Did Microsoft program Windows 7 to punish XP users into buying Vista for making installation smoother without having to save the old programs and files into an outside drive?
I’d rather have Clippy than the annoying female voice my grandma’s mac had that said “I’m sorry. I cannot perform this action” and read all the pop-up “tell me I can’t do something” notices. At least you can easily make Clippy disappear.
Clippy’s gone? I only saw “it” a few times back when I bought my first PC in the 90’s before I disabled “it”. Annoying & slowed down the processor speed.
The funny thing is that even after 10+ years of being gone “it” still makes good joke material.
Okay, I read Her Maj first this time BEFORE Lio, so I know I am not continuing the error… I wonder if the next thing we’ll see is the green circle of doom from the X-Box.
I used to teach computer courses, and as a bonus incentive for getting through the required material I would teach them how to program Clippy to say what ever they want. Made a great practical joke when giving a co-worker an Excel spreadsheet…
@faren Some things deserve to be made fun of even long after they are dead. For what it’s worth, I still see that annoying dog on the search screen of some computers around, so I suspect that Clippy is alive and well out there yet…
I suppose I should have wished the lingering, painful death on the team that thought those tools would be a good idea.
MACs are fine if you’re willing to spend way more than you would for a PC which for most users does everythinig they need it to do. It cracks me up to see the “I’m a PC, I’m a MAC” commercials in which the MAC guy makes fun of all the iterations of Microsoft Windows, and yet isn’t MAC OS X like their 10th iteration as well? And since Apple quit using Motorola 68000 based processors, a MAC is basically just a PC with a different instruction set anyway.
For those unfamiliar with the Mac:
Aikidodog, the voice was programmable; you could have switched it, or switched it off.
MisngNOLA, not true. If you match point for point, Macs are equal to or even marginally cheaper than comparable PCs. Don’t ask me, ask PCWorld. (The latest 27”iMac has a screen so good you’d have to spend more than a grand to match it - and it’s $1699.) Apple just refuses to put out a cheap, basic box, which admittedly is annoying when you want to do that.
By the way, the Mac isn’t making fun of the iterations of Windows, they’re making fun of the buggy iterations of Windows. When I started out on OS X, I didn’t have a system crash for five solid years.
I loved being a Mac die-hard back in the days when Macworld was a big-deal convention, in the 80’s. The folks who would go there were the true computing elite. So elite that they probably never even used 1337.
Motive, I’ve been using Windows XP Pro completely patched since about 2003. I’ve yet to have a system crash, a BSOD, or any issues at all with compatibility. I run wireless for my internet connection, seamlessly transfer files from my laptop to my desktop machine and back, edit video and audio, and play rocking assed games without any trouble. I run legally for all of my apps, downloading only Adobe upgrades, updating everything else IAW the licensing agreements on the software and as I said, I’ve had no problems. Fully 90-95% of PC users would get along fine with the configuration I have, and I can tell you it cost less than the cheapest MAC available then and now. Now don’t get me wrong, MACs are excellent machines, they’re just too pricey and too much overkill for most users.
Good for you, MisngNOLA. I use an XP PC at work, and it’s absolutely the best version of Windows I’ve ever used in terms of stability (I usually use PCs at work and Macs at home – where I have a choice). It’s still clunkier and more confusing than Macs on a lot of things, e.g., it took a while for me to sort out the wireless connection tools, and its harder to track down non-English characters (e.g., ñ, ü, í), and I’ve had weird problems with screen formatting and projections, but generally I agree it is solid.
I think we are actually agreeing - I don’t think Macs are overpriced for what they provide; you think they are overkill. We’re just tackling this from opposite sides. I just object to the characterization of Macs as overpriced when matched against a comparable PC, which they are not anymore.
And it does say something that you (and I) are still using 2003 XP, whereas I have gotten every OS X upgrade within a month of initial release, with great success, and typically no problems at all!
zero over 14 years ago
Yes Macs are better. Until you try to fill in forms on say a gov’t site NOT fully configured for OS X. Or eBay random contests….
The Old Wolf over 14 years ago
I think I would suffer the BSOD if it meant Clippy would die a lingering, painful death.
webdoc over 14 years ago
Did Microsoft program Windows 7 to punish XP users into buying Vista for making installation smoother without having to save the old programs and files into an outside drive?
w9cwd over 14 years ago
Her Maj could go back to her TRS-80.
Colt9033 over 14 years ago
Windows 7: The Revenge of Microsoft
farren over 14 years ago
Old Wolf, Clippy’s been gone for the better part of a decade now, if not more. No BSOD needed.
Aikidodog over 14 years ago
I’d rather have Clippy than the annoying female voice my grandma’s mac had that said “I’m sorry. I cannot perform this action” and read all the pop-up “tell me I can’t do something” notices. At least you can easily make Clippy disappear.
GJ_Jehosaphat over 14 years ago
Clippy’s gone? I only saw “it” a few times back when I bought my first PC in the 90’s before I disabled “it”. Annoying & slowed down the processor speed. The funny thing is that even after 10+ years of being gone “it” still makes good joke material.
cdron97 over 14 years ago
Windowlocks and the 7 Dwarves
Mundxanth over 14 years ago
Okay, I read Her Maj first this time BEFORE Lio, so I know I am not continuing the error… I wonder if the next thing we’ll see is the green circle of doom from the X-Box.
Digital Frog over 14 years ago
I used to teach computer courses, and as a bonus incentive for getting through the required material I would teach them how to program Clippy to say what ever they want. Made a great practical joke when giving a co-worker an Excel spreadsheet…
The Old Wolf over 14 years ago
@faren Some things deserve to be made fun of even long after they are dead. For what it’s worth, I still see that annoying dog on the search screen of some computers around, so I suspect that Clippy is alive and well out there yet…
I suppose I should have wished the lingering, painful death on the team that thought those tools would be a good idea.
MisngNOLA over 14 years ago
MACs are fine if you’re willing to spend way more than you would for a PC which for most users does everythinig they need it to do. It cracks me up to see the “I’m a PC, I’m a MAC” commercials in which the MAC guy makes fun of all the iterations of Microsoft Windows, and yet isn’t MAC OS X like their 10th iteration as well? And since Apple quit using Motorola 68000 based processors, a MAC is basically just a PC with a different instruction set anyway.
Mark Berte Premium Member over 14 years ago
PC or MAC, a pox on both your programming houses!
k_sera over 14 years ago
I got an error message a few months ago that said, “This is a problem with Windows. There is no solution.” Abandon hope, all ye who enter here…
Motivemagus over 14 years ago
For those unfamiliar with the Mac: Aikidodog, the voice was programmable; you could have switched it, or switched it off. MisngNOLA, not true. If you match point for point, Macs are equal to or even marginally cheaper than comparable PCs. Don’t ask me, ask PCWorld. (The latest 27”iMac has a screen so good you’d have to spend more than a grand to match it - and it’s $1699.) Apple just refuses to put out a cheap, basic box, which admittedly is annoying when you want to do that. By the way, the Mac isn’t making fun of the iterations of Windows, they’re making fun of the buggy iterations of Windows. When I started out on OS X, I didn’t have a system crash for five solid years.
The Old Wolf over 14 years ago
I loved being a Mac die-hard back in the days when Macworld was a big-deal convention, in the 80’s. The folks who would go there were the true computing elite. So elite that they probably never even used 1337.
At least, that’s what we all thought… ;^)
MisngNOLA over 14 years ago
Motive, I’ve been using Windows XP Pro completely patched since about 2003. I’ve yet to have a system crash, a BSOD, or any issues at all with compatibility. I run wireless for my internet connection, seamlessly transfer files from my laptop to my desktop machine and back, edit video and audio, and play rocking assed games without any trouble. I run legally for all of my apps, downloading only Adobe upgrades, updating everything else IAW the licensing agreements on the software and as I said, I’ve had no problems. Fully 90-95% of PC users would get along fine with the configuration I have, and I can tell you it cost less than the cheapest MAC available then and now. Now don’t get me wrong, MACs are excellent machines, they’re just too pricey and too much overkill for most users.
Motivemagus over 14 years ago
Good for you, MisngNOLA. I use an XP PC at work, and it’s absolutely the best version of Windows I’ve ever used in terms of stability (I usually use PCs at work and Macs at home – where I have a choice). It’s still clunkier and more confusing than Macs on a lot of things, e.g., it took a while for me to sort out the wireless connection tools, and its harder to track down non-English characters (e.g., ñ, ü, í), and I’ve had weird problems with screen formatting and projections, but generally I agree it is solid. I think we are actually agreeing - I don’t think Macs are overpriced for what they provide; you think they are overkill. We’re just tackling this from opposite sides. I just object to the characterization of Macs as overpriced when matched against a comparable PC, which they are not anymore. And it does say something that you (and I) are still using 2003 XP, whereas I have gotten every OS X upgrade within a month of initial release, with great success, and typically no problems at all!