Why Windows Sucks a rant by

Al Wong

May 18, 2003 Windows Sucks! I can't stand it anymore! Windows has always sucked. I have used Windows 2.0 in the early 1990s and it was slow, slow, slow. I thought Windows 3.1 was a vast improvement even though it kept crashing like every 10-15 minutes. I kept quiet when Microsoft forced all computer makers to abandon MS-DOS and put Windows 95 (Win95) on all their new computers in 1996! The Command Window in Win95 and above is not true DOS. Don't let anyone fool you. Also, you had to buy new software for Win95 to replace the old software you had working in MS-DOS! Of course, more bugs were introduced. I quietly resisted by asking that my new computer still have MS-DOS and Windows for Workgroups 3.11. I even had to pay extra for this. I knew we were going further downhill when the "more stable" Windows 98 (Win98) was released and businesses around me tried to upgrade to it from Win95. The upgrade just made the slow systems even slower and buggier I tried to be understanding when Windows 2000 and Windows NT were released. Some bugs were fixed but other bugs took their place. You also had to buy other more expensive software to replace the older software you had running in the earlier version of Windows. This, of course, introduced more bugs. Windows is the BIGGEST SCAM in the computer field. It purports to make computers easier to use for everyone. However, quite the opposite has occurred. I believe the real reason why the return on investment for office computer productivity has been flat or increased little in the last 8 years is because of Windows. I certainly feel Windows has contributed to the computer productivity paradox. It may even be the main cause for the paradox! Waiting for this time parasite to bootup, restart after frequent crashes, time spent on installation of programs, dealing with program conflicts, etc. is the biggest time waster in any business! Further proof: Why Bigger and Faster? Ever wonder why newer versions of Windows require you to upgrade your computer hardware? Ever notice your productivity remains the same or is less even though your present computer is hundreds of times faster and more powerful than the one you had just five years ago? Wake up people! It's a scam! You don't need a faster computer. You need a better operating system. Microsoft continuingly makes money by selling you the latest and greatest Windows. The latest Windows version is always the most inefficient yet, slowing down your fast computer. Also, now you have to upgrade all your other software too because different Windows versions are not compatible with each other! A hidden cost not mentioned at all. It's part of the scam. Computer Crashes Are Not Normal. Believe it or not, your computer hardware was designed to run continuously for weeks and months without crashing. Crashing everyday is NOT normal. It is accepted as normal because of Windows. Windows Help is Pretty Useless. What a time waster. If you want an overview, read the Windows Help or better yet, read the manual. If you need help on a specific problem, you can be sure Windows Help does not have that information. Also, I have never solved a problem I had using the Windows Help Troubleshooter. WinXP Help tries to be "smarter" by pointing to webpages. However, the URLs appear to be all broken in WinXP Help. It appears some idiotic webmaster at Microsoft changed all the support links rendering WinXP Help all but useless. What New Features? Microsoft constantly harps on providing new features in it's products. Features hardly anyone uses. You know what features I would like? I want EVERY Windows program to remember the LAST DIRECTORY I looked at. Also, I want Windows to remember the LAST FILE TYPE I was looking at. I hate opening My Computer and having to start at the top of the directory tree every damn time! It should put me in the last directory I looked at. I hate running Notepad and having to start at the top of the directory tree every damn time. Then I have to set the file type to "All Files" because Notepad insists on looking for *.txt files first! How asinine is that? I want to see ALL THE FILES, damn it! Just those two simple features would save untold hours of wasted time. It should be relatively trivial to implement. Those two features are the extra 10% that make using Windows 100% better. Do you think Microsoft will make this change to make life easier? A feature which will actually be used by everyone? A certain more bang for your buck effort? They have not in all the previous versions of Windows! Idiotic Behaviour. Why does Windows blame the user everytime it crashes? After a crash, some versions of Windows insist on scanning the hard disk first before booting up. Meanwhile, Windows chides the user for not shutting it down properly! This can and does happen several times a day. It was not the user's fault Windows crashed. Microsoft, take responsibility for your buggy operating system. Changing Procedures. One of the strengths of Windows is it gives the user a familar and common environment. All windows should behave the same way. Menu items should also behave the same way. Great. Then why do the procedures to do something keep changing between the versions of Windows? You force the user to relearn how to do what should be a simple task. For example, the procedure to enable/disable the hard disk caching is different in each version of Windows! Windows itself is behaving differently. Another example, how to disable programs that automatically startup in WinXP on bootup. It used to be simple. In earlier versions of Windows, you just move the program shortcuts from the Startup folder. But Nooooo, let's add 3-4 levels of difficulty: First, DON'T MENTION how to do it in the Windows XP Help.

Second, let's put some Startup programs in using environmental variables and others in some unknown space like the Windows registry where a tiny mistake can screw everything up.

programs in using environmental variables and others in some unknown space like the Windows registry where a tiny mistake can screw everything up. Third, let's make one program so ONLY that program can make the changes. Let's NOT tell the user what that program is. And forget about the Startup folder/file model that everyone is used to.

folder/file model that everyone is used to. Fourth, let's require the user to reboot his computer again just to break up his session and his train of thought.

Fifth, let's put up a warning that the system is now booting in "Diagnostic" mode to further confuse the user. Just because you disabled a program from starting on bootup, WinXP automatically assumes you are running diagnostics. It doesn't assume you JUST DON'T WANT that program starting up because it's simply annoying, takes up space, takes time to load, etc. Or that you didn't ask it to load on startup. It just rudely put itself there. Busy Work. Windows introduces a slew of other problems that did not exist before. Whole industries have arisen to solve this busy work. (i.e. work that appears to be accomplishing something but in fact, does nothing.) The infrastructure that supports Windows is a separate billion dollar industry unto itself! This industry strives to make Windows "easier" to use. Since this has not happened, all the effort in the Windows industry is further productivity that is wasted. I cannot believe no one else has seen this. I just discovered something about Ebay that's ominous. I was trying to put some auctions on-line as a seller. I have not sold anything at Ebay for more than a year. The real problem is this. You cannot submit an auction at Ebay using Netscape (I'm using Netscape version 6.2.3) anymore! The submission won't finish! The Netscape window just disappears without an error message! You HAVE to use Internet Explorer! That really pisses me off! Ebay is forcing you to use a Windows product with no other options! Ebay should know better than that. To my knowledge, Microsoft does not own Ebay. Yet. Other Links What's So Bad About Microsoft is a very well written, comprehensive piece. Recommended.

Windows XP Shows the Direction Microsoft is Going is another well written piece concentrating on Windows XP.

What Alternatives Are There to Microsoft? Lists various alternative operating systems and software that are non-Microsoft based.

Rants and Rage Contains random mini-rants BBS style. Some are over the edge. Some are entertaining.