Opuscula B.P. Richfield Is alive & well In Redmond WA

Back IN THE EARLY 90s (1991-1994) there was a tv program called “Dinosaurs.” Some people compared it to “The Simpsons,” but thought it funnier and more relevant. (See http://tinyurl.com/ybqs8byz.)

The story line was about a dinosaur family and its domestic life. Rather like the “Dick Van Dyke” show with Mary Tyler Moore, only with cartoon dinosaurs instead of humans.

The father of the family, Earl Sinclair (think Sinclair Oil) worked for B.P. Richfield (BP & Richfield Oil) at a company called – here is the Redmond connection – WeSaySo Corporation.

Read about all the characters at http://thefw.com/cast-of-dinosaurs-now/ A number of actors provided voices for the characters, including Stuart Pankin (Earl Sinclair) and Sherman Hemsley (B.P. Richfield).

As the company name, the WeSaySo Corporation, makes plain, it knows what is best for everyone, even when it is not.

Just like Microsoft.

Microsoft makes fairly decent products. No question. Millions of MS Office users can’t be wrong – can they? Microsoft products are so popular on Macintosh computers that Mac apps are a poor second.

It seems, however, that Microsoft has decided, a la WeSaySo Corporation, that it knows better than the people who buy and (try to) use it products.

For example: Updates.

Unlike Hewlett-Packard (HP) or the “old” Microsoft of Windows 7 and earlier, the “new” Microsoft downloads updates whether the user – the person who paid for the operating system (OS) -- wants the updates or not. HP also provides updates, but HP – thankfully lagging behind the Giant of Redmond – still allows the people who bought their Made-In-China hardware to see what the upgrade is all about and to decide to install or ignore the upgrade.

Not so Microsoft.

In the “old” days, Microsoft gave customers at least a hint of the reason behind the upgrade. Likewise, a user could opt to forego installing the upgrade.

Today, with Win 10, Microsoft pushes out the upgrade sans reason for the patch and offers the customer the option of installing it now or tomorrow … or until the user gets tired of being nagged.

For many people – those of us who use only the minimal features of the applications, e.g., Access, Excel, Word and whatever else Microsoft decides we need, there should be no problems when WeSaySo Corporation tells us to upgrade.

If you prefer a different simile, think of a tough non-com in the military; the non-com tells the junior “do this” and the lower ranking person does it without asking why. Because I said so is sufficient reason. (Trust me, the non-com really does have a good reason for the command, it just may not be obvious to the junior following the order. Been there, done that.)

There ARE people who bought Microsoft’s operating system who do things other than use Microsoft Office. These folks don’t want upgrades that might impact other applications on their computers.

But Microsoft, in its WeSaySo Corporation mode, basically tells these customers to shut up and accept that we (Microsoft) want you to have. Some customer push-back, albeit useless, can be read at http://tinyurl.com/y762bc3u

If a customer – that is a person who spent good money to have Microsoft's operating system installed on a new machine or who purchased and installed the OS on an existing computer wants to install another (or several) additional OSs on the computer with Windows 10, the customer has to spend time trying to find out how to disable Microsoft’s Secure Boot. Mucking about with the UEFI (nee’ BIOS) is not for the novice nor faint of heart, and Microsoft does not make it easy.

I found instructions to disable Microsoft’s Secure Boot on HP’s web site and on the Fossbytes.com web site.

I did what I was told when I was a young airman, but I am neither young nor in the Air Force. As a newspaper reporter, I asked questions and expected transparent answers. Microsoft’s heavy handedness is unacceptable.

Fortunately, there are options, many of them free, that let me accomplish everything I can do with Microsoft’s products, from its operating system to its applications.

This blog entry originated, and was spell checked, using the free Libre Office Writer Ver. 5.4.4.2 on a Win 10 operating system. Hopefully in the near future, I will replace Win 10 with a free OS from Linux or Ubuntu.

Having done my homework, I know that the non-Microsoft applications currently running under Win 10 can be replaced by similar (free) applications for Linux and Ubuntu.

One final thought

Microsoft’s help is becoming (has become?) arrogant – as expected for a WeSaySo Corporation – while there are active User Groups (UGs) for Linux, Ubuntu, and the applications that run under these OSs. Most of the answers to newbie questions are answered by a person who has “been there and done that.” The answers are (generally) given with consideration and understanding, no WeSaySo Corporation’s on the UG sites.

---

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Comments on BP Richfield