Why is Windows still a Thing? | Hacker News Reader

Why is Windows still a Thing?

pcimino.blog.com

7 pointspcimino15 comments

Wow, upwards of 4 things you don't like? Better throw out the whole operating system.

Good luck when you switch to Apple. I could, for instance, easily list, oh, I don't know, five -- maybe even six -- aspects of the OS that I don't like. That's like your article, but with two more.

"And boy, what's the deal with only being able to re-size a window via the bottom right corner, huh? Why is OS X even a thing anymore?"

I'm sure the grass always seems greener, but as a guy who uses (gasp) both operating systems regularly at work, I can tell you that they both have irksome features. They also do some things really, really well. I cannot speak for Win8, but Windows7 is an excellent platform. For every little problem like not being able to copy error codes, there's a little extra polish that makes up for it. Same with OS X. There are some things fundamental to the workflow of using Apple's operating system that I absolutely can not stand.. However, they also execute other things beautifully.

I get that it's popular to hate on Microsoft, and a good way to drum up some traffic, but seriously, this is all pretty petty and trivial.

Trivial, but was using these irritations as an example. What isn't trivial is how poor and inconsistent the UI is (not just 7, but shockingly, 8). All OSes have warts, all companies are out to make a buck. I have been hoping MS would look at the competition and the business climate and really come up with some new ideas.

I'm not sure how it's different from Apple? Doesn't Apple require iTunes to put content from your computer to your iDevice? Doesn't it require paid developer license which you have to renew every year?

As for bad error messages, I've once spent half an hour trying to connect to Mac App Store and it kept rejecting me saying my email address is already used - it was indeed already used, by me. It couldn't retrieve my existing account for some reason (no, not wrong password), then demanded my credit card even though I wasn't going to buy anything, and when I tried to use Paypal option it run me through a dozen of screens and had me land back on the same page I started without any explanation whatsoever what happened. One of the most frustrating experiences. I'd rather take error messages that can at least be looked up somewhere.

"Windows error alerts. If you’ve used Windows then you’re familiar with the limited help that happens when an error occurs. So this popup is actually pretty clear on what needs to happen, but WHY isn’t the URL clickable? Okay, maybe that was too hard, I’ll simply select the text, copy, paste…Oh right, I CAN’T SELECT TEXT IN THE POPUP! (yes, I’m shouting) Really, after a quarter of a century you son’t see the value in letting me copy text from the error dialog?"

<Rant>

This.

I've been running xfce on arch since October on my main machine, and I've yet to have a fit of frustration. There's nothing terribly idiotic, and I can always easily access what I need. I've got about 3 years of experience with Linux under my belt.

I've been using Windows wince about 1995. I'd say I average about 1 fit of rage a day from using Windows at work as a result of stupid little things such as the above. Just yesterday, I had an explorer window open, and I wasn't able to move up a directory as there was no "up a directory" button nor the parent directory listed in the address bar. How in the hell am I supposed to move up a directory?

I know this is just kvetching, but HOW IN THE FUCK CAN A $200 BILLION COMPANY FUCK THIS UP FOR OVER 20 YEARS??

I'm happy I'm never stuck using MS Office. I've too many friends who cry about how it crashes itself right before/right as they try to save their file. To me, this paints Word (and other products in the suite) as some kind of sadistic bully; you're just about to hand in your assignment to the teacher, and the Word bully comes along, rips the assignment out of your hand, tears it to shreds and quips "Haha! Fuck you!" leaving you in tears while Word bully disappears and is not held accountable. </Rant>

Ctrl+C works for copying all text of error alert. It's still frustrating because for googling usually better to enter only part of it.

>Just yesterday, I had an explorer window open, and I wasn't able to move up a directory as there was no "up a directory" button nor the parent directory listed in the address bar.

Fixed in Windows 8.

Even in Windows 7's file explorer, you can move up to any ancestor directory in the path (not just the immediate parent) by clicking on that directory in the path displayed at the top of the window.

But skylan_q wrote that in his case parent directory was not listed in address bar. I don't know how it's possible, but believe him.

He also said that there was "no 'up a directory' button", which suggested to me an unfamiliarity with the Windows UI for navigating up the directory path. Or maybe he was using a version of Windows older than Windows 7.

This way of navigating was introduced with Vista; older versions had up button.

Actually you can Ctrl+C on an error dialogue box to get all the text (then paste in a text editor and select).. I am guessing this decision was made to allow the errors to be more "definite"..

Why is water still a Thing?

1. Cans. If you ever used an un-closable can, you can skip to #2.

2. I can't take water from bottle A to bottle B using my hands.

3. Obtuse composition. Seriously, just look at the recipe: H2O. Why is there OXYGEN IN THERE (yes I'm shouting)? We all know oxygen's a GAZ, right?

4. Milking the third-world countries. Guys, some countries are in DIRE NEED of water, and they are being CHARGED for a ridiculous price by their neighboring countries just for some water.

Years of frustration: I drink water and I pee half of its content. You'd think by now we'd have something that my whole body can consume instead of, you know, rejecting almost all of it twelve hours later.

As for zune, apple does the exams thing with iTunes. Apple also charges money for writing software for your own device.

For me windows = games, and no, steam for osx and linux is still crap. When we have 70%+ of the big and indie titles for linux then I'll totally move to linux and forget windows forever.

Thanks for all the great comments/responses. It really comes down to one thing: After so much time and some decent competition, why can't MS do a better job of UI? Windows 8 was their chance, and it really feels like a fancy skin on Win 7.

Style tip: Companies and products are not works of art and shouldn't be italicized.

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