New Vistas

I am not a technology columnist. I have no interest in debating the relative merits of Microsoft versus Linux versus Apple. The fact is, I use Microsoft because that's the computer that I've always used and I know how to make it work. I am savvy to the ways of Microsoft. If I had grown up using an Apple, I would no doubt even now be using a PC, because PCs are obviously better. No, only kidding, I would be using a PC because that's what Apples are now, with fancier colors. Okay, I'm lying. I would be using an Apple. I know they're called Macintoshes now, but they would have been made by Apple.

So just because I might seem to be bashing Microsoft here doesn't really matter, because I'm not interested in bashing Microsoft for the reasons people always bash them. I'm interested in bashing the computer software market, of which Microsoft holds a large part. So sorry Microsoft; you all just happened to be releasing a product when I was thinking about this.

What was wrong with XP? Really? I don't mean in the sense of how buggy it is reported to be, or how slow; I mean what was wrong with XP that a new user interface and slick bells and whistles is going to fix? In fact, how is releasing a new, untested product onto the market going to solve the problem that you don't seem to test your products before you release them onto the market?

Okay, that was Microsoft-bashing, and I'll own up to it. But it is merely a symptom of a bigger problem; software seems to be released simply to be released, not really to fix any problems. We all want the "perfect operating system" whatever the hell that is. So we keep buying (or downloading, in the case of various people who are adherents of an operating system which begins with an L) new products in the hope that this new version will be perfect. And this motivates the industry to keep producing products.

Why is this a problem? Well, if you don't stick with something long enough to make sure it works properly, to work out the bugs, then you can't make it work properly and work out the bugs. And don't everyone in the world write me at once and tell me that Linux is better; it's not. New versions of Linux are released which have nothing to do with making things better, and since the Linux user-base is fragmented into millions of sub-groups, these new versions get released more frequently.

Why do we need bells and whistles? In DOS, I could make the computer sing (figuratively and literally, actually). I don't use the vast majority of fancy features in my operating system because they annoy me or they have little or nothing to do with what I want. Why do we need "paradigm shifts?" What's wrong with menus and toolbars and buttons? Why does it have to be three-dimensional? If it's not broken, don't fix it, and to my mind, it's not broken. I'm sure I'll get used to the new features, and undoubtedly there will be features which I will love and start using, but why should I pay several hundred dollars for a few nice features? And why should I upgrade to something which, in exchange for a few nice features, will slow my computer down and will be untested.

Okay, that last stuff was also about Windows. And you know why? Because I and the vast majority of the world use Windows. Sorry everyone else, but it's true. I'm not saying it's a good reason, but it's true. That's why I can't use Linux; there aren't enough of the programs I use developed for Linux, and the security and bells-and-whistles situations aren't much better. Reality check there I know, but sorry, it's true. And I don't get Mac OS, so I can't use it because I would rather be able to use my operating system to the best of my abilities.

I know why new versions are developed: money. And I know why the new versions are full of bells and whistles: no one will pay for something which is essentially just a fixed version of something for which they already paid. And don't tell me the Open Source community is any different; they have bells and whistles and new versions too, and I'm sorry, the support is worse in many cases.

I just wish that people could be satisfied with a program that works, and keep providing support for it to make sure that it keeps working. I say this as I type on a Windows 98 machine and wish the Microsoft would focus on keeping things working rather than making gargantuan new programs that I don't really need. Please don't tell me to switch to Linux; I'm not interested in doing that because I can't make it work for me.