Microsoft set to anger another set of customers
Published Thu, Apr 12 2007 9:17 AM
Technorati Tags: Computers and Internet, Annoyances
If you've been reading my blog, you know that I recently had a really bad experience with Windows Vista. Well, it looks like Microsoft has forgotten everything that Steve Balmer used to say about "Customer Love". Millions of people tested the beta and RC versions of Vista, and now some of them are about to get screwed just like I did:
April 11, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft Corp. has begun reminding millions of testers of Windows Vista's beta and release candidate (RC) previews that their trial runs end on June 1.
Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft's antipiracy efforts, became the first company executive to note the impending deadline. "As a reminder to those that helped with Windows Vista beta testing, the beta installations are set to expire at the end of May 2007," said Hartje in a Q&A that Microsoft posted March 30 on its public relations Web site. "So customers need to decide if they want to move to Windows Vista or back to Windows XP if they have test versions of Windows Vista on their PCs."
Details on how best to do that, however, are scant. Despite repeated requests to clarify the exact procedure beta and RC users need to take -- and whether Microsoft will provide either guidance or offer a discount to testers -- the company declined to spell out its plans.
What information the company has published is on last year's Customer Preview Program (CPP) site, which points to the June 1 expiration date and explains that once installed, the Vista previews don't allow for operating system rollbacks. "You cannot roll back to the previous operating system installation -- you will either have to acquire and install the final released edition of Windows Vista or reinstall a previous edition of Windows," the site reads.
Yes sir and ma'am. That's real customer love there. It gets even better...
Those hassles didn't sit well with some dedicated beta testers. "Do you mean to say that because I installed Vista RC2 over XP, I screwed myself out of upgrade pricing? If so, seems like MS is punishing beta testers," said a user labeled as "tom."
Others, however, brooked no whining. "You should've known better than to install a beta over your primary operating system/primary computer. Microsoft warned users not to do that," responded another poster identified as Michael.
Well, in my case, I didn't install a beta, and I didn't install a release candidate either. I installed the full retail version of Windows Vista Ultimate over XP. Microsoft didn't warn me not to do that, they encouraged it.
Microsoft's "most secure, most reliable OS yet" is a big, steaming pile of excrement. Installing this unstable abomination on my system was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. On the first day I began experiencing problems. Within a week I was experiencing major problems and crashes and finally the P.O.S. wouldn't even boot.
I was forced to wipe the machine and re-install Windows XP and all of my software. That was painful, it was expensive, and despite having been careful to make backups, I lost over five years worth of email and some other data that I really didn't want to lose.
And now it looks like Microsoft is getting ready to provide the same sort of fun to millions of beta testers.
This company has fallen a long, long way from their better days.
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