I HAVE MICROSOFT’S WINDOWS 10 (WIN 10) running on two laptops.
My spouse has one; I have the other. I also have a Win 7 machine that the grand-daughter can use during her visits.
The grad-daughter plays with Word – she holds down a character key and watches it fill the screen. She also plays Solitaire. All this between occasional blue screens. (The Chinese computer is about 5 years old; well past it’s prime. It came with Win 7 installed.)
The Spouse, with a newer Chinese computer has so far managed to avoid blue screens.
So what is the Problem Du Jour with Win 10?
There are many, but the most aggravating is Microsoft’s shutting down Win 10 WITHOUT WARNING to install upgrades.
Yesterday she was reading her emails when, sans warning, the WeSaySo Corporation1 – a/k/a Microsoft – interrupted her reading and took over the computer for an hour.
No “we’re going to take over your computer in 10 minutes.” No “we’re about to install an update because …: nothing. Just boom and the screen went dark for a few seconds before Microsoft announced it was installing a update.
I foolishly thought that when a customer buys a product the customer should have some say in use and maintenance.
Imagine if Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler shut down your flivver as you travel over the speed limit on an interstate highway? There you go, whizzing along when, without warning, the vehicle comes to a screeching stop because the car needs an oil change. Explain THAT to the cops that come to investigate the 20-car pileup that started when the vehicle behind yours slammed into the rear of your transportation. (Just hope that vehicle slamming into yours isn’t an 18-wheeler or a cement mixer.)
This morning I was working on a project – Win 10, LibreOffice Writer (in preparation to move to the Linux Operating System (wonder why??) when, in the middle of a search and replace function, good ol’ WeSaySo Corporation takes over the system.
Imagine if this happened in a business with multiple computers – not at night, but in the middle of the business day.
Warning? Don’t be silly. This is Microsoft. It’s worse than the government (pick any government level). It’s worse that a financial institution.
FORTUNATELY, LibreOffice Writer (equivalent to Microsoft Office Word) managed to save almost all the work I had spent a couple of hours creating.
Knowing that WeSaySo Corporation would take it’s own sweet time to update MY system, I went for toast and coffee and some time in front of the tube watching horse opera reruns. When I returned the unasked for update(s) – who knows WHAT was installed; Microsoft isn’t telling – was almost finished.
HP – the company whose logo is on the newest Chinese laptop – at least
- (a) tells me it wants to install something
(b) what the something will do for the machine, and
(c) allows me to decide if I want the upgrade installed or not.
After all, I paid for the computers and that cost included a Microsoft Operating System.
(I understand computer maker Dell will install a non-Microsoft Operating System (Linux, Ubuntu, etc.) if a customer requests. Bravo for Dell. Maybe I’ll find a way to meet Dell’s prices for a new laptop when I need to replace the HP.)
At this point, I am ready to copy all my critical files to an external drive and install either Linux or Ubuntu, letting it wipe out the Microsoft Operating System and the Microsoft Office I purchased.
I confess I’ve been unhappy with WeSaySo Corporation for some time – primarily because it insists on changing the User Interface with each iteration of each product.
Now, with its unmitigated arrogance to take over the machine for which I paid, I’ve reached the end of the road with the Redmond giant. I’ve used Microsoft products for years, but there comes a time when there is no option but to cut the cord.
We already did that with Ma Bell, switching to Consumer Cellular for both mobile and landline (via a ZTE Wireless Home Phone Base2) talk, text, and data. (The only function I lack with Consumer Cellular is fax; I can get that on the rare occasion I need it at a FedEx or UPS store.)
Sources
1. WeSaySo Corp: http://tinyurl.com/yako7axw
2. ZTE: http://tinyurl.com/y8d723hl
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.
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