Many people who use the news groups are a tad rebellious. MS is perceived as
the leader, the status quo, the authority figure. Pounding on the little guy
is not cool; pounding on the big guy is.
I have a rebellious nature of my own, and I've been down the same MS bashing
road. After a few years of observing blind MS bashing, it caused a backlash
within me. I saw how silly I must have looked. I now try my best to be
impartial, and it has changed my perspective. I can say without a doubt that
I believe Windows XP and MS Office are the most USABLE software in their
class. Does that mean I'm an MS apologist? No, I'm a former MS basher who
has come full circle. It feels good to not be a soldier fighting for a
misguided cause.
Has nothing at all to do with MS bashing as a sort of game... at least
not in my case, and not in the case of others interested in malware
prevention. The "cause" is simply to give the clueless a clue. Period.
Non other. I've seen several knowledgeable people, and at least one
real virus expert, recently do a complete turnaround. They no longer
pussyfoot around and lamely try to help people with their IE security
settings and advise them to stay up to date with (endless) IE patches.
They now flat out recommend dumping IE and using alternative browsers.
One knowledgeable guy who posts on security groups has raised the
alarm to the point of claiming that dumping IE is the single most
important thing users can do for malware prevention.
So bash away at us so-called MS bashers, if that's your newfound
"cause"
BTW, I wouldn't touch XP with a ten foot pole. What a mess and
security nightmare that is!
Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg