Re: EVIL Matrox Graphics Inc , STEALS MGA Settings/VIRTUAL DESKTOP from Windows 98, 2000 etc

[Mxsmanic <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>]

rogerclive@rock.com writes:

> The main feature in the Matrox Inc Video cards was their desktop ...

Actually the main feature of their cards is the hardware.  The desktop
is a useless gadget, and I never even bother to install it.

> Guess what this evil master-mind did ? In the software for Win 98, Win
> 2K and perhaps other versions, it downgraded its desktop in a clearly
> identifiable and treacherous way. It added a whole bunch of
> non-sequitor bells and whistles and robbed its customers of the
> jewel. The virtual desktop.

Everything except the driver itself is _already_ a "bell and whistle,"
so why complain?

The safe way to use video cards is to install nothing except the correct
driver.  This is often true for most other types of hardware as well.
Using proprietary software provided by a hardware company is an
invitation to trouble, in part because it locks you into a specific
environment and configuration, and in part because the software provided
by hardware companies is often very poorly written.  It's a wonder if
the drivers work, much less the rest.

> It has created pollution worth $150 or so, more exactly
> the cost/selling price of the card for every card that will be thrown
> away and destroyed because they stole away the main module and compiled the
> desktop software without it.

Most people don't care about the extra gadgets and just buy the cards
for the hardware.

> Matrox must have sold atleast 200,000 such cards.

And perhaps 20 customers actually use their gadget software with the
cards.

-- 
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.