Keith Line

I’ve been using windows since version 3.0, maybe even earlier if I think hard enough. I’ve lived through at least 7 major upgrades and have installed the OS thousands of times in a former life as a technologist. My current operating system is Vista. Vista is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

I hope that Windows 7 goes leaps and bounds above it’s hype. I hope that for once, Microsoft actually listens to what their users want. If Windows 7 does not do the job, my time with Microsoft will end.

I want to add the following to my list of wants to Windows 7:

1. I want my task icons to not disappear randomly. My volume control has gone off and on for almost every version of Windows
2. My OS should never crash. Ever. We need to stop living with crashes.
3. Windows needs to start fast - and not just do so for a week. I should be able to install hundreds of programs and it should still work just fine.
4. Folder views should not change randomly.
5. The Windows explorer menus need to stay the way I want them.
6. I shouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist nor answer a million questions to hook two computers together.
7. Windows should repair itself if there is a virus or malware installed.
8. My program associations need to stay the way I want them. Microsoft products should stop taking over.
9. Face it, other Internet browsers exist. Make every appropriate feature of Windows work with other browsers.
10. Setting up a printer should be so easy that a kindergartner could do it.
11. Things should just make sense. If my 60+ year old father can’t figure out the basics of the operating system, then there is something wrong.

There are countless other things that need fixing. If Microsoft does not fundamentally shift the way Windows works (by making it truly functional), I will buy a Mac.

This is not an article about Windows vs. Macs. I’ve participated in said debate for over a decade now. It makes my head hurt.

This is an article about making applications that work.

My operating system is broken. I am not going to say which variety it may be, just that it does not work. When I say that it does not work, I mean that it crashes constantly, it reboots randomly and is generally more flaky than a breakfast cereal.

We have come a long way in terms of development skills, interoperability and customer satisfaction. Well, I thought we had anyway.

An OS is nothing more than a very large application, which allows other applications to run inside of it. When the OS fails, the applications that run inside of it are worthless. Being embedded in technology for years, I generally know how to troubleshoot and fix most things on a computer.

From now on, I have decided not to waste time fixing something that should just work.

From now on, if my applications do not work, I will move on. I will find ones that do. This goes for websites, applications, operating systems and anything else that I decide to lump into this category. I don’t mean that every time there is a hiccup, I will jump ship. I want to be practical as well.

Creating an application and website with forward compatibility is possible with good planning, out of the box thinking and a commitment to quality. I need to make sure that the work my web company creates follows this credo as well. We have certainly made less-then-awesome sites when budgets were tight in the past. I feel that we need to move away from these types of projects as they may do more harm than good - if not for the client’s needs, but for my own mental stability.