Why do some developers hate Microsoft so much?

#1 /Mod -1 flamebait
//There is no answer that's going to sound "professional" to you
///Linux rocks
///Microsoft gives me heartburn..

#2 Because people are irrational in their allegiances. You see this with fanboys of games, operating systems, or politics. People are drawn to polarities like moths to a flame, and often use that flame to spread their ire to others.

#3 I love linux and Visual Studio 2005 Express

#4 I think it mostly comes down to being envious about the success of Microsoft.

#5 I've liked microsoft since Win2k came out, and it looked like they are trying to compete more. I've seen a lot more quality in all their products, the xbox was an exceptional entry into console gaming and was very influential in the direction of next gen systems. Their peropherals are top notch, and most of their software has improved a great deal in the past 5 years.

Maybe because they are being forced to compete. But regardless they are doing a pretty good job at turning around a behemoth of a OS a lot faster than I had expected when you consider the size of their userbase. Linux and Aple have it easy as they can turn around on a dime and have little responsibility to their customers. Having said that, I just want to have the best computer experience with the best hardware and software choice and compatibility. That and the fact that all the core software I need to get by on are only fully supported on windows. That and games are the real reason I'm using windows today.

#6 >Because people are irrational in their allegiances.
This should read *some people*...
Other have good reason, the rest just follow..
Here's my reason - a basic conflict of idealology.
Read this.
Basically, Gates doesn't like "Hobbyists" sharing code. He wanted (and did) to license solutions - not share knowledge. I like learning from others and sharing code/ideas. I like the idea that knowledge should be public domain. Linux allows me to do this and it puts the fun (hobbyist) back into computers.
So by installing/using/buying anything microsoft, you are supporting their idealology.

#7 The mentality of Microsoft, thier business practice.
I generally hate all big business.

some of thier software is good.
and even the stuff that is bad, who cares?

more like thier patents and thier business logic.
they are Evil.
it is all about suppresion and the amway pyramid.

I'ts all about one guy standing on top of all others.
to me that is wrong, we should as humans be working together to further each other
not ourselves.

suppresion of technology is unacceptable to me.
that is one reason we are so far behind.

Capitalism and Democracy are a farce.
and those two things alone have caused 90% of the turmoil on this planet.

and at least 80% of all suffering.

so in that perspective Microsoft is responsible for the new portion of this applied since thier
inception of thier product line and thier business practice.

It comes down to people having a need. and then someone providing a solution
and then cornering the market and forcing thier solution on everyone.
and then cutting off choice.

I could ramble about this for DAYS
here are some answers:
www.vanwensveen.nl/rants/microsoft/IhateMS_1.html

#8 "I think it mostly comes down to being envious about the success of Microsoft."

The nail has a headache.


"So by installing/using/buying anything microsoft, you are supporting their idealology."

No, by installing/using/buying anything Microsoft, I am getting software that I know is well supported, works for what I need it to do, and doesn't require a 500 page manual and a degree in computer science (even though I have one) to use. Their ideology still sucks, but just because they are encouraging it doesn't mean they are enforcing it. Hobbyists can still share code, MS be damned, and they can write that code on a Windows platform just as easily as on any other (and easier than some).

#9

Quote:Capitalism and Democracy are a farce.
and those two things alone have caused 90% of the turmoil on this planet.

If by Capitalism and Democracy you mean Government and Government.

#10 Hmm, I think that a good 60% of that 80% mentioned comes down to religion, and race. People like others that are like themselves and the world got to small for that kind of mentality. Things might change a bit when those that were born into more multicultural societies reach middle age and certain types of political correctness is recognized to be the farce it is.

#11 @David: No I wasn't attempting flame bait. I am hoping to hear rational explanations without the retoric that is prevelant on other boards and blogs.
@Badguy: I have never approached technology as an ideology, just as a tool to create something with, so I am kind of at a loss with your point of view. Not that it is invalid or anything, we just have different approaches to our work is all.

#12 I still think it is people. We attempt to box our limits to rationalize our motivations and actions, but often the edges bleed more than we like because life and our affiliations with it are messy. The world would be a much more rational (and boring) place if everything was actually well-defined, but seeing as how so many edges blur together and ideas criss-cross through each other, we have to focus on specific elements. It is singularity in action, and yet we often miss everything else in our estimation of a focal subset of the whole. Rationality is distinctly personal even if the method of rationalization is external. Agreeing to disagree is the acceptance of another person's (ir)rationality in comparison to our own. And being ours, we focus and weight it accordingly in opposition to counter-views. Then we begin to break down the other person's argument according to our own ideas, grafting a bit of ourselves into their argument while according the words we are putting in their mouths to them. Eventually this process moves from simple deconstruction to degradation of the instigating argument.

That's why we have people heatedly arguing about whether setting the bounce factor to 99 in Dead or Alive is "realistic" or not.

Peer-review adds popular field structure to arguments about the significance of Zack's phallic hood. Common arguments are "OMG! GROS!" or "WTF? LOL!"

Some graduate student somewhere should do a study on the rhetoric of gamers.

And yes, if you hadn't noticed, I'm talking out my ass as usual. I'm restoring a computer lab for finals week and decided to blather. Whoo...an hour more to go!

#13 @Badguy
I have to ask you something. How can you say you generally hate all big business? Don't at some point in time with your game creations you want to become a success? Not all BIG business is bad. Sure a great deal of them no longer care about the human element in what they do or even what they are(the employees) but you can't just say you hate them all. I think alot of people are envious of M$. And they sometimes just want to stick it to them and try something new and different that makes M$ no money This want then becomes a life time devotion and they soon forget the reason they started using Linux.

#14 In the essay "In the beginning there was the command line", Neil Stephenson summed up the Linux point of view nicely: His analogy was that Microsoft is like an overpriced economy car that really doesn't offer any safety, while Linux is like a huge tank that takes a bit more skill to drive but is pretty much bulletproof.

This is why I use Windows.

I don't want a tank. A tank isn't practical. A tank requires too much effort to get running, and too much specialized knowledge to maintain. A tank won't fit in parallel parking. If I give my tank to the valet, he will have no idea how to drive it. I have to take my tank to a specialized mechanic when it breaks down. The basic amenities, such as seat covers, bras, and in-dash stereos, don't fit properly in my tank. If I take my tank down the (information super-) highway, I can only take lanes that are designed with my tank in mind, because tanks are not the commonly driven standard.

I prefer the economy car. That's why I use Windows.

#15 I respect microsoft for bringin the PC from the 8086 to what we have today.

I hate them because they are monopolistic, Intellectual property thieves (and hence hypocritical) and want to control your entire existance if at all possible.

Its not so much that its microsoft its that they have cornered most of the pc world and downright own it. Now they are after the areas they don't dominate (Google, flash, photoshop etc). What will you think if they produce a game engine in 3 years time?

#16

Quote:
What will you think if they produce a game engine in 3 years time?

If it runs well? Sweet!

#17 Business wise, they are geniuses. They destroy the competition. They try to be the de facto standard for everything. They have the technology industry exactly where they want it - in their hands. This is probably what every business wants, and they have achieved that and are doing a good job maintaing the position. But it's how they do it, is what bothers me...

One of my reasons for disliking Microsoft has to do with ethics. Like the way they handled/responded to the growing Linux market in the past 5 years, among other questionable things. I've read about the following incidents from various technology news sites (not slashdot, I've never been a regular reader there):

* Referring to Linux and the GPL as "viral" (among other nasty and half/untrue things) at press conferences (a real cheapshot to tell potential shareholders that may want to invest in Linux).
* Trying to get the government to stop funding open source projects.
* Going to the supreme court and trying to get them to outlaw the GPL.
* Trying to sue the Samba project for making UNIX machines compatible with networks running Microsoft protocols (open source projects usually try very hard to be compatible with ALL OS's and Microsoft only cares about being compatible with Windows).
* The whole antitrust case with internet explorer a few years back.
* Patenting Apple's iPod menus so they can take 30% royalties off Apple's own invention.
* Buying out the company that developed Halo, so they can only release it on the XBox (many people ended up buying the XBox JUST to play that game).

Other than these things being completely despicable, how does some of this affect me? I am an open source programmer, and have made several releases licensed under the GPL. So basically Microsoft would like to take away my rights (and thousands of others') to do what I want with my own source code. Why do they hate the GPL most among the open source licenses? They say "it's un-american", because it cannot be taken advantage of as easily to make money off other people's technology, unlike the BSD license (which allowed them to use BSD's TCP/IP stack and sell it with Windows for many years until they finally wrote their own). I say they hate the GPL because they were scared that they spend millions on making their commercial OS, while open source programmers can make a more stable, secure, high-quality OS in their spare time and give it away for free.

Many of the open source related drama happened a few years ago, I don't know if MS are still pulling this stuff these days. I don't pay attention to it as much anymore. I think MS is focusing their efforts more in developing new groundbreaking technology these days, rather than using unethical methods to compete with open source. IBM used to be a pretty big evil scary company a long time ago, but look at them now, they are total Linux advocates. Maybe Microsoft will change one day...

#18 Getting back to the initial question, why is there the feud between MS users and Linux users. I think that some people just let their idealism get in the way of their better judgement for example, while gimp is a cool open license program and I used it a lot, once I got Photoshop I never openned gimp again. Bringing political views into you development practices is self limiting, and it makes more sense to me if you just say I prefer to use one program or the other. You should use the software that is best is suited for you and your goals.

At the indie company I work for we have this situation, I was trained in 3DS Max, 3 other people were Trained in Maya, all the Maya users say they hated Max. Why, I asked? They stated a bunch of reason, but in the end it comes down to just which program they knew better. Company funds told us that we are going with Soft Image though. Again, use the software that best suits your situation.

#19 I forgot about all that Stuff Jeffery, and hopefully what you said at the end is true. Maybe, the government case where the government suited Micro Soft for being a monopoly (I believe they were found not guity though) might of made them change their less than moral practices.

#20 Theyre haterz. :p