Fuck you, Microsoft

[Ishtvan]

Last night, I had some simulations for work I had to run at home that were absolutely critical to get done by tomorrow, since I'm going on vacation later this week. So I set up the program to take 12 data points which should take ~6 hours, disable the network connection just in case, and go to sleep.

 

When I wake up, I see the login screen. Uh-oh. I figure it must have crashed at some point, and log in to see what the damage is. As soon as I log in, I get a helpful little windows security popup saying "Microsoft had to download a critical security patch and restart your computer"... what... the... fuck. I check my simulation output, and there are 3 data points plus a broken file from restarting in the middle of the 4th.

 

So, not only did MS decide that restarting my computer was a good idea, but it somehow got the message that it had to do this despite the fact that I had disabled my network connection (I should have actually unplugged the wireless card from the PC I guess). What does it do, force the network connection to re-enable every so often just to check for goddamn MS updates? Thanks a lot microsoft! I almost hope this is a virus or something and not genuine, because my machine was just running stuff critical to my job, I wonder what happens on machines that are running stuff like life support, aircraft carriers? Hopefully they're not running windows.

[Komag]

I turned off automatic security downloads a long time ago for just such occasions. They can really screw you over if you're doing anything important.

[Unstoppable]

Wow that sucks. I wonder how come it restarted the cpu, usually it asks you if you want to restart now or later but it never goes away the stupid pop up. Oh yeah fuck you Micro$oft =D.

[sparhawk]

I also disable all that automatic crap. I want to know when my computer downloads and installs something. Flahs has now turned to webbased configuration which is equally bad. Now you can't disable it anymore on your machine, because you have to contact their website. Oh, I hate this.

[jdude]

I also disabled automatic updates, because I've actually had windows become corrupt from the computer shutting off while installing an update two times, resulting in me having to re-install windows. They need less computer savy people working at MS and more regular people working there so that windows is less annoying.

[SneaksieDave]

Yeah, fuck you Microsoft! Up yours, asshole!

[Ishtvan]

I didn't think windows firewall would actually re-enable my network card after I'd disabled it even with auto-update active. I had also turned off my ZoneAlarm firewall after diabling the network card, which means I was vulnerable to attacks when MS turned my network back on to get its fucking updates. Ricockulous.

[SplaTtzZ]

Yeah I have also had that happen to me before, but not when i was doing anything important like that; just when i was waiting for stuff to finish downloading. The little window pops up and aks you if you want to restart now or later, but then has a bar counting down from one minute before it restarts anyway. It's got me completely stumped; why bother to ask you the question if Windows is gonna decide what it wants to do anyway? It wouldn't be problem if the dialog box just stayed there all night and waited for you to make your own decision.

 

Its amazing to think that Microsoft has to employ people who know how to code for windows, people who need to know all manner of technical stuff; yet they still have features like this. These people must spend most of their entire career sitting behind a computer; its weird to think that they would choose to put in so many features in Windows that even ordinary people have no use for or find annoying. Case in point is the User Account Control in Vista, a more obstructive and useless gimick than that one I have yet to see.

 

I would consider looking for an alternative but Macs are next to useless for anything beyond 'Multimedia' stuff and i hear that Linux requires you to use and memorise alot of commands just to do anything. Is there an OS out there that has a good UI, can run games and other programs easily but comes without the baggage that Windows has I wonder?

[OrbWeaver]

I would consider looking for an alternative but Macs are next to useless for anything beyond 'Multimedia' stuff and i hear that Linux requires you to use and memorise alot of commands just to do anything.

 

Where do you get this crap from exactly? Random flame wars on the Internet?

 

Macs are perfectly good machines for everday use, although they are proprietary and tend to be expensive, and Linux hasn't required you to "memorise commands" since the 90's.

[SplaTtzZ]

Yeah I would have thought that there would be little point in having Linux if it wasn't accessible; I'm really just going by what my mates have told me about it. I'm pretty sure i heard about Linux OS's that basically ran a Windows UI, complete with start menu and everything which i think would be ok.

 

But what I'm really unsure about is whether or not games will run on them. I've seen programs on the internet with a PC, Linux, Mac version; but all the games I've bought are designed to run on Windows. you don't get linux version as far as I know. Can you just insert the game CD in Linux and have it start installing straight away? I had heard that you need to configure the OS to allow it to run certain programs. I don't know anything about coding or anything of that nature; having to do that to play a game, for me, is a big nuisance.

 

And as for Macs, well that jump up in price is what makes them seem useless to me. It's even more expensive to buy a Mac version of a game than it is for a windows one. And I really find the one-button mouse awkward. I'll admit that they are perfectly acceptable for everyday use, but i can't see them being a gamer's platform of choice.

Edited June 14, 2007 by SplaTtzZ

[sparhawk]

If you want to run games, then linux is definitely not for you.

[Crispy]

User Account Control does have a point as a security feature. It does sound annoying though, much more so than the equivalent concept in Linux (never logging in as the root user, and using su or sudo to get root privileges if you need them). I guess Microsoft just implemented it badly.

 

Macs don't need to have one-button mice these days. Most serious Mac users I know have a three-button mouse with scrollwheel, or better.

[OrbWeaver]

If you want to run games, then linux is definitely not for you.

 

It depends which games. All of the ID games (Doom 3, Quake 4 etc) run on Linux, as do several other games. However, if you want to be able to play ALL Windows games, the only option is to run Windows.

[sparhawk]

It depends which games. All of the ID games (Doom 3, Quake 4 etc) run on Linux, as do several other games. However, if you want to be able to play ALL Windows games, the only option is to run Windows.

 

Yeah, I know, but I read his statement as rather general, and since he doesn't have any experience, I don't think that Linux would be a good choice for him.

 

Of course, if you just need a PC for everyday purpose, running office, email and a webbrowser, linux is a definitely a good choice. And with distributions like Ubuntu, it is as accessible as Windows. In fact installation on Ubuntu is even smoother then with Windows nowadays.

 

Even my wife was surprised that she didn't have any problems with Linux running KDE, because she also always thought that Linux is only for nerds. If it were not for some photo processing apps, that she uses every now and then, I would already have switched her desktop to Linux without her noticing.

[sparhawk]

User Account Control does have a point as a security feature. It does sound annoying though, much more so than the equivalent concept in Linux (never logging in as the root user, and using su or sudo to get root privileges if you need them). I guess Microsoft just implemented it badly.

 

Major problem is that applications under Windows are not designed for that. Most games require admin rights or simply assume them and it's not much different with other apps as well. I run Linux as a regular user all the time, but with Windows it was not possible, so I always run it as Admin.

[Nyarlathotep]

If it were not for some photo processing apps, that she uses every now and then, I would already have switched her desktop to Linux without her noticing.

What, she can't handle the changeover to the GIMP/Gimpshop?

[sparhawk]

Nah, but she has some other apps, that she likes.

[Nyarlathotep]

Over the past year or so, I've tried to deprecate and switch over wherever possible to FOSS over proprietary Microsoft crap. The idea is to have as much as humanly possible a common interface throughout my applications. That way, when I finally do bite the bullet and uninstall Windows, the transition will be as painless as possible. Until then, I intend to dual-boot.

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

I've also never yet enabled automatic updates.

[Crispy]

I have them set to download automatically but ask me before installing. That way you just get a little yellow notification symbol in the taskbar, and as long as you don't start the installation it won't bug you. So you just leave it alone until you want to reboot or shutdown, and then tell it to start installing.

 

The catch is that you must not let it install if you're not OK with shutting down or rebooting right now, because then it will bug you repeatedly until you let it reboot (this crashes some games since it steals focus - VERY annoying). And if you leave the dialog open for long enough it will reboot automatically, which is doubly annoying. So you just have to leave it not installed for a while.

 

The other advantage of this scheme is that you can selectively deny updates. For example, I've refused to install any of the "Windows Genuine Advantage" (*spit*) patches, as well as IE7 (I'm not going to use it, so why should I be forced to install it?). Up yours, Microsoft!

[Komag]

I too denied those exact same "patches". I don't even like the downloads to automatically start though, since even that has screwed me slightly in the past.

[Crispy]

I don't even like the downloads to automatically start though, since even that has screwed me slightly in the past.

Really? How so?

[Komag]

Sudden unexpected sapping of my bandwith can interrupt other important connections causing disconnects or time-outs, and also the downloading process has to write to my hard drive, so if I'm doing something hard-drive-writing-intensive, it can get messed up or suddenly take 5 times as long as the drive struggles to do both tasks or all three tasks or whatever the case may be.

[Ishtvan]

And if you leave the dialog open for long enough it will reboot automatically, which is doubly annoying. So you just have to leave it not installed for a while.

This is a big problem if you are away from the machine and counting on it to process your work. I just didn't expect it to be so obnoxious as to re-enable my wireless card. I even turned off my firewall to free up the resources, so when it brought itself back up to download shit, my system was wide open. Next time I guess I'll take the card out or put a Faraday cage around the tower (or just disable automatic updates, but I don't trust that either, for all I know they have a "critical patch" override).

[sparhawk]

That's why I have alinux box, and stuff that needs to run overnight I usually do there. I know that's not always possible, but wherever it is possible, I do it there. I somehow don't feel good if my windows box runs unanttended for a longer time.