Windows Update Failure

[johnb]

I do get rather irritated by this type of comment about Windows. Sure, there are many flaws but I have never had any problems with any of the Windows based laptops and PCs I have used over many, many years (and the Windows updates have never scrambled my file systems).

I also get irritated by the unbearable smugness that some Mac devotees exhibit given half an opportunity.

[Dave2002]

I do get rather irritated by this type of comment about Windows. Sure, there are many flaws but I have never had any problems with any of the Windows based laptops and PCs I have used over many, many years (and the Windows updates have never scrambled my file systems).

I also get irritated by the unbearable smugness that some Mac devotees exhibit given half an opportunity.

John

There are things wrong with other systems too - it's not just Windows. I have had so many bad experiences with Windows that have definitely coloured my experiences. I am prepared to allow that others have not had these. Unfortunately I have also been moderately successful at fixing Windows systems, which means that when other people's computers have "gone wrong" I've not only had to bash my head against a concrete wall to fix my own, but also those of others. Hence my dislike. The guys on Car Talk (US Public Radio) used to refer to Lucas (a British company which made electrical fittings for cars) as the Prince of Darkness. That's how I mostly feel about MS.

Managed systems, such as are run within some organisations are often reasonably OK - and problems get dealt with by the support teams.
Indeed, some organisations find Apple kit hard to manage, perhaps because of lack of enough expertise, but perhaps there is something about Apple systems which makes them harder to manage within an organisation. In any case, some organisations are now running with forms of virtualisation which can make software maintenance much simpler within a large organisation.

Have you ever tried an Apple system, or Unix or Linux?

[Bryn]

I do get rather irritated by this type of comment about Windows. Sure, there are many flaws but I have never had any problems with any of the Windows based laptops and PCs I have used over many, many years (and the Windows updates have never scrambled my file systems).

I also get irritated by the unbearable smugness that some Mac devotees exhibit given half an opportunity.

Indeed. I have used several Apple products over the years (starting with Apple II) and have always found them frustrating. They shared with the Commodore stable an exclusivity of connection design and thus tied one into overpriced accessories from their own product range. When the Mac was fairly new, my HCI tutor used to wax lyrical about it, but I just found it frustratingly slow and was far happier going back to my trusty Amstrad PCW, with its aging but mature CP/M+ for what it could handle. I did eventually cave in a buy a MacBook in a Curry's sale. Big mistake! It's DVD drive would not even read discs created with my then Panasonic DVD recorder. Anyone not recall the battery fiasco concerning the original iPods?

I keep meaning to use Linux more, but much of the software packages I know and get on well with are Windows based, so ...

Back to OS upgrades, I rephrase my earlier question, when were OSX upgrades made free? Was it perhaps but recently, as was the case with Microsofts 'upgrade' from Windows 8 to 8.1 (which I have yet to complete successfully on my Windows 8 laptop)? ISTR that it would have cost me over £100 to upgrade the OSX on my MacBook to the next version. I chose to confine the MacBook to the bottom of a wardrobe instead, and rue the day I wasted good money on the damned thing.

[Globaltruth]

I do get rather irritated by this type of comment about Windows. Sure, there are many flaws but I have never had any problems with any of the Windows based laptops and PCs I have used over many, many years (and the Windows updates have never scrambled my file systems).

Yeah, but sometimes you do have to laugh...

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2014/02/gates-spends-entire-first-day-back-in-office-trying-to-install-windows-81.html

[Lento]

Am edging towards your view having just discovered that some Word files have inexplicably become "read only" and/or strangely formatted, and that the Technical Support number for Office 365 (for which I was foolish enough to pay an £80 annual subscription) is only available on an 0844 number!