[johnblommers]

Even some ex-HP folks I know would agree that part of the problem is the HP Pavilion architecture. It turns out the exact same issues apply to an old Compaq PC and a Microtel PC I own. In the case of the Compaq, the on-board video automatically disables itself when a new PCI graphics card is added in and there is just no way to run two monitors. With the Microtel, you have to pick either either the built-in AGP or add-on PCI video - in the BIOS of all places.

Now I agree that all PCs are not the same, but it is MUCH easier to get a PC to work with multiple monitors when the vendor provides the video ports in the base model. Or when you add in a dual-headed video card like the ATI RAdeon 9800 Pro - then dual monitors is trivial.

On any Macintosh I've ever used, when I have stuffed them full of video cards, they all simply worked - even the TV out ports work if you attach a video cam or a TV set to them. It's a crazy wonderful kind of plug and play.

IMHO it is not good enough to blame the newbies for all the Windows malware and ease-of-use problems - these kinds of problems barely exist at all on Mac and Linux. And it's not a market share thing It's the Windows OS architecture that lies at the bottom of it.

Sillyness like autologging in the Administrator user by default is the Windoows norm even after SP2. That gives malware full system access.

Sillyness like Active X controls that can install software simply by visitng a web site.

But enough about that - this is the Serene Screne board, so let me revert to a more relevant topic

The whole multi-monitor issue came up again recently for me because of Goldfish Aquarium. You can allow GA to run on all monitors. It turns out the GA screen saver architecture runs all video monitors at rate of the slowest monitor. However if you clone copies of the GA application you can run each one on a monitor and they all run independently.