More whining from the MS Haters

Datagrid Girl points us to a site called microsuck.com that talks about, well, why Microsoft sucks. It looks a lot like Microsoft's old site, which is kinda funny. It also whines about why Microsoft is bad and portrays the typical childish rant about backwards compatibility, slams MS for wanting to be compensated for illegal software copies, et. al. And what's better, the site shows it's true childishness right in the title tag of the site. Woo hoo. Let the misconceptions roll.

I just had to laugh. In her comments, a guy named Mike points out that the article is old, and therefore represents and old viewpoint. LOL. Well, it's not as old a viewpoint as you might think. People still feel this way. And just because it deals with computers, does not mean that old viewpoints don't stick. Take another old viewpoint for example: Some people still think black people are inferior to white people. Some people will go to their grave with that belief. And there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Scoble told me recently that it would take a decade for MS to recover from the damage MSBlaster and its variants did to their reputation. I'm gonna have to agree, because it only fueled the fire for all the Linux lovers around the world, who still want to run bleeding edge software on 486's. It's unfortunate that Windows XP, a really great OS, did not get the same security push that Windows Server 2003 did. Well, I have a feeling that Longhorn may very well be the most secure OS ever created by the time it is released. Hopefully by then, they will have created some kind of system for Microsoft to deliver security bulletins securely straight to the person's desktop.

While we're on the subject of content delivery, why doesn't MS allow you to sign up for Security Bulletins with .NET Alerts? Seems to me like an extremely logical step to take... and I think it should come built-in to MSN Messenger 6.2. Further, you should not be able to shut it off.

6 Comments

  • Robert,



    Comparing racial bigotry with dislike for a distinct corporation and its practices probably was:



    1. Not the smartest thing to do.

    2. Not particularly on-point.

    3. A flawed analogy.



    You are comparing racial stereotypes with an individual corporation. While racial stereotypes are likely baseless, the dislike many people have for Microsoft is usually based on personal experience.

  • Yup, if you disagree with Microsoft, you're a racist. Good one!

  • "does not mean that old viewpoints don't stick. Take another old viewpoint for example: Some people still think black people are inferior to white people. Some people will go to their grave with that belief. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."



    I think you both misread my post. You might want to read it again. The emphasis was not on racism. The emphasis was on the belief, and how it is hard to change beliefs. I chose one that was easy to understand. Don't take it out of context.

  • "Scoble told me recently that it would take a decade for MS to recover from the damage MSBlaster and its variants did to their reputation."



    This evokes several reactions from me.



    First off, IMHO MS is to blame for MSBlaster and the damage it caused. Yeah yeah they put a patch out a month before, but I'm speaking about the _real_ blame here: a solid decade of work where security was a distant second (or worse) priority to functionality/interactiveness.



    Second, I have and will continue to applaud MS for how they accepted their part of MSBlaster and how they responded with what I thought was genuine concern - for once willing to put their resources where their marketing mouth is.



    Third, I have and will continue to be critical of MS for their unwillingness to release coherant upgrades/SPs/patches to their existing products because they are so damn focused on products with release dates 2+ years off. If you want to talk about damage to their reputation, look here first. What are non-commercial users and non-developers to think as they discover XP SP4 is being released nearly 9 months late? Or that IE and OE will not have any future releases?



    Finally, I feel - and obviously many planners at MS do too - that Scoble is overestimating things here. MS' reputation will recover from the MSBlaster damage quickly and decisively in some 2+ years when Longhorn is released with the same kind of public acceptance that Win95 had.



    What does this mean in regards to _my_ 'beliefs' regarding MS? Um, like most everything in life - mixed, with much more grey than either black or white.

  • Just so that you know, MS is releasing a "Security Rollup" pre-SP2 package with 22 patches in it.

  • BTW Dave, it's always great to see your comments. Thanks.

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