🚀 go-pugleaf

Have you ever heard a lot of shit about a certain topic and wondered if it 
is really as bad as everyone says? Perhaps many people out there are 
followers as I know many people choose important decisions like heath and 
similar based solely on anecdotal evidence. I, on the other hand, prefer to 
approach all information with a grain of salt. Me doubting, so called, 
fundamental aspects of humanity based on my logical approach has caused me 
to be labeled some pretty nasty things.

But I am not here to talk about my modus operandi. I am here to talk about 
my wonderful experience with Windows Vista for the past hour and a half. On 
overclockers.com an article was posted in which Ed (readers of OC will know 
him) said he was buying a computer that was coming with Vista and he was 
going to pay extra to buy an OEM copy of Windows XP to protect his poor 
innocent friend from the evils he doesn't know about.

Of course, I chuckled. I enjoy Ed's atypical input any day. But in the back 
of my mind, like most outrageous things I read, a little flag goes up and 
says it can't really be all that bad.

Well, I hate to break it to you. It REALLY is that bad.

Holy Jesus Fucking Christ I want to kill this OS!!! Vista made me so mad 
that I was shaking violently and couldn't hold the mouse. Mind you, no human 
has ever made me that mad.

So I have a job to do - move some files from one computer to another. I take 
a look at the "new" computer and immediately notice that it's . . just not 
quite right. Oh God! It's Vista. Well, I knew it was coming some time, so I 
guess I'd better give it a shot.

So, I am trying to copy some files over to the new computer into my 
documents. I am moving a file called "My Music" and Windows stops me. It 
says the files inside the My Music folder will be placed inside the "music 
folder". So, I'm muttering, looking for the button that's says fuck off and 
it isn't there. My choices are continue and cancel. WTF? I decide to do a 
little experiment; I rename the folder and try to copy it in - works fine. 
So, now windows is telling me that I cannot copy a folder named "My Music" 
into My Documents??? Where else can't I copy it to? How many CPU cycles are 
being dedicated to ensuring that what I am telling the computer to do is not 
what it's going to fucking do? Who does it think it is? I AM LORD AND MASTER 
OVER MY COMPUTER. Don't tell me you can't do that. (Damn, I sound like Steve 
Allan)

Is there a list of "forbidden actions" somewhere? Am I allowed to name files 
"Bill Gates Sucks" or type "Revert to Windows XP" in a Word document?

Fuck it, whatever. You know - it doesn't want a folder called My Music, I 
can get over that. So, a big ugly ass Try AOL icon is staring me in the 
face. So I try to delete the bastard and I get some weird Access Denied 
error. Bof! I remember this, people talking about the "four notifications 
before deleting an icon" so I go out on a quest to turn off the warning. 
Except, it's not a warning. I actually did not have permission to remove the 
icon from my desktop (I found this out after some work) The administrator 
has to grant me that right - and unfortunately, he didn't leave his password 
anywhere around.

You have got to be shitting me?? Users don't own their desktop? (I can 
understand in a corporate environment where changing desktop icons might 
want to be explicitly denied - but to deny it by default for non admin 
accounts. I mean seriously, big-time WTF) I was finally able to hide desktop 
icons, thank god!

So I am looking in My Documents, swearing like fucking Dennis Leary. So off, 
to the left, there is this bar in every explorer window - some favorite 
shit. Once again Windows has decided for me what my favorites are - which of 
course is reassuring in an age where I am no longer allowed to have 
preferences. So I try to shrink it to make it go away. Doesn't work. Right 
clicking doesn't work. There is no fucking menu bar anywhere to get to 
folder options. Go to control panel (which has had a seizure since windows 
XP) and I find the folder options in there, and change to classic windows 
folders and open ever link in a new window option. It doesn't go away. So, 
close it down, reopen. Still not gone. Try to open a new window . . IT OPENS 
IN THE SAME FUCKING WINDOW!!!!! And there is no god damned up button, just 
forward and backwards arrows. (Incidentally, I did finally find a way to get 
rid of it, but I have to interact with one of those gay drop down button 
things, which I've trained myself to ignore otherwise. And you can get the 
menu back by clicking alt, but it goes away as soon as you do anything with 
the window. You have to have favorites and shitty toolbars shoved down your 
throat, but if you want something useful like a fucking menu, it has to be 
gone.)

I had more problems related to not having access to admin account. I 
couldn't install real codec. Yay! You can't do anything - this will 
certainly keep users safe. Next week - new initiative to induce paralysis in 
everyone 16 years of age or older promises to virtually eliminate drunk 
driving! And the best part, is that even with all these things blocked - I 
was still able to run a copy of putty! I mean - I can't delete a desktop 
Icon, but I can run an EXE file I downloaded of the net. Whooopdeedo! I 
mean, come on!
It's not pretty. That's supposed to be the redeeming feature - but it's not 
even that. You tell a window to display the address bar (since manually 
typing addresses is the only way to get around now that clicked links, even 
while holding modifier keys, will not open new windows in explorer 
navigation) and it sticks it above - where it doesn't even look like it's 
part of the window. There are so many effects, you don't know what you are 
seeing versus what is really going on.

Really though, that is not the most offensive part. Shitware does not offend 
me by its very existence, though it might frequently piss me off. No. What 
is truly offensive is Microsoft forcing OEMS to sell this piece of shit by 
threatening to revoke kickbacks if vendors continue to offer the working 
alternative, Windows XP. (For which Microsoft gets rewarded handsomely.)

Microsoft truly is a monopoly - and evil to boot. They thrust Windows Vista 
out, breaking competitor software - which the novice user reacts by 
replacing it with Microsoft software. They get rid of vendor copies of 
Windows XP so that people cannot use it as a way to make their favorite 
programs work. Then they strip away functionality and force you to browse in 
a single window so you lose your ability to multitask. (Maybe they should 
change the name to Window from Windows.) They hide all elements of 
functionality and workability from the user - and don't even let them change 
their desktop icons - all the while making changing options and using the 
start menu impossible.

They want people stupid. Their proprietary disk encoding scheme will hold 
back the Linux community long enough that otherwise swaying persons will 
choose the all Microsoft way.

It's disgusting; it sickens me.

I liked Windows XP. I'm not going to use an Operating System that will not 
allow me to delete desktop icons without any notifications; that will not 
allow me to name a folder inside my documents anything that I god damned 
well please. I cannot endorse an operating system which encourages user 
ignorance, not through facility, but through obfuscation - working harder at 
keeping users stupid than helping them complete tasks which they want to do.

When did Microsoft decide that breaking their own systems was the ideal 
business approach? How is not allowing users to send MP3 files in Windows XP 
SP2 over MSN messenger helpful?

You know what Redmond? Take a copy of Windows Vista, heat it up to 140 F and 
shove up your ass. I'm through. If I'm lucky, the OS will allow me to post 
this blog. Because, I've been using this OS for a few hours and I already 
want to kill myself. Maybe this is the end of the world. Everyone will be 
forced to use Vista until they kill themselves. That would make Bill Gates 
truly be the devil, I suppose. Or angel of death . . or whatever.

I suppose it's just a matter of time until I'm installing my very own copy 
of Vista. OMG yay! As a part time tech, I look forward to helping countless 
people figure out that they can't do anything on their computer because they 
had the poor judgment to not seek out a rogue OEM.

--
LTP

:)