What are your general feelings about Microsoft?

[Canis Lupus]

It's the time of week once more ... and we're gonna put up a poll that can be considered a bit controversial.

Each person has a different opinion about how Microsoft conducts business and/or makes its products. The weird thing is that it seems you either love em or you hate em. I know many people have strong feels for and against Microsoft... so this poll is your chance to air your side ...

[Spork Lover]

My view on microsoft:

They did revolutionize the computer industry. They made a user friendly OS which made computer accessible, and usable by millions of people who keeps us helpdesk workers in business.

They also conduct some business in ways I consider shady. The whole windows packaging thing is pretty shady.

Their software is buggy, but thats because they try to make it everything to everyone. Meaning they try to make it able to everything, very flexible which it is...and that has down falls. the exception to this of course is ME... there is no excuse for that OS.

I think microsoft is a very important company in the computer industry... no one has the capital, or the resources at tap like they do, but I am seeing them more as a monopoly now. I beleive that they are becoming unhealthy for the computer industry and change is needed so there is competition.

(i would like to point out that at this point in time 100% of the voters agree with me :D)

[redwench]

hah. i think they are pure evil. i also know they revolutionized the os. and they do make buggy software. i had a hard time choosing one. :D only one that isnt true is misunderstood.

[Chako]

Um..no they did not revolutionize the computer industry with their OSs. Macs did that when PCs were still stuck in a DOS world. Primarily Xerox if you want to nit pick.

I am purely indifferent to MS in some aspects and angry in others. I thank MS for making a single standard in regard to the OS. I dislike MS for trying to shoehorn me into using MS services.

If they are going to make an OS, make it unbiased. It pisses me off to pay good $ for an OS and see it come with advertising on it. Say what!!!

Other then that, I think they make excellent mice, keyboards and joysticks. Their peripheral division makes top quality products and have no complaint in this regard.

No, most of my problems with MS is their OS division. I would like to see a clean OS bereft of all the advertisements and doors to their internet service.

As for the rest, I think they are suffering because they have been too successful in their market. With that said, I will leave by saying that they are by no means a nice clean company...they are the epitome of free capitalism...make the holy $ at all cost. They aren't the only company that does this..just take a closer look at their competition...yeah..the ones that speak most vociferously about MS. They would give their eye teeth and possibly their mother to be in such a strong market share as MS. They would do all the dirty deeds that MS has done to get there…isn’t that what a free market full of corporations are all about?

[redwench]

who owns dos again? :p

[Tweaker]

I feel that there needs to be some improvement made in the way they release software. I feel that most of the software is released way too early! The old release it now and fix it later routine is not exceptable! People pay good money for the product and they should do every thing in their power to ensure a satisfactory product. Overall though to be fair Microsoft has made some improvements over the years and I'm sure they will do whatever it takes to stay on top. Just my opinion. :)

[EOT(US)]

I voted .... "Just another American business that strives to be successful - no matter the cost" .... and I just think that all of you that voted against MS .... is just jealous that Bill Gates is NOT your father or grandfather! :p

[redwench]

um, why would you connect disapproval of the company with any emotion toward the former ceo?

[Chako]

Red? You think that DOS was a groundbreaking OS? I most certainly don't. I think Dos sucked rotten eggs. I was in the wysiwyg OSs of Macs and Amigas...one of the reasons why I moved over to PCs was Win95.

As for DOS being MS's...everyone knows that...fact is IBM let that one slip through their fingers.

[Spork Lover]

Chako...yeah I seen the whole thing in Pirates of Silicon Valley...Bill is just a great businessman. He saw potential in DOS, and IBM didn't...their loss. It also showed how Bill borrowed apple's GUI... No matter who dropped the ball on what... microsoft ended up with it, and despite what anyone thinks... they revolutionized the computer industry. I still say D, E, and possibly B

[redwench]

didnt say dos was wonderful. revolutionary and innovative can be negative. but dos is the worldwide standard, except for macs, so they sure did something right.

[Bobaroo]

Well, I use to think that Microsoft was the best. I thought they had everything were good, and had great programs. But.....

Once I started learning about the "real" Microsoft, I learned that they are all not that great. They make buggy programs and monopolize the computer world. THEY ARE EVIL!!

[Outlaw]

Synonymous to bad business practices and buggy software.

Why don't they just try real hard and then release a stable OS that supports everything (dunno if that's possible) instead of releasing a POS every damn year, like WinME.

[edit] Oops, it was about M$, not windows :o
I don't like MS but I don't hate it either, I just don't care. If their X-box sells better than PS2 and Gamecube, good for them, I still won't buy either of them.
The only MS thing I use is windows, if everything else they make is as bad as that then maybe I should have voted for "pure evil"...

[Chako]

Um...Red...where did you get the impression that MS made DOS? They bought it off of a small company called CP/M. Furthermore, once they ripped it off, they tried to prevent CP/M from using their own product. Seeing that they didn't outright sell the OS to MS, they finally won their day in court. Regardless, QDOS died under the juggernaut called MSDOS.

Read this. It is an interesting read...and further provides some proof of what I am saying.

http://www.euronet.nl/users/frankvw/IhateMS.html

[redwench]

no, i knew they didnt invent it. but they improved on it, packaged it, etc....

[Ion Silverbolt]

I voted Synonymous to bad business practices and buggy software. Sure it's likely other businesses would do what they do if they were in their shoes. That doesn't make it right however.

I think MS has made some damn good software and OS's. However, they mold it intentionally to make life easier for them, not the user. With every OS they release, the user has less and less control over the system. They claim it is to make it user friendly but I don't buy it. Here is some examples:

MS Instant messenger. Have fun uninstalling this one in XP if you have it. An intentional ploy to gain a bigger % of the messaging service community.

Internet Explorer. Sure it's a good browser, but why the hell does it need to be integrated into the OS? All that does it make it a hazard to the system if you ever have to uninstall the latest version for whatever reason. It also is probably why IE has more security issues than other browsers do.

Privacy issues(Product activation, hotamil). I find this a lame attempt at copy protection. It also seems to be like it's a security issue that can be exploited with time. Hotmail is also about unusable now with all the ads MS lets get spammed on it.


Bloatware. Microsoft thinks that the more colorful or more features you add to software, the more people will like it. Whatever. All most of their new software and OS is doing is increasing the hardware requirements, increasing the potential for software bugs, and hindering performance. I like having nice features, but let ME enable the ones I want.


I'm still happy with Windows 2000 now. If i'm forced to ever upgrade my OS, i'll probably use Mandrake Linux. Maybe their gamers edition will be even more polished by then.

I hope MS will take a hard look at everything and model their future operating systems to perform better and have less bloat. The fact of the matter is, we need an AMD vs. Intel type battle only with OS's. Unfortunatly, no one can touch Microsoft in that area yet.

[Null Actor]

Microsoft makes some of the best software out there. Don't believe me? Take a poll on how many developers use microsoft visual studio for all their development; even for other platforms.

MS's oses have issues, very true. But I'd like to see another OS as full featured as Win2k or WinXP pro have as little bugs.

And don't you dare say linux, because that is nothing but the longest running beta of all time.

[Ion Silverbolt]

Originally posted by Nova Z

And don't you dare say linux, because that is nothing but the longest running beta of all time.

I thought ICQ was. :)

Anyways the only thing that keeps Linux out of contention is games and ease of use. Linux has its merits. Nothing Microsoft has out can measure up to the security on a Linux box. Chances are, your ISP runs their servers with it.

Linux will always have a beta feel to it until the industry starts backing it more. Which is what is happening.

You can praise MS all you want while you use Media player 7, IE 6, and call a number to activate your dumb OS. It's this trend that will open the door for a competitor.

IMO, Windows 2000 is the last of the great Microsoft Operating Systems.

[Kdr Kane]

Amen.

[Blackknight]

Well a poll about them sure isn't gonna stop them.

[SKYHN]

Ill be the first to say it:

Microsoft is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!

I would have voted for the buggy software/bad buisness one but I liked evil better.

[Ion Silverbolt]

Originally posted by Blackknight
Well a poll about them sure isn't gonna stop them.


Thank you for pointing out the blatently obvious.

[Canis Lupus]

Originally posted by Ion Silverbolt
Thank you for pointing out the blatantly obvious. Amen! :D

[Spider]

Hahaha

[Bobaroo]

Microsoft is to big of a company to have any competition. Anybody that comes close to them, MS can just buy them out.

I only use Microsoft's OS's because I know them, I know nothing about Linux.

[Ion Silverbolt]

Originally posted by Bobaroo330

I only use Microsoft's OS's because I know them, I know nothing about Linux.

That's why I never bothered to try Linux until now. Installing MAndrake is easier to install than Windows 2000. I was up and on the net in 20 minutes.

There's a lot under the hood I don't know about yet, but the Mandrake GUI interface makes it newbie proof.

[Darthtoast]

Heh, if I ended up with something like M$, I'd go for as much money as possible too. And I bet most people would, everyone likes money. hehe

[PhantomGamer]

I think they are just plain evil
:mad:
They want to be good but they just can't

[Null Actor]

Evil. Bah.

MS is nowhere near evil. You want evil? Look to the petroleum or automotive industry. That's where the true evil hides in big business.

Nothing Microsoft does is outside of standard business practice, it's just that what they do is amplified by their size.

Microsoft does two things: Try and increase it's market share, and try to break in to other markets that could further that goal.

Now try and tell me that any other business doesn't do that, and I'll call you a liar, and be right.

[Ion Silverbolt]

Evil is UBI soft releasing that POS Pool of Radiance game and having the balls to charge 59$ for it. By the time a zombie gets done moving, you could have a full size meal prepared and ready to serve.

I admire a lot about Microsoft. I couldn't even list all the good things they have done. However, that doesn't mean I have to like it when they try and invade my privacy or integrate Bloatware into their OS's. I'll just stay with what works. Windows 2000.

[REVENGE]

Hmm... Guess I better not give Ion the 100 shares of MS Stock for Christmas like I had planned. *swaps names and gives him the AOL 7.0 cd instead*

MS has made home computing easy. People can install just about anything now and get it to run. Most people couldn't do that before. But, the bigger MS gets, the more problems you will see. But that is just because they are so large, that one problem from any division of MS, and the whole company gets the blaim. Eventually I will try Linux, but for now I will use the MS products and be happy that it all works.

Most problems with systems today are either hardware or user anyways. Actually, you can blame User for it all. ;)

[rockjock]

Buggy! I work in industrial process control and haven't seen a stable OS since DOS 6.22. NT SP4 isn't too bad but is still unstable over a long period of time. One unstable OS after another. Bah. I am more concerned with stability than glitz.

We set up our systems so that the PC used as a graphical interface unit can lock up and the industrial based controller keeps the process running. Better use two PC's because the OS is the weakest link of the system. We control nothing from a PC, interface only. I am not impressed from a work standpoint. It is fine for email and games.

[TueurDelite]

hmm i dont know about you but before i brought windows XP i had ME and i never had any prob with it !

[Bosk of PortKar]

M$ is evil, (hitler was evil, billy boy is bad, but he ain't *that* bad)

Their products for the most part are buggy, bloated and less that secure.

They do have the best marketing department though.

The post about using MS products for development: well duh! If yer gonna develop FOR windows you use that. Most apps are done for windows.

MS has indeed used their monopoly to crush other products. I know this for a fact, and first hand. Anyone remember Quarterdeck? QEMM?
MS kept adding features WE had in OUR products to DOS, and SPECIFICALLY set their install routines to fail if our product was listed in the config sys. (this was tested personally btw!)

Their multiconfig ? Qdecks Optimize.. it goes on and on.

MS is just a pack of greedy bullies, and they *will* end up losing their big marketshare both server and desktop.

Linux is not quite ready for mainstream homedesktops yet, but
with KDE 3 and GNOME 2.0 it won't be much longer.

(hmm, ya think M$ may be a pet peeve of mine? :D

[Xtren]

I have nothing against Microsoft, they come up with some pretty good things and their products are satisfactory and usually worth the cost.