I felt this book was more pro-Macintosh that pro-non-MS-choice.



The book gives good tribute to Microsoft on the things that it has helped to establish and the main point on the book seems to be on the ways Microsoft it self has stagnated. In it self the book is good narrative on the way the computer industry made it's image of being the "next big thing" in the 90's and ending up as the "stale box used to access the internet" of the new millennium.



Some how the book just don't carry the title in it's contents

I felt this book was more pro-Macintosh that pro-non-MS-choice.

The book gives good tribute to Microsoft on the things that it has helped to establish and the main point on the book seems to be on the ways Microsoft it self has stagnated. In it self the book is good narrative on the way the computer industry made it's image of being the "next big thing" in the 90's and ending up as the "stale box used to access the internet" of the new millennium.

Some how the book just don't carry the title in it's contents

I felt this book was more pro-Macintosh that pro-non-MS-choice.

The book gives good tribute to Microsoft on the things that it has helped to establish and the main point on the book seems to be on the ways Microsoft it self has stagnated. In it self the book is good narrative on the way the computer industry made it's image of being the "next big thing" in the 90's and ending up as the "stale box used to access the internet" of the new millennium.

Some how the book just don't carry the title in it's contents

Tony Bove's JUST SAY NO TO MICROSOFT: HOW TO DITCH MICROSOFT AND WHY IT'S NOT AS HARD AS YOU THINK is for any who have doubts about Microsoft's products and patches. Introductory chapters cover all its flaws and move on to explain how one's PC can be liberated from Microsoft products entirely. Chapters provide background history of Microsoft, detail its practices which have discouraged innovation and competition, and explains how competing operating systems work and how users can obtain and use these systems. Finally: a clear history and explanation of Microsoft's pitfalls and how to overcome them - by switching to an alternative that works.

Tony Bove's JUST SAY NO TO MICROSOFT: HOW TO DITCH MICROSOFT AND WHY IT'S NOT AS HARD AS YOU THINK is for any who have doubts about Microsoft's products and patches. Introductory chapters cover all its flaws and move on to explain how one's PC can be liberated from Microsoft products entirely. Chapters provide background history of Microsoft, detail its practices which have discouraged innovation and competition, and explains how competing operating systems work and how users can obtain and use these systems. Finally: a clear history and explanation of Microsoft's pitfalls and how to overcome them - by switching to an alternative that works.

Contrary to what it may seem, there *are* viable alternatives to Microsoft. Tony Bove strongly suggests you adopt them in his book Just Say No To Microsoft - How To Ditch Microsoft And Why It's Not As Hard As You Think.

Contents:
Part 1 - You Say You Want A Revolution: Playing Monopoly Is No Longer Fun; All You Need Is A Mac; Linux - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
Part 2 - Rehab For Your Microsoft Addiction: Slay the Word and You'll Be Free; De-Microsoft Your Office; Media Lib - Microsoft-Free Music and Video
Part 3 - The Whole Network Is Watching: The Message Is The Medium for Infections; This LAN Is Your LAN; Browsers and Your Own Private Identity
Part 4 - Getting On With Your Computer Life: Twelve Steps to Freedom from Microsoft; Where Do You Want to Go Tomorrow?; The Truth Is Out There; Citations; Index

If you're a Mac fan or a Linux fan, you'll most likely agree with everything Bove says. He is rabidly anti-Microsoft, and has little to say that's good about the company. Microsoft's cash cow software, the Windows operating system and Office, is drawn and quartered as being overpriced and buggy. The alternatives are to use either Mac's OS X or a Linux desktop distribution. As far as Office, he makes the strong case that the free OpenOffice.org suite will allow the vast majority of the users to do 100% of everything they're used to doing, with virtually no learning curve. Browsers? Protect your computer, dump IE, and go with Firefox. The net effect of all these suggestions is to have an environment that costs far less than comparable Microsoft offerings, as well as having a more secure computing experience.

By no means is the author even-handed in his comparisons. The writing is strongly opinionated, but that's what makes it fun to read (in my less strident opinion). Some of his statements caused me to mentally step back and wonder why I continue to live with some of the limitations that Microsoft has put on my computing experience. While I won't be removing all vestiges of Microsoft from my computing environment, I will be more willing to question the common wisdom going forward...

Contrary to what it may seem, there *are* viable alternatives to Microsoft. Tony Bove strongly suggests you adopt them in his book Just Say No To Microsoft - How To Ditch Microsoft And Why It's Not As Hard As You Think.

Contents:
Part 1 - You Say You Want A Revolution: Playing Monopoly Is No Longer Fun; All You Need Is A Mac; Linux - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave
Part 2 - Rehab For Your Microsoft Addiction: Slay the Word and You'll Be Free; De-Microsoft Your Office; Media Lib - Microsoft-Free Music and Video
Part 3 - The Whole Network Is Watching: The Message Is The Medium for Infections; This LAN Is Your LAN; Browsers and Your Own Private Identity
Part 4 - Getting On With Your Computer Life: Twelve Steps to Freedom from Microsoft; Where Do You Want to Go Tomorrow?; The Truth Is Out There; Citations; Index

If you're a Mac fan or a Linux fan, you'll most likely agree with everything Bove says. He is rabidly anti-Microsoft, and has little to say that's good about the company. Microsoft's cash cow software, the Windows operating system and Office, is drawn and quartered as being overpriced and buggy. The alternatives are to use either Mac's OS X or a Linux desktop distribution. As far as Office, he makes the strong case that the free OpenOffice.org suite will allow the vast majority of the users to do 100% of everything they're used to doing, with virtually no learning curve. Browsers? Protect your computer, dump IE, and go with Firefox. The net effect of all these suggestions is to have an environment that costs far less than comparable Microsoft offerings, as well as having a more secure computing experience.

By no means is the author even-handed in his comparisons. The writing is strongly opinionated, but that's what makes it fun to read (in my less strident opinion). Some of his statements caused me to mentally step back and wonder why I continue to live with some of the limitations that Microsoft has put on my computing experience. While I won't be removing all vestiges of Microsoft from my computing environment, I will be more willing to question the common wisdom going forward...

I agree with the other reviewers who spoke of errors. The book twice states that Linux was invented by a Norwegian student, presumably mixing up the separate countries of Norway and Finland. It is generally known that Linux Torvalds was in Helsinki, which is in... Finland.
The writer is a Mac advocate, and there is nothing wrong with that; though maybe this could have been made clearer in the publicity.

Load up a computer today with a basic set of applications software, and there will be a de facto Microsoft tax on that computer. Add roughly $100- for the Windows XP operating systems and $350- for Microsoft office, and you have a significant initial financial outlay. If one would use an open source operating system and set of office applications, the cost savings would be enormous. That is why the option of open source is so financially compelling to the both the consumer and organizations have thousands of computers. And open source is correspondingly such a threat to companies such as Microsoft. The idea of saving money and never having to worry about a blue screen of death is the proverbial win/win scenario.

With that, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think would seemingly be a most valuable book in helping consumers and corporations rid themselves of the Microsoft tax. Unfortunately, the book spends far too much time slurring Microsoft and Bill Gates.

The books main charges are that Microsoft has been far too predatory and that Bill Gates is not the technical genius that he is made out to be. Microsoft's questionable business tactics are not without ethical lapses, but it must noted that Microsoft is simply one in a long line of companies that have used their size and deep pockets to quash the competition. Microsoft is not alone and joins companies such as American Airlines, Ford and General Motors, Wal-Mart and more that have engaged in practices that while good for their stockholders, have not been good for the competition.

Bove is correct that Microsoft's practices over the years have discouraged innovation and stunted competition. But then again, that is true of Ford, GM and other such companies. The innovations of Ford and GM for example have been mostly superficial, without any significant improvement into crucial issues such as gas mileage and more.

Two of the companies that Microsoft has been accused of destroying are Novell and WordPerfect. Yet much of the blame for the demise of these two companies goes to their management that did not know how to properly market their products nor deal with a competitor such as Microsoft. This is not meant to imply that Microsoft is blameless; rather that Novell and WordPerfect had plenty of opportunities to fend off Microsoft, yet did not rise to the challenge.

Aside from the pervasive anti-Microsoft tone and style and the book, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think provides a good starting point for those that are looking for a cheaper and safer alternative to Microsoft products.

Chapter 1 start with an overview of the history of Microsoft and how it grew to be the largest software company in the world. In chapter 2, All You Need is a Mac; Bove feels that the quickest route to Microsoft freedom is by purchasing a Macintosh. While a Mac is not necessarily cheaper than a Wintel system, the Mac OS X is considerably more resilient against attacks. In addition, the concern of malware such as viruses and spyware are much less of an issue on a Mac.

Chapter 3 deals with what worries Microsoft the most - Linux. Bove notes that large companies that deal with thousands of end-user desktops are discovering the advantage of migrating to Linux in a big way.

Chapters 4 and 5 deal with Microsoft Word and Excel. Word documents have become the de facto standard for document exchange and are what has locked many people into staying with Microsoft Word. Excel has a similar power in being the de facto spreadsheet. Most people think that the only alternative to Word is WordPerfect and simply don't know about OpenOffice Writer and Calc or other open source alternatives. The two chapters show how it is possible to effectively collaborate on documents without having to use Word.

While the book does not get into every open source alternative to a Microsoft product, Bove's web site has a comprehensive list of open source alternatives to Windows products at [...]

Chapter 4 concludes with a look at the technical and practical problems with PowerPoint. Bove notes that the corrupting power of PowerPoint is so strong that otherwise normally articulate speakers turn into zombies mumbling the bullet points that appear on the slides behind them. It is not clear though how Impress, the open source alternative to PowerPoint is necessarily better from a presentation perspective.

The next few chapters deal with Outlook, the application that has launched countless viruses and worms, and also detail other network-based problems with Microsoft protocols and applications. Issues such as the never enduing cycle of Microsoft patches are also discussed.

Chapter 10 provides a 10 step program (fashioned after the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program) to free the reader from their Microsoft addition. While the steps are brief and effective, it would have been better had there been more technical details on how to migrate out of a Microsoft environment. For the person with thousands of documents and files in various Microsoft formats, it is not as effortless as to simply copy your old files onto a USB drive and move it to the new open source based host.

The book contains four parts, and there are four cartoons at the begging of each part that Bove wrote. The cartoons are quite funny in their own right and Bove should also consider a career as a cartoonist.

Ned Ludd said that the machine was the enemy, and Tony Bove feels the same way about Microsoft. For evidence, check out his campaign to stop the spread of Word documents at his web page.

The only negative to the book is that there are far too many anti-negative stories of Microsoft's predatory practices. A few stories would be adequate, but there is no point in belaboring the issue in a book that is meant to be more technical and practical, as opposed to political.

For many people who don't know better, they expect that a blue screen of death and monthly patching is part of a standard computing environment. Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think is an interesting read that will open the eyes of those users to a cheaper, more secure and robust open source solution.

Load up a computer today with a basic set of applications software, and there will be a de facto Microsoft tax on that computer. Add roughly $100- for the Windows XP operating systems and $350- for Microsoft office, and you have a significant initial financial outlay. If one would use an open source operating system and set of office applications, the cost savings would be enormous. That is why the option of open source is so financially compelling to the both the consumer and organizations have thousands of computers. And open source is correspondingly such a threat to companies such as Microsoft. The idea of saving money and never having to worry about a blue screen of death is the proverbial win/win scenario.

With that, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think would seemingly be a most valuable book in helping consumers and corporations rid themselves of the Microsoft tax. Unfortunately, the book spends far too much time slurring Microsoft and Bill Gates.

The books main charges are that Microsoft has been far too predatory and that Bill Gates is not the technical genius that he is made out to be. Microsoft's questionable business tactics are not without ethical lapses, but it must noted that Microsoft is simply one in a long line of companies that have used their size and deep pockets to quash the competition. Microsoft is not alone and joins companies such as American Airlines, Ford and General Motors, Wal-Mart and more that have engaged in practices that while good for their stockholders, have not been good for the competition.

Bove is correct that Microsoft's practices over the years have discouraged innovation and stunted competition. But then again, that is true of Ford, GM and other such companies. The innovations of Ford and GM for example have been mostly superficial, without any significant improvement into crucial issues such as gas mileage and more.

Two of the companies that Microsoft has been accused of destroying are Novell and WordPerfect. Yet much of the blame for the demise of these two companies goes to their management that did not know how to properly market their products nor deal with a competitor such as Microsoft. This is not meant to imply that Microsoft is blameless; rather that Novell and WordPerfect had plenty of opportunities to fend off Microsoft, yet did not rise to the challenge.

Aside from the pervasive anti-Microsoft tone and style and the book, Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think provides a good starting point for those that are looking for a cheaper and safer alternative to Microsoft products.

Chapter 1 start with an overview of the history of Microsoft and how it grew to be the largest software company in the world. In chapter 2, All You Need is a Mac; Bove feels that the quickest route to Microsoft freedom is by purchasing a Macintosh. While a Mac is not necessarily cheaper than a Wintel system, the Mac OS X is considerably more resilient against attacks. In addition, the concern of malware such as viruses and spyware are much less of an issue on a Mac.

Chapter 3 deals with what worries Microsoft the most - Linux. Bove notes that large companies that deal with thousands of end-user desktops are discovering the advantage of migrating to Linux in a big way.

Chapters 4 and 5 deal with Microsoft Word and Excel. Word documents have become the de facto standard for document exchange and are what has locked many people into staying with Microsoft Word. Excel has a similar power in being the de facto spreadsheet. Most people think that the only alternative to Word is WordPerfect and simply don't know about OpenOffice Writer and Calc or other open source alternatives. The two chapters show how it is possible to effectively collaborate on documents without having to use Word.

While the book does not get into every open source alternative to a Microsoft product, Bove's web site has a comprehensive list of open source alternatives to Windows products at [...]

Chapter 4 concludes with a look at the technical and practical problems with PowerPoint. Bove notes that the corrupting power of PowerPoint is so strong that otherwise normally articulate speakers turn into zombies mumbling the bullet points that appear on the slides behind them. It is not clear though how Impress, the open source alternative to PowerPoint is necessarily better from a presentation perspective.

The next few chapters deal with Outlook, the application that has launched countless viruses and worms, and also detail other network-based problems with Microsoft protocols and applications. Issues such as the never enduing cycle of Microsoft patches are also discussed.

Chapter 10 provides a 10 step program (fashioned after the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program) to free the reader from their Microsoft addition. While the steps are brief and effective, it would have been better had there been more technical details on how to migrate out of a Microsoft environment. For the person with thousands of documents and files in various Microsoft formats, it is not as effortless as to simply copy your old files onto a USB drive and move it to the new open source based host.

The book contains four parts, and there are four cartoons at the begging of each part that Bove wrote. The cartoons are quite funny in their own right and Bove should also consider a career as a cartoonist.

Ned Ludd said that the machine was the enemy, and Tony Bove feels the same way about Microsoft. For evidence, check out his campaign to stop the spread of Word documents at his web page.

The only negative to the book is that there are far too many anti-negative stories of Microsoft's predatory practices. A few stories would be adequate, but there is no point in belaboring the issue in a book that is meant to be more technical and practical, as opposed to political.

For many people who don't know better, they expect that a blue screen of death and monthly patching is part of a standard computing environment. Just Say No to Microsoft: How to Ditch Microsoft and Why It's Not as Hard as You Think is an interesting read that will open the eyes of those users to a cheaper, more secure and robust open source solution.

As a user of Microsoft products, I found that this book points out many of the problems and failures of Microsoft while offering an alternative that works a whole lot better.
By creating humorous examples that parody Microsoft's configuration and options, the author has turned techno-babble into an entertaining and enjoyable read.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone looking for an alternative operating environment and for everyone who is frustrated with Microsoft products. You won't find a more interesting and entertaining computer book on the market today.

Tony Bove's 'Just Say No To Microsoft' reads like a book that features an author who hates how Microsoft has taken over the world. The obvious response to this statement is "who hasn't?" From it's very beginnings when it sold to IBM an operating system that didn't yet exist, Microsoft has played by only one rule: only the strong survive. It's this belief that has made Microsoft quite possibly the strongest company since the steel companies of the early 20th century, and its this belief that keeps Microsoft in the front of the pack today. Whether you like them or not, if you use a computer on a daily basis you will find it hard to avoid using Microsoft products, but that is exactly what the authors tries to point out in this book, that you don't need to use Microsoft in order to be productive.

While the author spends a lot of time focusing on the Macintosh and Linux to avoid the scourge that is the mighty Microsoft, my favorite part of this book and what I think makes this a great read is the history contained within. Discussing the roots of Microsoft's birth and how common applications like Word and Excel go to where they are today is the centerpiece of this book. While I agree that users CAN live in a Microsoft-free world, I also believe that the latest XP operating systems and the Office suite are tools only to be avoided due to reasons of cost and if you are outright sickened by the control that Microsoft has and cannot take it any more.

This is an entertaining read and I think this general entertainment is the focus group of who this book should be for. If you don't want to go the Microsoft route you probably already have substitute applications in mind so I don't think that much can be learned about how to avoid Microsoft, more how we go to where we are today (and it's a fascinating journey).

**** RECOMMENDED

This is a great book for anyone interested in the role Microsoft plays in the computer industry. It is loaded with facts about Microsoft's underhanded business practices, complete with footnotes and URLs for the reader to pursue further details.


I also found useful the author's personal perspective on using Microsoft software and alternatives. I never realized how vulnerable to attack Word documents are -- and I didn't know until I read this book how Word documents can contain embarrassing edits. I also appreciate the extensive coverage of "free" open source software like Linux and OpenOffice.


The foreword is an exceptional analysis of where Microsoft is today, and the book itself provides excellent tips on how to switch to a better computing platform than Windows. I found the "12 steps" very useful, as I have already taken the advice of the author and switched from Windows to a Mac. I urge others to make the switch, and to read this book to find out why you should and how to do it.


Now that I've read the book, I'm considering switching from Word on a Mac to OpenOffice, and I'm already a Firefox user. The free software is every bit as good, if not better, than Microsoft's. I wouldn't have known that without reading this book.

It doesn't matter if you are a committed Microsoftie, someone who dumped their OS years ago, or someone just starting to get tired of putting up with the problems of viruses and never ending expense: this is a great book for anyone.

I noticed another reviewer complaining about inaccuracies and Microsoft bashing: actually I think the author worked hard to avoid any of that, but unfortunately just telling simple truths about Microsoft does look like bashing: it's impossible to avoid.

Easy to read, fun, and packed with historical information. Even if you have no interest at all in switching, you will enjoy this book.

I develop software in the Microsoft environment and I run a .NET developers group. Despite that I am always happy to consider alternatives -- I've even spent a number of years happily working in them.

I mention this because I was hoping for a reasonable book on alternatives to Microsoft products. What I got was a polemic with biases, errors, and omissions.

Bove lays out several factual examples of Microsoft's past bullying business practices, but spends much more time throwing out unsubstantiated firebombs. I wish he'd followed up with details on his allegations of collusion and price fixing, to name a few.

There are also errors in his assertion that iTunes doesn't use DRM, and he glosses over security issues in browser alternatives such as Firefox.

My complaints aside, this is a good read all the same. His overviews on the OpenOffice system (an alternative for Microsoft's office) are good introductions, and he's got suggestions for how to migrate your data to a non-Microsoft envrionment. This book could be a good starting point for deciding if it makes sense for you to move away from Microsoft products.

My main problem with this book is its tone and style. The Microsoft-vs-the-rest-of-the-world argument is already too full of overstatement and flame. I'd appreciate something calmer. Give me honest facts in a reasonable tone and let me make up my own mind.