[SATLUG] Fair Comparisons, etc.

[Sean Carolan]

Eric:

At the core, the Win9x family of operating systems (eg Windows 95, 98, Me)
are basically just dos with a graphical user interface slapped on top.  So
when someone is running 'Windoze 98' they are basically just using dos with
a pretty GUI.

Something like using the Linux shell with X-windows and KDE or Gnome on top,
but not exactly.  The WinNT and 2000 use the NTFS system, which is quite
different.  Here's a funny definition I found somewhere:

Microsloth Windows /mi:'kroh-sloth` win'dohz/
n. (Variants combine {Microshift, Macroshaft, Microsuck} with {Windoze,
WinDOS}. Hackerism(s) for `Microsoft Windows'. A thirty-two bit
extension and graphical shell to a sixteen bit patch to an eight
bit operating system originally coded for a four bit microprocessor
which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of
competition. Also just called `Windoze', with the implication that
you can fall asleep waiting for it to do anything; the latter term is
extremely common on Usenet. See Black Screen of Death and Blue Screen of
Death; compare X, sun-stools.

As far as a MS Outlook replacement, try Ximian Evolution (www.ximian.com). 
It's basically an exact replica of Outlook - it even looks the same.  If you
have trouble installing it you can get it right off the bat with a default
Mandrake 8.2 install from CDs.

regards,

Sean Carolan