But it has a task-based UI!
On Sunday night, while preparing for a trip Monday to New York, the notebook I had planned to bring was suddenly struck by the most malicious software (malware) I’ve ever encountered. This Trojan horse got through my defenses despite the fact that I was running the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) version of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) with the firewall turned on. It was infuriating, and after hours of investigating, deep cleaning with various antivirus and spyware products, and consulting with my technical guru (Storage Update’s Keith Furman, a lifesaver), I finally gave up. As I write this commentary, I’m heading to New York by train, using a different machine, and my infected laptop is home, awaiting a complete wipeout. I never did completely clean up the machine, and I’m still frustrated by the defeat.
Paul Thurrott, by way of Daring Fireball
Paul Thurrott has repeatedly belittled OS X’s UI as an outdated desktop interface, so I have to ask: what good is a supposedly superior task-based interface if the operating system it sits atop is about as sane and predictable as a wild boar on crystal meth?
Gah. I’ve known Paul for years (not well, but I did work with him once), and it continues to mystify me how he can appear to be quite reasoned and intelligent about computers — even applaud Apple on occasion — and then be so completely brain-dead about certain things as to venture into idiotic troll land. His “task-based UI” ramblings are so obnoxious that I want to bang my head against the wall. My favorite (in terms of crazy) “task” in Windows XP is “Change a setting”. Like, what the h**l does that mean? Change WHAT setting? And what does that have to do with managing files?!?!?
Change a setting, any setting! Just for fun!