to suggest it is just Windows that is the heart of the problem, I think
the disease spread through Microsoft and infected all their products a
long time ago. I think you will enjoy using Ubuntu in your new non MS life.
I have to credit Gizmodo.com for leaking this email from bill, I have
copied it here as it is so poignant. Enjoy.
*From*: Bill Gates
*Sent:* Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM
*To:* Jim Allchin
*Cc:* Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will
Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)
Subject: Windows Usability Systematic degradation flame
I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going
backwards and the program management groups don't drive usability
issues.
Let me give you my experience from yesterday.
I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack ...
so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.
The first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring
up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.
This site is so slow it is unusable.
It wasn't in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45.
These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like:
C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.
They are not filtered by the system ... and so many of the things
are strange.
I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in
movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.
So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying - where is this Moviemaker
download? Does it exist?
So they told me that using the download page to download something
was not something they anticipated.
They told me to go to the main page search button and type movie
maker (not moviemaker!).
I tried that. The site was pathetically slow but after 6 seconds of
waiting up it came.
I thought for sure now I would see a button to just go do the download.
In fact it is more like a puzzle that you get to solve. It told me
to go to Windows Update and do a bunch of incantations.
This struck me as completely odd. Why should I have to go somewhere
else and do a scan to download moviemaker?
So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to
download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times
where I get to see weird dialog boxes.
Doesn't Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?
Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was
critical for me to download 17megs of stuff.
This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but
instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST
possible way I had to download 17meg.
So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an
install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn't
use it for anything else during this time.
What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy.
This is after the download was finished.
Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot
every night — why should I reboot at that time?
So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant
completely getting rid of all my Outlook state.
So I got back up and running and went to Windows Updale again. I
forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to
get Moviemaker.
So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I
have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that?
Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.
What does it mean to have to click on that folder? So I get a bunch
of confusing stuff but sure enough one of them is Moviemaker.
So I do the download. The download is fast but the Install takes
many minutes. Amazing how slow this thing is.
At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to
download.
So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things
like "Open" or "Save". No guidance in the instructions which to do.
I have no clue which to do.
The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing.
So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove
programs place to make sure it is there.
It is not there.
What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate
Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package,
Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate
testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.
Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable?
The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable.
This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.
But that is just the start of the crap. Later I have listed things
like Windows XP Hotfix see Q329048 for more information. What is
Q329048? Why are these series of patches listed here? Some of the
patches just things like Q810655 instead of saying see Q329048 for
more information.
What an absolute mess.
Moviemaker is just not there at all.
So I give up on Moviemaker and decide to download the Digital Plus
Package.
I get told I need to go enter a bunch of information about myself.
I enter it all in and because it decides I have mistyped something I
have to try again. Of course it has cleared out most of what I typed.
I try (typing) the right stuff in 5 times and it just keeps clearing
things out for me to type them in again.
So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list
garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible
website I haven't run Moviemaker and I haven't got the plus package.
The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences
blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network
places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don't you
just love that root certificate message?)
When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.
When Seattle Pi recently asked Gates about the email, he replied,
"There's not a day that I don't send a piece of e-mail ... like that
piece of e-mail."
So Bill, or anyone suffering the indignity that is MS just go here
http://wubi-installer.org/ and with a couple of simple clicks of your
mouse you can install Ubuntu from within windows into its own little
space with no harm to windows or your stuff. I can't promise it will all
work perfectly for you the first time, or that there won't be some sort
of learning curve for anyone confronted with a new OS. I can promise
though that is free and that every new version gets better and more
useful. After thinking about it now I think that the best thing to ever
happen for Linux is MS, I bet that's where 90% of new Linux users escape
from. Oh and by the way Linux now has great working alternatives to
pretty much all the MS software, there is NO LONGER a reason to buy
Windows just so you can work with MS Office documents.