of an Apple IIe in the early 90’s that my father had. That was it. I have used Apples plenty of times because I was in journalism, and thus I’ve come to appreciate them. However, I am not one of those overly-obsessed people that wear black jeans and a turtleneck everywhere. I do love Apples dearly...just not to that extent.

Anyhow, the point of this column is not on Apple, it is on Microsoft. Their main product is Windows. Before I owned this laptop, I used one that ran on Windows ME (Millennium Edition), which has been regarded as the worst operating system ever created. I used it for roughly 3-4 years, and I have to say that it wasn’t the worst operating system ever created. The blue screen of death popped up maybe every two weeks, and other errors maybe twice a week, but that wasn’t bad.

Now, Microsoft has other products, such as Office, and also hardware. However, nothing has grabbed as much attention as the Xbox and the Xbox 360. I don’t know about you, but I thought the Xbox wasn’t too great. I’m proud to say I’ve never owned one.

I didn’t particularly like the controls. The one thing that really pushed my buttons (pun intended) was that you could use it as a lethal weapon, assuimg you could pick it up, since it weighed about a ton. The 360 is pretty cool, except for the fact that it wasn’t all it was cracked up be.

Now, Microsoft has recently said that they’re created the Zune, which is an “iPod killer” and it will takeover the market. Hmm… So they expect to debut a media player nearly 6-7 years after the iPod was initially released and have it take over nearly 50% of the market, seeing as how the iPod has a 75% market share? Well, that’ll be easy. They’ll probably use their vast resources to pay people $1000 bucks to buy a player that looks similar to the iPod and apparently won’t have video support. I, for one, can’t wait to buy it.

Internet Explorer is one of Microsoft’s most sought-after products. It’s so simplistic that people are scrambling to buy computers that have it pre-installed, and are completely avoiding mainstream browsers such as Firefox, Opera, and Netscape. Tabbed browsing is so overrated, as is customizing your browser to fit you. Generic stuff is the best.

So, my plea to you, the reader, is to please give whatever good that is left in this world a chance, and make mincemeat out of Microsoft.