Today's top story on CNN Money is entitled “Windows 7 Complaints Begin”. As a person who now has a Windows 7 Machine, I have to say I have about 0 complaints. But I wanted to look at what the article lists and go through the problems one by one.
It comes right out and says most problems were with upgrading, and lets face it, upgrading sucks. But you know what else sucks? Using a computer that is 5 or more years old. It is just about 2010, and the people experiencing problems upgrading are using an operating system that was released in 2001. Vista was released in 2006 people. Come on. Get with it. That being said, here are the problems:
“One common gripe, experienced by 9% of installers, is that the half-hour to an hour-long upgrade process gets to the "62% completed" point and then freezes.” OK, again, you should have upgraded more recently than 5 years ago. Not an issue migrating from Vista.
“Most common among those complaints was that basic "applet" programs, like Mail, Movie Maker and Photo Gallery, were missing. That's because Windows 7 deletes those programs and makes users download them from the Windows Live Essential Web site. IYogi said 26% of their customers were confused about that extra step.” Here is a new problem. Features removed? Why would a company do this? Could it be that governments (and by extention, the voters), sued Microsoft before for similar program bundling? No, it must be to stick it to potential customers. Also, how hard is it, on a scale of 1 to 10, to go to windows.com and click one link to download all of these programs? I'd say about a .5
“Others had problems getting their computers to work properly: Eight percent said their DVD drives couldn't be found and 2% couldn't sync their iPhones with Windows 7.” I forget that most users have the computer skills of a squirrel, but the new assistant in control panel helps tremendously for people who don't know the difference between Internet Explorer and Outlook. As for syncing iPhones, I believe that is Apple's job. Hear that Cupertino? Oh, your Windows support has always been a lacking, half assed attempt to port Mac programs. That's right, I remember now.
“One in seven users also complained that the sleek new "Aero" theme doesn't work.” Really? Have you bought a computer in the last 5 years? Because if you have, it works. What other electronics do you have that are more than 5 years old? Hows that 2nd gen iPod working out for you?
Other common complaints included an inability to view file extensions, too many "mini-dumps" (memory images saved on the computer when it crashes), problems with the "Aero snap" feature, changes to custom icons and problems with the new taskbar.” File extentions are in settings. If you can't figure out how to view them you have no business using them. Mini-dumps, I feel like a broken record, but get a new computer. Apple's new OS X.6 only works on new computer for this reason. Microsoft is giving you a chance to be compatible, don't spit in their face. Aero snap is tied in with the rest of Aero. You need a computer that can run it. And the new taskbar is amazing. Some 3rd party applications don't support its features though. That is not a problem with windows. That is a problem with your program (iTunes I am looking at you).
And that about sums up the article. Moral of the story: No shit your old computer doesn't work well. Next week I discuss the growing number of complaints that Nintendo 64's still lack DVD support and motion controls.
I don't know. I have to say, as a longtime Dell user, I get reasonably annoyed with the whining that goes on about Windows. In this case, though, I feel the rant ignores the fact that buying a computer is much less of a hassle for some people than others. If you're young and upper-middle class, then, yeah, shut up. Many older people, however, genuinely do have difficulty using computers. And for a lot of people, simply owning a computer is a major luxury. To fault people for not having the disposable income to keep up with the latest computing trends seems a bit extreme.
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