PC Magazine is looking for readers to tell them what they think of Windows, past and present, and what they’d like to see in future versions. Your quote, and your photo, may appear in an upcoming issue. Just answer one or all of the following questions:
• For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
• How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
• Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
• What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
• If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
• What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
Info on where to send your responses to any or all of the above questions here.
Uhho…
just my 2c..i’m a mac user but have used windows machines off and on at work since 3.1…….i’ve never liked the lack of fluid and intuitive work flow. not even in xp….but of nearly all things considered there is one thing about osx that i still fight with and that is the dock. lately i’ve kept it on the left side. i think i like it there best but i still get windows that want to duck behind the dock or if the dock is hidden it annoyingly pops up if i get to close…so with that said i have to admit there is something admirable how the task bar is designed to be very tidy which resolves the problems i just mentioned but i’ve always thought that it probably appeals to the business sensitivities for mimicking a more tidy desktop environment. i really hope apple works this one out. i’ll be so friggin happy when they do.
They better be ready for some curse words in those responses.
1) Windows 3.1 – best version ever… barely got any better.
2) School.
3) ummmm, I use it when I need to (irrelevant question)
4) World dominance is dying.
5) Change it? I would make the Taskbar more user-friendly (nothing beat’s the Mac’s Dock) and combine any of the 10,000 different dialog boxes and windows needed to accomplish anything (ya wonder why they call it Windows).
6) Future? I hope in the future, the only windows in my life are those filling holes in the walls of my homes and vehicles. There’ll be no room for software called Windows.
MW: Windows will be “left” behind.
Well I’ve heard that the best thing for Windows would be to close them, either from all the viruses, or, better still, close them completely for Mac-simum effect.
New curtains. And an intuituve use interface that doesn’t hold its uders hostage when it snarfs.
I actally posted this at the weekend about half way down this thread link
MDN MW “Say” as in “Say it with me, Windows is dead!”
How would I change windoze? I would try and make sure that it runs on an Intel Mac because that is what everybody is gonna be buying. And M$ better make sure that they keep playing nice with the game developers cuz that is fast becoming the only area where they have an advantage.
On Intel Macs it will be OS X for creativity and work and surfing the internet and email, Windoze for games and old windoze only proprietary apps.
For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
Some dumb shell on top of DOS and a rather bad copy of the Mac OS.
• How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
Work, the rather clunky interface.
• Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
Yes, to critisize and demean every chance I get.
• What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
Micrsoft should have been broken up long ago like MaBell.
• If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
Erase the hard drive and install Mac OS X.
• What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
A mandatory recall and a apology to the world.
reader X,
Try placing the dock on the right side and adjust the size down so it stays behind the desktop icons.
Actually that’s where it is supposed to go, the dock came from NeXTSTEP and you can see Steve Jobs demo it here in this video.
http://www.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/jobs_NS30_demo_large.mov
You can see pictures of mine here
http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/PhotoAlbum2.html
Oh God…don’t get me started!!!
There should have been a 7th question asking “Were you ever aware/informed that there was another (better) OS to choose from the whole time you’ve been a Windows user?”
1) 3.1, it was just gawdoawful
2) Grad School – slow and awful compared to a Mac at that time.
3) Nothing unusual for an engineering environment.
4) Stifles innovation.
5) Get rid of the vulnerability towards viruses and malware, and Apple will have its hands really full. Protecting against virii doesn’t matter since virii don’t exist.
6) See first part of number 5.
Here’s what I emailed:
1. For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
A. Some worthless shell (Win3.1) on top of DOS and a rather poor copy of the Mac OS 6. Would have rather just stuck to DOS as it was much more efficient than the horrid Windows interface.
2. How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
A. Summer internship at a company. I thought “Wow, someone managed to copy the Mac, and did a horrible job at it.”
3. Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
A. SQL and .NET (C#) development as my job, get go home to my wonderful Macs.
4. What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
A. The best isn’t always what the masses decide on (i.e. Ford, McDonalds, Starbucks).
5. If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
A. Erase the hard drive, trash the generic hardware and purchase a Mac with MacOS X installed.
6. What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
A. Less MacOS X copying, it’s getting too obvious these days who actually leads R&D of the computer industry.
Windows could easily be the greatest OS in the world. All it takes is for MS to cease development of all existing versions and Vista. Then, Bill goes to Steve and gives him the Windows tradmeark and begs him to rename 10.5, “Windows Leopard”!!
MW: “Justice”!! Strewth! that MW thingy reads minds now!
For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
Windows 3.0. Anything is better than a command line interface.
How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
At school. I hated DOS.
Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
No.
What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
Monopolies are never good.
If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
I just wish that the default setting that has existed since Win95 to hide extensions by default were turned off. The amount of damage that has been done by this one setting, because it has led people to believe that malevolent EXE/SCR/PIF files were actually a TXT/JPG/GIF files is incalculable.
What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
I would like future versions of Windows to run past versions inside virtual machines like the DOS window, Virtual PC, and Mac OS 9. This will enable actual innovation to occur on the platform without the stupid bugaboo of past compatibility killing new features, leaving millions of lines of legacy code in the OS, and compromising security.
PC Magazine: ‘Give us your thoughts on Windows’
I think it sucks.
They have to be kidding. C’mon, it’s bedtime kids. Geesh!
MacDude, thanks for that piece of NS history.
Frank
So you don’t have to create an account, here’s a login for PC Mag:
name: pickitypocker
password: pcmagger
For long-time Windows users, what was the first version you worked with, and what were your first impressions of it?
– Windows 2.0, at R.M.I.T. (late ’80s) I thought it was interesting, but later felt it was a ripped off clone of a Mac or Amiga, and done badly at that.
How did you come upon Windows for the first time? At work? At a friend’s house? What surprised you or disappointed you about it?
– At school (RMIT is a Uni). DOSShell in graphics mode? Now that’s progress.
Do you use Windows in any unusual or unique ways?
– Does cursing it every time I work with it count? (note: I’ve since given up on PC’s almost entirely, and will now only work on Macs. No point being a total masochist.)
What do you think of Windows’ world dominance?
– I try not to. It has probably kept desktop operatiting systems about 10 years behind where it could have been (compare what NeXT had in say 1992 to Windows 3.11 available at the time.) It has also kept interoperability between software vendors at an all time low (this isn’t compatible with that so therefore everyone chose to use the MS brand of product.) Oh, they got there by doing things less than legally, and financial penalties (such as those to Be) aren’t nearly enough – they either need to consider alternatives or increase the penalties 10x or restrict them trading on the stock exchange for a period of time (really, what can be done which will hurt them and act as a deterrent? Money is clearly where it’s at, but the penalties imposed, whilst large, are a drop in the ocean compared to their overall cash mountains). Their dominance may continue with regards to them filing patents for having invented everything except the wheel.
If you could change one thing about Windows XP, what would it be?
– Reduce the number of clicks needed to do simple tasks like launching an application. Don’t get me started on those CE or whatever they’re called these days… woefully inadequate interface on such devices. Perhaps every mouse click or screen tap pops another $1 into Bill’s coffers??
What would you like to see in future versions of Windows?
– better support for reading/writing Mac formatted media inc. iPods used as external drives, larger icons in the task bar (I mean, seriously, can anyone see them and click on them with a track pad and a screen at 1200×900 res??), consistent user interface document defined and published to 3rd party developers and perhaps subtly enforced using a “Made for Windows” certification (this would hopefully get rid of the crud of Windows software out there, thus ensuring that the wacky, inconsistent interfaces are a thing of the past), provide proper support for standards (e.g. web standards). Lastly, an Easter Egg where I can click on Bill’s face and have it egged, or grow warts or something stupid like that (eg. a digital stress ball)
My thoughts on Windows…
hmmm…
Nah. I got nothin’
I have a quarter to 4.
1. The first computer that I bought had Windows 3.0 installed on it along with DOS 3.3. It never worked all that well. I upgraded to DOS 5.0. It never worked right either. I upgraded to DOS 6.0 to fix the things that never worked in 5.0. I upgraded to Win 3.1. It didn’t really make that much difference. My second puter ran Win 3.1.1 for Workgroups. It sucked too. My next puter was a Mac.
2. I got taken in by all of the crap marketing. I believed that Windows would be just as good as a Mac only cheaper.. I was wrong.
3. I use Windows only for computers at work that have proprietary software that interfaces with automated equipment, like epoxy dispensers and laser marking machines. I only use Windows when the software requires it, otherwise I use DOS if possible because its more stable. The computers with Windows are not allowed access to the internet for security reasons.
4. I think Window dominance is a very bad thing, particularly for the security and functioning of the internet. I think it would be better if there were a more even distribution of operating systems connected to the internet because it would make the internet (and users) less vulnerable to worms, viruses and spam. Please stop using IE and Outlook, thank you.
5. I don’t use it, so I don’t really care. Perhaps it would be better if it were more secure, so I wouldn’t get so many bot generated spam emails each day.
6. See answer to 5 above.
Thanks MDN, perhaps you should consider sending the link to this article to PC Magazine.