South Florida Paralegal Blog

Would somebody please tell me why Bill Gates is the richest man in the world? Yes, I know, his garbage operating system is on almost every computer in the world. But at this point, a few decades after he ripped off the Mac user interface (who ripped it off from Xerox), shouldn't my computer be able to actually work? Like, all the time. Heck, I'd settle for most of the time.

I consider myself an experienced computer user, bordering on geek status. I can set up a network, edit the registry and there are very few things I can't figure out within a few seconds. So it is especially frustrating to me during the past month when my computer continually locks while I am connected to the internet. Why is my operating system having a party behind my back and corrupting files when I have made no changes?   

I keep my computer automatically updated with Windows updates. I have run virus scans using multiple programs and spyware scans with four separate programs to no avail. I have googled the issue and can't seem to find a solid fix.

So here I sit dreading the possibility of having to spend an entire weekend wiping my drive and starting from scratch. How many wasted hours have we all spent going through this ritual? After almost twenty years, shouldn't Windows Operating System do the one thing it's designed to do.... operate my computer system?

A while ago, I heard a quote by the head of one of the big computer companies, a competitor to Microsoft, I don't remember who it was or the exact quote, but he said something to the effect of "computers need to evolve into appliances that work reliably and the end user shouldn't need a degree to operate it". I second that!

How many years has USB been around? Why do I still need to click in the tray and ask permission to remove a USB device? Why can't I just yank the thing out without getting a stern warning? Why must we restart our computer after installing new programs or many Windows updates? To the eggheads who developed Microsoft Outlook, please explain to me why there isn't a one-click solution to back up all my mail settings, folder settings, contacts and messages?

Instead of designing an operating system that tries to do everything for everyone, how about you Microsoft guys work on a product that doesn't require me to spend a weekend removing it and reinstalling it once a year? I just want my computer to be an appliance. Preferably, like a toaster that plays MP3s.