Microsoft sucks, consistently.

MS sucks. No surprises there, but here are some findings on VC 6 v/s VC 7 (.Net whatever hell), not by choice!

VC6 against VC7 goes:
--Alt-EI against Alt-EFI
--Ctrl-F2 against Ctrl-KK
--F2 against Ctrl-KN
--Saves files while building, against asking you. VC7 asks if you really want to save while building. Mostly, VC7 screws up if you save while building, whether or not you're saving the file that’s being compiled!

I miss Linux...God, are you listening, please? A little more help won't do you harm!

Also, MS sucks consistently even if they make inconsistent products. Following are some examples:
--Ctrl-F for find everywhere, except Ctrl-F on Outlook forwards mails!!!
--cmd versus command to open command line prompt on various so-called OSs.
--How the hell do you launch applications from command line or Run window? Here's how: mspaint, versus winword, versus excel...

(If any MS fan does read this in coming days, feel free to bash me up. In my defense, in advance, I don't care to RTFM about MS if this is how they maintain compatibilities across their own products. Let this also be a warning to MS *standard* followers: WM, sweetheart Sony 's BluRay products..., whatever!)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree there are gross inconsistencies. But, with all that, let me ask you this. If you are a mechanical engg. student. You want a nice interface to some C program already written years ago (by some other person) With MS products with all the inconsistencies, you would probably get your interface ready in 3-4 days.

With Linux, most people can forget a GUI interface. Why that, most people can forget accessing a decent graphical desktop without knowing some/many shell commands. Now why should a mechanical engineering student know shell commands, configuration files etc etc?
It might be true for computer scientists. I am sorry to say it is not user friendly.

One need not know control f to search for a word in outlook and still search for a word. Think about vi. can you do anything if you dont know the commands.. :q
:!q.. what times are we living in exactly?

Advaitavedanti said...

I presume you read the subject line and the closing comments and still have those questions.

So, here goes:

--speed of development doesn't mean quality. Within MS products also, people use VB for speed (of development) while others for quality. Yes, with all the MS inconsistencies, you'll have the GUI ready in 3-4 days... but you're missing the point: you'll *still* have similar inconsistencies in your GUI!

Having said that, as much as a windows-friendly person can make a GUI in 3-4 days using windows, so can a Linux-friendly person make it, using Linux. Argument doesn't hold weight, does it?

--With Linux, most people want(ed) to forget the GUI! Anyway, today there are a lot many options for such *mech. engg. students* on Linux: Gnome, KDE, blah-blah, apart from the X-Motif stuff that always existed.

--User-friendliness can't be achieved at the cost of consistency.

--Your mech. engg. probably needs to know shell commands, config files, etc, for the same reason as he has to use the old C-program! :)

--comparing vi with Outlook is like comparing apples and oranges! vi *is* a command-line tool. Its like saying I won't scribble a letter because I don't have thesaurus!

--Ctrl-F for find is supposed to be like F1 for help! Then why have soft-keys/shortcuts? Have you used multiple flavors to know that? Say, Win 3.1, 98, NT, 2k, ME, XP, and their various apps like Office suite, VS suite, etc? Funnily enough, MS made those rules and didn't stick by. Tomorrow, we'll have MS come up with an application and say: "you don't need a keyboard to type"!!!

Unknown said...

As a programmer, I understand the importance of the consistency issue in shortcuts and commandlines.

But believe me, 90% of the people who use computers do not know that Ctrl-F should open a search dialog (neither should they care). Instead they go to edit/search. Why? because it is right there in front of your eyes.

"User-friendliness can't be achieved at the cost of consistency" --
I am not saying microsoft products are perfect because they are userfriendly. All I am saying is, at this point of time, for novice users (and they are not expected to improve their computer skills), its better to use Microsoft products than the ones on Linux.

"Tomorrow, we'll have MS come up with an application and say: "you don't need a keyboard to type"!!!"
If people like that idea, it shall be popular.

Well, you know I am not comparing Outlook and Vi. (Your what you want to hear funda applies here)

I know you like Linux more than Microsoft. But that does not change the reality.

Consistency/quality Vs Userfriendliness ?
Populist choice: Userfriendliness

Advaitavedanti said...

You seem to have done quite some research to say 90% of the people look whats in front of their eyes and select edit->search! Whats your count on no. of people among those who would see an underlined-E and F in front of their eyes, and find keyboard shortcuts faster? Else, why do you think they're called short-cuts and not long-cuts? I've seen some people, who used typewriters earlier, find the keyboard more useful to the mouse. Also, at times when the mouse is not so smooth, keyboard is a solution. And what would you say about MS having the new OS menus *search* instead of *find*?

Novice users may well decide to choose MS for its colors and icons. I never did mention that MS sucks for a novice user in the first place; question of consistency arises only for an experienced user. First time/novice user sees it as a new-improved product (a contradiciton in terms themselves!)

If you know that I like Linux more than MS, you don't know enough; the reality that doesn't change is: I loathe MS because it sucks.

You were comparing Outlook's usability features with vi's, as in comparing a GUI product with a non-GUI. Kindly do not apply my *fundas* where you want them to! They don't apply here.

Finally, Shaw's Principle: Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.