Maybe it was something in the water? I've been a big proponent of the new OS over the past few months, even going so far as loading it onto most of my computers and spending hours tweaking and optimizing it. So why, nine months after launch, am I so frustrated? The litany of what doesn't work and what still frustrates me stretches on endlessly.If you're not familiar with Jim Louderback, this is along the same lines as a priest or minister announcing one day that everything he's been telling you is wrong, and there really is no God. At least not one named Bill Gates.
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I could go on and on about the lack of drivers, the bizarre wake-up rituals, the strange and nonreproducible system quirks, and more. But I won't bore you with the details. The upshot is that even after nine months, Vista just ain't cutting it. I definitely gave Microsoft too much of a free pass on this operating system: I expected it to get the kinks worked out more quickly. Boy, was I fooled! If Microsoft can't get Vista working, I might just do the unthinkable: I might move to Linux.
I've already seen commentary elsewhere lauding this column as a significant defection of one of the loyal Microsoft fans. Having dealt with PC Magazine many years ago (when I was working for Stac, and we were getting Stacker tested by the magazine's test labs), I have an entirely different take on this. I suspect Louderback hasn't changed his real position at all – he's felt like this about Vista (and Microsoft) right from the beginning. What has changed is this: Jim Louderback is moving to a job where he no longer needs Microsoft as a customer, so he's now free to speak his mind. PC Magazine gets lots of advertising dollars from Microsoft, and believe me: no matter how much the magazine proclaims their independence, they are not independent of their biggest advertisers. Of course they're not, as those advertisers are what feeds everybody who works at the magazine…
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