Another Post Complaining About Windows

In response to reading the article “Windows 8.1 Available Now” on Mashable.com

To be honest, the wasn’t an article I intended to post about. I began reading it because of an excerpt under the main title on the homepage that said “marks the return of the start button.” At first I was thrilled that the new Windows update was bringing back the good old fashioned start button, but as I read on my dreams were thoroughly crushed.

As the article developed, it became clear that the start button was not the same. As the article stated, “the new button is just a quick doorway back to the Start screen (and doesn’t have its own pop-up menu, as in previous versions of Windows).” This isn’t the same start menu we all know and love, this is an imitation. It just opens up the stupid new start screen that is the icon of Windows 8 and all its failures.

Maybe I just cannot accept change. Maybe I need to let go of the past and welcome Windows’s new look. Maybe I am slowly becoming the next generation of old men who cannot accept modern technology. But the Windows start screen is so inconvenient, and I cannot bring myself to like it. In what way is a whole new screen an upgrade to a pop-up menu? The menu made an easy to navigate list of everything you could ever need to find. The start screen, however, lists a select few items on a side-scrolling page, and wastes excessive space on clickable boxes you could hit with your fist. It is obvious that Windows 8 was focused on the concept of touch screen use, but it didn’t have to be made to hinder regular, mouse using people. Also, searching on the new start menu is not intuitive at all. The pop-up menu was nice because the search bar appeared right in front of you (for Windows Vista and 7), since it was most likely what you planned to use anyway. The Windows 8 start screen is cluttered with distracting boxes and unnecessary visuals, and gives the user no inclination that a search is even possible. By instinct, the user has to know to just start typing. Then a search menu similar to the one Windows users are familiar with will appear.

The update for Windows 8 is not a fix, it is a tease. In my opinion, Windows should go back to the previous interface for all non-touch screen devices, or at least make such an option available for people who would like to upgrade but don’t have the money to buy a brand new touch screen computer.

Everything You Know About Windows Was A Lie

In response to the article “Bill Gates: Ctrl-Alt-Delete ‘Was a mistake’” on gizmodo.com

I have many things to say about this very brief article. First off, I am very surprised that the key command was a mistake. Second, I can’t believe it took this long for Bill Gates to reveal this secret.

Think about how often you have heard or used the phrase “ctrl+alt+delete.” This key command has become a cultural reference to everyone who has ever used a Windows PC. It became a fail safe for computer related problems that everyone knew and used regularly. If your computer froze, you pressed ctrl+alt+delete. If a program wouldn’t close, you pressed ctrl+alt+delete. If you needed to quickly lock or shutdown the computer, you pressed ctrl+alt+delete. This key command became the punchline to multiple internet and computer related jokes, but did anyone ever expect that it was a mistake?

In the article, Gates is quoted saying “We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn’t wanna give us our single button.” I, for one, am glad this stubborn designer put his foot down. Could you imagine if the command were set to only one button and every time your finger slipped and you accidentally hit the button, your computer would go to the ctrl+alt+delete screen? Just think about all the times you have ever started typing and realized that you had accidentally turned your caps lock on. I feel a similar problem would have arisen if the command were set to just one button. The command “ctrl+alt+delete” is just difficult enough to ensure that people don’t accidentally hit it when typing. In short, this command is probably one of the best mistakes Bill Gates has ever made.

This article was very short and contained very little information. However, I found the comments on this article to be ten times as entertaining as the article itself. Many people made comments about past frustrations with frozen programs and hypothesized what they would have done if they accidentally rebooted their computer by hitting a button. On person even made a comment implying that we find who is to blame for the notorious “blue screen of death” (BSOD) next.

Microsoft and Other Ancient Forms of Technology

In reaction to “Ballmer’s Biggest Regret Is Missing Out On ‘The New Device Called The Phone'” on TechCrunch.com

Ballmer’s Biggest Regret Is Missing Out On “The New Device Called The Phone”

Since I’ve already done two posts about Apple, I feel it is about time I talk a little bit about Microsoft. Remember the days when everyone had Windows on their computer? Remember the days before Macs and iPads? Aside from the xbox, Microsoft hasn’t been making as much of a prominent impact on technology recently. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that he regrets not getting involved in the phones. I would like to say that I regret this too. The Windows phone seems like a quality device, and its timing, I believe, has the most to do with why it did not do so well. If Microsoft had put its foot in the metaphorical door of phone making a long time ago, the Windows phone may have replaced the iPhone in success. I think that both the Windows phone and the surface seem like quality alternatives to other smartphones and tablets. The idea of the windows phone having a similar setup as the Windows 8 computers was a good idea. Windows users could pick it up and have no trouble using it. Having this similarity in all their products is a great strategy. It is similar to how Apple made their products all share chargers to convenience buyers. It would have been nice to see Microsoft gain some success out of the smartphone and tablet age, but they unfortunately made their move too late.

I am in fact a long time Windows user, though I have used OSX, Windows, and various open-source OS’s. Because of this I may seem to favor Windows a little to much. I don’t want to make myself out to be a Windows elitist , and for this reason I am going to take the time to make some complaints as well. Windows 8 is a great operating system for handheld devices and touch screens, but on a desktop or laptop it is the least convenient and intuitive format I have ever used. Everything is so geared toward touch screens that it has hurt its compatibility with non-touch screens. The start menu is the weirdest change. The search menu is hard to find if you don’t know what to do. The idea is just not intuitive at all. Windows 8 is the biggest downgrade as a desktop operating system. I feel as though Microsoft, rather than making a full operating system to put on mobile devices, made a mobile operating system for full sized computers. In a time of technological excellence, it is hard to believe that such massive companies like Microsoft and Apple can produce such below-par products.