Dear Customer,

Your subscription to Xbox Live Subscription Transfer is scheduled to be automatically renewed to Xbox Live 12 mo. Gold Membership on Monday, October 09, 2006.

Ummm, no thank you. I have decided not to update my credit card on file, and just let my subscription lapse into the nothingness of Xbox Hell.

The Xbox 360 was the biggest dissapointment in my 20+ years of gaming. I have no desire to ever play this piece of trash again. The 360 will never live up to the fun of the original Xbox and Xbox Live service. And BTW… Halo 2 sux0rz to all get out!

A Mac user praising Microsoft? Yup! Every now and then ole’ Bill has a really great idea.

The idea worth mentioning is called the Windows Performance Rating, a feature in the upcoming Windows Vista OS, which will rate a PC based on how well it is running and on how much it can take advantage of Vista’s capabilities.

The Windows Performance Rating evaluates components such as the processor, the memory, the hard drive and graphics cards to come up with an overall score. The rating appears in a large blue circle and can be seen in multiple places in the operating system. The main rating is on a scale of 1 to 5, but individual components are also given a “sub rating.”

The idea behind the Windows Performance Rating is to help average consumers easily understand their Windows Vista PC’s overall performance, and to simplify the process of determining whether certain software applications will run smoothly based on their system components.”

-Microsoft

I think this is a really good idea. This gives the end user, who may or may not be computer savvy, a place to easily see how their system handles the OS and other software. For instance, PC game manufacturers can use this rating on their boxes, so people can check to see if their system can handle the game at it’s optimum settings.

Making The (up)Grade

Microsoft can even blend these ratings with a commerce angle, so people could easily upgrade their current hardware (RAM, video card, hard drive, etc.) to comply with future ratings for various software applications. The user could order hardware through a Microsoft partner online, guaranteeing compatibility with their current system.

Maybe Steve Jobs will take a page out of Bill’s book and “borrow” this nifty idea=)

I received my first computer back in 1994 when I was a senior in High School. It was a Packard Bell Legend 1956 Supreme, 486/DX2 50 MHz. Although advertised as 50 MHz, it was actually 25 MHz with DX2 technology, effectively doubling the processor speed with some type of voodoo.

That Packard Bell was running Windows for Workgroups 3.11. At a cost of around $2,200.00, it was the best model Sears had at the time, with a whopping 400 MB of HD space and a punchy 4MB of RAM. Jumper settings, IRQ and DMA settings were horrible. It would sometimes take a half-hour of trial and error to find the right settings for your sound card when installing a game. The good old days.

The World is a Vampire

Now, the world is a bit easier. We have plug and play, USB, and a host of other technologies to make our lives easier. Microsoft has played a giant roll in that progression. From old DOS prompts to the Windows start button– oh, how time has changed.

Microsoft now controls about 95% of the world’s computer market. This means that only 5% of the worlds computers are secure. All that great innovation and progress has led to some of the biggest security holes this side of the galaxy– and that’s just starting with their web browser, Internet Explorer.

For those of us (former) PC users, we have become accustomed to that fact that our on-line lives are never safe, our private information is never secure, and our time is obviously better spent rooting out virii, spyware, adware, malware, trojans, worms, exploits, d.o.s. attacks, and a host of other exploits that threaten to bring us to our knees on a daily basis.

And all that time spent doesn’t include regular “maintenance,” like defragging your hard drive, using disk cleanup, or cleaning out your registry. To sum up the Windows experience in one word? WORK.

The Mac, on the other hand, is heaven. Not only do you get to look at a gorgeous GUI, but you get to use the world’s most advanced and secure operating system that any end user can purchase. In short, you spend your time and money on productivity, rather than trying to stop the world’s haxorz from invading your soul.

The Long Good-Bye

After using a PC for 10 years, and just recently switching to a Mac, I can’t understand why anyone, outside of playing games, would ever want to use a Windows machine. It befuddles me. I can do everything on my Mac that I previously did on my PC. The only difference now is that I don’t have to do many of the things I did before, like all that maintenance.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t get some satisfaction when I read of a new Windows security exploit. I for one am glad that Microsoft continues to keep a product alive that is the sole purpose of being for the jerks who write computer viruses. Microsoft is doing Apple and I a favor in keeping them away from my Macintosh. Thank you Mr. Gates, from the bottom of my heart.