> And guess what, you can't.

It's getting there. I'm currently testing a Linux simulator. There are Linux blackjack practice programs available, although they are admittedly pretty crude at this stage, expecially when compared to Casino Verite.

> Shoot, I just this morning have the IT guy here
> considering making my next PC a MAC! ("Well,
> I'll have to do blah, blah, blah, but, well, I
> guess so, I really like MACS ...") Getting off
> the PC wagon is a pain in the ass .. for the
> regular guy that is.

It's sorta like quitting smoking -- rough at first, but highly beneficial in the long run.

> PS -I know money isn't everything and a poor
> measuring stick of many things .. but with
> that 'brain-dead' OS that Gates taped
> together and you keep referring to .. he
> won. The game is over. We can pontificate
> all we want, but as I said, as long as his
> train dosen't jump the track, those guys are
> large and in charge and the rest of us are
> going to learn to like it.

Over??? Are you kidding? It's just beginning to heat up! Microsoft may have won the first few skirmishes, and certainly has built up a commanding lead, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Rememer, it's only been about 12 years since Linux was nothing but a project for some Finnish computer geek college kid.

Now, we have companies like IBM and Novell investing heavily in Linux. Linux already has a major share of the server market, and is just now beginning to penetrate the desktop market. Hell, IBM ran a series of commercials during the last Superbowl that promoted Linux. That has certainly never happened before.

Linux has Microsoft seriously concerned, a major accomplishment in itself.

They don't know how to deal with it.

They can't buy it -- nobody owns Linux.

They can't beat it in price wars -- Linux is free.

The next few years should be quite interesting, to put it mildly.