Why does Microsoft Suck?

by percent20 3/26/2005 5:05:00 AM
This is a question that I have for a lot of people here lately. When I hear someone complain about Microsoft and they say that Microsoft sucks I ask why. Almost invariably the answer is, because they make crappy products. To me this answer is totally unfounded. Think about it if Microsoft made crappy products then they would not, at all, be the top software vendor in the world. Yes I will admit there are bugs and some compatibility issues that arise that should be worked out. I mean Windows is not perfect and neither is Linux or OSX. All OS's have their own respective problems; this is a fact of life in the computer age.

I think the thing that annoys me the most is that when I dig deep enough to find the root of the problem I find out most people are annoyed because word or excel or windows does not have one specific feature. Honestly this is a dumb reason to get mad at Microsoft.

Once I find out all this information I ask two questions. These are the general questions and the general answers.

Q. If you don't like windows so much why aren't you using Linux or OSX.

A. I don't understand Linux, it doesn’t make sense to me and Mac’s are so expensive that I can't afford them.

– Response (that I wish I could say):
Let me guess you downloaded Linux tried to install it couldn't get it installed so you stopped there and claimed defeat. Or you got it installed figured out it wasn't as easy as windows and claimed defeat.

Q. What have you done about alerting Microsoft to the problem to get it fixed?

A. Nothing it is not like they read e-mails or anything like that, and that send report thing I read some were that it does nothing so I just click no.

– Response (that I wish I could say):
Ok um you have a problem that you want fixed, but you don't do anything about it. That is completely illogical I mean if there is a problem do something about fixing it then you can honestly have earned the right to complain. Oh and you click no on the report error if it doesn't do anything then what is the harm in clicking it anyway?

Bottom line is that most people that I hear complain about Microsoft do so with no conclusive evidence why. Microsoft yes they have done some bad business deals in the past most big companies do, but most people don't complain about them as much as Microsoft. Microsoft has done many things for the computer industry that most people overlook. They create standards for people to follow in development that helps not only the developer, but the end-user too. They have revolutionized the UI for a desktop which in turn makes the other OS’ need to be similar so people can use them. Microsoft has also taken the pc, which is honestly a low grade computer from what it could be, and they have made it work. They have made installers that are easy to follow, and hardware compatibility a breeze with Plug & Play. Microsoft has set a standard of ease that other OS's, in order to compete, need to meet. This is not at all a bad thing because in the end the end-user is what is important. If the end-user has a flawless time, or as close as possible, using the computer then there is no need to create new things. We are far from an easy to use computer that works perfect, and does exactly what you need easily.

As for me one of my goals is to work for Microsoft to help fix problems that I see. I want to help innovate new ideas and set new standards. I want be at the forefront of technology, and right now that is Microsoft.

Who knows in 10 years it might be Linux or Apple might come back we don’t know so until then lets cut Microsoft some slack and help them out a little. Every a program crashes click the little send report button. Send an e-mail regarding a feature or a problem. Read a blog that someone at Microsoft posts in and comment on it leaving feedback. Little things here and there can really help what do you say?

To Contact Microsoft follow the links:

http://shrinkster.com/4et

For people that Blog at Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,933657,00.asp

Buddy Lindsey

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1/23/2008 12:10:00 PM

Evan Sims

While you make a valid argument, I think the bigger question is why people think Microsoft "sucks" to begin with. In the public eye, it doesn't matter if they have "evidence" or not, it's the impression they've built based on (1) word of mouth (blogs, friends, etc. all have an enormous subliminal impact on your perception of the world), (2) advertising from competition (those Mac ads, for example, deliver powerful subliminal messages), and (3) real, everyday experience with the products.

I'm a 75% Windows, 25% Mac user. This isn't by choice, it's because of my career; I'm forced to use Windows because I develop games, and in this industry it's the only computing platform that matters. This isn't different from how many other technology industries are; Windows has the most real estate, so it has the largest market- it makes sense to develop for it first and foremost. (I should point out that having the largest marketshare doesn't mean they're the best at what they do; they just have the smartest business types at the helm.)

I wouldn't say Microsoft sucks, but I will say I am deeply disappointed with them as a company. Here's my reasons why:

(1) They fail to innovate. It's a well known fact that Windows itself was conceived as a direct clone of Apple's operating systems. This hasn't changed much. Likewise, Microsoft's non-OS products, most blatantly their web projects, are astonishingly poorly designed and implemented. Their web-based Live services are a total joke. They see someone do something cool, and feel they have to copy it, and do it in a horrible, half assed fashion. See #4.

(2) They fail to understand their users. Vista has been an abysmal failure, and the reasons are obvious: every major "pillar of longhorn" that they touted to developers and users during development has fallen; none of the major, useful features that we as programmers wanted to see made it in, and there is 0 reason for users to prefer Vista over XP. Compare Vista to Leopard and you'll see why Mac users love Apple and Windows users aren't big fans of Microsoft- Leopard delivered on what we wanted, Vista didn't. Apple give's their customers reasons to love them, Microsoft stabs theirs in the back.

(3) They're shady. The company has a whole does a lot of ugly dealings within the industry. Whether they still are or not, you can't live down that kind of stigma overnight. Trust and reputation are earned, not given.

(4) They dip their fingers into too many pies. Google is beginning to suffer from this problem as well. When you have your attention divided among so many industries, demographics and product lines, I don't care how big you are: you can't give the necessary attention to the industries you're entering as your should be. You end up releasing worse and worse products, and because the management has no clue as to what actually makes good software good and bad software bad, it gets released half finished and half supported.

That said, Microsoft isn't alone in being naughty in any of these regards. It's very common among monolithic companies like Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Sony, etc. The problem with big companies like these are they are inherently incapable of managing themselves. Good ideas crop up from smaller developers because they're not afraid to take chances, to invent, to evolve, and most importantly don't have burnt out 50+ year old billionaires deciding what direction a technology company filled with twenty somethings should do.

In my opinion, no company should become as big as Microsoft has. It's not fair to the consumers, it's not fair to the developers, it's not even fair to the company itself. I think they'd be much better of being broken up into smaller companies that specialize in specific aspects of the company, and aren't under the same piss poor management umbrella.

In my opinion, Microsoft's days are numbered. So are EA's. And Sony's. These companies cannot survive in their current forms; their untethered success has sown the seeds of their own demise.

Evan Sims us

1/23/2008 12:32:08 PM

percent20

First, I just want to point out this is a 3 year old post, however many things apply just require tweaking.

The question posed was more for people that don't know anything about Microsoft or the technology and software development industry. You seem to have come to conclusions based on rational thought and an honest assessment of what you believe. So for that I applaud you. I can even agree with some of what you are saying and am overjoyed someone has thought it through.

A lot of people I talked to back then, and some now, don't put any thought into it at all and just blindly "follow" what other people say (see your first paragraph). These are in astonishing numbers and unfortunate.

I pose this question to most non-tech people who complain to figure out why they don't like Microsoft and get them to think about their choices. I would prefer if people didn't "hate" Microsoft. I think now they are a better company than what they used to be, but I don't mind if people "hate" them based on rational thought and analysis.

As for the rest I think that Microsoft is undergoing changes and will continue to which will help them to be more successful. Most of their successful products aren't even at the main MS campus (X-Box, now the Zune). I don't think their days are number'd nor do i think EA's and Sony's are numbered. They will all become like IBM. There, but not too relevant to the current world like they are now.

Thanks for the comment it is kind of cool to get a response to something I wrote a long time ago heh. Also thank you for the dattebayo bot on twitter it is awesome.

percent20 us

1/23/2008 1:38:01 PM

Anonymous

I was a computer consultant for a major corporation back when they were converting from IBM computers to “generic” computers…and DOS to Windows. To complicate matters, the corporation was using other vendors to provide industry-specific software.

When you add all three of the above into the mix, it equals major headaches.

As long as we used IBMs with windows and our corporate software, there was relative peace (if you don’t include the bugs in Windows and the software). The problem was that we weren’t sure if the bugs we encountered were from the OS or software causing crashes.
Fixes to the corporate software were relatively simple because they only had to test the IBM machines that were in use across the country. However, since salesmen had to buy their own computer equipment, they bought the “generic” computers since they cost less. This created a whole new set of problems, due to lack of or conflict between component drivers. At one point corporate refused to support “generic” computers.

Would we wish we could go back to the simplicity of DOS? Yes, many times. But Windows offered so much more that we were willing to work through the growing pains with them.

Eventually, corporate was forced to support “generic” computers because the sales force demanded it.

I can’t speak to Linux because I don’t know anything about it, but it sounds like a different type of DOS.

As far as Apple is concerned, I consider it to be the first scenario I pointed out earlier with the IBM computers. The OS and software only have to conform to a specific machines and those components. Because of that Apple has been able to spend more time on perfecting its OS because it was never forced to be used across the multitude of computers and their various components.

Even now, I’ve heard rumor that Apple has an OS that can be used on “generic” computers, BUT the components have to be what is on Apple’s list.

It’s easy to take potshots at the most successful people/businesses. But you just don’t know what they had to go through to get there. Could you have handled what they went through to get where they are?

Anonymous us

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