As other software giants emerge and decidedly threaten Microsoft’s virtual monopoly, you’d think the Redmond bunch would have taken a hint and begun showing customers a bit more respect. And yet, Microsoft remains determined to milk the public cow down to the last drop – while it lasts – in their own arrogant way.
Personally condemned for corporate reasons to endure Windows for yet a while, the daily toil around the cash-oriented compatibility ploys of the Old Microsoftian Empire is a painful reminder of the importance of competition.
Not to sound fanatical, I will give them credit for three things: (i) with all its flaws, Excel is still the best spreadsheet on the market; (ii) the Microsoft mouse works very well; and (iii) Age of Empires, The Conquerors is still the best of games (though they really just bought Ensemble Studios and shamefully will not make it compatible with Windows 7, i.e., buy new games or go to hell!).
Most word processor users will work with the horrible MS Word because it is the most widely used in business. Very few that I know like the software and almost all condemn the inevitable confusion brought about by the recurring changes in interface. By changing file formats all the time (and denying developers access to its most recent code for conversion purposes), Microsoft ensures every user will have to upgrade to the new versions of this very user-unfriendly product. Unfortunately, their marketing strategies are a lot better than the application and with the apathy and fear of change prevalent in the corporate world people just keep using it. And, unavoidably, upgrading.
A user of Corel WordPerfect (which is as close to perfect as word processors have come) since its early DOS versions, now running X5, I am used to opening, editing and saving my documents in the same .wpd format since forever. Money-grabbing tricks like .docx make me sick.
In a fair world, every user should be able to choose his word processing software and save documents in an open format, which all applications could edit. Oracle and Google have made important progress in this direction with their free suites. Unfortunately, none can match the simple yet powerful, clean and transparent quality of WordPerfect.
With the sad demise of Palm Desktop and the end of the ground-breaking Eudora Project (will it rise again with OSE?), I had little choice but to submit to the Outlook dictatorship, only to find that I cannot add or change contact fields unless I purchase Microsoft Business Contact Manager which for new users, lo and behold, is only available for volume licensing… Once again, you are coerced by Microsoft into spending further or not being able to make full use of what you already bought.
Unfortunately, the other more flexible alternatives involve cloud storage of personal and professional information, which my privacy concerns rule out at this time.
Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have liberated us from the heavy regime of Internet Explorer, which caused the demise of the excellent Netscape by being shamefully included for free in the Windows OS, until Court orders made them stop.
Why is everyone moving from XP to Windows 7 (without taking notice of the disastrous Vista)? Not because we needed a new OS version, but because Microsoft will no longer support XP. By support, they mean the endless succession of patches applied to correct defects and vulnerabilities in their expensive software, that were there to begin with. So, if any more defects or flaws are found now, tough luck! Or buy 7…
So, lots of reasons, but are these enough to use the word hate? Perhaps, but for me the worst of all is more basic. I hate the Microsoft attitude, by which I mean their determination to tell you IF you can do it, HOW it will look, WHERE it will be saved and whether you have the RIGHT to make this or another change. Its your computer but they run the show!
Why is this worse? Because being “smart” and forcing you to spend more on things you don’t need can be seen as part of life in a capitalist economy, however little brand loyalty it will build you in the long run. But preventing you from using your own computer the way you prefer is mean arrogant disregard for personal opinion and convenience, as well as utter lack of respect for customer preferences. In all, a deplorable approach to client satisfaction. Which is why, when our chance comes, we’re out!
A very detailed explanation of Microsoft’s hate-gathering history, every aspect carefully researched, from someone who really hates Microsoft, can be found here. This guy says it all!
Photo: Joe Anderson, “ ‘Bin’dows”, Flickr, taken on 17 Jul 2005, Creative Commons (BY-SA). All trademarks mentioned in this post are the property of their respective owners.
