Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft

s31523 writes "All of us have one time or another been completely frustrated by certain Windows usability issues, and in many cases our experiences have driven us over to Linux, or kept us there. For anyone that has ever been frustrated, you will be happy to know you aren't the only one. After reading this leaked Microsoft memo from Bill Gates back in 2003, you will surely have more insight into why Vista is a complete disaster due to Microsoft not learning anything from their experiences from XP."

Comments

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[morgan_greywolf]

First, I am not sure that email is really by Gates -- from reading his writing or listening to him in the past, it really does not sound like his style

Agreed. He doesn't say any of his trademarks like "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" or "I could have written MovieMaker in Excel macros over the weekend!" (okay, the last one is a stretch. ;)

Next, people complain about Linux usability? apt-get install mplayer k3b, etc? It is not harder, just different. In fact, having all of the software most people need in one place makes Linux easier for most people in many ways, specifically the way that possible-Bill rants about here.

Here's the problem from a usability standpoint: I want to install a media player. I don't know that I need to install mplayer, xine or totem. (What is a totem and WTF does it have to do with playing media? WTF is a xine anyhow?) THe 'Add/Remove Programs' in Ubuntu addresses some of this, but try installing an app that plays podcasts WITHOUT KNOWING that democracyplayer and VLC play podcasts.

 

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[Red Flayer]

Interestingly enough, Gates could have really improved his image during his tenure at Microsoft if he let emails like that "leak" out prior to stepping down. Instead, he gives keynotes about Microsoft and its "innovation."

Except as head of the company, his job is not to make himslef look better, it is to make the company look better. There is no way a CxO wants an internal email like that leaked, if they really care about the company.

Wait... is it really possible that we should give Gates some credit for acting responsibly?

First, I am not sure that email is really by Gates -- from reading his writing or listening to him in the past, it really does not sound like his style. Also, "I reboot my computer ... why should I have to reboot my computer?" I find it hard to realize that he wouldn't know the technical difficulties in replacing a dll while the system is running, and possible ways around this, and the current state of affairs. However, maybe I'm giving too much credit here.

I agree with you on the writing style, but you never know, since this was an internal document, and people use different writing styles for different purposes. I'd also note that when knowleadgeable people do usability testing, they normally feign ignorance -- they test as if they were a user with limited knowledge.

I'm not upper management, but I've sent (and seen) similar emails when a prject went FUBAR.

Re:My God...

[Lisandro]

Still, assuming the email is real of course, it's always nice to see the boss appreciate the problems from the regular user's perspective.

I was thinking the same - posting this story on /. is calling for the usual Microsoft bashing, but if the mail's real we should congratulate Gates. We need more bosses putting themselves on the end user shoes.

Microsoft has company

[bogaboga]

It's not Microsoft alone! This kind of frustration happens on the Linux platform everyday. Try setting up a printer...even that supported by Linux. You get into issues like CUPS as if you are supposed to know what the OS is gonna use to get the printer setup.

For God's sake...if I want to setup a printer, it should be the system's job to install ALL software needed to get it working. What is so difficult in that?

...Windows usability issues, and in many cases our experiences have driven many us over to Linux, or kept us there...

Let me remind the author of that line that we Linux users have still not made a dent on the desktop market. I can say, we are economically insignificant. This is despite perceived flaws in Windows. And by the way, Bill Gates was not frustrated over Windows in particular...he appears to have been frustrated by confusing names and un-necessary questions on the Windows website.

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[Jesus_666]

He's not an end user. As you said, he certainly should know why rebooting would be necessary when updating part of the OS.

Actually, he tested the whole thing like one. I read the "Why should I have to reboot?" part as "Why should I have to reboot to install a movie editor?"

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[ragefan]

How do you "know what you're looking for" without searching the web exactly?

It's worth noting that Microsoft would love nothing more than to bundle as many free utilities as they could, but their hands are tied thanks to those who whined to the DOJ.

Why is searching the web a problem? If I need to find an app in Linux that does whatever. Almost always searching: "Linux <whatever I want to do>" will give me at least 1 or 2 applications that do that. I could in fact replace Linux with KDE, Gnome or XFCE depending on which DE I'm using.

And to say the one shouldn't have to search for an application to run is absurd. No one is born knowing which applications do what in Windows, they learn either from searching or asking someone. Which is what they would do in Linux too.

Re:What am I doing wrong?

[BobMcD]

My guess would be that your perspective is somehow twisted by a superior knowledge and/or appreciation for Windows.

For example:

except once, and I had used a beta driver, so you can't really blame Windows for that Actually, yes, you really could blame Windows that using this driver resulted in a crash. A more graceful solution doesn't really take all that much imagination.

Likewise, you may not have ever had occasion to experience some of the particularly common nasties:

You may have never lost a motherboard - otherwise you would have experienced the painful fight-the-bluescreen vs reinstall decision.

You may not have used IE 4 (or 5, or 6) as suggested by Windows - otherwise the pop-ups and spyware would have created a mess you would have had to clean up by now.

You may not have automatic updates turned on - otherwise you would have been forced to do an undesired reboot at least once by now.

You may have disabled UAC, or never used Vista at all - otherwise you would have been prompted as many as four times to approve the same action.

You may not ever Alt+Tab in Vista - otherwise you would have seen 'Explorer is not responding' at least once by now...

The list goes on and on and on...

Chances are, either your skills are high enough that none of the above is painful, or you just plain don't mind it - taking the good with the bad.

Others are in a totally different boat, my friend, I assure you.

Re:My God...

[TheRaven64]

The point is not that Windows has UI problems, it's that senior people at Microsoft knew it had serious UI problems back in 2003 and five years later the situation has not improved. This says some quite damning things about the development process at Microsoft - they can identify problems, designate resources to fixing them, and still fail after five years.

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[ShieldW0lf]

Almost always searching: "Linux " will give me at least 1 or 2 applications that do that. I could in fact replace Linux with KDE, Gnome or XFCE depending on which DE I'm using.

You do understand, of course, that KDE, Gnome, and XFCE are windows managers and not operating systems right?

He was trying to say, he can search for "Gnome " in a search engine just as easily. The difference being, if he finds something interesting, he can use a package manager to install it and get to work.

If he was using, say, Windows, he'd most likely download an install file, run it through a virus scanner, execute it, click 15 different buttons, have his personal information sent to some corporate server, get nagged to buy the upgraded version, download a crack, run it through a virus scanner, execute it, have a rootkit installed, have 10 different pieces of spyware installed, have his personal information sent to some criminals server, be bombarded with pornographic popups, throw his computer out the window, go outside for a cigarette with hands shaking in rage and smash his head off the nearest wall until the endorphins cause him to forget why he was so upset.

Re:Then STOP releasing the product!

[Endo13]

Which is precisely why so many people end up pirating software like that. Sadly, it's much quicker and more convenient to just download the first crippled software that does what you want, then find a key to un-cripple it than it is to actually keep looking for a free one. And you know there's no way in hell the average geek (or most other people for that matter) is going to pay $50 for some small program he might never use more than once.