"My verdict: Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users",
says Mossberg. Among others, he complains about one of the things I did too when I was writing my stream of Ubuntu reviews back in Spring.
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Member since:2006-07-01
Member since:2005-10-02
So your claim is that I'm mentally ill (abnormal) because I don't use WMA? Gee thx 
Personally it's my opinion your view of "normal user" is quite distorted. Many users have music in other formats than .wav, .wma and .mp3. And problems with DVD-playback is quite common.
Who is this "normal user" and where do they offer courses to those of us who are "abnormal" or otherwise mentally ill, as you seem to believe non-MS followers are.
Member since:2005-08-11
"Eehhh... No, no, no, no, no and no. Does a typical Linux system support this out of "the box"? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. "
No Linux system I ever used could play mp3s or Encrypted DVDs out of the box. I can play DVDs if there was no DRM on them, but that was it, I have always had to install codecs for mp3s and protected DVDs, as well as flash and Java.
Now, that's not to say that it is hard, but it is true that you have to install these things, just like in Windows
Member since:2005-10-02
It depends on the encryption, but if it doesn't play in Linux it definitely does not play in Windows, unless somebody installs third party software to handle it.
Windows out of the box cannot play DVD at all, and especially not encrypted DVD. It takes DVD Decrypter (for Windows) or dvd::rip (for Linux/*BSD) to break them - perfectly legal in Denmark btw (as long as you don't distribute (or keep the ripped content if DVD is rented)).
Java and Flash must also be installed in Windows. It's not there out of the box. Whether it is there or not in a finished linux installation depends on the distribution. Source-based distributions tend to have it easier here than binary distributions (unless the binary distributions are EU-oriented).
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2005-10-02
Hmm.. does Windows play divx-movies out of the box? Or movies in the matroska-container? Or OGM? Or audiofiles in Ogg Vorbis format? Or musepack? Does Windows play DVD's out of the box?
Eehhh... No, no, no, no, no and no. Does a typical Linux system support this out of "the box"? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
And if the Linux system does not support is it harder or easier to get the Linux system to support it than making the Windows system support it? YES.
Making Windows multimedia capable requires googling for codecs in more or less maintained state and modifying the registry in order to get WMP/WinAMP/MPC (or other DirectShow-dependent mediaplayers) to work. The easiest way to turn Windows into a proper multimedia OS is to install VLC.