“In early January, we posted a review of Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system. Written by senior editor Erika Jonietz, the piece first appeared in the January/February 2007 issue of our magazine. In the piece, Jonietz described her disappointment with the company’s new software–and confessed to having crossed that clearest of lines in the cultural sand: she went from being a Windows user to being a Mac user,” the editors of Technology Review report.
MacDailyNews Note: We covered Jonietz’s article here: Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
“The piece is the most widely read story we have ever posted on our site; it continues to be viewed by thousands of people every day. Clearly, it struck a chord with a lot of our readers. In response to that reception, we’re encouraging readers to share their thoughts with one another about the look and feel of Vista and Mac’s OS X,” Technology Review reports. “To help get a discussion started, we’ve asked our former Web editor Brad King to write a pro-Microsoft response to Erika’s review.”
MacDailyNews Note: Yes, the same Brad King we dismantled yesterday: Technology Review editor gets a lot wrong in his article about Apple CEO Jobs’ push to end DRM
Brad King writes, “After five years and $1 billion, Microsoft’s Vista operating system is here. Gates and his lieutenants hailed the release of the O/S as a world-changing event, hoping that everyone from the hardened reviewer to members of the general public would fall all over themselves with praise for the feature-rich, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly package.”
“That hasn’t exactly been the case,” King writes. “Most reviewers have treated Vista with, at best, a shrug; at worst, Microsoft and Gates have been skewered for creating a bulky, resource-hogging Apple knockoff.”
King writes, “Jonietz and the countless reviewers who warned users not to purchase any of the early versions of Vista are absolutely correct. Microsoft’s early software iterations are always glitchy… The company’s software–and Microsoft is a software company that exists in a hardware-agnostic world–must be developed in such a way that it can conform to the needs of all of its hardware partners. It must power hundreds of millions of computers around the world, some for personal use, some for networking and data security, some for servers, some for gaming, and some for digital entertainment.”
King writes, “The only way to create a product that can serve so many purposes is to build it ‘broken.’ In that imperfection–or, rather, incompleteness–there is room for customizing, tweaking, cajoling, and hacking, all of which ultimately make for a more personalized computing experience.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s “unbroken” Mac OS X allows for no less customizing for a more personalized computing experience than Windows. Windows does, however, own the “hacking” market. 
King continues, “…Apple sets the standard very high for operating systems. It would be pointless to argue that Microsoft does a better job at developing user-friendly interfaces and plug-and-play software. Clearly, this is Apple’s forte: Microsoft cherry-picks its design cues from Apple. Add to that fact Apple’s total control of the hardware and software environment upon which its software runs, and there is no way that Microsoft can compete against Apple in the development of an operating system that is truly integrated with its hardware.”
King writes, “But then we’re faced with this dilemma: if Apple’s product is truly superior to Microsoft’s, why do so many people still use inherently flawed software? There are several answers, none of which offers a complete view: Windows is such a part of people’s lives that they are unwilling to change systems; PCs are cheaper than Apple computers; computer games are designed for the PC; and IT professionals who oversee corporate networks are trained in the Microsoft environment.”
MacDailyNews Take: To clarify and add to King’s answers as to why people still use the inherently flawed Windows: Stockholm Syndrome and/or Cognitive Dissonance and/or ignorance.
King continues, “Countless Apple-lytes can explain to me how their computer’s environment [can be] optimized to [to make Macs work the way they want]. But that misses the point: computer code is meant to be broken because from that unjoined code comes personalization that no company can give me. And Microsoft understands better than Apple that broken is better than perfection.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This King guy is some piece of work. Enderlean, in fact. Microsoft’s “broken, incomplete, imperfect, glitchy, bulky, resource-hogging Apple knockoff” Windows Vista is a better option than Apple’s superior Mac OS X which sets a very high standard with which Microsoft cannot compete because Vista allows for a “more personalized computing experience” when it actually doesn’t? In which bizarro universe does that make any sense whatsoever? We hope that the editors of Technology Review had a good laugh before they published King’s “pro-Microsoft response.”
Related articles:
Windows sufferer spends six hours trying to ‘upgrade’ to Vista, says: ‘I should’ve bought a Mac’ – February 07, 2007
Windows Vista woes push BBC News editor to regret never having ‘defected’ to Apple Mac – February 06, 2007
Bill Gates unhinged with Apple envy; Microsoft on path to become high profile casualty – February 06, 2007
Apple takes dead aim at Microsoft’s Windows Vista in latest ‘Get a Mac’ ad (with video) – February 06, 2007
Digit: Don’t buy Vista; Microsoft may be driving millions to stick with XP or move to Apple Mac – February 05, 2007
Bill Gates has lost his mind: calls Apple liars, copiers; slams Mac OS X security vs. Windows – February 02, 2007
TIME Magazine: Microsoft’s Windows Vista ‘an embarassment to the good name of American innovation’ – February 02, 2007
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007
Those unfamiliar with Apple’s Mac OS X may be impressed with Windows Vista – January 29, 2007
Digit: ‘Microsoft’s Windows Vista may be the best reason yet to buy an Apple Mac’ – January 29, 2007
Pioneer Press: Windows Vista shows ‘Apple is an innovation engine; Microsoft, not so much’ – January 29, 2007
Windows Vista disappoints, so get a Mac – January 29, 2007
Microsoft emails reveal serious Mac OS X Tiger envy – January 26, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista could be an opportunity for Apple – January 26, 2007
CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007
Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007
Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: ‘Looks, Locks, Lacks’ – December 14, 2006
Unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista, Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard will create no new jobs – December 12, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista is basically Microsoft’s version of Mac OS 9.3 – October 11, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
“Enderlean”…love it!
To them it’s simple: a Ford Escort is better than a BMW because they THINK that you can fix the Ford with hardware store parts.
It’s not true, but they think it.
What the….?
There are more stupid people than I thought.
Wow, anyone who believes “broken” software is the way to nirvana needs to be put in a straitjacket and locked away without a key.
$1 billion operating system? Ballmer himself said he has no idea how much it cost, but most estimates are in the $10 billion plus range and for what? yes, a P.O.S.
Ahhh, and I always thought ‘PC’ stood for Personal Computer, now – thanks to Mr King – I realise my mistake. It stands for Broken Computer. I think I’ll stick with my MAC (My Arse-kicking Computer).
I’m sure few will see how this is Pro-Microsoft! Anyone normal person reading this would immediately get a Mac. Is this is the best they can do for a Pro-MS position, the Windows world has definitely, finally come to a new understanding of where computer excellence is found:
…with the Mac.
So his conclusion is that you should use Windows because Microsoft creates such crappy broken software that it actually ends up being good because it has so many holes in it?!? WTF kind of argument is that?
An anonymous reader writes
“Mac users wanting to run Vista on their Macintosh will have to buy an expensive version of Vista if they want to legally install it on their systems. The end-user license agreement for the cheaper versions of Vista (Home Basic and Home Premium) explicitly forbids the use of those versions on virtual machines (ie Macs pretending to be PCs).”
“….computer code is meant to be broken because from that unjoined code comes personalization that no company can give me”.
Sure, along with 114,000 known virus’, spyware and malware – you’re welcome to it!
It is a poor imitation of Mac OS X.
What do you expect..
King makes a good point. People should buy Vista because it’s broken, and therefore much better!
I think the editors think he is brilliant if he still works for them.
Idiots.
Magic word: horse…as in Brad King is full of Horsesh*t!
Another case of too much recreatioinal Zuning.
This is King’s brain. This is King’s brain on Zune.
Here we go again.
Eric Willard = moron
Bill Gates = moron
MS Programmers = possibly great programmers, but no concept of human-computer interaction at all, thus rendering them useless, despite their knowledge
the Ford Taurus was the “best selling car” in America for several consecutive years in the mid-90’s, but that included very large fleet sales. that put the otherwise very popular cars like Camry and Accord at a disadvantage for this “title” (though they eventually won)
kinda like how PC market share is so big because corporations buy (and replace) so many each year. but given the choice, which computer would individual consumers buy today? I think the share would be higher than the approx ~5% would indicate…
“must be developed in such a way that it can conform to the needs of all of its hardware partners”
Apple make a seamless OS across entirely different chip-sets. How is this less difficult than programming for ATI/NVidia or Intel/AMD? I would say it is much harder, yet I cannot tell an iMac G5 from an iMac Intel when using the OS (apart from speed and lack of Classic). And neither of them crash.
I used to think that when Mac users insulted PCs by calling them ‘POS’ they were denoting them as only useful as ‘Point-of-Sale’ devices. Now I know differently. You would never use something so unreliable as a Windows PC on so important a task!
Brad is just finding that it’s becoming harder and harder to be a Microsoft shill.
“Gates and his lieutenants hailed the release of the O/S as a world-changing event”
Oh, my God! Thanks for the great laugh!
Whooooh, I needed that!
“It must power hundreds of millions of computers around the world, some for personal use, some for networking and data security, some for servers”
Heaven help us. Winblows is “protecting” our data.
“computer code is meant to be broken because from that unjoined code comes personalization that no company can give me. And Microsoft understands better than Apple that broken is better than perfection.”
Uhhhhh, OK. Is this guy for real? Are we supposed to believe this or laugh at it?
“Countless Apple-lytes can explain to me how their computer’s environment [can be] optimized to [to make Macs work the way they want]. But that misses the point: computer code is meant to be broken because from that unjoined code comes personalization that no company can give me. And Microsoft understands better than Apple that broken is better than perfection.”
That is officially the stupidest thing I have ever read. And I’ve even read some of Dianetics.
Way to go, King.
-c
Talk about having to work hard to produce a pro-Vista piece!
I prefer my unbroken software code to keep working, not crash, and keep viruses and malware off of my Mac.
Vista Personalization – so personalized, you won’t (can’t) leave your computer for 6 hours while you install it.
That has to be the most asinine comment I have ever heard a commentator make – right up there with the football commentator who said, “He is not very fast, but he is deceptively quick”. Right!
Its not a bug, its a feature.
That explains Windows; its designed to be broken – that’s one of the features. Its all so clear to me now.
But I still don’t want a broken OS.
MDN word: trouble
I think Microsoft is in trouble.
Vista: 95% of the market. All the rest is noise.
That comment has me talking like a Valley Girl -“Oh my GAWD! Oh my GAWD!”
Talk to the finger, King, because the hand is busy!
I should probably tell you that my previous comment was a quote from a Fran Dreischer movie and was not meant to be obscene.
Is this King guy really Murray Walker in disguise???
Some of the best crap I’ve ever read!
King is king of buncombe and drivel. Broken is better than perfection? That attitude is costing the world plenty! What he calls personalization is in reality rework to fix half-assed schlock.
Oh well, at least he admits that Macs are perfect (even if he didn’t intend to).
MW: help. God help us, the lunatics are in charge of the asylum!
This article makes perfect sense. Only MicroSoft offers the ultimate personalization option. With over 114,000 viruses one has almost infinite combination of how your computer can be infected. With Vista no two machines are alike. Each one has a unique combination of viruses, malware and spyware.
Would someone tell this King. That Mac Os X is great OS compared to Windows just for few reasons its superior.
1. No viruses or Spyware
2. Its based on 1970 OS called Unix. Because of the Stability and Security.
3. Its good
4. Its not the insecure OS like Windows.
5. Better Interface.
6. Less Problems with the OS. Its problems do arrise. Then its due to human errors.
7. No need to have virus-scanners or spyware detectors. That take the cpu cycles.
8. You can install or uninstall applications in 5 seconds just drag the file to applications folders your done. If you want to uninstall just drag the content folder to trash bin your done.
9. No registry issues like windows
10. Few or No crashes with applications that are made for Mac Os X Tiger.
Vista is hardly 95% of the market. The overwhelming majority of Windows sufferers that I know personally have absolutely no plans to upgrade from Windows XP anytime soon. Hell, some of them are still in the dark ages using Win98 even after all this time.
…. broken is better than perfection?????
Taking this logic a step further, to make myself better, I must break my current body?
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Well if that’s the best they can come up for a pro-Microsoft review..
I guess broken is the new paradigm
If you’ve seen Vista in person, and have taken the time to tinker with it, it’s difficult to call it a Mac OS X knock-off. It really looks more like an even more overly designed XP (if that’s not absurd enough).
There’s so much happening visually in just one window — or with no window opened at all, for that matter — that it just misses the point of simplicity and “human interface.”
It’s like photoshop was distributed to a high school class for a “Design the next Windows Interface” assignment.
King = Zunetang
just a little something that i dropped over at Technology Review:
I dont want to buy software knowing that it’s broken. That analogy has to be the dumbest thing I’ve read in years. When I spend my hard earned dollars for anything I expect that first and foremost that the item in question is going to work, and work properly and then, if I deem it necessary, tweak or make improvement or upgrades. But the item must have a solid foundation to begin with otherwise you’re throwing good money after bad.
I just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new home. New. New construction. The workers had hardly gone out before we moved in. If you think for one minute that I would have bought a house where the plumbing leaked, the switches and outlets didnt work properly, broken windows and the doors wouldnt open, all with the idea “Awww, that’s okay. I’ll make it perfect later!” you must be out of your mind! As a matter of fact if I had and complained to you about it you’d likely call me an idiot. “If you knew the windows were broken, why did you buy it?” But you argue that it’s okay to buy a copy of Vista broken, and install it then fix and perfect it. What th’…?! And when it breaks a bunch of other stuff on our computers I guess we should just fix and perfect that too, eh?
It makes no sense to knowingly buy an operating system broken so that you can perfect it… and you know this. Your piece was written purely to attract responses, to get hits and in this it has been successful. But it has also been damaging. Each time you put out an article such as this you sell a small bit of your credibility for hits. Eventually you’ll be left with none. Yeah, I logged on, signed up here to comment and that counts, so you got me. But I wont be back. And with writing or “reporting” like what you’ve done here, Mr. King it’s unlikely that I’ll ever take you seriously again.
not that i ever took him seriously to begin with.
Whoever you are, whatever you do:
Yes, there are more stupid people than anyone could possibly imagine. Microsoft’s past success proves that better than anything else!
The King of Visturbation has spoken.
God, that’s funny. ‘Intentionally shipped broken’!!! LOL!!!
Perfect!!!
People don’t buy Mac’s due to fear of change – they are comfortable and don’t know any better. It’s not the money, unless they are buying cheap garbage or used. They simply are afraid to try anything different (even if you and I know that different means easier).
A friend of mine needs to buy a new computer for his aunt. All she does is surf, email and photos (maybe a little word processing). I took him to the Apple store – the mini would be perfect. Easier, comes with everything she needs, inexpensieve, less support required. May need to add iWork, or just download NeoOffice. He’s going to buy her a cheap PC. Go figure!
Brad has come to a sad realization. Cancel or Allow?
> asked our former Web editor Brad King to write a pro-Microsoft response to Erika’s review.
That’s the “pro-Microsoft” response. Broken is better. How pathetic.
Customers don’t care why something is broken. They don’t care about all the excuses, such as MS having to support thousands of different configs versus Apple having control of the hardware. That’s the whole point. Apple’s Macs with Mac OS X works better BECAUSE of those reasons.
So this true Microsoft apologist admits that Mac OS X is superior and goes on to justify why that’s OK. Is this the best review Vista can get these days?
Uhhhh, guys? It’s a satire piece. He’s not serious.
Don’t believe me? E-mail him and ask.
These guys are pulling a Dvorak on us!
“BROKEN IS BETTER THAN PERFECTION.”
I thought people were getting weird, and this absolutley confirms it. The guy definitely has a screw loose.
As for me, I like to drive a car that’s not broken, a home that is not broken, a life that is not broken, and, last but not least, a computer that is not broken.
Dysfunctional behavior has reached a NEW LOW.
Congrats to the idiot. Have him contact me. I have some property is south Florida under water that I would like himn to buy from me for his new vacation home. After that, I am going to talk him into investing in the Brooklyn bridge.
PURE LUNACY. MORON!
tempus fugit
he replyed to you
I’m never a big fan of the “analogy” argument, but following through with buying a home — in fact, people buy homes all the time that need improvements, upgrades, additions and the like. And we have the “freedom” to go to any store or contractor we choose to get the job done.
You aren’t confined to the purchasing only through your real estate agent.
We buy “things” all the time that aren’t perfect coming out the box. Many people accept that (I haven’t changed my Pontiac Vibe one bit), but others like the opportunity to tweak as they see fit.
This is the basis of my argument — not that one is superior over the other, but that one system offers more “usability” than the other. For some, that is a key selling point; for others, it is not.
So much time, so much money, so much effort.
Such a disappointment!
Thank God I don’t have to rely on MS’s software mess.
like what someone named stephen posted
For me MacOS X is the equivalent of a good looking women having a lot of IQ, and Windows is like a boring girl trying to look good and trying to be intelligent but falls short of that. Poor Windows.
1984 is here and doublespeak reigns in Redmond. Broken = good, worse = better, and abject failure = ecstacy.
Basically King knows he can’t argue so he realised he had to come up with some BS to satisfy the powers that be.
May as well just thrown in the towel.
What a twat!!!
Only good thing that has holes in it is a lump of swiss cheese. Oh yeah and the case of a G5 or MacPro.
Dude! I can’t get to the full article page, I think its overloaded with Mac people slinging his shit right back at him.
Writing a Vista review is like constipation. It is painful to do the job and it looks and smells like shit when it comes out.
MW “big”. How appropriate.
Wow. That’s quite an argument.
I suppose it might be true from the perspective of geeks that having an OS you have to “fiddle with” a lot is better (although at this point I think a lot of the really hardcore ones have gone over to Linux, with is truly more tweakable than Windows).
However, this argument breaks down totally for probably 85 – 90% of the current and potential consumer PC market, which just wants a box that works for email and web browsing.
“customizing, tweaking, cajoling, and hacking” is the very LAST thing that most PC users want to do with their PC. They just want it to work and get them their content from YouTube without spyware “tweaks” popping up ads every 3 minutes.
Broken is better than perfection? Have you seen the stock prices and cumulative worth of Ford/GM vs. Toyota lately? I guess the several POS I bought from GM in the 60’s and 70’s were better broken because I could customize them. Riiiight.
Absolute Crap.
Note, however, that he was asked to specifically write a piece in defence of Vista – he did not volunteer to do so apparently. It was obviously a difficult task if his best recommendation for Windows Vista is that being broken makes it easier to customise.
From what I have read about problematic installations, the only customisation possible with a broken Vista installation requires a big hammer…
Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to say what your mother told you………I’m a dysfunctional sack of loose bowels….a depressant…a mockery….a horribly, horribly broken boy but the world is much more interesting with me in it.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my mother for validating me…….and especially Brad King for articulating my reasons for using Vista…………..to poop on.
If King was a defense lawyer, then every defendant would get convicted. That is the most negative “pro” response that I have ever seen. In addition, the illogic of the piece is beyond description. A carnie huckster couldn’t do better.
“From what I have read about problematic installations, the only customisation possible with a broken Vista installation requires a big hammer…”
Or a shredder.
OSX: 2 percent of world market share and dropping. VISTA RULES!
Hail Big Brother.
Speaking of broken, the link to the full article must be part of Windows.
I keep reading it, and while it fits the bill as a satire piece, that seems an unlikely author?
“broken is better than perfection”
Someone PLEASE tell me this is satire.
@ChrissyOne:
“That is officially the stupidest thing I have ever read. And I’ve even read some of Dianetics.”
Priceless!!