I love the game, but you are right, what's up with the mean spirits?  Competition is one thing, but yikes! taking advantage/cheating?  Is it played by youngsters that don't know any better?

how do you turn off the sound in this new lay out?
so annoying

Maybe I'm naive, but how exactly do you cheat?  Is it in the choices of play?

People cheat by using programs which basically determine the moves for them. Thus, they get a high rank but do not know the strategy of the game. I hate these cheaters because they take away from the players who are actually good at the game. Some really good players have been marked as cheaters when that is not the case. Also, some cheaters haven't been caught.

I agree with what was said above, I would consider myself a good player. I started playing with windows XP came out and loved the game ever since. The cheating programs are actually a trainer program which will improve a persons game if used the proper way. Its sad to say almost everything is like that, consider "Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. However, the invention that he thought would end all wars was seen by many others as an extremely deadly product. 

It´s true. I have been playing reversi in Kurnik (Playok)for years and have never been accused of cheating. I By now i have played a few games and i have already been accused of cheating.

if you are a good player
you dont have to get worried about cheaters

no, cheaters always "loose". Maybe they win games and gain rankings, but they will loose interest since they don't understand and therefor enjoy the game. Good players getting beaten by cheaters can be happy, because they will have a chance to learn and get better, the cheaters on the other side gain nothing - except a short lasting thrill of having a good ranking. Cheaters won't stay, it's not as rewarding as a multiplayer shooter or other action games. 

Ahhh, Reversi cheaters. The same d-bags who on the old Zone game wouldn't play if you "weren't enough of a challenge" (Board game elitism) flood the XP package Reversi at regular intervals to play, wait for it....... players who are no challenge. And when you do beat them they, A. Refuse to finish the game and wait for you to leave and thus "forfeit", (Plausible deniability that they actually really did lose?), or B. Use a trick, given to them by the game's developer, to resign, yet declare themselves winner. Oh, and ever notice a ghosting of your cursor leaving fragments of your color piece on the screen? Yep. They also have a cheat for watching where your cursor is. 

Now, explain something to me. How are we as I.T. people supposed to trust the security of Microsoft products, when they can't even keep their own Sysops for a board game under control? 

Lastly, to address the cheaters directly. I can't speak for other people, but, no, you don't make me feel stupid when I lose. No, I don't yell "WTF"?!?! when you resign and still win, and yes, I can get out of the beginner's lounge , where I'm "sent" as punishment for refusing to play you, in less than 10 seconds. 

Have a winning day! ;-)

very positive answer! I like it  - the real answer to the cheaters

Congrats for resurrecting a dead topic! :)