Neocities.org

Ah, another fantastic entry from you! I completely agree with all the points, particularly the one concerning online-only/SaaS/cloud/etc. services, which I find especially important. I cannot believe how willing many are these days to relinquish true ownership of their music/movies/games/software/books/etc., and place themselves entirely at the mercy of somebody else, just for the sake of convenience.

Truly, we need a return to the offline computing of the past, in which everything is installed and saved locally. I would also urge you to abandon Steam; see https://lolwut.info/gaming/pc/steam.html

It would work if you could still buy things on disc and not have to download games and software.

Thank you for your generous praise, lolwut! I've brought these points up to people IRL and the only real argument just seems to be "convenience". People just want things to be easy, and they don't want to have to think about the potential consequences of their actions.

I love your Steam article!! I only use it when it's absolutely necessary, but even that is too much. The forced updates thing has always rubbed me the wrong way, especially since there's no way to go back to old versions of games.

@bright-eyes, I really miss when that was possible. The aspect of actually owning and having control over your games/software aside, it felt very special to have physical boxes, manuals, and CDs of your favourite games around your room. I still have quite a number of such treasures from decades ago. Downloading games from a program cannot compare.

The new front page look strikes me as something from 2008, which, by the way, is a very good thing.

Thank you, my friend! I didn't have anything in mind besides making it as ultra-pink as I like things, but I'm very happy that it gave you that impression. 2008 was a good time. Web 2.0 without the complete normiefication that closed in soon after.

The Neocities button on my site actually is not mine; I had also copied it from another site on here, but which one in particular I forget. I think it's generally understood that, unless otherwise stated, the 88x31 buttons on a site may be freely copied and used without attribution.

I know about the button sharing and I do like the button that you have. I'm just being a little persnickety and trying to make sure that as many of the graphics on my site are my own. I don't mind at all if anyone else uses my buttons, etc.

I preemptively apologise to @lolwut for the Microsoft bashing and Linux praising in this article.

Also, I can't believe this turned out to be the 98th update to the website, according to Neocities. I swear to Bast that this wasn't intentional...

Very nice entry! For someone like me who appreciates (and sometimes prefers) older technology, it truly warms my heart to see that there are those who love Windows 95 and 98 enough to still use it as their primary OS. Even though, personally, 95 and 98 aren't my favorites, yet I can still understand the motivation for others to stick to them -- it is the same one that, even today, keeps me using Internet Explorer.

I still love Windows and Microsoft, but even I will admit that both have declined since the '90s and 2000s. I had hoped that Windows 8 was only an isolated blunder (and, in fact, 8.1 was fortunately a slight improvement), but 10, it is clear, turned out to be even worse, and truly is inexcusable for a company as respectable as Microsoft; I cannot ever see myself using it.

As for Linux, well, at least you're not using a Mac. (Probably the only Linux distro I would even look at is ReactOS, and then only because it tries to be Windows-like.) I wish you luck in your Windows 98 undertaking.

Thank you for your kind praise, my friend. There are definitely many people who still like Windows 95 and 98 more than the subsequent versions, as I have witnessed over the years. They truly had a warm, free feeling that no other OS can compare to.

I like Windows 8.1 for its improvements over 8, but with 10 being even more sordid, as you said, I find it impossible to keep enough faith to stay with the OS any longer. I may as well be enabling someone's crack addiction by continuing to support them. I have had ReactOS recommended to me and am considering that one as well for the aesthetics. I would certainly rather go computer-less than move to a Mac, or a phone.