My thoughts on Vista Whiners

[Alias]

I love making money and I want to make lots of it. If I thought that I
could generate revenue from my product written for any other OS then I
would do it immediately.

But I deal with a lot of middle management folks who don't have techo
geeks lurking in the basement to fix any problems with Linux or any
other operating system and whose users are comfortable with windows,
who would have nothing to do with anything other than Microsoft for an OS.

I am 53 this year and I plan to be programming for a long time yet, and
I am very positive that I will be programming for Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems for a long time yet. Give me Windows, Visual Studio
.net, SQL Server and some 3rd party .net components and I will be very
happy and content and generate enough revenue to keep me happy.

I have never had one of my customers say to me, what do you think about
Linux or Ubuntu or Macintosh?

BillG

People swore by the horse and buggy when the car came out, too.

Alias

For the same reason that Robert Johnson didn't get well known until
the Stones, Hendrix, Clapton, etc., started singing his songs.

MOST people, business or otherwise, believe the FUD about Linux, that
it's only for geeks, etc. This is changing and more rapidly than you
could ever imagine.

Alias

[...] I am a consultant in the real business world...

Then you probably wish to know what is TCO (total cost of ownership)
and buying compatible and the greatest and latest hardware is just
the beginning not the ending. Other than your personal preference
(which is valid but only to yourself), I haven't seen any value
propositions from your lengthy post as being a consultant.


To all you Vista whiners and haters.

I have used Microsoft Operating Systems since Dos 3.0. Other than
Windows ME, Microsoft keeps improving each operating system and
keeps adding new functionality to it version after version. I have
Vista running on two machines and XP running on one machine on my
desk and I prefer using the Vista machines. I have found yes there
are some issues that I have with Vista but not enough to stop me
from using it. I have had minor problems so I also have had
problems with XP and NT and 95 and 98 and dos etc. There is no
perfect OS. I have worked with Linux and Unix but unfortunately I
am a consultant in the real business world and don't deal with the
I hate Bill Gates users who love Linux and Unix and I have to use
real operating systems that the majority of businesses use and
that's Windows operating system. Yes there are those programmers
and systems people stuck in little dark dingy corners who use Unix
and Linux to run some applications but the majority of the business
world uses Windows. I think that the anti-Vista people are just
whining over nothing. I am a programmer using Visual Studio 2008
and I prefer programming on my Vista machine over my XP machine. I
will never go back to XP. A lot of the people that have issues on
these forums with Vista are the same ones that had issues with XP
and 95 and 98. And then there are those that should not be using
computers and you know who you are. Please forgive my venting but I
am tired of seeing people knock Vista. It is a great operating
system. Yes, it has issues and problems. But again I do not try to
run it on a 5 year old computer with 1 GB of ram and a 100 MB hard
drive. Because of what I do, I try to buy a new computer every 2
years. I am also not trying to run games developed years ago on my
Vista system. No one here is trying to watch Hi Def tv on a 5 year
old $200 Walmart TV. So why should you expect to run the latest
and greatest operating system and software on the same type of
computer that ran Windows 95/98 and ran the software of 5 years
ago. I certainly don't want to. Now I will sit back and wait for
the flaming from the "I hate Bill Gates and I am jealous of
Microsoft's success" crowd.

BillG

and no I am not that BillG. My bank account will prove it.

 

[BillG]

Yes and Linux must be a brand new product and that's why it hasn't caught on
yet! Linux has been around since 1991. My math is not that great but using
my trusty Microsoft calculator that calculates to 17 years. It sure is
taking a long time for Linux to make it's way into the business world at
large. I am not denying that it has its place in some businesses, but for
the majority of businessess, No. There is no way that the average business
will forego Microsoft and install Linux. If Linux after 17 years of life
and being free hasn't pushed its way into the mainstream business world, it
never will. The car took less time to push out the horse and buggy than 17
years. Unless we are talking about the Amish who will never use a car.

BillG

I love making money and I want to make lots of it. If I thought that I
could generate revenue from my product written for any other OS then I
would do it immediately.

But I deal with a lot of middle management folks who don't have techo
geeks lurking in the basement to fix any problems with Linux or any other
operating system and whose users are comfortable with windows, who would
have nothing to do with anything other than Microsoft for an OS.

I am 53 this year and I plan to be programming for a long time yet, and I
am very positive that I will be programming for Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems for a long time yet. Give me Windows, Visual Studio
.net, SQL Server and some 3rd party .net components and I will be very
happy and content and generate enough revenue to keep me happy.

I have never had one of my customers say to me, what do you think about
Linux or Ubuntu or Macintosh?

BillG

People swore by the horse and buggy when the car came out, too.

Alias

For the same reason that Robert Johnson didn't get well known until the
Stones, Hendrix, Clapton, etc., started singing his songs.

MOST people, business or otherwise, believe the FUD about Linux, that
it's only for geeks, etc. This is changing and more rapidly than you
could ever imagine.

Alias

[...] I am a consultant in the real business world...

Then you probably wish to know what is TCO (total cost of ownership)
and buying compatible and the greatest and latest hardware is just the
beginning not the ending. Other than your personal preference (which
is valid but only to yourself), I haven't seen any value propositions
from your lengthy post as being a consultant.


To all you Vista whiners and haters.

I have used Microsoft Operating Systems since Dos 3.0. Other than
Windows ME, Microsoft keeps improving each operating system and keeps
adding new functionality to it version after version. I have Vista
running on two machines and XP running on one machine on my desk and
I prefer using the Vista machines. I have found yes there are some
issues that I have with Vista but not enough to stop me from using
it. I have had minor problems so I also have had problems with XP and
NT and 95 and 98 and dos etc. There is no perfect OS. I have worked
with Linux and Unix but unfortunately I am a consultant in the real
business world and don't deal with the I hate Bill Gates users who
love Linux and Unix and I have to use real operating systems that the
majority of businesses use and that's Windows operating system. Yes
there are those programmers and systems people stuck in little dark
dingy corners who use Unix and Linux to run some applications but the
majority of the business world uses Windows. I think that the
anti-Vista people are just whining over nothing. I am a programmer
using Visual Studio 2008 and I prefer programming on my Vista machine
over my XP machine. I will never go back to XP. A lot of the people
that have issues on these forums with Vista are the same ones that
had issues with XP and 95 and 98. And then there are those that
should not be using computers and you know who you are. Please
forgive my venting but I am tired of seeing people knock Vista. It is
a great operating system. Yes, it has issues and problems. But again
I do not try to run it on a 5 year old computer with 1 GB of ram and
a 100 MB hard drive. Because of what I do, I try to buy a new
computer every 2 years. I am also not trying to run games developed
years ago on my Vista system. No one here is trying to watch Hi Def
tv on a 5 year old $200 Walmart TV. So why should you expect to run
the latest and greatest operating system and software on the same
type of computer that ran Windows 95/98 and ran the software of 5
years ago. I certainly don't want to. Now I will sit back and wait
for the flaming from the "I hate Bill Gates and I am jealous of
Microsoft's success" crowd.

BillG

and no I am not that BillG. My bank account will prove it.

 

[Frank]

People swore by the horse and buggy when the car came out, too.

Really? And what does that have to do with Windows or linux huh?
Frank

 

[Frank]

Since you are obviously a Microsoft hater and hate Windows, why you even
be on a Microsoft Forum? I hate Linux and MAC but I don't go trolling
on their forums to say anything negative about them. Are you using
Windows? If so, why? If it is so bad and Microsoft is so evil, why do
you support them by using their operating system and office products and
other products?

BillG

Best to pay no attention to him at all.
He hates everyone and knows everything there is to know about anything.
Just ask him...LOL!
Frank

 

[Canuck57]

I see you managed to touch base with all the usual limp charges, ie
Vista "whiners" aren't programmers,they couldn't get XP or Windows 98 or
95 to work either. They don't work in the real world, but of course you
do, blah, blah, blah.

You can vent all you want. Frank sure does. ;-)

You claim the majority of businesses use Windows? That statement tells
me at best you're a lightweight since it is a FACT that most web servers
and news servers and email processing run on either UNIX or Linux
systems. Of businesses that have switched to Vista, 86% to date HAVE NOT
and don't plan to anytime soon if ever. Further many large corporations
still run main frames where Windows never sees the light of day.

I was particularly amused by this statement:

"Please forgive my venting but I am tired of seeing people knock Vista.
It is a great operating system. Yes, it has issues and problems."

Hint: A "great" system doesn't have issues and endless problems or you
have very low expectations of what the word "great" is suppose to
represent. Maybe you think a baseball player with a 220 batting average
is also great or maybe a student with a 2.7 grade point average is doing
"great". That's not my scale or what society at large considers doing
great. At best both would be ranked mediocre and that's the highest
grade anyone that knows anything about software ever ranks anything
Microsoft puts a label on. Mediocre at best defines Microsoft and that's
on a good day.

While I don't expect perfection, I do demand progress and improvement in
each new version of the old dog Windows. For twenty plus years I've
waiting and each time a new version of Windows came out, I and countless
millions of others have been disappointed. Never more so than with
Vista. Five plus years in development and it is riddled with bugs and
adds little more than a pretty looking interface.

It is laughable that Vista is slower in many areas for many users
compared to XP running the same or similar hardware.

It is disgraceful something hyped as a "security" feature (UAC) is
little more than an annoying nag.

It is comical that much of what is "new" in Vista is little more than a
quickly applied coat of new paint with shuffled, moved and renamed
controls.

Then we have the serious failings. File handling abilities sucks for
many, even after SP1 remaining painfully slow, often bitching about
permissions and rarely giving anything close to accurate estimates of
the time necessary to move/copy files and if encountering a problem in a
batch process still being so dumb it stops in the middle only to pop a
warning screen and the job half finished. That again is simply
disgraceful and no surprise, totally and completely unnecessary and due
wholly to some routines being routed through the always has been
crippled Windows Explorer now made worse by layers of useless and
process slowing overhead in the name of "security" and the ugly Digital
Rights Management bullshit.

In an area that should have gained marked progress due to the popularity
of video editing and authoring DVD's and related graphics and multimedia
the included tools, Media Player and Movie Maker are a laughing stock,
often bitching for no reason throwing mindless COM Surgate errors,
nagging about CODECS already on the system and other lame sloppy
programming failures that more often than not results in a video already
playing (CONFIRMING Vista found a CODEC to use to play it) stopping
before it finishes, then saying it couldn't play what it has been
playing for ten minutes or longer. Ridiculous!

Such areas as these are KID STUFF. The kind of errors you expect some
teenager programmer messing around in his bedroom to miscode and not
troubleshoot properly.

The problem is we're not talking about some kid messing around with his
hobby, we are discussing the repeated and constant failings of the
largest software developer on the planet. Microsoft. One flushed with
cash, one supposedly that hires the best of the best talent and yet
version after version of Windows sucks. No, not for everybody, but
clearly for too many as many reading this will nod their heads in
agreement.

You want to defend such reckless, sloppy and arrogant behavior by
Microsoft, go ahead I sure won't try to stop you. However I won't be
silenced or stop pointing the endless problems many, many users run into
daily.

My biggest gripe is those that attempt to elevate Windows to something
it isn't, "great" software. Call a spade, a spade. Windows, regardless
what version you're discussing is at best mediocre.

Anybody that suggests otherwise is lying or don't have a clue what
they're talking about. Usually both. This reality was recently confirmed
by non other than Steve Ballmer Microsoft CEO that sheepishly admitted
Windows is a "work in progress"... one that apparently never gets
finished, but customers are expected to keep coughing up more cash to
try Microsoft's latest attempt at getting it right.

That should be posted in the Vista damage control at Redmond HQ.

Best written synopsis yet of the Vista fiasco.

 

[Canuck57]

For the same reason that Robert Johnson didn't get well known until the
Stones, Hendrix, Clapton, etc., started singing his songs.

MOST people, business or otherwise, believe the FUD about Linux, that
it's only for geeks, etc. This is changing and more rapidly than you
could ever imagine.

Alias

When you present them with a $7M bill to upgrade in a tight market, the
CFO becomes an ally.

 

[Canuck57]

I love making money and I want to make lots of it. If I thought that I
could generate revenue from my product written for any other OS then I
would do it immediately.

You could with Linux package your product, OS and all into a drop in CD,
install and go. You are right, your average I/T today has to outsource
because they will not pay "qualified and technologically knowledgeable"
staff.

But I deal with a lot of middle management folks who don't have techo
geeks lurking in the basement to fix any problems with Linux or any
other operating system and whose users are comfortable with windows,
who would have nothing to do with anything other than Microsoft for an
OS.

Fix Linux problems?

Hell, one system I setup people actually forgot where it was until the
UPS batteries melted. 4 years, 1 month up time without patches or
intervention. How can you get better than that? Never seen windows
anything come close.

I am 53 this year and I plan to be programming for a long time yet, and
I am very positive that I will be programming for Microsoft Windows
Operating Systems for a long time yet. Give me Windows, Visual Studio
.net, SQL Server and some 3rd party .net components and I will be very
happy and content and generate enough revenue to keep me happy.

Yep, you do have a point. You have to rewrite 1/2 of everything on each
OS, API change that comes. Keeps you busy. I have code written in the
early 80's on HP-UX that compiles on Linux today with only one switch
added to a makefile and code unmodified, --depricated.

I have never had one of my customers say to me, what do you think about
Linux or Ubuntu or Macintosh?

That is like asking a person what kind of fix they like. Me, I could pay
for Reflections X OR run Linux in a VM. I choose the later.

Skipping minor versions and not-so-premium, not-so-ultimate, server this
that and the next thing, dll ocx com net Win3.x, WinNT, Win95, Win98,
WinMe, W2000, W2008, Xp, XP Pro, Vista (aka Me again).

Man, your brain must be in API hurt.

 

[Canuck57]

Yes and Linux must be a brand new product and that's why it hasn't
caught on yet! Linux has been around since 1991. My math is not that
great but using my trusty Microsoft calculator that calculates to 17
years. It sure is taking a long time for Linux to make it's way into
the business world at large. I am not denying that it has its place in
some businesses, but for the majority of businessess, No. There is no
way that the average business will forego Microsoft and install Linux.
If Linux after 17 years of life and being free hasn't pushed its way
into the mainstream business world, it never will. The car took less
time to push out the horse and buggy than 17 years. Unless we are
talking about the Amish who will never use a car.

Spreading the BS again.

Linux is in about every wireless and Internet router I know. If it isn't
Linux, it might be a Free or Open BSD derivative.

Chinese use it for servers in a big way as MS is too weak and fat inside
to handle the load of the Chinese character set, that is a series of GIF/
JPG/PNG files instead of ascii characters.

In the Internet server market Linux goes head on with MS-Windblows and
most often wins. ISPs today don't run much MS-Windows and of those like
Network Solutions, took them two weeks to be hacked open like a banana.

Even Microsoft uses Akami, notorious for using Linux to distribute the
data and bail out MS-DNS.

Think, your broadband router, your Linksys, Netgear or D-Link Internet
gateway/router, your Linux at work. You are just too dumb to realize
it. Check your cell phone, mine uses Linux and a Java API.

My biggest servers run Solaris and Linux. They kick ass. And when some
MS twerp gives me a jab, I say lets see your system under load. The last
idiot that took me up on that had a very bad day.

And given Vista maxes out at 5kbs on my 100kbs network, not likely to
even see it as a stand alone developers box. PoC simple.

You got Linux, you are just too blind to see it. Google? 100% Linux on
the public side and on the DB back end. A Linux cluster that makes MS
look like beginners.

 

[BillG]

I don't dispute you there. Linux is great for hosting computers and routers
and such. But as a desktop operating system for the average business user
it won't happen. I am not going to get my customers to switch out their
Windows, Office 2003/2007, SQL Server and all their other windows software
and throw Linux on the users desktops.

BillG

 

[C.B.]

To all you Vista whiners and haters.

I have used Microsoft Operating Systems since Dos 3.0. Other than Windows
ME, Microsoft keeps improving each operating system and keeps adding new
functionality to it version after version. I have Vista running on two
machines and XP running on one machine on my desk and I prefer using the
Vista machines. I have found yes there are some issues that I have with
Vista but not enough to stop me from using it. I have had minor problems
so I also have had problems with XP and NT and 95 and 98 and dos etc.
There is no perfect OS. I have worked with Linux and Unix but
unfortunately I am a consultant in the real business world and don't deal
with the I hate Bill Gates users who love Linux and Unix and I have to use
real operating systems that the majority of businesses use and that's
Windows operating system. Yes there are those programmers and systems
people stuck in little dark dingy corners who use Unix and Linux to run
some applications but the majority of the business world uses Windows. I
think that the anti-Vista people are just whining over nothing. I am a
programmer using Visual Studio 2008 and I prefer programming on my Vista
machine over my XP machine. I will never go back to XP. A lot of the
people that have issues on these forums with Vista are the same ones that
had issues with XP and 95 and 98. And then there are those that should not
be using computers and you know who you are. Please forgive my venting
but I am tired of seeing people knock Vista. It is a great operating
system. Yes, it has issues and problems. But again I do not try to run it
on a 5 year old computer with 1 GB of ram and a 100 MB hard drive.
Because of what I do, I try to buy a new computer every 2 years. I am
also not trying to run games developed years ago on my Vista system. No
one here is trying to watch Hi Def tv on a 5 year old $200 Walmart TV. So
why should you expect to run the latest and greatest operating system and
software on the same type of computer that ran Windows 95/98 and ran the
software of 5 years ago. I certainly don't want to. Now I will sit back
and wait for the flaming from the "I hate Bill Gates and I am jealous of
Microsoft's success" crowd.

BillG

and no I am not that BillG. My bank account will prove it.

BillG,

Adults respect the wishes and choices of others. Children whine and
fail to understand the choices of others. One can choose between adult
behavior and childish behavior. Their comments define whom they are.
For those of you who wish to sling negative comments concerning my post
please feel free to do so. Childish criticisms roll off me like water on a
duck's back.

C.B.

 

[Frank]

Spreading the BS again.

Spreading bullsh*t is your job! You're doing pretty good at it.

Linux is in about every wireless and Internet router I know. If it isn't
Linux, it might be a Free or Open BSD derivative.

Then is isn't really in every router, right?

Chinese use it for servers in a big way as MS is too weak and fat inside
to handle the load of the Chinese character set, that is a series of GIF/
JPG/PNG files instead of ascii characters.

More lies?

In the Internet server market Linux goes head on with MS-Windblows and
most often wins.

Not really.

ISPs today don't run much MS-Windows and of those like

Network Solutions, took them two weeks to be hacked open like a banana.

More lies! You're getting very good at lying.

Even Microsoft uses Akami, notorious for using Linux to distribute the
data and bail out MS-DNS.

Think, your broadband router, your Linksys, Netgear or D-Link Internet
gateway/router, your Linux at work. You are just too dumb to realize
it. Check your cell phone, mine uses Linux and a Java API.

Think desktop...try it..and you'll see Windows first, then Mac's than a
few linux...sorry! :-(

My biggest servers run Solaris and Linux. They kick ass. And when some
MS twerp gives me a jab, I say lets see your system under load. The last
idiot that took me up on that had a very bad day.

So you're unemployed and unemployable...just as we all thought.

And given Vista maxes out at 5kbs on my 100kbs network, not likely to
even see it as a stand alone developers box. PoC simple.

So you really are too stupid to properly install, configure and run
Vista, huh?
Figures!

You got Linux, you are just too blind to see it. Google? 100% Linux on
the public side and on the DB back end. A Linux cluster that makes MS
look like beginners.

We've got desktop OS's called Windows? So who gives a sh*t what your
refrigerator is running, huh?...LOL!
You're a stupid fool!
Frank

 

[Adam Albright]

Since you are obviously a Microsoft hater and hate Windows, why you even be
on a Microsoft Forum? I hate Linux and MAC but I don't go trolling on their
forums to say anything negative about them. Are you using Windows? If so,
why? If it is so bad and Microsoft is so evil, why do you support them by
using their operating system and office products and other products?

BillG

Oh please... I'm a realist. You're living a fantasy.

Why am I in a Microsoft "forum"? For starters you're dead wrong on
that score. this isn't a forum Mr. "professional" so you know, you're
not sounding too smart or professional to me since you can't even get
that right. This is called a newsgroup. Should I explain the
difference to you further, you only need to ask.

As to why I'm here, I have every right to be. I'm both a customer and
a stockholder. Why I use their software I already explained, you need
to pay better attention.

The ONLY reason I run Windows is my considerable investment in Windows
based software. I don't consider Microsoft evil, rather the word I
would use is mismanaged. Since technically I'm one of the owners of
the company be it a very small interest still being a stockholder I
have every right to complain over how Microsoft is making an inferior
product which gives the company a bad reputation and a lot of angry
customers which of course concerns me since Microsoft has the capacity
to do much better.

Since Gates is no longer interested in the day to day operations of
Microsoft and is more concerned by his legacy and giving away his
fortune it would be wise to have somebody steering the ship instead of
allowing it to slowly sink.

A recent example of Ballmer's "intelligence" is his poor handling of
the planned buyout of Yahoo. This has gone on for months and hasn't
been resolved or even nudged along. Microsoft if well managed could
have and by this time should have made a hostile takeover by proxy and
be done with it. Instead it has festered with both Microsoft's and
Yahoo's stock suffering due to the uncertainty of the outcome. This is
basically the way Ballmer runs the company. He doesn't have a clue,
Gates doesn't seem to care anymore either.

 

[Adam Albright]

Best to pay no attention to him at all.
He hates everyone and knows everything there is to know about anything.
Just ask him...LOL!
Frank

I know you're an idiot. Of course so does everyone else.

 

[Canuck57]

Nice attempt at trying to twist the truth.

There is only ONE reason business owners use Windows. To run their
considerable investment in Windows based software. If any other OS ran
Windows software ACCURATELY millions upon millions of individuals and
practically all businesses would dump Windows overnight.

Quite accurate in except UNIX/Linux often run the ERP systems of larger
companies. Can you imagine making billion dollar ROI and yearly
financial statements in Excel or Access?

But for smaller companies, it is true.

Since you obviously are unaware Microsoft is by far the most hated
software company on the planet. They are seen as arrogant, earned a well
deserved reputation as being bullies to partners and customers, seen as
aloof and unresponsive and as not giving a damn about their customers.

Just 8 years ago you could have been called a heretic for insinuating
that. Today, it is good coffee conversation. The Microsoft Teflon has
worn off.

 

[BillG]

You eat with that mouth. You have no respect. I just questioned why you
were in this group. It was an honest question. So you make money off of
Microsoft. You profit when Microsoft profits. I have been in the computer
business for a long time in fact over 20 years. My software has bugs in it
and so does everyone elses. I am not condoning it but saying it is a fact
of life. Considering how big an operating system is, and how much it can do
and how each part of it is so interrelated no wonder bugs occur. Show me a
piece of software on the market today that does not have to deploy fixes or
patches. They all do it. From Microsoft to Adobe to Blizzard to the little
mom and pop consulting company. You wouldn't want to pay for a perfect
software package that was completely free of bugs or wait for the time
needed to completely test it. That car you drive has bugs in it, have you
ever heard of recalls. Those applicances in your home break down and need
fixing. Our society is not prepared to pay for computers or operating
systems or other pieces of software that is completely bug free. And as a
stockholder, who profits from Microsoft, you wouldn't want them to spend
your dividends on bug free software. Whether we like it or not, software is
not now or ever going to be completely bug free or never in need of patches.
BTW this can be considered a forum. There are other sites that interchange
the wording. And if that is what you are going to debate me on instead of
the real topic then it shows how ignorant you are and unable to
intelligently discuss matters.

BillG

 

[BillG]

I have no reason to bad mouth Microsoft. Over the years, I have made a
good living because of Microsoft. I thank Bill Gates for his software and
operating systems. I have been an MCSE, MCT, SQL Server Administrator,
developer etc. all thanks to Microsoft products. I have no complaints.

BillG

 

[Canuck57]

Since you are obviously a Microsoft hater and hate Windows, why you even
be on a Microsoft Forum? I hate Linux and MAC but I don't go trolling
on their forums to say anything negative about them. Are you using
Windows? If so, why? If it is so bad and Microsoft is so evil, why do
you support them by using their operating system and office products and
other products?

Probably the same reason I am, to dispel MS FUD. And there are plenty of
MS-FUD fanboys in Linux groups. Why not have a few people with enough
neurons to try both and make a judgement for themselves in a Vista group?

Microsoft is evil because they are a manipulative greedy company. They
lost their technical savvy a long time ago, and Vista shows it. They
rely on manipulative and monopolistic practises to sell people a $19 OS/
Office for 25 times what it is worth.

And a growing population of dissenters, we don't have a damn choice. We
are in essence force by collusion and politics to run this Vista/XP
trash. Although I will admit, XP was finally mature and understood
enough to be good. Then MS nixes it.

Why? M$ can't stand competition and when people can work with their OS,
they change it at a cost to users, companies and not much choice about
it. People have lived across the many broken M$ promises, and getting
wise to the crap being spewed.

Written on Ubuntu 8.04/Pan - I will only use Linux or Microsoft XP. Vista
isn't fit for human consumption.

As for MS Office, I haven't used it for 2 years. At work save it as a
2000/XP doc and no one ever knew. Even exported PDFs....

But that is why M$ wants people to go Office 2007, to get people locked
into another dead format when they could have ODF. This sucker isn't
going to play the game any longer.

 

[Adam Albright]

Just 8 years ago you could have been called a heretic for insinuating
that. Today, it is good coffee conversation. The Microsoft Teflon has
worn off.

Right. Microsoft wasn't always seen in a negative light. Once upon a
time Microsoft had a lot of employees that really did care about
customers...even small ones like me. Seems the corporate climate
changed.

I can remember a personal experience from many years ago, back in
Windows 95 days. I apparently had picked up a nasty virus that deleted
some of my system files and I couldn't boot.

I called the local Microsoft sales office and they put me in touch
with some Microsoft systems engineer who not only called me several
times on his dime late in the evening when he obviously wasn't working
and he took the time to make a copy of his startup floppy and mailed
it to me since I also managed to infect my original copy of my startup
disk. A few days latter he called again just to be sure I got the
system up and running again. Still have that floppy for keepsake. That
kind of free service would never happen under Ballmer.

 

[BillG]

This is not a Microsoft thing. When was the last time your doctor or lawyer
called you at night on their own dime. I go see my doctor to ask a question
and he bills my insurance company for a visit.

Do you work for free? Do you give away your time? Would you feel put out
if your employer said that he wanted you to answer calls at night but you
don't get paid for it. Business is business.

No business will stay in business long giving away its time. That's sad but
true. I

have been in the consulting business for many years and I answer my phone
at night and I don't nickel and dime my clients and charge them as much as I
should but I am a smaller business that doesn't have thousands of employees
to earn revenue.

Imagine if every Microsoft employee gave every person who bought Microsoft
products extra time like that tech did to you, although it was nice, they
wouldn't have time to do anything else. It's an unfortunate part of
business that the bottom line is often the judge of whether a company or a
president is successful. You are a large shareholder of MS. I am sure that
you want to get your dividends and expect MS to make a profit and not give
the store away.

BillG

 

[Canuck57]

This is not a Microsoft thing. When was the last time your doctor or
lawyer called you at night on their own dime. I go see my doctor to ask
a question and he bills my insurance company for a visit.

Do you work for free? Do you give away your time? Would you feel put
out if your employer said that he wanted you to answer calls at night
but you don't get paid for it. Business is business.

No business will stay in business long giving away its time. That's sad
but true. I

have been in the consulting business for many years and I answer my
phone
at night and I don't nickel and dime my clients and charge them as much
as I should but I am a smaller business that doesn't have thousands of
employees to earn revenue.

Imagine if every Microsoft employee gave every person who bought
Microsoft
products extra time like that tech did to you, although it was nice,
they wouldn't have time to do anything else. It's an unfortunate part
of business that the bottom line is often the judge of whether a company
or a president is successful. You are a large shareholder of MS. I am
sure that you want to get your dividends and expect MS to make a profit
and not give the store away.

BillG

Lets see, MS-Office and Win7 (Vista fixed up) $30 times say 400M users.
$16B.

BUT you want $300 for Vista + 400 MS-Office, $700 per and then every 3
years.

Crumb, I think it is time Redmond and Vista went on a diet.