And some people wonder why I’m retro about Microsoft and won’t allow any automatic updates of any software on my system, let alone the O/S.
20070325.1520: Oh, the joy that is Microsoft. Metafilter is down right now because an “automatic server update” installed last night completely fucked over the servers.
I just ran updates for the first time in lo, these many months, and part of what I got was IE7. But the joy that is Microsoft includes the joy that is how Microsoft redefines the English Language. For instance, clicking the box that says “Do not show me this update again” means “put up an emphatic error announcement indicating that you’ve clicked ‘do not show me this again’ on the main update pane”.
McAfee also displays this obnoxious behavior, which is why I ripped it the hell off my hard drive. I’d rather be vulnerable to viruses that MAY hit me than annoying and misleading messages that WILL hit me every time I reboot.
Look, my copy of XP is legit. But whether it was or was not, why would I need a program installed on my computer that verified that it was legit? If it is legit (which it is) then the program is redundant. And if my copy was not legit, then the last thing I’d want would be a program that detected that fact and proceeded to shut my system down or seriously cripple it. Stupid, stupid, stupid…
The main reason I don’t want it is that if I get a false negative, my computer goes south, and just having the sucker there means it’s using disk space and CPU time checking on things however often it runs. I can see no “advantage” whatsoever for me in having that damned thing on my computer.
Precisely. Why should I spend $200 to upgrade to an annoying piece of bloatware, when what I have works fine? Oh, Vista will force my hand eventually, by being the only O/S to include DirectX10. And sooner or later, some game or DVD player will require it and force me to upgrade. And THAT, folks, is why I hate Bill Gates in a nutshell. Screw Big Brother, Bill is the one who’s trying to take control of my computer.
On the other hand, (were I in Microsoft’s shoes), I’d hate to be stuck supporting an out-of-date OS for 10+ years… it really holds back future changes, and this stuff is really still evolving rapidly.
Nothing bites quite so much as supporting old software. Were I them, I’d probably try and write it all off much quicker…
The problem is the logistics of the situation. Sure, the new software scrambles eggs, makes coffee, and doesn’t burn the toast. But how much time, effort, and MONEY is being sunk into dealing with these constant updates? The cost of the software and licenses is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s lost productivity, even without blowups like happened to Metafilter. Businesses can’t afford to replace the core of their daily operations every three years–it’s expensive and dangerous.
Want to make a database admin break out into a cold sweat? Say, “System upgrade tonight, and the most recent full backup is two months old.”
It really seems like Microsoft doesn’t get an O/S “done” until right about the time they quit supporting it, but let’s take your business and situation. Why is your company replacing so much software? Because it wasn’t done right in the first place. But ask yourself this: When do you expect the work you’re doing to be replaced? If you weren’t there, would the answer be “oh, in about three years, when some outside vendor says it’s not going to support it anymore?” This may be a clue as to why your company hired you instead of a contractor.
I seem to recall that most big databases are not on Windows servers. One wonders why…
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