Why is it that the average computer user still chooses to spend hundreds of dollars on Windows or Mac when there are countless Linux alternatives that they could download, install and make use of completely free of charge? Some answers here.
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Member since:2006-01-02
Get rid of norton and install the latest patches on Quicken.
Think about why those pieces of software don't work: Norton is written based on an old codebase that integrates into Windows at a lot of semi-documented "sticky" points. And the Symantec people don't have the testing effort or, frankly, the incentive to make the consumer versions work flawlessly. Just dump Norton. It's a piece of crap and not strictly necessary on a Vista box with UAC turned on.
Quicken, similarly, is written by people who know more about taxes than programming and it also has an old codebase that is clearly insufficiently maintained. Once people buy the latest version of Quicken, Intuit has little incentive to keep improving it. Sadly MS Money isn't any better. The problem is clearly that this kind of software is so utterly boring that only crappy programmers who can't get a job doing something better end up working on it. I don't think Open Source will necessarily do any better at this, but who knows?
Member since:2006-03-12
Member since:
2005-07-07
3 - People want certainty that hardware and software will work
My wife's Vista does its update thing, and both Norton and Quicken are 'tits up'.
When one party owns the code, they will directly and indirectly pwn you, whenever they a) feel like picking your pocket for an upgrade, or b) screw it up as big as any F/OSS project, but without the eyes on code.