Re: [Leica] partially OT: a concrete example of Microsoft badness

[shino@ubspainewebber.com]

microsoft distributes software with the manner and intent
of a heroin pusher in a schoolyard.

- -rei


> From: Jeff S <4season@boulder.net>
> 
> Before my company's merger, I administered my own Unix mail server and it
> worked just great: I used any POP or IMAP-compliant email client and there
> was never an issue of licensing fees or compatibility.
> 
> But since the merger, we've had to rely on an Exchange server. Outlook 2001
> users are treated to a snazzy electronic Rolodex, Calendar, Forms,  and
> shared address book. Setting up Outlook clients is super-easy for the sys
> admin because it's so integrated with Exchange Server that there's almost
> no configuration to do. But ever did an IMAP connection to Exchange Server
> with a non-MS client like Eudora? It's painfully sluggish and you don't get
> those extra features. And sometimes no one at our site can connect at all
> because it Exchange Server thinks it's maxed out it's user licenses (yes,
> user licensing on an email server-what a concept). And Outlook's forms? I
> assume the reader is somehow integrated into the Windows OS because Mac
> users with Outlook 2001 can't view them and I'll be darned if I know how to
> translate them into some non-proprietary format. Don't even get me started
> on people who send .doc, .xls and .bmp files as email attachments!
> 
> As a systems guy myself, I wish that every time I saved the company money
> by implementing free software (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)
> instead of some easy-but-proprietary solution, I could buy myself a new
> lens or camera with some of the money.
> 
> Jeff S
> 
> On 2001.08.02 11:26 Brian Reid wrote:
> [snip]
> > Anybody who has been on the LUG longer than a year or so has heard me
> > complain about the headaches that Microsoft email software causes list
> > owners.
> 
> [snip]
> > 
> > I guess if you're rich enough, like Microsoft, you can ignore the rules
> > and do what you want, but this particular flouting of the rules makes the
> > world a worse place.
> > 
> NO ARCHIVE
>