I feel a need to reply to SamL's rant against MS Windows and apparent
suggestion that Stata should stop developing for Windows. I certainly agree
that Windows and MS have many shortcomings, but SamL's suggestion is absurd
and the primary justification -- Stata crashes are common and unavoidable
under Windows -- is just plain wrong. I have used Stata for Windows since
it first came out (about 10 years ago?, before that I used Stata for DOS)
and I typically spend 20 hours/week actively using Stata. I have used it
under the more buggy versions of Windows prior to XP (my current platform)
and still I have experienced fewer than 5 Stata crashes in all 10 years of
use and none of those crashes brought down the operating system. Stata is
the most stable piece of Windows software I have ever used -- crashing far
less than any MS products.
Michael Blasnik
[email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: "SamL" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: st: RE: Graph problem
> Just a quick note. What was Stata thinking (by investing in a Windows
> version)? I know, I know, lots of people use Windows. But, that the
> machine crashes probably has nothing to do with Stata. It is quite likely
> that some or many of those people writing Stata about the machine crashing
> when Stata does something have the same problem whenever they use *any*
> non-MS software--netscape, WordPerfect, anything. That has been my
> experience with *every* windows operating system since MS "superceded"
> Windows 3.1--the last one where you could easily switch out to DOS.
>
> Windows crashes at the slightest wind. Every release is promised to be
> stable, and every release fails. A major reason for this is MS *never*
> tells non-MS programmers all the rules of Windows, so that non-MS
> programmers will necessarily write software that will at times clash with
> some arcane Windows rule (and crash or hang the system). And, MS
> incompetence means even their own non-OS software, hastily written, poorly
> tested, and user-unfriendly, also crashes constantly.
>
> MS used the former mentioned predatory technique and others at the outset,
> and continues to do so. I hope Stata will not end up diverting more and
> more energy and investment to the impossible task of writing stable
> software for an OS for which Stata will never receive complete
> documentation. Instead, I hope Stata pays equal or more attention to
> writing for operating systems that are designed for users to get work done
> (e.g., linux) as opposed to operating systems designed to maintain the
> dominance of one northwestern U.S. corporation. It is only by this
> approach that Stata will avoid getting bogged down into the quagmire of
> spending more and more effort just trying to get the menus right on the
> screen, and will be able instead to steadily introduce truly useful
> advances (e.g., more models, more options, more presentation quality
> stuff--more more more!).
>
> Not to start an MS-war, but something *had* to be said re: the thread
> about windows crashing when something is changed.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Sam
>
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