[CQ-Contest] DOS Is Dead -- Better Designed, Reliable yada, yada, yada

[tbarnett at lexmark.com]

Various snips from the previous note:  
 
> Thank Goodness That DOS Is Gone!!!!......

I'm not a Windows worshipper, I'm a unix addict.  But I use Windows....

What passes for acceptable in the Windows world for reliability and design wouldn't pass the laugh test in the Unix world.

Having said that, I truly believe that ham-related software vendors are just as good programmers as any commercially-related programmers.
They just aren't paid as much.

The Windows toolset with which they have to work with isn't fully cooked.
Windows is starting to isolate the programmer from the OS, which is a double-edged sword.  
On the one hand, the typical ham programmer might sigh with relief that he/she doesn't have to deal with creating window frames, programming serial UARTS, and so forth.  
On the other hand, the Win-32 API's that do that work for him/her had better work right, 100% of the time, with no crashes, or memory leaks.  

Who among us has NEVER had Windows crash or go bonkers on us?
I really CAN make that statement about most of my unix systems, some of which are based on the same Intel hardware that Windows runs on. 
Some of them are approaching 1-year uptime status.

Let me pose this ONE question:
If Windows-XX (pick your version) is so good, then WHY do they keep coming out with new OS's that are so different, and loudly proclaim that this is the ONE? 
And then immediately put the old versions on the non-support list... 
Couldn't they just "refine" the OS from year to year, like unix vendors?
Little wonder the Windows corporate world is still mostly Win31.



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