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Ran Notes for 13 years. I don't know why anyone wants to run anything else.

Probably because you're an admin, not someone who actually has to use it.

The biggest problem with Domino is that it's under utilized.

There's a reason for that: the useful functionality (replication, common client-server environment, extensibility) is trapped behind an excruciatingly bad UI.

The most basic functions, like text entry and list selection--things that were pretty much solved back in the Windows 3.0 days-- are re-invented (badly!) in Notes, just to screw with you. And let's not forget that password dialog with its hieroglyphics. What? Why does each character result in three X's instead of a normal bullet or asterisk, like every other application, OS, and website in existence?

The error dialogs always seemed to be written by two people: one who wrote the error text, and another who chose the button names. These people presumably never communicated with one another, and never saw the others' work, because none of the options ever made sense. And presumably, neither spoke English fluently.

Fortunately, most of the time, it doesn't matter, because you can't actually do anything. The error messages are just there to frustrate the user.
"B-Tree structure is invalid." OK.
"The database could not be located." OK.
"A required lsx module could not be found." OK.
"A required lsx module could not be found." OK.
"A required lsx module could not be found." OK, OK, OK, I get it, stop fucking telling me.
"Type mismatch." OK.
"No error." Wait, what?

The Designer client is frustratingly modal, such that if you type something with a syntax error, you have to fix it immediately. Want to refer to the documentation while you code? Sorry! You can't switch tabs until you resolve the errors!

But hey, that's no big deal. The whole client will often lock up because of what the current tab is doing. Why do we even have tabs in the first place?

But that's just a temporary inconvenience, because sooner or later, the client crashes. Only it doesn't just crash like a normal program; there's a background process that prevents it from re-starting.

And then there's the email client. You know, the flagship feature. The thing Notes is most famous for. How badly can they screw up a simple thing like email? Pretty badly, apparently. (If that looks familiar: yes, they build an email client out of Eclipse. No, I don't know why.)

The ideas behind Notes were good, but the implementation was awful, and it has only gotten worse with time.

And before you say it, no, a good Notes admin can't fix it. As you can probably tell, I've worked with the Notes admins. They were so busy triaging errors and handling user complaints that they could barely keep things running.

Especially if you're a sysadmin who has to mange installation & updates.

http://www.bynkii.com/archives/2013/02/wtf_flash.html

John C Welch rightly reams him out over this latest burst of idiocy. Worth reading for the headline ("Douchebags fondly eviscerated") and such prize comments as "You'd have to be smoking hobo crack (as in 'ass' not 'rock') to say that without snickering".

Hope you don't use Acrobat on a Mac at work...

http://www.bynkii.com/archives/2009/05/oh_my_god.html

Isn't video content pretty much as liberal? Certainly it still seems to have a lot fewer restrictions than other video DRM licenses.

And while their recent HDCP implementation is a bit poor, shouldn't one instead be seeking to boycott the parties driving HDCP itself?

FireWire hasn't been "abandoned" yet, just pulled off their lower-end laptops. If the next iMac and mini refreshes pull it...? THEN it's been effectively abandoned. (Not that the industry in general hasn't abandoned FireWire already. I know, I know... I loved SCSI as well, but what can you do? There will always be SOME options, it just becomes "not commonly available" options, so you have to struggle more. Such is the fate of not-widely-used tech.)

Meanwhile on Macworld Expo, may I point you to bynkii.com? ;-) John Welch has the best words to say on the matter.

Isn't video content pretty much as liberal? Certainly it still seems to have a lot fewer restrictions than other video DRM licenses.

And while their recent HDCP implementation is a bit poor, shouldn't one instead be seeking to boycott the parties driving HDCP itself?

FireWire hasn't been "abandoned" yet, just pulled off their lower-end laptops. If the next iMac and mini refreshes pull it...? THEN it's been effectively abandoned. (Not that the industry in general hasn't abandoned FireWire already. I know, I know... I loved SCSI as well, but what can you do? There will always be SOME options, it just becomes "not commonly available" options, so you have to struggle more. Such is the fate of not-widely-used tech.)

Meanwhile on Macworld Expo, may I point you to bynkii.com? ;-) John Welch has the best words to say on the matter.

[Thurott's] biased too, but no more than Welch (actually, nowhere near as much as Welch).

Thurott's site: winsupersite.com
Welch's site: bynkii.com

Nuff said. Actually, not nuff: I've never seen anyone more mean-spirited towards Mac users and Apple in general than Welch. He's a lot of things (definitely a Mac geek, among less nice things), but most certainly no Apple fanboy.

Well what did you really expect, considering the author's blog header and all those Apple Store affiliate ads.

A third party created a QuickTime plugin that plays Windows Media files better than the Mac player.

I wouldn't say better. It's buggy as heck in Firefox (in my experience), and the installer contains a major security flaw:

http://www.bynkii.com/archives/2006/08/fixing_the_ stupidity_of_the_fl.html

Macs are for different thinkers.

I think they prefer to be called "special thinkers." They have feelings too, you insensitive clod.

The one thing the Apple had to make up for it's ugly GUI was it's specialized chipset that bucked every industry standard. This "feature" meant difficulty in programming, lack of third party support, and questionable performance compared even when compared to cheaper Intel chips.

Of course, I'm sure many people can see the "beauty" in beating a perfecftly good copy of Unix with an ugly stick until all the buttons are round. As for "unattractive squares should stick to Linux and Windows" - there is a an elegant simplicity in the power and speed of the command prompt, you can navigate all of Windows with a keyboard (I challenge anyone to show me where you cannot), and you can even make your Windows OS look like a freakin' Mac if you wanted.

Artists, fashion mavens, scientists, and other creative personalities can sit down with a MacBook Pro running the latest dot-update of Tiger and comprehend its sensitive, tasteful aesthetic

Ooooh, I'd stay away from those updates. The poor programming of Apple has finally caught up with the arrogance of their users with rather serious security flaw with the updater. Evidently, no-one thought it a good idea to use encryption of any sort for at least two generations of the operating system's update program - 'cuz there aren't, and never will be, any exploits for the Mac, y'see.

Intelligent people use the OS pioneering new technological, legal, ethical, and economic territory. People seeking careers also know how to program "ugly little squares." Ignorant elitists are mesmerized by all the shiny, round buttons and willing to pay a premium for the privilege.

Of course, comparing Macs with Linux boxes is like comparing Apples with computers...

Welcome to the fact that you can be in the same department but different buildings. And you just helped me out by saying that they are off the main campus where the Windows and Office for Windows guys are most likely located, making it even more of the red headed step child. Link

A good rant.

A blog entry (not mine) on the subject.

Enjoy.