What I want out of windows:
* I have new pc’s and old, I want to be able to put ONE intercomparable OS on all my pc’s - If your new os runs SLOWER on my old pc than WinXP already makes it, then you wont get my sale… basically the slowest active-use pc I have is a 1.2ghz Duron with 384mb ram…. and the ‘best’ is a 1.4ghz with 1.1gb ram…. both are using 7200rpm ata133 drives that are ‘good enough’ for my needs….. You’re going to need to release this OS and have it take these older pc’s and make them run ‘better’ and ‘faster’ with your new ‘cleaner’ and ‘leaner’ code to get my sale…. oh and yes I’ll be reading review sites before spending money.

* I want to ‘easily’ share files with Linux users - if I have problems connecting a Debian or mandrake system to the new Win-OS then I’ll wipe the drive and put a *nix on it to keep my life simple.

* I WANT to be able to play old games on this new OS - so win95, win98, WinXP emulation layers so I don’t have to go out (again) and buy all new games when the old version games ‘ can’t ‘ play on your new ‘improved’ OS….. AGAIN.

* I want to register ONE DAMN TIME instead of having to register my cd 5,000 times when your crappy-instable OS crashes and I have to format and reinstall…. I’m tired of calling because my 1 damn copy of WinXP-Pro needs installed again and I need another 32 digit key…. stop that crap - tie the code to my msn login or something but bloody well stop making me call and waste your customer service rep’s time and my own.

* If your new OS has DRM coursing through it’s veins, you better be sure I can still play my old music cd’s and movie dvd’s or I’ll be returning your defective OS back to the store quicker than you can spell refund.

* We’re not the noob customers of the Win98 to WinXP ‘upgrade’ and we recognize there’s little difference between them with exception to NTFS and a changed gui, perhaps ‘more’ security… but even then it wasn’t worth hundreds of dollars for upgrading……guess what, if it’s hundreds of dollars to upgrade again, I’ll just stick with Linux… Charge me $39.95 for the Longhorn upgrade and I’ll take it… Charge me $399 and I’ll tell you what to do with your upgraded gui and slightly enhanced security… (secure for who, for me or for your real customers the RIAA/MPAA?)….

Final thought:

Microsoft - This really is the last OS you’re going to get to release where the majority of the public still considers your product before others like Linux, Unix, Macintosh, etc…. If you can’t release one damn version of your OS without it having MAJOR issues along a myriad of platforms and versions of hardware then your days of being the top OS company are going to come to an end. Your business model is tired and bloated. You’re anti-competitive actions have burned your customers and potential customers. What’s worst is ONLY the Gov’t is even told about most of the problems with your faulty code - the rest of the public is left to hold their own and find out about holes only when the skiddies find commands that bypass security or blackhats that get through bank security running your server software - every product line you make is garbage….. everyone knows that, even you do… the only reason you are on the top is because nobody could compete with decent usability but many Gov’t and public companies are moving away from your bloatware and leaning to GPL protected programs with millions of coders cleaning code and making daily updates public instead of making everyone wait months for patches of critical items…… The question you have to answer is, ‘Are you going to keep wasting our time or are you going to release a working product that doesn’t die with you plug in a usb device in front of a large audience?’…….

Kind of a rant there but really, I run Mandrake, IPCop/Smoothwall, WinXP, Win98 on my active boxes for myself and my family. Why should I ‘upgrade’…. Real answers this time Bill, real answers and no smoke…….

_-Jile-_