>>>SNIP
>>>>
>>>>Information/details - yes, I've been asking for this for some time. Control? Definitely a two-edged sword. The idea of people who don't know exactly what they're doing, messing with cache settings makes me shudder.
>>>
>>>But just think about it... on the Wiki, and probably here too, you can find all the steps necessary to 'turn off' Windows' "opportunistic locking" and related.
>>>
>>>You gonna tell me that ANYONE who has used these knows exactly what they are doing????
>>
>>??? All of those settings changes are more conservative than the default. What's your point? Are you saying that everyone who uses them is necessarily incompetent?
>
>No, and I don't know how you could come to that possible conclusion from what I wrote!
>They in fact demonstrate a level of competency above mine by choosing to 'implement' those changes. They also demonstrate a willingness to risk well beyond mine in doing so.
>What I was trying to say - and I thought did so clearly - was that we both agree that there is a distinct lack of information on the entire subject YET people do go ahead and implement that 'fix'. That very act should make you shudder, in the context of your top statement above.
>
>By the way... we are told that those settings are more conservative, and I'd agree that they seem to be. BUT we have to take that all on faith, simply because we do not know the details. And we have no idea of any side-effects that might be imcumbent with their revision.

By saying "knowing *exactly* what they're doing" I'm talking about someone having a high level of competence. I believe a lot of people are highly competent; that's why I couldn't understand your question.

As for "taking things on faith" - that's an inherent property of closed-source software. If you use MS software, and sleep soundly at night, you probably have some faith that MS's engineers are competent and not evil, that they've tested what they've created and do their best to fix problems that others find. Bear in mind that with on-line MSDN and MSKB resources, MS is actually a paragon of virtue compared to *a lot* of proprietary software companies.

Nonetheless, a lot of people feel the way you do - if they have a question they feel it's MS's responsibility to answer to their satisfaction. As you've discovered, MS is under no obligation to do so.

My serious recommendation would be to investigate open-source software. With OSS it's all there for you analyze to your heart's content; ask questions of the creators and you may even get answers.

Otherwise, if you'd rather stick with MS, you've gotta have a little faith (or be prepared to sacrifice some sleep ;-))