You Thought You Hated Windows? Check Out What Bill Gates Had To Say
from the classic dept
This one is getting passed around pretty quickly, but as he retires from Microsoft, we couldn't resist highlighting this fantastic internal email from Bill Gates complaining about the usability of some Windows features. It's old -- from 2003 -- but it's difficult to read it and not identify with some of the complaints. It reads like thousands of angry ticked off blog posts from folks who run into ridiculous situations with Windows. The only difference, of course, is that this one comes from Bill Gates. Some excerpts (though, you should read the whole thing):So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes.When asked about the email, Gates claims he sends similar notes nearly every day, as that's his job. If that were the case, though, wouldn't you have expected Windows to actually get better?
Doesn't Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?
Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff.
This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg.
So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn't use it for anything else during this time.
What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished.
Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night -- why should I reboot at that time?
So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state.
So I got back up and running and went to Windows Update again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker.
So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.
....
At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to download.
So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things like "Open" or "Save". No guidance in the instructions which to do. I have no clue which to do.
The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing.
So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove programs place to make sure it is there.
It is not there.
What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package, Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.
Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable? The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable. This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.
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Filed Under: bill gates, complaints, windows
Companies: microsoft
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Not to sound cynical...
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He should have just used google. It gives the correct link at the top of the list
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Re:
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Re:
geeks are not "that" cool
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Dunno...
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Re: Dunno.. .
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Not Surprising
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Herding Cats
I am a "Gato Caballero"
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I'm going to defend this...
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Re: I'm going to defend this...
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Dog Food
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Re: Dog Food
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Re: Re: Dog Food
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"In Charge" is an oxymoron
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Re: "In Charge" is an oxymoron
And "In Charge" isn't an oxymoron anyhow. Sure, it may be a "misnomer" or "inaccurate" but it is hardly an oxymoron.
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Re: Re: "In Charge" is an oxymoron
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Vista what?
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Re: Vista what?
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Re: Vista what?
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Gates
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whatnowmyspacebardoesn'twork!?!?!
I get real tired of people assuming that any product will be perfect right out of the box and the polar opposites that think that because MS is involved that the system will not be worth anything.
Windows makes the competitors work hard. Microsoft makes good and bad software. It does what it is supposed to and when I stop downloading stupid crap it will work forever.
Enjoy or Dont.
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Re: whatnowmyspacebardoesn'twork!?!?!
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Re: whatnowmyspacebardoesn'twork!?!?!
And exactly who are the competitors to Windows? MacIntosh? Until very recently, Mac users couldn't run Windows apps.
The are two problems with MS and Windows: 1) MS has no direct competitor 2) Windows has no direct competitor.
Linus isn't even on the radar for desktop use, and Macs - well, they're nice usable systems, but if you want PC apps, you got to buy yourself a very high end machine.
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Re: Re: whatnowmyspacebardoesn'twork!?!?!
"Linus isn't even on the radar for desktop use" - seriously, if my mom (who's now retired, who never got over the transition from WordPerfect to Word, who now calls me with more questions about her camera than about her computer) can use Linus[sic], then so can you (PCLinuxOS)
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Re: whatnowmyspacebardoesn'twork!?!?!
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Yes! And it is located between your ears.
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What does it tell you about the company?
Since it did not get better 5 years after the BG rant, what does it tell you about Microsoft as a company?
http://www.zoliblog.com/2008/06/24/microsoft-the-walking-dead/
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Re: What does it tell you about the company?
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'best' shore brilliance
Seriously - who'da thunk it?
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Not surprising
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Re: Not surprising
The day Ken Olson discovered that the PDP-11/23B
system wouldn't fit though his office door stands
out in my mind. I thought his head would explode.
Although at DEC they listened to Ken.
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Bill Gates is right
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Overpaid
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Re: Overpaid
I thought they responded with "RTFM!"
Partly kidding.
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Strange post
Isn't it extremely obvious that this isn't "Bill Gates complaining about the usability of some Windows features" but rather putting himself in the shoes of an average PC user who doesn't know anything about anything, and just showing his developers the kind of trouble an average user might have to go through updating windows.
"This time I get dialogs saying things like 'Open' or 'Save'... I have no clue which to do."
This is obviously not Bill Gates talking, but pretending to be a average user.
I'm not sure what the point here is. Are you suggesting Bill Gates was genuinely complaining about Windows? All I see is a company chief trying to put himself in the shoes of an average customer, and if anything, I think it's a very good strategy.
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Face it... XP is the last greatest desktop OS from MS
XP (and MS Office), I think, as a desktop OS has gone as far it can go and now, new ways of communication and working will leave the desktop in the dust-- a niche product.
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Re: Face it... XP is the last greatest desktop OS from MS
Next week, I get paid, and Apple is getting a new customer.
Sorry Microsoft. It's been a great run (since DOS 4.1) but it's time to go. Didn't Jim Allchien say they lost their way?
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Re: Re: Face it... XP is the last greatest desktop OS from MS
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Re: #23, Strange Post
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Bill Gates did not write this..
XP is in fact a great OS..I'm not a fan of Vista however.
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Four words for you
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I smell an urban legend
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Re: I smell an urban legend
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Poor Bill
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elohel
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Get a Mac.
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Re:
Now I don't do video production any longer and I lean more toward Linux but I still use IRIX and even XP, on my laptop.
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There is a reason Vista is crap.
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Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
A few months ago, I was window shopping at Best Buy, and I asked (for the hell of it) if I could buy a computer without Windows VISTA. Their response was that I could not buy a computer without Windows VISTA. One should be able to buy a computer without the operating system.
Its unfortunate that Microsoft, like many large companies, has lost its way. Hopefully LINUX will continue to rise and dethrone Microsoft.
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Re: Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
This is what we, in a sane world, would call a monopoly. Your opitons for buying a non-Mac without that steaming turd of an OS are extremely limited. It's the only reason Microsoft can brag about Windows sales: they are forcing it on you whether you want it or not.
But it's obvious that the government doesn't care, so Microsoft's inevitable decline will drag the whole PC industry down with it. At this point, they are more of a spoiler than anything else, trying to damage as much as possible in a vain attempt to maintain their unfair market position.
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Re: Re: Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
Indeed. My first action when I bought my new laptop was to install Linux on it (Mandriva). However, Microsoft still got a Vista licence payment for it because I wasn't allowed to buy a Linux/OS-free version. Free money.
Oh, and to all the people saying "Linux isn't a popular/real desktop OS", this is the problem. It's impossible to get real usage figures for Linux desktops because most computers get counted as Windows desktops at the point of sale. There are no solid figures for the numbers of people who wipe Windows off completely, or those who dual boot. The total number of Linux desktop users may be much higher than you think.
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Re: Re: Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
And your options for buying a Mac without an OS are... what? Absolutely nonexistent, if I'm not mistaken. That's just as wrong, isn't it? I'm not saying you're inconsistent, you just didn't mention Apple at all.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
I do think there is a difference between the two: with Apple, I don't see so much of an issue with Apple hardware being accompanied by Apple software/OS, just like I wouldn't utter 1 word about the fact that the XBox comes with M$ OS/software on it.
It's their hardware so I don't see an issue with them pre-installing (even if they don't give you the option to get it without) their OS/software. Just like I wouldn't argue if HP/Compaq/... would sell computers with their own OS/software on it (without providing the option to buy it without).
It would suck I had to pay for the OS/software when/if I plan on not using it and installing something different myself, but I wouldn't bitch about it.
However, the situation of hardware company X (HP, Dell,...) or retailer (Best Buy, Circuit City,...) that is not part of Microsoft, not offering me the option to purchase their hardware without somebody else's OS/software on it I do object to (unless they give the OS/software for free)
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Re: There is a reason Vista is crap.
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Wouldn't you have expected Windows to actually get better?
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