====== PC Pro, 01-12-2011, The alternatives to Microsoft ======

Submitted to PC Pro Magazine.


  Dear sir,
  Recently I received an email from an association I am on the
  mailing list of which amounted to little more than an advert for Microsoft
  software. This annoyed me enough to write a reply, but the reply I
  received back made me realise how many people think that windows is an
  integral part of a desktop or laptop, 
  and that without it, the computer will not function.
  Likewise the assumption all office based software must come from Microsoft.
  
  Put bluntly, this is not true, there are several non-Microsoft Operating
  System choices available, the best known is Apple's Mac OSX operating
  system which runs on Apple's own hardware. Linux is also a good
  alternative, but it is hard to find it pre-installed for various reasons
  related to Microsoft's monopoly enforcing policy.
  
  Likewise, alternatives to Microsoft Office exist, but the way we have
  been conditioned to refer to a "Microsoft Word document" or an "Excel
  Spreadsheet" when we just mean a text document or spreadsheet is both
  insidious and illuminating.
  
  Insidious because we no longer think what we
  are saying, Powerpoint has almost become a regular noun when we just mean
  a presentation and illuminating because it shows how Microsoft's marketing
  and publicity machine tries to condition what we say. Whilst we also might
  say a "Transit" sized van, the alternatives to Ford are all around us to
  see.
  
  For both Operating Systems and Application Software, plenty of
  non-Microsoft alternatives exist, and I would urge potential buyers of
  laptops and computers to ask what alternatives to Microsoft the vendor can
  offer and an explanation if they don't have any.
  
  
  Yours Sincerely,
  Andrew