Top 17 Things That Suck About Microsoft S/W
I was working on my PC today and was irritated for the millionth time at all the stupid sh#t Windows XP and other Microsoft programs do to add grief and frustration to my life. So I thought I would come up with a list of those things that Microsoft annoys me most with on a frequent basis.
I was working on my PC today and was irritated for the millionth time at all the stupid sh#t Windows XP and other Microsoft programs do to add grief and frustration to my life. So I thought I would come up with a list of those things that Microsoft annoys me most with on a frequent basis.17. Incessant Product Promotion. I hate that Microsoft tries to sell me any number of other products any time I access Windows Update (which I only have to do because they release incomplete and security vulnerable software) or Windows Media Player. Thankfully I never have to use Messanger or Hotmail which is even worse!
16. Painfully Slow Windows Explorer Nav Bar. I hate that when I am in a folder and I go to select a different location from the top drop-down bar the action pauses for 5 or 6 seconds while it scans for all connected drives and devices. Is there any reason this list has to be regenerated every time this action is made rather than to do it only when things change and cache the information?
15. Prohibitively Slow Previews. I hate that when I copy/move a graphics or video file that has not been selected Windows XP tells me it cannot be copied/moved because it is being used when really it is just trying to display the preview thumbnail.
14. Competitive Strategy Intentionally Limits Cross-Browser Support. I hate that Explorer seems to be written to purposely break competing technologies like Java and Quicktime and for web pages to have very limited cross-browser support.
13. Mediocre OS Stability. I hate that Windows Programs and the OS crash on a weekly basis and I especially hate that consumers have come to accept that quality mediocrity.
12. Horribly Faulty User Action Prediction. I hate any time Windows or Word tries to predict what I want to do (their accuracy is roughly 10% for me). This includes auto indentations, auto-text (so there is that annoying little drop-down bar), auto-paste (do I really kneed to be able to select from the past 20 copy/paste actions?), and many other annoyances.
11. Single Mailbox Outlook Limit. I hate that I cannot connect multiple email account types (POP3 and Exchange) to Outlook Pro.
10. Incessant Associate File Type Polling. I hate that if I ever use Windows Media Player it always try to re-associate every graphics and video file type known to man so that it will open WMP (thankfully I rarely use it).
9. Ultra Slow Internet Explorer Loading I hate that in the event I have to use Explorer (probably their best program but still nothing near as elegant, extendable, secure or user-friendly as Firefox) to view a page correctly it takes significantly longer to load the program (like 3 times as long – maybe 30+ seconds) and is so open to security issues I almost always have to scan for viruses, spy-ware and Browser “Help” objects immediately after. And Explorer tries to change my Home Page to Microsoft.com.
8. Painstaking 4-Click Peripheral Removal. I hate that when I plug in any peripheral (camera, external hard drive, printer, etc.) and decide to disconnect I right click the Disconnect Safely green icon in the task bar and release, but then instead of disconnecting it brings up a dialog box and makes you select the peripheral you want to disconnect (even when only 1 is connected), then click and then when you select it and click stop it brings up another dialog that forces you to select again from a list of 1 item and press Stop. Why should this action require more than a 1-click (select and stop the peripheral from a short list right in the task bar menu) process?
7. Non-Removable Empty Trash Warning. I hate that when I empty the trash Windows XP forever asks me if I really am certain I want to empty it despite having unchecked the “Display Delete Confirmation Dialog” in the Trash Properties and rechecking it is still unchecked literally 100 times.
6. Lost Location in Open Dialog. I hate that when I enter the Open dialog box (from in any application) it never remembers my previous location.
5. Closed Shortcut Pane in Open Dialog. I hate that when I am in the Open dialog box there is no way to easily add to the location favorite shortcuts on the left, so I have to add shortcuts to their predefined selections (e.g. My Documents) and make an extra click any time I go somewhere other than where they want me to look. I also have to see a listing for multiple location shortcuts I almost never use and would absolutely never use if I could add my own shortcuts (e.g. My Network Places and My Computer).
4. Forgotten Folder Views in Open Dialog. I hate that when I am in the Open dialog box and navigate (again) to my previous location, it never remembers the folder view I had selected previously forcing me to make 3 extra clicks each and every time (views=>details; sort by date and sort by date again to see the newest file at the top).
3. Hassle Heavy Desktop Photo Browsing. I hate that when I go to change my desktop photo (which I do weekly) and I am browsing through photos then select one and click apply, if I want to immediately browse and try another photo from the same location I click Browse and it has already forgotten my previous location. But if I close the Display Properties and re-open it again then click browse it has suddenly remembered that previous location.
2. Incessant Self-Perpetuating Notification. I hate that when Windows continually asks me if I want to change back to their inferior default software for my browser, messaging program, and video player despite me having answered in the negative numerous times and their messages are worded to scare the novice into going back to their products. Once I un-check the Display this Warning Again I should never see it again, but it still comes up periodically after updates and such (convenient for them).
And the Number 1 Thing that sucks about Microsoft Software…
1. Monopoly Success Leads To Mediocrity of Product. I hate that Microsoft – with fairly average to mediocre software and zero innovation – is still so successful at business and competition that they have squeezed or purchased all the superior products out of the market (from Word Perfect to Netscape to Lotus Notes) and this in turn removes any incentive for them to put out higher quality products.
I still contend the best program they have ever come out with is Explorer and that was only since it was the first time in years they had to compete on quality and ease-of-use. It is no surprise to me that they stopped making significant improvements to Explorer around the time Netscape gave up on its browser (2001) and now Mozilla Firefox has come out and is superior in every way (faster, more secure, more customizable, and with more extendable plug-ins). On the gaming side they have developed a great system with a fantastic on-line service because again they have real competition from Sony and to a lesser extent Nintendo.
I use Microsoft products out of professional necessity, but any past or present Mac user knows the elegance and accessibility of the Mac Operating System and Applications and it astounds me that Microsoft has been able to brainwash their users into accepting perpetually inferior quality, security and predictability. I suspect Vista will have improvements in all these areas but if history is any indication there will be a whole slew of new issues that will arise and have to be patched with service pack downloads before the OS becomes stable, secure and/or a necessary upgrade.
I’m sure there will be plenty of brainwashed consumers who take offense to any criticism of Microsoft. While I do believe the Mac OS interface is far more stable, efficient, intuitive and elegant I am actually not trying to push people switch to Mac OS if they are comfortable in Windows, only to question the mediocrity of Microsoft products and to demand more out of their OS and software.
Feel free to leave your comments but please be respectful.
April 21st, 2007 at 2:42 PM
Mike:
Interesting post. Not sure why you have to use MS products out of professional necessity. If you hate them so much, then don’t use them.
I have never owned a Mac and likely never will. I have always used PCs/Windows… The platform is certainly far from perfect, but I don’t think it is anything to hate. Am I brainwashed? Perhaps (unknowingly). I do know that the time/expense/hassle of switching to a Mac is far more painful then dealing with the occassional hiccup with MS products.
I began using FireFox about 9 months ago… It is nice, but not *dramatically* better than IE. The tabs are nice… I only use IE now when a specific website requires it. FF is better than IE, but not by a lot. I am using FF more so just to try something different. One gripe about FF (or is this with MS?) is that some video will not play in FF… Specifically video clips on cnn.com.
I use Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. One gripe I had with Outlook 2000 was the arbitrary limit of a 2GB mailbox.pst file. That caused me huge problems when I hit that limit and my Outlook basically imploded. But then I was using software that was 6 years old at the time… I now have Outlook 2003 and it works great. Word and Excel work great for me.
I do have a challenge when trying to explore hard drives across my peer-to-peer network… Sometimes Windows will take 10-20 seconds to recognize a drive… Not sure what it is doing.
Overall, MS products are acceptable for me. Are the Mac religious zealots right in saying that their platform is far superior? Maybe… But certainly not worth it to me from a time/expense/disruption perspective to switch.
And… perhaps more importantly …. I have a gigantic list of gripes in life that are far more severe than the occassional challenge with MS… One being the fact that every company on earth (not websites but customer service phone reps) requires you to have a unique ID and pwd (many of which have “security measures” that prevent you from using passwords that you can remember). So I end up having to manage a giant list of ids/pwds… And don’t get me started on political gripes
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Mike,
I agree. Especially about point #8. It is maddening to have to waste clicks to unhook USB peripherals.
For what its worth, I’ve been a Mac user and PC user for the last 20 years. I think XP was a step in the right direction for Microsoft – it is far superior than previous versions of Windows. While it has some stability, it still is generally a slow OS to use and often frustrating. I still use it out of necessity (work) but find myself hating it more at home. Outlook is bloatware, IE is cumbersome and slow (FF rules) and the only real reason is b/c of Office (which I hardly use at home anyway). I will never buy another PC again.
I bought a Mac a few years ago and the difference in simplicity is striking. In the Mac OS, things just work as they are supposed to. I rarely find programs crashing at all, and it has a level of elegant simplicity that is so appealing. What is funny is that I often find myself trying to figure things out with a Mac and I catch myself “over thinking” the problem, as if I was using WinXP. Then I stop, look at the problem and the simplest solution is the one that usually works on the Mac.
I recently edited a 30 minute DVD with iDVD and Final Cut and it was amazing how well it came together. I didn’t need any extra codecs or have issues like I have had with Windows Media Player. It is the superior platform for anything to do with video production or graphics work. End. of. story. While there are some Mac fanatics out there, all i can say is “try it” and see if you like it. To each his own . . . .
April 25th, 2007 at 7:50 PM
John Riley,
Thanks for reading and for the comments.
While I do believe the Mac OS interface is far more stable, efficient, intuitive and elegant I am actually not trying to push people switch to Mac OS if they are comfortable in Windows, only to question the mediocrity of Microsoft products and to demand more out of their OS and software.
Regarding Firefox, make sure to install the Firefox plug-ins called IE View Lite and IE Tab. This will make the complete utilization in Firefox fine for 99% of sites (since any problems you click an icon and the site re-opens in a tab using the IE rendering engine. Also install Fasterfox and you will notice a speed increase 50% and so the speed difference will be significantly more noticeable and annoying.
Dave Zemke,
Thank you as well for the comments. That is interesting about your tendency to over-think the interface on the Mac. We forget that Microsoft has also brainwashed the masses (even power users like ourselves) that interface complexity should be the norm.
I am also a Mac fan but have not used one at home in probably 9 years and at work for 7. I switched to PC when we were at EA and I was given a PC for email, MS Office, some dev work and some gaming at home. Nowdays Macs work a lot better with PCs and can run both operating systems so I do not think it would be as necessary to make that switch. Also, while I absolutely feel the Mac OS is clearly superior than Windows I am not so convinced they are worth a 35% premium (more if you want to run both OS X and Windows on it).