Entry 2377, on 2024-12-04 at 12:05:50 (Rating 2, Computers)
In the past I have made no secret of my general lack of respect for the world's biggest software company, Microsoft. I am an IT consultant and programmer and many people assume that I use a lot of Microsoft products, making my dislike of them rather hypocritical, but no, I don't use any of their products at all, unless I am forced to by corporate decisions or to help other people who are in the unfortunate position of using them.
At this point you might be asking why. Microsoft products are extremely widely used, so surely that is an indication of quality, or at least fitness for a purpose. Well maybe, but my experience indicates that other factors are more often at work.
For example, I asked someone the other day about whether they had ever considered alternatives to Microsoft Word. This was in the context of Word misbehaving and causing data loss and a lot of frustration for the user. They replied that they thought Word was the ony word processor which exists, and there was no alternative. Other reasons include that Microsoft products are the only ones available free at a workplace, or that a policy states that they must be used, or that to be compatible with other people they must use Microsoft products.
All of these are fair, except for the assumption that there is no alternative, which is really because of pure ignorance, but I still feel like the use of one of the most important tools we have in modern life, the computer, would be better if we could remove Microsoft from the equation.
As an indication of my attitude, here is a message I have sent to Microsoft recently when I was asked to evaluate one of their systems, which I am forced to use: "well, it's very slow, it has a lot of bugs, it sometimes loses data, the user interface is unintuitive, it is quite ugly, the login rarely works, apart from that it's OK". Here are some other comments on the same product: "I have never, in my extensive time in IT, come across an uglier, more confusing, buggier, more unintuitive pile of garbage. What are you even thinking?" and "It generates quite a lot of errors, it's slow, the SSO is buggy, it is awkward to use. Apart from that, it's OK!" and "User interface is inconsistent. It can be slow. It randomly asks for logins occasionally. It sometimes crashes and gives errors. Apart from that, it's fine!"
So I wasn't too complimentary there, although that system can be used as long as you don't want to enjoy your work, you don't mind wasting a lot of time working around the problems, and you are philosophical about coping with constant disappointment!
And here are some comments I made about Microsoft in general, especially in relation to their technical support: "Nothing works. Every. Single. Time. Every time I use a Microsoft product something goes wrong." and "Please shut down the company and return the funds to your shareholders." and "Why any competent adult would use a Microsoft product is beyond me." and "I just don't seem to be able to add an existing license code to this account. The option isn't usually there, and if it is, it doesn't work. Wasted hours on it, an hour an a half chatting to support. Got nowhere. Waiting for a return call about it. Never got it. Getting to the point where I will use something else."
Maybe I was taking my criticism a bit too far there, but it was kind of fun. I always check the option saying that "Microsoft can contact me to discuss my comments" but for some reason, they never do!
So to complete this post, let me give a list of software I use instead of Microsoft's products...
Operating system. Obviously I don't use Windows. I am a Mac user and I find macOS is superior in its ease of use, reliability, and security. But the big thing is it is just so much simpler. I don't mean that it does less, I mean you can do the same thing much more easily.
Word processing. Instead of Word I use Apple Pages. It is so much more elegant, the user interface makes a lot more sense, it has never crashed in all the years I have used it, and the output is predictable and looks better than Word.
Presentation. Instead of PowerPoint I use Apple Keynote. Similar comments apply here. My presentations always work, even the movies and other media; the animations and effects look better; and it is more intuitive to use; and you guessed it: it never crashes!
Spreadsheets. This is one category I am a bit less confident about. I do have to concede that Excel does have an excellent set of features, even though the user interface is pretty awful. I do use Numbers, but I don't need a lot of very advanced functions so I am not sure if that would be practical for other users.
Graphics and design. Did I mention that I also don't like Adobe? Their software is better than Microsoft's, technically, but I don't like their licensing, and their programs often feel a bit bloated and overdone. I now use the Affinity apps for design, although Pixelmator Pro is adequate for 90% of my photo enhancement.
Other stuff. I use BBEdit as my text editor. In fact, I probably use it more than any other program, including for writing these posts, and writing the code which makes my web site and blog work. I use open source web systems: Apache, PHP, and MySQL. And I use a lot of apps developed by smaller companies, and avoid the big companies (except for Apple).
If you are a true computer geek, like me, you should strive to make your experience as fast, reliable, and flexible as possible. If you don't really like computers much you could make things a bit better for yourself by using intuitive, pleasant programs. Either way, avoid Microsoft!
Comment 1 (7789) by Anonymous on 2024-12-04 at 19:28:56:
Hey I found time to read one! Trapped on a plane to Auckland. Some grand points made there, gonna read the “woke” one next.
Comment 2 (7790) by OJB on 2024-12-04 at 20:41:22:
An excellent choice, if no other form of entertainment is available! The "woke one"? You know "woke" is my favourite (ie, least favourite) thing right, so there could be more than one!
Comment 3 (7791) by Anonymous on 2024-12-04 at 22:44:22:
Well I also took the woke quiz and only disagreed with one or two. I’m sure you know the ones. I’ll read some more after conference
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