Microsoft's patch-the-patch policy and practice has just rubbed a hole in their own breeches that they need to patch! First, the snafu over WGA (which supposedly just wants to make sure you have a legitimate copy of Windows before you are allowed to update or get other cool stuff for the OS). Now there is this thing with one of the recent patches that some know-it-all says can "put the nation's critical infrastructure at risk". What? Critical Infrastructure? Risk? Nation, for crying out loud?
I guess we're now saying Microsoft is going to bring the country to its knees. I say it's time to SKREEEEEEECH! Stop! That's enough! No more! I want to know how you write a flawed patch? I mean, if I get a hole in my breeches, I'm not taking a piece of worn, frayed fabric to patch it, I'm going to get something strong. Goodness, they are trying to forcefeed Vista down our collective throats and XP is getting more raggedy with each Patch Tuesday (I hear there's a bill in congress to declare Patch Tuesday some kind of holiday).
So, Mr. Microsoft, let me see if I have this straight. I used Windows XP from the day of public release in October 2001, until mid 2005 without ever applying any of these patches and service packs (all I did was update the occasional driver). With a little savvy and a lot of common sense, I hummed along beautifully, crash-free, malware-free, peaceful and content, until I decided to take up programming, and none of the Visual Studio development packages will install without SP2. So, up the grade I went, and ever since, I have done so much worrying that one of your patches is going to break my Windows! I have had to do more System Restores than before I upgraded; what's up with that?
Then along comes WGA to tell me that if my copy of Windows isn't "genuine" it can't accept the patches...hmmm. Anybody know where I can scoop up a pirated copy of Windows? Maybe if I CAN'T update, I'll soon get over worrying that I have to. Microsoft wants to make sure my Windows is genuine, so, they, can...break it. How is that for innovation?
I'm not mad. I just don't want to take this anymore. Put Vista on the shelf until you finish writing XP; it's been five years for God's sake! Don't they have a team of Million-Dollar Babies at Redmon who have nothing else to do but try to break Windows so they can fix it? How come it's ALWAYS someone else who discovers these flaws? I think Microsoft is up to their whiskers in mice, "Live" junk, Vista, joysticks, Office, MSN and buying up fly-by-night game developers, not to mention stressing over life without Bill. It's affecting their vision.
I hate to say it, but I'm waiting for some bright person to tell Steve Jobs to take a flying leap into the middle of Lake Erie and go ahead and clone up the MacOS and port it to PC's. Forget running Windows on a Mac (that's silly; it's not about the HARDWARE, which Gates tried to tell Jobs a couple decades and a few hundred billion dollars ago); I'd like to see it the other way around.
