(2 votes, average: 10 out of 10)
Loading ...SaveXP.ca featured on CBC Newsworld
I did an interview with Newsworld’s Suhana Meharchand about the campaign. Links to the full clip below. You’ll need either RealPlayer or QuickTime to view it.
http://www.cbc.ca/clips/rm-hi/save-xp-080325.rm
http://www.cbc.ca/clips/mov/save-xp-080325.mov
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(7 votes, average: 6 out of 10) Loading ...CBC Radio takes note of the SaveXP.ca campaign
Don’t touch that dial: I’ll be featured tomorrow morning on one of the “top of the hour” newscasts on CBC Radio One (99.1 fm in Toronto) discussing SaveXP.ca and the future of software lifecycles.
Also, if you missed it, check out Rafael Ruffolo’s excellent followup with a few of those who have signed the petition so far: Canadians speak out: Why we want to Save XP, which has gotten more than 5,000 page views so far.
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(5 votes, average: 7 out of 10) Loading ...A user’s take on XP and Vista
I got the following comment from a guy named Bob recently that I think is worth sharing.
“I have seen Vista work on an HP laptop fairly well. The owner explained that HP would accept nothing better than the finest tuned drivers or a component would not be added to their machine.
“I have read many of the valid complaints over at the savexp.com site of those not fortunate enough to own an HP PC and I’m truly amazed at how MSFT has had little regard for its customers. Steve Balmer’s statement: ‘I… love… this… company…’ reflects, in my estimation, the base problem: a self love. It’s not really surprising that he didn’t say: ‘I… love… our… customers…’ It just wouldn’t be true.
“Microsoft wants to keep its cake and it wants to eat it too. They want Windows to be the world’s standard operating system. But they also want to decide, for themselves, when a particular flavor of Windows stops receiving support. Odd that, eh? XP’s going to get a shiny new service pack. Just in time for the end of its support? Isn’t that a little weird?
“Shouldn’t things work more like this with MSFT? If a Windows release is shaky to begin with (example: Millennium) and ending its support causes few or no ripples then fine — they should be permitted to do so. But if a release is still functional and strongly supported by software companies, then the arbitrary termination should be stopped by the powers that be.
“While not perfect XP does what many people expect of Windows. Vista, on the other hand, appears to be a conglomeration of cool ideas dreamed up by the Windows team in order to satisfy their particular idea of what Windows should be. The department heads sign off on any of these guys’ proposals and the world is expected to obediently dump the previous release for what we’re TOLD is… mmm… better.
“That’s bad enough. But browse through the posts at SaveXP.com and you’ll see a bit of a disturbing trend. Namely, that the clearly described reasons given by ex-Vista users are arrogantly shrugged off by apparently satisfied Vista users. Reasons to switch are replaced with rhetoric and ridicule. We are basically told to shut up and just ‘do it.’
“Imagine if an automotive company likewise decided to stop making parts for a model that currently fills the highways and city streets. This was done simply because that industry redesigned their car (with a new logo) and put it into production. We’d be up in arms! We’d picket, we’d boycott, we’d give them what for! The law itself would quickly intervene telling that automotive industry to cease its irresponsible behavior and start making parts again.
“Let’s compare. Is XP still the main ‘car’ on the highway? Is it still the main Windows distribution being used? Then where’s Microsoft’s right to cease it’s support? Because it’s 6 years old? And who dreamed up this arbitrary number? Was it pulled out of a hat?
“And where are the statistics and figures revealing how many Vista computers were downgraded to XP once the machine was brought home? Where are the percentages of customers who’ve tried over and over again to get a new XP PC only to be turned down by the sales staff? Ahh. Now HERE we have a lot of silence. Silence as we turn a blind eye to MSFT’s responsibility. Silence as we walk past customers while store clerks refuse to sell XP.
“XP is an obvious problem for MSFT. Vista sales will always lag as long as XP takes up shelf space. MSFT feels it has the right to cease support whenever it feels like it. Satisfied Vista users bray loudly when someone brings up valid complaints. Others, like myself, have come to a realization that MSFT’s abysmal treatment of its customers can be stopped when one ceases to be a customer. And I’ve voted with my dollar. I now own a Mac. My second PC runs Ubuntu Linux. And while I don’t use XP anymore MSFT still needs to hear this message: that it cannot have its cake and eat it too. XP’s life should be extended indefinitely. They’ve no right to decide how long a version lasts based only on years. They have a responsibility to support what is popular and (obviously through sites like this one) clearly seen as still in demand.”
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(8 votes, average: 8 out of 10) Loading ...Why XP was Microsoft’s last great operating system
Mike Elgan, who writes for Computerworld U.S. and a number of other publications, has rendered his own verdict on the XP-or-Vista debate. Microsoft will probably not be happy with him. Full column below.
“Everybody’s talking today about “Drivergate” — internal Microsoft e-mails that show senior Microsoft executives personally struggling to use hardware products sporting the “Windows Vista Capable” sticker. The e-mails also show that Microsoft lowered its standard for some hardware compatibility, apparently to help Intel impress Wall Street.
“This revelation is simply the latest in a long series that add up to one inescapable conclusion: Windows Vista sucks. (And making it cheaper won’t help, either.)
“Compatibility of drivers is just one issue. Another is a convoluted user interface that prevents ordinary users from gaining a sense of control over the OS.
“Windows Mobile, Microsoft’s operating system for cell phones, suffers from a similar problem. The Windows Mobile OS isn’t horrible per se, it’s just that it’s completely wrong for cell phones and other small screen devices.
“Windows Mobile clearly compromises usability to mimic the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing device) focus of Microsoft’s desktop operating systems. To quote Dr. Phil: How’s that workin’ for ya? It hasn’t helped eroding desktop Windows market share, and it hasn’t helped Windows Mobile, either.
“The biggest problem isn’t that the company’s newest products are unusable, but that Microsoft may have actually lost the “ability” to make good operating systems. It may not be able to let go of its dogmatic insistence on the flawed vision of the same Windows “experience” from wristwatches to supercomputers.
“And there is evidence that delusion or, at least, wishful thinking, prevails at Microsoft. The company’s founder and chairman, Bill Gates, said last week that “Microsoft expects more Internet searches to be done through speech than through typing on a keyboard.” Hey, Bill: Do you want to bet $10 billion on that? I doubt even that Microsoft will fix its Vista driver problem within five years. This is the same guy, by the way, who bragged that Microsoft would “solve” spam by 2006 .
Microsoft has never understood the importance of “simplicity,” a fundamental design concept it has always swept aside to make room for “feature rich” (i.e., bloated and complex).
“Right now, the Windows Vista type user interfaces are in their final days. The future belongs to what I call the 3G user interface , which replaces flat icons and folders with multitouch, gestures, physics and 3-D. It’s imperative for Microsoft to get the next major OS right. But how?
“The secret lies in the company’s Surface initiative. Sure, Surface is at present a little more than a semishipping demo usable for product marketing.
“The Surface demo dazzles with its 3G goodness. But what’s impressive and surprising is that somehow someone at Microsoft was allowed to create a user interface unburdened by “compatibility” with two decades of spaghetti code. What a concept! And no “Start” button!
“Another hopeful sign is that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears to agree that Surface is important — or, at least, urgent. He announced earlier this month that Microsoft is accelerating the development of a consumer version.
“Here’s what I believe Microsoft needs to do to save its vitally important operating systems business:
“Microsoft: I’m rooting for you. I really am. But you’ve got to get your act together with your core business and ship an operating system that works, or this could be the beginning of the end of the company’s leadership role in the industry.”
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(5 votes, average: 8.4 out of 10) Loading ...Behind the improvements in Windows XP SP3
Preston Gralla, who writes for our Computerworld counterpart in the U.S., published a story this week that examined the benefits of SP3. Well worth a read.
“Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), just out from Microsoft as Release Candidate 2 (RC2), may not necessarily be worth the download now, but when it’s finally released, it’ll be worth the effort. It won’t make any noticeable cosmetic changes to your operating system, but underneath the hood are several security improvements worth having. In addition, one researcher claims it will slightly boost XP’s speed as well.
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(6 votes, average: 9.67 out of 10) Loading ...Why we launched SaveXP.ca
In order to provide some additional background on this campaign and why we think it’s important to ComputerWorld Canada, I’ve written a fairly detailed explanation on my regular blog, Shane Schick’s ComputerWorld. Consider it your FAQ for the SaveXP.ca effort.
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(3 votes, average: 8.33 out of 10) Loading ...Looking back at Windows XP’s inauspicious debut
It’s easy to forget that Microsoft’s last big attempt to win over OS users came not long after the unprecedented terrorist attack on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, it felt like the stakes for Microsoft were really high, and that it desparately needed XP to succeed. Maybe, based on the pressure to hold onto it now, you might say that Microsoft succeeded a bit too well.
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