Just Say No To Microsoft:
How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think
reviewed by Harry {doc} Babad and edited by Julie M. Willingham
Author: Tony Bove No Starch Press http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/159327064X/ Pages: 256 $25 US, $34 CDN ISBN: 159327064X Audience: All readers with an interest in computer history will find it worth reading. Moreover, some of you may take its contents seriously enough to start saying No! Strengths: A well-researched and entertaining overview of the computer desktop world and wars, which feature detailed and practical information about available alternative operating systems and programs that will help Microsoft captives exercise their freedom of choice. Weaknesses, if any: Although I am paranoid by nature and heredity, the book sometimes overplays the ‘dark empire’ theme. Nevertheless, the world that Tony Bove describes is real, and we are reaping the grains of vulnerability that Microsoft has, intentionally or not, sown. Read Chapter 4, Slay The Word and You’ll Be Free, on the Internet. Where appropriate, the instructions in the book were tested on a 1 GHz dual processor PowerPC G4 Macintosh with 2 GB DDR SDRAM running under OS X 10.4.3. Product and company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
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Publisher’s Overview - Just Say No to Microsoft begins by tracing Microsoft's rise from tiny startup to monopolistic juggernaut and explains how the company's practices have discouraged innovation, stunted competition, and helped foster an environment ripe for viruses, bugs, and hackers. Readers learn how they can dump Microsoft products and continue to be productive. Includes full explanations of alternate operating systems, such as Linux and Mac, and outlines various software applications that can replace the familiar Microsoft products.
Review Introduction
When I came across the promotional material for this book, I was intrigued. As a Macintosh (or at least Apple) user from day one, I have had only cursory contact with both DOS and the Windows operating systems. Although I led a life sheltered from the vagrancies of what was soon to become a Wintel worksite, I soon realized that my friends and coworkers were having more problems that I was in both using their computers and keeping them stable.
As my computing skills evolved, I caught the Mac evangelism bug and watched Microsoft crush my favorite browser, Netscape, and then other products I liked. My sense of malaise blossomed. The Apple vs. Microsoft wars over the graphic user interface increased my discomfort, as did a series of flaky and flawed releases of Microsoft Word that crashed my system when I stretched to use its more advanced features. Then there was the advent of Microsoft’s open season for various attacks by malware beasties, targeted predominantly at my Wintel-using colleagues, who, alas, by then dominated the world of commercial and government personal computing.
In my reading of biology and geopolitics, I found that the lessons from the world of green revolution and plant genetics appeared to parallel what was occurring in the world of personal computers. Monoculture species (genetically engineered) were much more vulnerable to disaster by outside forces that the varieties of species normally produced by nature. It seemed that Microsoft’s dominance of both operating systems and major user applications might lead us toward ever more vicious computing plagues, and security breaches that jeopardize privacy and threaten newfound Internet communication and sharing of information.
I have a good collection of articles about the damage that the juggernaut that is Microsoft bequeathed to the personal computing world, but until I read Just Say No To Microsoft, I wasn’t truly aware of both how pervasive and how potentially destructive its influence was. Although I don’t often subscribe to conspiracy theories, this book makes me wonder.
The Book Itself [in part from the publisher’s website]
This book offers up some possibilities to wean a user away from the expense of a Microsoft license and its limitations. It explains how you can have the same relative power on your desktop as you would if you were using Microsoft, but by using free or lower cost software without sacrificing your connection to the broader world that Microsoft holds in thrall.
“After tracing Microsoft's rise from tiny startup to monopolistic juggernaut, Just Say No to Microsoft chronicles how the company's practices have discouraged innovation, stunted competition, and helped foster an environment ripe for viruses, bugs, and hackers. You'll learn all about the many available replacements for Windows and other Microsoft products, and how to interact successfully with your less-fortunate friends and colleagues who are still tied to Microsoft. Maybe you can even free them, too!”
I’ve listed the book’s chapters below, but this review is not going to be a blow-by-blow exposition of the book’s contents. Instead, I’ll share with you bits of the book’s essence, both from my own and other’s perspectives. Read the review and then get the book and delve deeper. Only you can make the decision as to whether you will Just Say No To Microsoft.
PART I: YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION Chapter 1: Playing Monopoly Is No Longer Fun Chapter 2: All You Need Is a Mac Chapter 3: Linux: Land of the Free, Home of the Brave PART II: REHAB FOR YOUR MICROSOFT ADDICTION Chapter 4: Slay the Word and You’ll Be Free Chapter 5: De-Microsoft Your Office Chapter 6: Media Lib: Microsoft-Free Music and Video PART III: THE WHOLE NETWORK IS WATCHING Chapter 7: The Message Is the Medium for Infections Chapter 8: This LAN Is Your LAN Chapter 9: Browsers and Your Own Private Identity PART IV: GETTING ON WITH YOUR COMPUTER LIFE Chapter 10: Twelve Steps to Freedom from Microsoft Chapter 11: Where Do You Want to Go Tomorrow? Appendix: The Truth Is Out There Citations – All the reference materials you could ask for. |
“Bove injects a healthy dose of humor into Just Say No to Microsoft, but his objective is sincere: to help you break your Microsoft addiction and free yourself from reliance on its ubiquitous software. After tracing Microsoft's rise from tiny startup to monopolistic juggernaut, Just Say No to Microsoft chronicles, and documents, how the company's practices have discouraged innovation, stunted competition, and helped foster an environment ripe for viruses, bugs, and hackers. From there, Just Say No to Microsoft outlines the many available replacements for Windows and other Microsoft products, including the Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Media Player, and Internet Explorer, and explains why your computing life will be better if you make the switch. With Bove’s thorough explanations of alternative operating systems like Linux and Mac and open source solutions, you can kiss the entire Windows operating system goodbye.”
Bove, as noted in
Totally Obscure (11-28-05), gives a great list of software you can install and
use, some of it open source, some from other vendors. Such software can reduce
your reliance on software from Microsoft, Despite the fact that, at least for
the Macintosh, Bove’s list is partial, it’s a great place to start. Linux, Mac,
and Mozilla are, of course, touched upon in the book, but so are OpenOffice,
CD-making software, Microsoft-free music and video, LANs, and
browsers—even alternatives to PowerPoint and Excel. This is definitely
NOT a highly technical book.
The last two chapters look at how to get on with your computer life: twelve steps to freedom from Microsoft, and where do you want to go tomorrow. Particularly useful to those who care about getting away from a Microsoft-associated computing life is the author’s 12-step approach (Chapter 10). Those who know they have a Microsoft problem will feel comfortable with Bove’s easygoing but focused tutorial style to gain the information to get out from under the giant of Redmond’s heel. Step one is to "admit that you are powerless over your addiction—and that your computer system and software have become unmanageable." A relatively complete index gives you the means to find the new computing operating systems and tools mentioned earlier in the book.
In Chapter 11, the author’s outlook about our computing future, he shares his thoughts on “Where Do You Want to Go Tomorrow?” For those who want more than just a blunt computing tool, this book is a good and thought-provoking read. Last, but not least, the appendix entitled “The Truth Is Out There” provided me with detailed, web-based information about many of the problems that people are having with Microsoft and some of the actions they are taking.
I agree with Erik Eckel, who, in a December 1st 2005 article, noted, “Ultimately, Bove's seeking to accomplish three goals. First, he wants readers to understand Microsoft has inhibited innovation. He provides numerous sourced examples toward that end. Second, he demonstrates that most every computer user can function perfectly without Microsoft products. He examines the Macintosh, Linux, and OpenOffice as just some of the alternatives available to disgruntled computer users. Third, he seeks to help Windows and Office users avoid many of the common issues that plague those Microsoft platforms by providing instructions and recommendations for eliminating problems and improving security.” http://techrepublic.com.com/5254-6257 0.html?forumID=99&threadID=173921&messageID=1895153&id=3334484
Two Kudos and One Gripe
Real References — During my review of this book, I took the time to check some of the references cited by Tony Bove, as well as those cited by a few contrarians. My compliments to you, sir! Yours is one of the few computer-centric books I’ve read where someone has taken the trouble to put references to back up where their mouths were. As a scientist, I thank you for you efforts to allow the reader to dig more deeply.
Specifically for Macintosh users — I invite you to check out Reviewer Brian Burnham’s maccentric article at
http://www.macmerc.com/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=128.
What a Nice Thing to Say About the Macintosh — Ain’t the truth wonderful.
Macintosh Alternatives to Microsoft Word — Although the substitutes and work arounds for MS Word were discussed in Chapter 2, the author at a minimum should have mentioned Nisus Writer Express, ThinkFree Office and Mariner Write, all of which have been previously review for macCompanion. Although not perfect, they are a potentially viable alternative to the recommended OpenOffice.com Writer since they can both export to rich text format and to MSW.
The Contrary View
One critic of this book (Oliver Rist, a noted IT expert) noted on December 8, 2005, that “It seems written mostly for folks who've already made the no-MS jump and are looking for justification. (It’s) mostly political at that. For those who haven't, Mr. Bove concentrates on single users, power users, and PC enthusiast-types.” Rist then goes on to discuss what he views as an insurmountable reality that makes things MS (and especially Windows) so omnipresent. These are the number of specialized vertical business and other special and mission critical applications that only run on the windows platform.
“You want to win the hearts and minds of the Microsoft set, give them clear examples. Show a specialized accounting program (e.g., Intuit’s MRI) user, for example, that he can download a full open source application today and start customizing to get the same feature set. Admit that not every open source app is as clean as commercial Windows-centric ones. Show him how to get around that, or pick out the best ones for concentration …”
Tony Bove responded to the Oliver Rist’s review – check this out: http://weblog.infoworld.com/smbit/archives/2005/12/just_say_no_to.html
The dialog makes an interesting, but perhaps irrelevant, counterpoint to augment some of the themes in this book. From my perspective, none of Oliver Rist’s arguments counter the reality based on the documented evidence cited in Just Say No to Microsoft. As noted by Bove, Microsoft’s practices have helped foster an environment ripe for viruses, bugs, and hackers, for which this reviewer believes they should at the least be held accountable—after all they own the software that makes all of the carnage possible. They should be held responsible just as they would for medical malpractice.
In Closing
John Dvorak says in his introduction to the book, "You are about to read one of the most interesting overviews of modern desktop computing history that's ever been written." I agree.
This book, a combination of technical, economic, and political thought , takes aim at the Microsoft Empire and offers you, the reader, an alternative. As a Macintosh user, I am partially weaned from the Microsoft influence, at least from an operating system perspective. Browserwise, I use Safari and, at times, Firefox. But I’m still bound to the MS Word umbilical cord. I may take Bove’s advice and try out my downloaded copy of OpenOffice and see if I can wean myself, at least from MS Word. If I’m successful, I’ll share what I discover.
Although the book probably isn’t for everyone because it requires some technical background, for those tired of dealing with viruses, spyware, or just sick of the MS monopoly, this book is for you. Do you want to learn more about getting off of your MS addiction? Go on: buy the book and read the rest of the details!
Rating: 4.5 macC’s
Author BIO
Tony Bove has been in the computer industry since 1976, editing the influential Inside Report on New Media newsletter and writing for magazines including Computer Currents, Nextworld, the Chicago Tribune Sunday Technology section, and NewMedia. He also co-founded and edited Desktop Publishing/Publish magazine and has written 20 books on computing, desktop publishing, and multimedia. Offline, Bove plays harmonica and sings classic rock with The Flying Other Brothers band.
An Afterthought
One Microsoft thing I keep wondering about. (I’m not an attorney and the only legal training I’ve ever had was associated with Patent Law 101.) I wonder why none of the businesses, governments, and just plain folks just don’t get together and collectively hold MS responsible for all the damage the kludged Windows OS and other software weaknesses have caused them. Just like in the tobacco industry settlements, in the beginning you loose, but if you license an MS product, there should be fundamental protections against losses incurred from faulty products. The FDU factor (fear, doubt, and uncertainty) used by IBM in the past and well learned by MS, to our detriment, should not be allowed to dominate our lives. Here I disagree. Tony Boves, “How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think” is too slow a means to undo the damage MS continues to do by compromising our computer security and compromising our privacy.
doc_Babad
