About anything Microsoft says or does, that is.
This, of course, does not bode well for my continued employment in this field. I've been doing PC tech support full time since 1996 and as part of other job duties for an additional ten years prior to that. Obviously there was something that kept me engaged for all those years, but it's long gone.
For years I dealt with the continual patches and updates, the virus outbreaks, the malware, and the ever increasing bloat that was Windows and MS Office. The annoyance with all things Microsoft began several years ago, but was manageable and really didn't come to a head until I started running Windows 7 on my personal laptop back in the summer of 2009. One day, for no reason whatsoever, it simply refused to display my chosen wallpaper. No amount of cajoling or voodoo worked to rectify the situation, and faced with the prospect of wiping everything and reinstalling Windows again, I said ENOUGH. That was it; I was through with Microsoft. I had to deal with this crap at work; I didn't have to at home.
Within a week I was a Mac owner. I'd be lying if I said the transition was painless, and I am not afraid to admit that Apple does have issues—but they're nothing compared with what I've had to deal with from pretty much anything coming out of Redmond.
For the last year I've been running Windows 7 on my work PC. About three weeks ago it started refusing to do something with Internet Explorer (to be honest I don't remember what it was at this point—not worth committing to memory), so I wiped the damn thing and loaded XP.
I was amazed at how much faster the machine ran. This confirms my belief that despite the 120+ patches and fixes that came out after SP3, Microsoft basically got it right with XP.
I've been able to keep my disgust and ever increasing apathy toward all things Microsoft (and Dell) concealed on a professional level since then, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. During meetings with our network consultants, they're rattling off architectures and protocols and how the next big thing from Dell—or whoever—is going to fundamentally change our lives. Seriously dudes? Years ago I might've actually been interested enough to ask what all this meant (or at least research it myself later), but at this point I simply don't care.
Don't even get me started on the total lack of even he most elementary of computer skills in the workers my company hires (a despair I share with more than one of the managers). For example, today I got an email from one woman who wrote, "It never prompted me to change my password. How do I do that?"
Seriously.
I replied, "Knowing how to change one's Windows password is a basic computer skill," and then wrote out the steps to do it. I'm sure I'm going to get feedback on that.
But I don't care.
And for some reason, people never think of rebooting when they encounter a problem. No, it's so much easier to call me so I can tell them to reboot.
And then they give me attitude. "You always tell me to do that!" Well yeah, it's because it fixes whatever's wrong 90% of the time, asshole.
There's a reason your I.T. guy is surly. We don't start out this way. Like a clogged pipe, it takes years to get to this level of contempt for the people you're supposed to support.
So what's the solution?
I'm not sure. If I knew I wouldn't be still hanging around the place I am.
I would like to find an Apple shop; some business that uses Macs and OS X instead of plastic Dell crap running Windows. I think that might rekindle my interest in this technology. I once thought about applying to work at an Apple store, but while I was once able to feign caring, compassionate customer service, I can't even fake it any more and I wouldn't last a day in that environment.
I hate to admit it, but I've actually adapted to Win8 after a few days. Which is really odd considering how much I hated the preview releases of it.
But back on subject, I always ask someone when they have a question, "What would you do if you were on your home computer?"
Working on Windows machines makes me hostile. As soon as someone asks me how to open an Excel spreadsheet I basically lose my mind and, from what I've been told, I make audible noises and roll my eyes. The only reason I am able to do the "magic" they seem me do at work is because I do it all on a Mac. I've tried Linux and I like Linux but it is not ready for the desktop, no matter how many times Linux folks say it's so easy to use on the desktop. There was one Lenovo laptop in the house running Ubuntu and the last patches to it broke my desktop so that the only thing displayed was the mouse pointer and a command prompt. I sold the PC last week. I couldn't deal with anymore. I socked away the funds to buy another Mac when I feel motivated.
I seriously think that user expectations have been set so low with Microsoft's crap software that it's changed people's expectations of everything. Mediocrity is the new norm. People give standing ovations to singers that couldn't carry a tune in a bucket (they'll be better next time!) and we give our children gold stars for remembering to poop in the toilet in the junior-high bathroom. I fully believe that dealing with buggy, "good enough" software has contributed to this dumbing down of American society.
XP is still the height of the Windows OS. After that we got Vista, which was the lowest point of the Windows OS. Then… Windows 7. It fell somewhere in the middle for me, but I stuck with it because there were modern features and conveniences that made it more "Mac-like" and thus, more "useable." Then Windows 8. Holy crap what a disastrous mess. I tried for WEEKS to adapt to its hodgepodge interface and psychotic workflow and just couldn't. I HAD to go back to Win7 or else I'd end up killing somebody. I contrast that with my MacOS X experiences. I'd be lying if I said I never had any issues… but, for the most part, every new release has been an improvement, no matter how small, over what has come before. It's as if Apple just wants to keep making their experience better… whereas Microsoft just wants to cash in on getting another version of Windows out the door. Windows 8 makes it clear they have no clue where they want to go. Why people put up with this I can't guess.
And while I have listened to your advice previously, both on line and privately, the fact that I am still running XP Professional is the only reason that I did not jump ship about 2-3 years ago.
And no one, repeat NO ONE, has convinced me to convert to Windows 7, 8 , 9 or 10!!!
But having an ACT program vintage too long ago to care, plus Office 2003, makes me a dinosaur, which is true, in at least the computer world.
Have patience, one of your poster viewers might provide the answer.