Full Disclosure
Why I Can’t Ever Tell the Truth about Microsoft, Ever
To satisfy the requirements of the new Standards of Integrity and Professional Ethics for bloggers (for a discussion, see Dave, Doc and Mitch), I am hereby posting all the influences Microsoft has had on me, pro and con.
| I use and like many Microsoft products | Microsoft products have been crashing on me regularly for over 15 years |
| I got a reviewer’s copy of XP for free |
I’ve bought thousands of dollars worth of Microsoft stuff, including upgrades that I felt had been forced on me |
| I competed against them at three companies |
I cooperated with them at the same three companies |
| The Microsoft Word product manager listed the product I was flogging on a slide at Documation 1992 as an excellent complement to Word |
Word eventually incorporated many of that product’s best ideas. (You like them right mouse button menus? You’re welcome.) |
| I got a free beta of their Word-to-SGML software |
I couldn’t get the free beta of their Word-to-SGML software to work |
|
When I was liaison to Microsoft for a company I worked for 1991-1993, the Microsoft manager I was working with paid for my lunch a couple of times in their cafeteria |
During all the time that I was liaison, they never once took me to a nice place for dinner |
| I have routinely installed single-user Microsoft products on two or more household machines up until XP and Office 2002 |
Having to pay to multiply install software I’ve bought means this was my last upgrade, pal |
|
Every Microsoft engineer I have ever met has impressed me with his or her intelligence, customer focus, and integrity |
I routinely curse the stupidity of the assholes who design dumbass fucking Microsoft products. What are they, a bunch of morons? |
| I hate Microsoft’s de facto monopoly of office productivity software |
I am happy that everyone uses PowerPoint because it makes complex events so much simpler |
| I am very glad I am not Bill Gates |
I am envious of Bill Gates |
(PS: When Dave asks, “It’s a matter of what kind of blogging we want — do we want it to be sloppy or crisp,” my answer is an emphatic yes.)
Categories: Uncategorized dw
