“The day before this was written, Windows XP whined in its lower right-hand dialogue bubble that critical updates were available, and could we please get with the program,” writes Associated Press reporter, Larry Blasko.
Blasko continues, “Since Sept. 19, 2000, the computer that this is being written on updated its operating system 113 times. If, instead of an operating system, it were a car that had been recalled 113 times, the Justice Department would be doing a dance on the manufacturer’s head while Ralph Nader chewed on its ankle. But because it is software, a lot of hours have been meekly devoted to fixing mistakes that shouldn’t have been sold in the first place. Worse, of the 113 updates, 30 are described by Microsoft as ‘failed.’ Which means that about one out of four attempts to fix what shouldn’t need fixing have flaws themselves. Or maybe it’s just that Microsoft didn’t detect the proper degree of submissiveness in the end user. An examination of the updates shows updates that undo mischief caused by previous updates, kind of like a second surgery to fetch the instruments left inside you by mistake the first time.”
Blasko goes on and on, obviously fed up with his situation, asking, “Why should we spend our time fixing Microsoft’s messes?” It’s too bad Blasko doesn’t make the next logical leap. Perhaps a “switch” might be in order here?
Read about Blasko’s travails with the Windows “eXPerience” here.