Windows Millenium — Same Old Microsoft

The new computer I bought the other day came with Microsoft Windows Millenium pre-installed. After using it for a couple of days my conclusion is this: it’s still Windows. It still sucks, but unfortunately there still isn’t a better option for the Wintel platform (or the WinAMD platform in my case).

The thing I really hate about Windows upgrades is it always screws with my home LAN. No matter what I tried I couldn’t get my new PC to communicate with my wife’s PC running Windows 98 SE. I broke down and bought a promotionally priced upgrade ($49) for that PC. After a two hour-long upgrade process, I had no problem accessing my wife’s HD from my computer. The only problem is that’s about the only thing my wife’s computer can do now. The desktop just freezes after booting up, though I can still access the HD through the LAN. Time to do the old reformat and re-install routine that most Windows users know and love (not!)

The other thing that struck me about Windows Millenium is that after all of the money Microsoft has poured into interface design research, and the work that others have done in that area, Windows still sucks interface-wise. The new “features” of the Windows Explorer are plain idiotic. It defaults, for example, to only allowing you to see files stored in the My Documents of My Music areas. I installed a program and wanted to see how much space it was taking up so I clicked on the Program Files directory only to find it was completely empty — no directory listing at all. After refreshing a few times I was scratching my head. Then I noticed a little message to the left hand side that basically said that I, the user, really didn’t want to be looking around the Program Files directory since it’s just boring programs after all. Better to stick with the My Documents area and leave the Program Files directory to the experts! To be fair to Microsoft they do include a little “MyPrograms” icon on the desktop that brings up an Explorer Window with this “bug/feature” turned off, but it was very annoying — and who wants a half dozen different icons for different Explorer settings?

There are also some very annoying one-time features. After you install the OS, for example, you have to watch a rather MS video clip. I tried everything to get that stupid thing to stop, but as far as I can tell MS wants to make sure everyone watches it (there isn’t even a way to fast forward, although you see what looks like a fast forward button — but it’s just an image not a functional button). I think I stepped out to got to the bathroom instead; who thought it would be a good idea to bundle trailers with an OS?

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