Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Windows XP gets slammed by book author

Read this article on TechTV:

http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/p...3339557,00.html

Wow! Tough criticism. For the most part, I agree with his analysis. The vast majority of new features and refinements in XP are geared to benefit MS...not consumers. Especially product activation.

I'm running XP RC1, and so far I am VERY impressed with the overall "smoothness" to the new OS. It seems to operate and perform much better than beta 2. But my original impression still stands: I am still not "blown away" by this OS, and I do NOT believe it will revive dying PC sales.

Consumers aren't buying new PCs for several reasons.

1. they are satisfied with what they have now, and see no need to upgrade.

2. there are no compelling new applications to drive consumers back to the stores.

3. lastly, and this is my worst fear because it spells doom for the PC industry: The PC has become a boring commodity, and consumers have lost interest in computers altogether.

If this is indeed the case, it means the PC industry will literally whither and die. Mainly because people will hold onto their existing systems until they break. That could mean YEARS between upgrades. The problem is that the PC market is geared in such a way that OEMs make their money by selling in large volumes with low margins. These companies can't survive on low sales. Only those who sell on higher margins, such as SONY, can stand the test of time.

I see rough times ahead for PC makers, and things are going to get a lot worse. XP will launch in October..and no one will give a damn. Plus, I think the Xbox is going to steal XP's thunder. It's a sad testimony when consumers care more about a game console than a PC operating system.

__________________
My blog: Pocketfactory

Last edited by foo fighter on 07-31-2001 at 03:37 PM

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Re: Windows XP gets slammed by book author

quote:

---

Originally posted by foo fighter
Mainly because people will hold onto their existing systems until they break. That could mean YEARS between upgrades.

---

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

I count myself among the ignorant masses who only have an inkling about XP, and I can tell you that I'm not planning on upgrading my P2 desktop or my P1 laptop anytime soon (except for RAM, given to me by a techie friend, god bless his sweet hairy soul). I'm also afraid that XP will forced onto us... That's the true measure of a monopoly: MS can force consumers to upgrade or lose the ability to be compatible with the majority of users. If they win this one, I say break them into as many pieces as possible as quickly as possible, because then they've managed to cease catering to consumers in favor of simply dominating them.

__________________
Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

I have to say, the average Joe's computing needs can be met with a pda. Most people don't need 1.8GHz processors. They need word processing, spread sheets, databases (for those who even know how to use one), and internet access. I believe that pda's are being held back, in part, is because of the severe lack of WYSIWYG printing (which can only be improved with a higher res screen to show page layout). The only thing pushing pc's forward is gaming. Even multimedia is beyond Joe. PC's will get life blown into them again when I can watch tv out of the box and record my favorite programs with its included dvd burner (and have the option to record just the audio on cd to listen to in the car)...

added: ...while my son works on his school project on the same computer being displayed on his monitor upstairs and gettting input from his wireless keyboard/mouse/printer.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Last edited by dick-richardson on 07-31-2001 at 04:02 PM

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Re: Re: Windows XP gets slammed by book author

quote:

---

Originally posted by dick-richardson

Doesn't that bode well for Apple? That's the way they've been selling computers from the get-go.

---

__________________
My blog: Pocketfactory

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 278

I have been running Beta 2 and now RC1 of XP for a while now on one of my computers. At first I loved it but it got slower and worse with RC1. Also with their activation how it is I won't upgrade because their is no way in hell I can afford 4 copies, 2 of them need to be pro version. Also it will be very easy for them to flip a switch and make it a subsription product.

--David

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 268

so far, 9 people have voted "shove it" ... but probably when xp does get released, 8/9 will get it. really, no one likes to admit that they like microsoft, but everyone buys them (or gets them bootleg).

it's like when ace of base was really popular. mtv did a survey in one of the spring break beaches and almost no one admitted to liking them, let alone buying their cd's. but they were #1 in sales (by far) that whole month.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

foo, I don't think many here will be getting XP, just because we know about all the crap that's in it. And I have to say, if I didn't work on wintel machines (I tried copying files from a bad hard drive over to a good one and the $%*#!@& computer would stop the copy everytime it reached 1 corrupt file...what the hell is the point of that?), I wouldn't care one way or another about MS. Until, that is, they start with all the B.S. they're cramming into XP. I've deleted everything of MS's I could find off my computer out of spite.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I think very few people will upgrade to XP. There aren't really a whole lot of compelling reasons to do so, and there seems to be a lot of reasons NOT to do so.

The way Microsoft is touting its .net and passport services isn't helping either. A LOT of people are turned of by those technologies as well.

I think MS is trying to tie everything together in one last attempt to hold on to their OS stranglehold. In the end, I think windows will fall to the side and they will start working harder on just developing quality applications that are less platform dependent.

Or maybe I'm dreaming.

__________________
We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 380

I will not ever install XP on any of my personal computers.

I am completely opposed to the registration mechanism that they are using. I upgrade computers constantly. New video card, more memory, faster processor, new motherboard, etc. The fact that the program is using a hardware signature and one day will decide that i have changed too much and require me to call MS to get a new code is unacceptable.

I have already switched to StarOffice on my Win2K systems because of this feature in Office XP. It looks like I will continue to use Win2K for as long as it is reasonable, then switch the other machines to Linux (my server already uses SUSE 7.2).

On my G4 and new iBook I am using AppleWorks instead of Office. I will probably continue this even when MS ships a Carbonized version of Office.

Just to make it clear how I feel. I will not ever install XP on any of my personal computers.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Oh my, such hostility!

What I find most interesting is the now defunct SmartTag feature. Microsoft did pull the plug on it, but it's still in RC1. This is my first eXPerience with it..and it is SHOCKING! No wonder everyone's panties were in a knot over this topic. The most troubling aspect is that it can lead web surfers from one site (say General Motors) to a competitors site (say Ford). For example, yesterday I was browsing through a local banks site (Star Bank), and a Smartag underlining the words home mortgage took me to the Wells Fargo banks web site, offering me home mortgage services. I wonder how Star Bank would feel about that? How would DELL feel about a link to Gateway's site for home PC users?

Today I had my first taste of the "copyright protection" built into Windows Media Player 8, when I stumbled upon a very..very old MP3 audio recording from Byte.com that I had forgotten about. Just for the hell of it, I decided to listen to it once more before I finally deleted it forever. So I clicked on the file...WHAM!!! Up pops a message saying that the WMP (Windows Media Player) can not play this file due to copyright restrictions.

My impression of XP overall hasn't changed. For every one feature I love, there are 2 or 3 features that I detest. It's enough to keep me away, at least for now.

Another problem I see for the analysts who keep hoping that XP will spark a resurgence of PC buying is that, even if XP is indeed the next big thing in operating systems, there still isn't any good hardware to go with it. There are still no PC notebooks that can rival the iBook or Tbook. There are still no desktops that can offer the style and user friendliness of the PowerMac G4 or consumer friendliness of the iMac. Sticking XP in a beige box PC is like putting a corvette engine in a Yugo. People don't want these products anymore. That much should be obvious by now. It seems like PC makers are hoping that XP will draw consumers back to their boring crappy products again. It's not going to happen.

__________________
My blog: Pocketfactory

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 380

quote:

---

Originally posted by foo fighter
Oh my, such hostility!

---

Yep, this really hits a raw nerve. I don't pirate software and I do buy lots of hardware and upgrade computers frequently. These seem to be things that are in the best interest of MS and the industry as a whole. For this, I am going to be punished. Why should I be happy or support the piece of crap.

If there were compelling reasons to use XP, maybe I would feel differently. But all there is, is a new version of the interface, made uglier and dumbed down for novice users, along with a few tweaks and 'features' that I don't need. I begin to see how some people felt (mistakenly ) about Palm OS 4.

Add in the fact that the day XP ships, MS will no longer provide suport or updates to Win2K. With no good reason to upgrade, and compelling reasons not to, is it any surprise that I feel the way I do?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

quote:

---

Originally posted by bradhaak
Add in the fact that the day XP ships, MS will no longer provide suport or updates to Win2K.

---

__________________
Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

---

..Ok.. so we know that most informed consumers hate XP, but what about the corporate world, will they embrace it or stick with NT or 2000?

---

__________________
We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

quote:

---

Originally posted by homer
The corporate world usually is 6 months to a year behind the consmer world. IT managers don't want to be the beta testers for Microsoft. They'll wait until an OS is proven before attempting to migrate a corporation over to a new OS. And it certainly sounds like XP is going ot be a nightmare for IT managers...

---

__________________
Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

I will continue to use BeOS until they pry the keyboard and trackball out of my cold dead fingers!

__________________
"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Atop a wandering buffalo hunting aardvaarks
Posts: 148

Ahhh... the joys of Platinum and MacOS X.

__________________
Obfuscation is the philosophy of quality politics.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 447

My thoughts:

I won't upgrade to XP. I'm still only running Win95 (with no USB ports) on a AMD K6-2/350mHZ with 160MB RAM, 4GB HDD (1.2GB of that is MP3s) And a Visor Platinum with HS modem, GoType, TakeNote, backup module.

XP doesn't offer much over 95 for me, since AOL on a 17" 32 bit color monitor is about 90% of my PC use. The rest is writing papers, cd burning, MP3s, and syncing my Visor. My Visor has become nearly disconnected from my PC through my accesories since I can ever download files from the web on my Visor and write papers. My MP3s are taking care of by the CD burner. I won't be able to use just my visor until it gets a bigger screen. Not like 17", but maybe the screen size of an apple newton (yea, I know, bad idea for most, but I'd like it). I'd really like a Apple G4 with OS X and iDVD, etc. But, it's too expensive for my family right now. Fact is, my programs on my PC can be run of many an OS. I'd rewrite this post again, but it's 11:40PM and I wanna do the time warp again!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

Win98SE continues to serve me well, and my 13GBs of MP3s won't ever be burdened by that bastard OS known as XP..
I love all this Anti-Microsoft talk! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! hehe

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

---

Originally posted by Vertigo
Win98SE continues to serve me well, and my 13GBs of MP3s won't ever be burdened by that bastard OS known as XP..
I love all this Anti-Microsoft talk! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! hehe

---

Attachment: 1.jpg
This has been downloaded 80 time(s).

__________________
My blog: Pocketfactory