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Old May 10th 09, 03:32 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Jeff Liebermann[_2_] Jeff Liebermann[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,336
Default Be careful when using Excel

On Sat, 9 May 2009 14:15:19 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:

I think Intel had to recall a bunch of chips because of an error in the math
coprocessor part at one time.


Close. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug
for the details. Never mind that the fixed chips arrived after the
release of the next generation of Pentium processors, making
replacements for the older and slower chips a waste of effort. I had
several servers running the buggy Pentium 60 and 66Mhz chips.
Incidentally, they ran unusually hot and required extra cooling. I
applied to Intel for 3 replacement chips. By the time they arrived,
the server motherboards had been replaced with something better and
faster, so the new chips just sat around.

Microsoft products are so full of 'problems' that if they ever put out an
error free product it would seem to be a mistake.


I beg to differ. Microsoft bashing seems to be the national sport in
computers. Yet, they're the most successful computah company in
history. In addition, they did it without any ties to proprietary
hardware. They must be doing something right.

In my never humble opinion, 99% or more of what MS releases is done
correctly and works well. The 1% that doesn't is what we're all
complaining about. Because MS has such a huge number of products and
technologies, it's fairly easy to find bugs and problems. However, if
you compare the MS bug lists with those from other companies, the
ratio of bugs to product complexity is very favorable for MS products.
I have had to deal with OS's and apps from smaller companies. Methinks
they're far worse than MS. Also, there may be plenty to complain
about, but most products are sufficiently functional to be usable for
the intended purpose. What bothers me about MS is not the quantity of
bugs, it's their tendency to add features and functions instead of
fixing bugs. This tends to make the product grow into a bloated
monstrosity of useless features, with far too many semi-permanent
bugs.



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