lordjedi said:
Your first comment is totally inaccurate. Read what I wrote again. DX9 gives access to the same effects, the difference is that DX10 makes those effects easier to do.

I've been researching parts for a new computer the last few months and one of the reasons I was planning on getting Vista was because I've read that DirectX 10 would be supporting newer, hardware-based effects that XP won't have access to without updates to DirectX 9. Here's one of the effects that I was led to believe this about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry_shader

Now, maybe you're just a lot smarter than all of the news and information sources I've been looking at, and if that's the case then I'm obviously misinformed, but last I checked you won't be getting support for that effect XP. If all of the sources I looked at are correct, then considering how Microsoft was actually still selling XP when they released their support for "geometry" shading, I don't see why XP couldn't have been given support for that effect too.

lordjedi said:

You may think backporting DX10 to XP isn't that hard, but you also don't know the code. I've seen whitepapers from MS that show the difference between the driver models in XP and Vista.

Why do you keep talking about me as if I want DirectX 10 put into XP? I've already said that if Microsoft did a lot of work on a newer version of DirectX that I'm fine with them keeping it native to Vista only. This line of yours is really starting to bug me. I hate it when people don't read what I'm saying.

I just want the same support for the newer hardware effects since I think XP is a superior OS. If that desire of mine is misinformed (and XP already supports every possible effect that Vista will support), and you can prove that, then I am corrected and we can move on. Until then, I'm going to think this is an easy way Microsoft could continue supporting XP (and should if they want happy customers).

lordjedi said:

You expect more support? Hey genius, try going to Apple and getting support on OS 9. I bet they don't do it. Getting support from MS for XP is the same thing. It's an outdated OS that has run its course.

I don't "expect" more support for XP; I want more support for XP. If Microsoft wants me to be a happy customer (which is up to me to decide in a truly free market), then it would be wise for them to give Windows XP a little more support.

And, hey, genius, in your opinion XP is an outdated OS that has run its course, but I'm a different person and my opinion can be different. The best way to deal with different opinions, from people like me, is to discuss them rationally and not say the same thing over and over.

Seriously, lj, do you think game manufacturers are stupid chumps for supporting their games with patches many years after they come out? Is Blizzard a stupid company for still upgrading StarCraft after practically ten years? The kinds of small support I'm asking for aren't extreme. The free market has space for many different ideas of software support (assuming the free market is functioning) and for you to demonize me for wanting more support is getting really silly. (You're giving me a headache.)

lordjedi said:
A few years ago, you were probably bitching that Vista still wasn't out and that XP was getting old.

No, actually, I wasn't, you obnoxious fruitcake. Where is there any evidence for you to go off assuming something like that about me? XP is perhaps the best version of Windows I have ever used and I was one of the people who bought it on the day it was released. (XP has always been a fantastic product to me.) The few times I've used Vista I've found it to be a piece of shit by comparison. Beyond the fact that it is clearly less stable (I had no major errors or restarts with XP from the very start), having to tell it that I want to wipe my ass all the time (or be bothered by a security message every two seconds) is absurd. I just don't like it at all and I don't see who you are to fucking reprimand me for making that personal judgment. (Only lordjedi's personal judgments of what's desirable or undesirable are allowed in this world?)

Seriously, I don't care if you have a love affair with Vista. So, why, then, do you feel so keen on lecturing others for not liking Vista? What on earth is making your blood boil so much with this issue? (I have no fucking desire to have a heated debate about Windows for crying out loud.)

lordjedi said:

I'm not trying to convince any of you to upgrade. That's your choice if you want to or not. But don't try to say that MS is forcing you to upgrade. You don't have to do it. Go use Linux or some other alternative. No one's making you upgrade anything.

Huh? You've just made three long posts about how horrible a person I am for wanting XP to have some more support and for thinking Vista isn't absolutely worth the money. That certainly sounds to me like you're trying to tell us all what's a good or bad decision.

Also, nowhere am I saying that Microsoft is really forcing me to "upgrade" in any absolute sense (that's absurd and you're clearly not reading what I'm saying here). My criticisms with Microsoft (and supposedly "upgrading" their products) are far smaller than that.

I have no problem with old software dying when its time comes in the free market. It's all the little things that Microsoft does to influence that transition that bother me as a customer. The way that I can no longer purchase a new, decently priced copy of XP or some equivalent OS is another good example. Linux and the other OSs on the market are not an alternative XP. If there were truly an operating system being sold in the market that works and functions just like XP, then I can assure you that I would be purchasing that. However, there is no operating system on the market like it and I see no good reason why. Why is there no OS selling on the market that can comparably perform just like Windows XP (running all the same software in the same way and so on)? Another company wouldn't make money by selling a Windows equivalent?

Anyways, if you can't tone down the aggressive and sarcastic statements you've been making in this thread then I'm simply going to start ignoring you, lordjedi. I really don't care about Microsoft that much. If you do, however, then I'm happy for you, but I'll simply be moving on. Thanks. :)