el w00t0s! Lets take advantage of this short short period of time, which I hereby christen "time-in-which-I-can-blog-whenever-the-hell-I-feel-like-it", to finally make another post about linux!
And so I was sticking around some of my long-forsaken haunts, like the holy dota forums and linuxNUS, and stumbled upon this blog post about the Great Ubuntu Girlfriend Experiment and found it pretty darned interesting. Basically this dude went and made a fresh install of the latest version of UbuntuLinux (8.04 Hardy Heron) then sat his un-linux-y girlfriend in front of the newly setup box and charged her with a list of tasks to perform, presumably to discern Hardy Heron's usability for your run-off-the-mill windows user, and not because he had some sadomasochistic inclinations :P
Anyway, the results were pretty insightful, I think. Pretty interesting how little little things that veteran users overlook can end up being a big help (or an insurmountable barrier) to novice users. Still, it is evident that Linux (or at least Ubuntu) has come a very long way. I think the results of the experiment are actually pretty good (with the exception of YouTube and flash, that one is a pain alrite =.= I blame flash for being proprietary!! xD) and it actually looks easier and more intuitive than ever to just start using Linux for almost any common task. Of course, I guess it cannot be helped that some of the potential barriers that need to be cleared results from the virtual synonymous relationship between 'Personal Computer' and 'Windows'. It'll unfortunately take some basic knowledge of operating systems to appreciate why '.exe' files won't run on Linux =x
It may be because when I started using computers we were still fooling around in horrid ol' DOS, but I find I disagree with the author on his final comment : "Linux won’t truly be ready for the desktop until someone computer illiterate can sit down at a the computer and with little effort do what they want to do." I think that even now, any kind of computer usage - DOS, Windows or Linux - requires a little literacy training - people don't just appear in front of the computer and magically start single clicking things to select them and double clicking things to execute them. The problem is the literacy training you usually get is heavily windows-biased, and shifting to Linux ends up being precisely that - SHIFTING. I don't think it will be more difficult to teach a WHOLLY computer illiterate user to use modern Linux that to use Windows. In fact, I think that if everyone started out using Linux and had to shift to Windows halfway through, the list of complaints will probably crash through the roof (like how I cannot stand not being able to move windows by alt-clicking them now xD)
Showing posts with label tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tech. Show all posts
Monday, May 5, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
OOXML - now an ISO standard.
If you can spare the time, please read till the end. I spent alot of very very scarce time writing this up :)
Okay, so I started out this morning on the innocent task of finding myself a converter for Microsoft's new OOXML format, being sick of having people just absently sending me .docx formatted documents and having to ask them to resend the regular .doc format. 5 minutes into the Google search and I found myself in a whirlpool of news, comments and outcries because just yesterday, the ISO (international organisation for standardization) has approved OOXML as an international standard. (story)
I find myself a little angry at this, and that's why I am actually taking the time to type this out. Microsoft, its history, present practice, core business model and de-facto company philosophy is as far removed from the concept of an open standard as the bin in my room is from Pluto. An open standard means each and every detail of its components are released in full, so that it can be implemented/supported by anyone, ie an open standard is platform and vendor independent. Everything Microsoft has produced that I am remotely familiar with does not come remotely close to this. I cannot, for example, name a single piece of Microsoft software that isn't exclusively tied to Windows by design.
The case is hardly different for OOXML. There is a petition here with a list of arguments against OOXML being an open standard.
I think its important for everyone to get an appreciation of what exactly is going on here. We have Microsoft pushing hard for the international adoption of a broken 'open' document format which, among other things,
These are not oversights. These and many other issues with OOXML has been harshly criticized and loudly denounced by many parties including national standards committees, large software companies, and figures in the IT industry. The fact is these are engineered into the OOXML specifications by design.
So how in blazes did Microsoft manage to get OOXML approved by ISO? Microsoft is not only smart, they also have a lot of power, and are ruthless when it comes to exercising their muscles. There are many and consistent accounts of irregularities in the ISO evaluation process, involving lobbying and political moves by Microsoft on the standards committees in many countries. From the NoOOXML website : "Microsoft has compromised the International Standards Organisation (ISO) during the rush to get a stamp for their Office OpenXML (OOXML), using unfair practices such as committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of ministers in the standardization process."
A (huge!) compiled list of details on alleged irregularities in the evaluation process can be found here.
Why does this matter to us? Because we are software users, and because Microsoft, with this latest bid and countless others before it, is aiming for absolute monopoly. Absolute monopoly in the software industry (Microsoft's overpoweringly obvious goal) will be to our great detriment because choice and competition will be eliminated. When you are forced to go back to one single vendor for all of your software needs, bugfixes, and feature request, that vendor has the freedom to charge for simple stuff like patches, upgrades and bugfixes - even if it was their fault that the upgrades and fixes are needed in the first place! They are also free to sell their products at ridiculous prices. In fact, given Microsoft's present dominance over the market and the extensive vendor-locking net they employ, this is to a degree already happening. (think how much does the ms office suite cost?)
What's more, Microsoft has a history of hitting for the pinnacle of market dominance not by trying to produce the best software, but by using the underhanded tactic of locking users inside of their (often inferior) software by preinstalling everything with Windows, preinstalling Windows with many more things, and then locking everything up with a web of patents and intellectual properties.This is not natural and destroys the merits of a free market by allowing inferior goods to survive through the death of other, superior goods from lack of support and awareness.
The open source community has shown us that software is nothing big, that you can churn out software of incredible quality and give it out for free. This is a powerful and crucial factor in the software world that places alot of pressure on commercial vendors like Microsoft, because people know what can be produced for free, vendors will not only be forced to keep up and make sure they produce quality for the stuff they are selling, but also to think thrice before ever attempting to overcharge. Stuff like OOXML carry the potential of severely handicapping related open source projects! Because of the incomplete specifications and the lack of protection against lawsuits, related open source software projects will never know when they would be stepping on one of Microsoft's intellectual property when trying to support OOXML, and so if Microsoft decides, it could legally sue all of its competitors for patent infringement, forcing free software developers to either charge their users so that they could pay Microsoft (destroying the notion of free, in more ways than one), or to close the project altogether.
What I hope to accomplish with these four hours or so that I ripped out of my very very tight schedule is to do my part in the effort to raise awareness about what is going on in the software market. I'm not saying everyone should go out of their way to boycott office2007 or any other Microsoft product for that matter. My hope is for you to understand and keep these issues in mind when using Microsoft products, and be aware of the alternatives Microsoft will try to blind you to, even if you don't want to use them. Also, I hope that you are now a little angry at Microsoft, and a little more sympathetic with the people who are involved in/using open source software. These are software communities that truly care about the software and the user, instead of the the money you can get out of both. At least, perhaps you can contemplate installing an ODF plugin for your poor long suffering friends who use OpenOffice.org :)
PS : In the midst of all these I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Malaysia is actually quite a pro-open source country! In fact, just last week, the Malaysian government has officially decided to migrate to ODF and OpenOffice.org! Some other articles about Malaysia and open source are here, here and here. In fact, both of two Malaysian standards committees tasked with evaluating the OOXML proposal decided to submit "Disapprove with comments", but were both suspiciously overruled by the central government with the result that Malaysia abstained from the voting -.-
PS 2 : In the very remote chance that any of you are on Linux and use OpenOffice.org, I managed to get it to read .docx files by following instructions here.
Okay, so I started out this morning on the innocent task of finding myself a converter for Microsoft's new OOXML format, being sick of having people just absently sending me .docx formatted documents and having to ask them to resend the regular .doc format. 5 minutes into the Google search and I found myself in a whirlpool of news, comments and outcries because just yesterday, the ISO (international organisation for standardization) has approved OOXML as an international standard. (story)
I find myself a little angry at this, and that's why I am actually taking the time to type this out. Microsoft, its history, present practice, core business model and de-facto company philosophy is as far removed from the concept of an open standard as the bin in my room is from Pluto. An open standard means each and every detail of its components are released in full, so that it can be implemented/supported by anyone, ie an open standard is platform and vendor independent. Everything Microsoft has produced that I am remotely familiar with does not come remotely close to this. I cannot, for example, name a single piece of Microsoft software that isn't exclusively tied to Windows by design.
The case is hardly different for OOXML. There is a petition here with a list of arguments against OOXML being an open standard.
I think its important for everyone to get an appreciation of what exactly is going on here. We have Microsoft pushing hard for the international adoption of a broken 'open' document format which, among other things,
- Is inextricably linked to their (insanely expensive) office productivity suite, and hence cannot be easily implemented or supported in full by any other parties.
- Does not come with any legally binding assurance that Microsoft cannot sue parties attempting to implement/support OOXML fully or partially (ie, potential competitors) for patent violations.
These are not oversights. These and many other issues with OOXML has been harshly criticized and loudly denounced by many parties including national standards committees, large software companies, and figures in the IT industry. The fact is these are engineered into the OOXML specifications by design.
So how in blazes did Microsoft manage to get OOXML approved by ISO? Microsoft is not only smart, they also have a lot of power, and are ruthless when it comes to exercising their muscles. There are many and consistent accounts of irregularities in the ISO evaluation process, involving lobbying and political moves by Microsoft on the standards committees in many countries. From the NoOOXML website : "Microsoft has compromised the International Standards Organisation (ISO) during the rush to get a stamp for their Office OpenXML (OOXML), using unfair practices such as committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of ministers in the standardization process."
A (huge!) compiled list of details on alleged irregularities in the evaluation process can be found here.
Why does this matter to us? Because we are software users, and because Microsoft, with this latest bid and countless others before it, is aiming for absolute monopoly. Absolute monopoly in the software industry (Microsoft's overpoweringly obvious goal) will be to our great detriment because choice and competition will be eliminated. When you are forced to go back to one single vendor for all of your software needs, bugfixes, and feature request, that vendor has the freedom to charge for simple stuff like patches, upgrades and bugfixes - even if it was their fault that the upgrades and fixes are needed in the first place! They are also free to sell their products at ridiculous prices. In fact, given Microsoft's present dominance over the market and the extensive vendor-locking net they employ, this is to a degree already happening. (think how much does the ms office suite cost?)
What's more, Microsoft has a history of hitting for the pinnacle of market dominance not by trying to produce the best software, but by using the underhanded tactic of locking users inside of their (often inferior) software by preinstalling everything with Windows, preinstalling Windows with many more things, and then locking everything up with a web of patents and intellectual properties.This is not natural and destroys the merits of a free market by allowing inferior goods to survive through the death of other, superior goods from lack of support and awareness.
The open source community has shown us that software is nothing big, that you can churn out software of incredible quality and give it out for free. This is a powerful and crucial factor in the software world that places alot of pressure on commercial vendors like Microsoft, because people know what can be produced for free, vendors will not only be forced to keep up and make sure they produce quality for the stuff they are selling, but also to think thrice before ever attempting to overcharge. Stuff like OOXML carry the potential of severely handicapping related open source projects! Because of the incomplete specifications and the lack of protection against lawsuits, related open source software projects will never know when they would be stepping on one of Microsoft's intellectual property when trying to support OOXML, and so if Microsoft decides, it could legally sue all of its competitors for patent infringement, forcing free software developers to either charge their users so that they could pay Microsoft (destroying the notion of free, in more ways than one), or to close the project altogether.
What I hope to accomplish with these four hours or so that I ripped out of my very very tight schedule is to do my part in the effort to raise awareness about what is going on in the software market. I'm not saying everyone should go out of their way to boycott office2007 or any other Microsoft product for that matter. My hope is for you to understand and keep these issues in mind when using Microsoft products, and be aware of the alternatives Microsoft will try to blind you to, even if you don't want to use them. Also, I hope that you are now a little angry at Microsoft, and a little more sympathetic with the people who are involved in/using open source software. These are software communities that truly care about the software and the user, instead of the the money you can get out of both. At least, perhaps you can contemplate installing an ODF plugin for your poor long suffering friends who use OpenOffice.org :)
PS : In the midst of all these I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Malaysia is actually quite a pro-open source country! In fact, just last week, the Malaysian government has officially decided to migrate to ODF and OpenOffice.org! Some other articles about Malaysia and open source are here, here and here. In fact, both of two Malaysian standards committees tasked with evaluating the OOXML proposal decided to submit "Disapprove with comments", but were both suspiciously overruled by the central government with the result that Malaysia abstained from the voting -.-
PS 2 : In the very remote chance that any of you are on Linux and use OpenOffice.org, I managed to get it to read .docx files by following instructions here.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Multiple desktops... for WINDOWS
The shock! The amazement!
Ah wells, was planning to blog about Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight album (which I enjoyed), but that will take some time so while waiting for linsien to appear (like 1hour 15 minutes after the agreed upon time), I'll just quickly pen down something I found while browsing the net.
I have to admit, one of the most important reasons I am absolutely terrified of returning to windows now is the single, cramped desktop in which I have to survive there (remember that Ubuntu has eight?). But now, it seems that there is salvation yet for all you people out there still reluctant to venture beyond the event horizon of microsoft windows. Take a look at this :
Yeah that's right. Virtual desktops for WINDOWS!! Complete with a 3D-cube effect too. Looks like it only gives you four virtual desktops, but hey, thats a hell alot better than one. Best of all, its free (you won't catch me blogging about it otherwise)!
Of course, I've never tried it, so I have no idea how well it works. I only ever log in to windows to perform stuff I absolutely cannot perform in Linux now, and one desktop is good enough for that. If any of you do try it out though, kindly let me know the results :)
Read more about Shock 4Way 3D Virtual Desktop (for Windows XP/2000/2003/Vista) here.
Ah wells, was planning to blog about Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight album (which I enjoyed), but that will take some time so while waiting for linsien to appear (like 1hour 15 minutes after the agreed upon time), I'll just quickly pen down something I found while browsing the net.
I have to admit, one of the most important reasons I am absolutely terrified of returning to windows now is the single, cramped desktop in which I have to survive there (remember that Ubuntu has eight?). But now, it seems that there is salvation yet for all you people out there still reluctant to venture beyond the event horizon of microsoft windows. Take a look at this :
Yeah that's right. Virtual desktops for WINDOWS!! Complete with a 3D-cube effect too. Looks like it only gives you four virtual desktops, but hey, thats a hell alot better than one. Best of all, its free (you won't catch me blogging about it otherwise)!
Of course, I've never tried it, so I have no idea how well it works. I only ever log in to windows to perform stuff I absolutely cannot perform in Linux now, and one desktop is good enough for that. If any of you do try it out though, kindly let me know the results :)
Read more about Shock 4Way 3D Virtual Desktop (for Windows XP/2000/2003/Vista) here.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Embun!
So today Hoa in typical Hoa fashion sent me an enigmatic hyperlink via msn. In typical Yuen Hoe fashion I clicked the link, and et voila! I find :
Ubuntu-linux with a Malaysian flavour! Now that's something I would seriously consider installing if I didn't already have Ubuntu-linux running on my machine. I mean, if nothing else, the Embun logo looks a hell alot cooler than the ubuntu one ^^ While the name 'Embun' still somehow has an Ubuntu-ish feel to it, I have to say I like the bright neon-ish green colour scheme better than Ubuntu's brownish red, and the glassy icon theme doesn't hurt either ^^. Some screenshots (these are of course unmodified, unlike my previous Ubuntu shots ^^ basically what you get fresh out of install) :
As far as I could tell though, Embun is nothing more than Ubuntu with a nice wallpaper, a nice icon-set, a nice new logo and a couple of extra software thrown in. Neat, but not enough for me to switch from my current comfortable installation.
You can read about Embun via the original hyperlink Hoa sent me : http://news.softpedia.com/news/Embun-A-Malaysian-Ubuntu-67618.shtml
Of course, in the remote chance that any of you become interested, Embun, like Ubuntu, is open source, and available for perfectly free, perfectly legal download.
Ubuntu-linux with a Malaysian flavour! Now that's something I would seriously consider installing if I didn't already have Ubuntu-linux running on my machine. I mean, if nothing else, the Embun logo looks a hell alot cooler than the ubuntu one ^^ While the name 'Embun' still somehow has an Ubuntu-ish feel to it, I have to say I like the bright neon-ish green colour scheme better than Ubuntu's brownish red, and the glassy icon theme doesn't hurt either ^^. Some screenshots (these are of course unmodified, unlike my previous Ubuntu shots ^^ basically what you get fresh out of install) :
As far as I could tell though, Embun is nothing more than Ubuntu with a nice wallpaper, a nice icon-set, a nice new logo and a couple of extra software thrown in. Neat, but not enough for me to switch from my current comfortable installation.
You can read about Embun via the original hyperlink Hoa sent me : http://news.softpedia.com/news/Embun-A-Malaysian-Ubuntu-67618.shtml
Of course, in the remote chance that any of you become interested, Embun, like Ubuntu, is open source, and available for perfectly free, perfectly legal download.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Ubuntu!
Zzzz linsien's cryptic blog post made me forget what I wanted to blog about -.-
Oh wells, while I'm here let's brag about my uber new operating system! That's right, folks, I have finally and officially begun my great exodus away from the oppressive, autocratic rule of all-powerful and horribly lousy microsoft software. I hereby announce that I am now running
:D
Of course I still have vista home basic lurking around in another partition, since transferring to another operating system inevitably involves a learning curve (and also because some of my modules *cough cs2301* still forces us to use windows software). However! I have already grown completely attached to my new desktop environment and have immediately developed an intense condescending loathing for Vista basic's lousy user interface (linsien's xp desktop looks better T.T). Anyways, I hope you'll excuse me, but what's bragging without abit of advertising?
So! Why Ubuntu?
1) Cause it's LINUX!! Speaking from the point of view of a previous (ok, and to some extent current) user of Microsoft's loudly dubbed "most secure" Windows system, I'd say vista was nothing. The few new security features in vista that drew my grudging approval turned out to be only a part of the stuff that has been sitting in UNIX systems for ages. If that's not enough to convince you, consider this. I strode my merry stride into the Ubuntu with no user guide, minimal external help, and not an inkling of how to get stuff done. So in typical yuenhoe fashion I went about trying to get lotsa stuff (mostly to do with eye-candy elements, I'll admit) installed and working, hitting about doing lots of random stuff. And get this : ubuntu has no system restore. Undeterred, I rambo-ly crashed around the supposedly sacred system files in random newbie fashion, and managed to make lotsa things go horribly wrong, including completely shutting down my graphical user interface. AND HERE'S THE IMPORTANT BIT : my system is now in perfect, stable, beautiful working order. I didn't reformat, didn't reinstall, didn't REPAIR install, didn't even use any form of recovery tool. I could undo all the mess I made just by interfacing with the system's configurations and settings. TRY DOING THIS WITH WINDOWS AND NOT END UP WITH PERMA BLUE SCREENS OF DEATH!!
2) Cause it ain't microsoft. Self-explanatory.
3) Cause its Open Source! Hence it's free. It's legal. It's stable. And it sure as hell works too! Besides, open source also means that stuff can be added into the system ad libitum. So you basically get all the good stuff the operating system is able to offer for free (though at some installation effort on your part), unlike horrible microsoft who refuses to give me aero unless I cough up huge mountains of cash.
4) Cause the desktop environtment >>>>>>>> windows -.- Ever since getting familiar with Ubuntu I can never go back to vista without wincing. I mean, how can I remain content with Vista's single desktop, when on Ubuntu I have EIGHT :
Besides, on Ubuntu I get nice glassy stylish themes :
Mini screen-shots for my alt-tabs :
Cool water effects :
And lotsa other cool, customizable window effects, including the all-important mac-style window switcher :
5) Besides, the linux system back-end also seems alot more friendly than that of windows, making linux alot more customizable and programmable...
Oops, I guess that's enough bragging for one post :D Gotta go for class now, so brag more next time ^^
Oh wells, while I'm here let's brag about my uber new operating system! That's right, folks, I have finally and officially begun my great exodus away from the oppressive, autocratic rule of all-powerful and horribly lousy microsoft software. I hereby announce that I am now running
:D
Of course I still have vista home basic lurking around in another partition, since transferring to another operating system inevitably involves a learning curve (and also because some of my modules *cough cs2301* still forces us to use windows software). However! I have already grown completely attached to my new desktop environment and have immediately developed an intense condescending loathing for Vista basic's lousy user interface (linsien's xp desktop looks better T.T). Anyways, I hope you'll excuse me, but what's bragging without abit of advertising?
So! Why Ubuntu?
1) Cause it's LINUX!! Speaking from the point of view of a previous (ok, and to some extent current) user of Microsoft's loudly dubbed "most secure" Windows system, I'd say vista was nothing. The few new security features in vista that drew my grudging approval turned out to be only a part of the stuff that has been sitting in UNIX systems for ages. If that's not enough to convince you, consider this. I strode my merry stride into the Ubuntu with no user guide, minimal external help, and not an inkling of how to get stuff done. So in typical yuenhoe fashion I went about trying to get lotsa stuff (mostly to do with eye-candy elements, I'll admit) installed and working, hitting about doing lots of random stuff. And get this : ubuntu has no system restore. Undeterred, I rambo-ly crashed around the supposedly sacred system files in random newbie fashion, and managed to make lotsa things go horribly wrong, including completely shutting down my graphical user interface. AND HERE'S THE IMPORTANT BIT : my system is now in perfect, stable, beautiful working order. I didn't reformat, didn't reinstall, didn't REPAIR install, didn't even use any form of recovery tool. I could undo all the mess I made just by interfacing with the system's configurations and settings. TRY DOING THIS WITH WINDOWS AND NOT END UP WITH PERMA BLUE SCREENS OF DEATH!!
2) Cause it ain't microsoft. Self-explanatory.
3) Cause its Open Source! Hence it's free. It's legal. It's stable. And it sure as hell works too! Besides, open source also means that stuff can be added into the system ad libitum. So you basically get all the good stuff the operating system is able to offer for free (though at some installation effort on your part), unlike horrible microsoft who refuses to give me aero unless I cough up huge mountains of cash.
4) Cause the desktop environtment >>>>>>>> windows -.- Ever since getting familiar with Ubuntu I can never go back to vista without wincing. I mean, how can I remain content with Vista's single desktop, when on Ubuntu I have EIGHT :
Besides, on Ubuntu I get nice glassy stylish themes :
Mini screen-shots for my alt-tabs :
Cool water effects :
And lotsa other cool, customizable window effects, including the all-important mac-style window switcher :
5) Besides, the linux system back-end also seems alot more friendly than that of windows, making linux alot more customizable and programmable...
Oops, I guess that's enough bragging for one post :D Gotta go for class now, so brag more next time ^^
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Firefox foxfire
For a long time now I have browsed the web wielding the combined features of Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Opera web browser, who each complement the faults of the other. Today I finally decided that it is time I showed my support for the marvelous Open Source movement and got myself the Firefox browser. Of course, the fact that Firefox is a single browser combining the strengths of both my previous browsers was an added bonus. Imagine my surprise then, when Firefox fumbled on its very first day under my fingers.
There I was nonchalantly bringing up a Youtube video and it failed to display, presumably due to the absence of a flash plugin. "This isn't a problem" I thought, as I calmly went on to download Adobe Flash Player v9. Confidently I reloaded the video after the installation, and imagine my horror when the browser crashed!
Rather annoyed, I went on to try everything from reinstalling the plugin to doing a system restore to reinstalling Firefox itself, all to no avail. Frustrated I went online in search for a fix, and after feeding a few keywords to Google (probably the greatest entity ever to grace the web) finally found my solution.
I must say that I really like all the other aspects of Firefox, from the GUI feel to the browsing speed and tab system, but issues like these are going to tarnish the user's experience. Hopefully this glitch will be fixed and dealt with soon or we're never going to kill off Microsoft. For the benefit of those who might encounter a similar problem, here is a description of the problem, as well as instructions on how to fix it.
Symptoms
After having downloaded the plugin, Firefox begins to play a flash video with no hiccups at first, then the video freezes and Firefox becomes unstable, failing to respond normally. Occassionally a pop up "llegal Operation In Plug-In" error appears with the message "The plugin performed an illegal operation. You are strongly advised to restart Firefox". Closing Firefox and rerunning it restores normality, but only until the next time you attempt to play the video
Fix
Uninstall flash player 8/9 and install flash player 7. This seems to resolve the issue. To uninstall run a search on your computer for the following files :
There I was nonchalantly bringing up a Youtube video and it failed to display, presumably due to the absence of a flash plugin. "This isn't a problem" I thought, as I calmly went on to download Adobe Flash Player v9. Confidently I reloaded the video after the installation, and imagine my horror when the browser crashed!
Rather annoyed, I went on to try everything from reinstalling the plugin to doing a system restore to reinstalling Firefox itself, all to no avail. Frustrated I went online in search for a fix, and after feeding a few keywords to Google (probably the greatest entity ever to grace the web) finally found my solution.
I must say that I really like all the other aspects of Firefox, from the GUI feel to the browsing speed and tab system, but issues like these are going to tarnish the user's experience. Hopefully this glitch will be fixed and dealt with soon or we're never going to kill off Microsoft. For the benefit of those who might encounter a similar problem, here is a description of the problem, as well as instructions on how to fix it.
Symptoms
After having downloaded the plugin, Firefox begins to play a flash video with no hiccups at first, then the video freezes and Firefox becomes unstable, failing to respond normally. Occassionally a pop up "llegal Operation In Plug-In" error appears with the message "The plugin performed an illegal operation. You are strongly advised to restart Firefox". Closing Firefox and rerunning it restores normality, but only until the next time you attempt to play the video
Fix
Uninstall flash player 8/9 and install flash player 7. This seems to resolve the issue. To uninstall run a search on your computer for the following files :
- NPSWF32.dll
- flashplayer.xpt
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