Obvious

Would any of you reading this buy anything: be it a TV set, a car, a bicycle, a stereo system, knowing that it would break down suddenly with no previous warning and that there was nothing you could do about it? Even worse, it would break down periodically and even though you would have to change several parts every once in a while you and, as a matter of fact, everyone, would mysteriously consider this normal and acceptable?

We wouldn't even dream of buying something like that if it were a car, a TV set, a refrigerator or even a stereo system. But when it comes to Windows, everything changes.

Normally I consider the Windows community as a curiosity. I don't see OS/2, Mac or Linux users complaining about the "need" for periodical reinstalls of their systems as well as of the several hours of work lost due to "blue screens of death", "I Love You" e-mail messages or simply to some unexplained or unexpected application error. Only recently, after having read two articles in a very respectable newspaper I decided to write this.

The first article described how to restore the computer's original speed and performance by reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling all your software and data (Yes, the author did make all the recommendations regarding backups of the data and making sure that all installation disks were at hand). The second article, after describing all the joys of the new operating system (ahem) advised the potential "Windows ME" users to wait until the first service pack was made available or even better, or worse depending on your opinion about it, to wait until "Whistler" comes around in a year or two.

We now consider it normal for Microsoft software to be large, unsafe, unstable and full of bugs. New security holes in Microsoft software are discovered almost every month. Windows ME's major marketing punch seems to be something like: "It crashes less than Windows 98". Even so, it is being bought and systems are being reinstalled from scratch. What is wrong with these people?

The people who flock to the shops to buy every new Microsoft release are the same that will complain and make phone threats every time their favorite channel is not available at the time they want on their cable. We are talking about the same people that will stop buying brand "A" or "B" of a previously respectable electronic equipment manufacturer because of unfavorable consumer reports. These same people now consider it normal to have a computer "crash" on your face at least once a day. Why?

My guess, and that is all I can give you, is that these people use the "crashing feature" of Windows as a form of self-protection. For most people, computers are almost magical boxes. A smart typewriter that will actually talk back to you, unfortunately most of the time scolding you for your spelling mistakes. Most people are intimidated by computers and having one crash periodically just reassures them that, even though their work was lost, it will be a long time before any machine replaces them at work.

It is also possible that these people have different attitudes toward software because they believe there is only one operating system. That is not a difficult thought to have when you don't know the options and Microsoft controls over 95 per cent of the market. These people simply don't know they have a choice. What is worse, they don't seem to care.