An Open Letter To Microsoft: Windows 8/8.1

[stylemessiah]

Not being able to get a windows 8.1 Update ISO, legally, really was just the icing on the cake for me and really pissed me off, and resulted in a letter to Microsoft who STILL dont seem to have a clue and continue to make things harder for people, especially those who have to support their mistakes....

An open letter to Microsoft

When will Microsoft get the plot?

What will it take for you guys to finally admit that you made a mistake with windows 8?

And why with 8.1 have you made it even harder (and therefore less palatable) for people, and especially people in my position, those who now have to update multiple PC's with the abomination that is Windows 8.

For every version of Windows previous to this, when an update came along i could download an ISO to update multiple computers...not any more. My TechNet access which up until recently would have, at a basic level, allowed me to download an ISO is now mysteriously void and i have no subscriber access, and i might also note, no access to my keys.....happened just before this 8.1 update came along. Logging in to TechNet i was now informed i would need to pay $99 or more to reach subscriber status...

When i read that a windows 8.1 ISO wasnt going to be generally available i thought it was a joke...i mean youre trying to create an ecosystem (more on this ridiculous mistake later) with PC's Tablets and Phones, and yet you REALLY expect people to download Windows 8.1 on each device incurring upwards of 2GB each time? Are you mad? Are you REALLY that far gone and out of touch with reality?

So heres what im going to do, or rather not going to do: support/buy/recommend (next to no chance of that before this) any of the abomination that is Windows 8, and has become worse with Windows 8.1. Not being able to download an ISO to update multiple PC's was just the final straw.....

Im done with Windows 8

Instead i will continue to give people Windows 7, which i can maintain when i have many many PC's to look after.

You seem to have forgotten the people who have to deal with your software

Then again you seemed to ignore the year or more of feedback asking not to remove the start menu before windows 8 was released, then went on to lose a claimed billion dollars, and yet with the release of Windows 8.1 your only concession was to put a start button back that does NOTHING useful.

Why is it hard for you to admit that youre wrong and stop punishing your userbase for your own failings? and the people who support them?

As for the ecosystem idea, stop sniffing the Apple glue, Microsoft makes PC and server operating systems, i hate to tell you what your business is, but you seem to have forgotten. I have yet, here in Australia to meet anyone or who has a Microsoft Phone or Tablet, given that the Phone has been out longer, i think thats a pretty good sign that your plans for an ecosystem, here at least, are well, dead. The few people i have heard of third hand buying the Surface tablet quickly returned it (the RT because they quickly realised that it wouldnt run anything useful like the desktop apps they'd been used to for eons, and the Pro because they hated the interface), these people went on to buy either an Apple iPad or Android tablets or in the case of the Pro users, a laptop with Windows 7.

EVERY contact with windows 8 since it came out as a support person has been an exercise in frustration, with even simple tasks now taking much longer, and ive been doing this over 30 years. Never seen such a productivity sapping operating system as this one. Its no wonder that even Vista was more popular

Leave the dreams of being an ecosystem (or plain stop trying to be Apple) and stop trying to convert Windows users into the sheep that supports it.

We are not Apple users.

If you havent gotten it yet, most people dont like your tablets, phones or Windows 8.

Give us back a useable, productive OS, and concentrate on that, you got right with Windows XP, failed with Vista, got it finally fixed with Windows 7, and then foisted the abomination that is Windows 8 on every one, only to further alienate people with the Windows 8.1 update and the simple inability to update multiple PC's

Or maybe you'll just keep ignoring your userbase's feedback and concerns and keep your head in the sand, and continue to lose another billion

Customer Rule #1: the customer is always right.

And we've never been more right.

I suggest you learn it.

Edited October 20, 2013 by stylemessiah

[eurobyn]

i hope they respond with a nice link to get a legal medium.

this is what they have to do with there customers.

[ThE iNsAnE]

wow!!! that was real hard on M$...i hope they get to read this...

[insanedown58]

Someone should tweet this to Microsoft then e-mail it to them then message it over to their Facebook and Google+ Pages.

[UnderShadow]

I tend to agree

Microsoft is becoming a circus as of lately

I've been struggling with Windows 8/8.1 the last two weeks and it's been a ridiculous waste of time to get simple things up and running to a decent state

For instance, getting ProcessExplorer to start succesfully at logon took me about 2 hours to get it straight!! Admin rights issues, (startup) folder issues, etc. with it's corresponding restart to test.

Finally got it through Task Scheduler with admin rights ..

Running Procexp at logon was so easy on Win7!!

Today i woke up, turned on the win8.1 laptop and guess what. It showed "We are configuring your pc" with it's changing colors and all those newbie texts onscreen. Finally managed to restart it and it came back to the state i left it last night.

Edited October 20, 2013 by UnderShadow

[smallhagrid]

Thanks for sharing that Stylemessiah.

In reply to a thread I posted today there was a reference to this:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/how-to-make-windows-7-look-like-xp/257ad2da-b7e4-4ca4-9795-8da1db1429a7?page=3

And as of right now, the very last reply there is quite a good read (posted by noneknown on Aug. 30, 2013):

Wow, They took a perfectly good, evolving, Operating System, adding an Service Pack here, Service Pack there, gradually perfecting a System that works fine. I admit I was skeptical about installing Service Packs, at first, but eventually I adapted and began looking forward to each new Service Pack.

This 'Give the people what WE SAY THEY WANT' attitude, has got me looking more and more toward alternative Operating Systems. When Win 7 wasn't quite ready (with its super secret code word name as if anyone cares) they stuffed Vista down our throats; within a year it was history, cramming Win 7 into EVERY single new PC, incessantly emailing upgrade offers to Win 7 . None of us learned from the whole Millennium ordeal; what incredible wastes of time and money.

If this slap in the face weren't offensive enough, they decided to, break necks spinning heads around, by releasing Windows 8; with no easy way to turn off that 'made for touch screen', Metro look. Half the people I know are buying orb changers, from God knows who, just to get back to being as productive as we were before they choked us with changes we didn't ask for, the other half simply went to Apple. If you've got to learn a strange new Operating System: Why Not? Apple is every bit as strange to me as Windows 8.

If they're going to make such drastic, literally, life altering changes, the least they could have done would have been to include Microsoft made Orbs and/or offer the ability to revert to the previous Operating System, for their loyal if not so tech savvy Customer base. No wonder Seniors don't want anything to do with computers , especially those who took the time to learn a very difficult concept, just for the sake of seeing their Children and Grandchildren, more often, albeit Online. Learning all over again is a nightmare for them.

I am tired of their changes, tired of being forced into changes, I may not be prepared to make at the time, and on their schedule. It's this behavior that will see Microsoft circling the drain, far sooner than it should or would have been, if they just stuck with one concept and expanded it. It's supposed to be WINDOWS not Tiles, on top of Windows, inside of Tiles with more Windows inside. I mean how complicated should it really have to be?

Before I learn Windows 8 and am forced to endure that idiotic, Metro (tile) look adding more steps to already perfected features; I'll learn Apple for my next new Operating System, before I ever attempt to learn to use a touch screen Program, such as Windows 8, on a PC or laptop until they start herding us into their tablet markets. I need a desktop in the office and prefer a laptop at home, I choose to take a tablet with me and I prefer Android when I do.

I don't know what they hope to accomplish, but when the last of my Win 7 PC's are done running Windows 7, I'm done chasing Microsoft along with my own tail. I'm going to Apple, where the O/S changes but the platforms remain the same...

Hey Microsoft: you pushed so much, so hard and so far down my throat, that this last push was the last push. I returned my Down Your Throat Windows 8 machine to Best Buy, under their 30 Warranty and better spent my money, having my Windows 7 machines updated.

YOU FINALLY PUSHED TOO FAR!!! I'm Done guessing when you'll pull the rug out from under me AGAIN....

Wow - that says it all so well.

[DarkSlayer]

Couldn't agree more... :wtf:

[stylemessiah]

So an update:

I got a response form Microsoft, albeit a form, letter (names changed to protect the innocent and not so innocent):

Dear xxxxxxx,

You have reached Microsoft Customer Service, South East Asia. My name is Jaclyn and I would address your enquiry. As I understand it, you have feedback for Windows 8.1. If my understanding is inaccurate, please let me know.

xxxxxxx, thank you for your feedback, you may also submit your feedback from link below

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/feedback.mspx

Alternatively, Please be kindly informed that you would have to call your local Microsoft Customer Service Representative who would be able to help you. Kindly check the phone number from the link below;

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/customer-service-phone-numbers/en-gb

Sincerely, it was a pleasure helping you. If ever you need further assistance please dont hesitate to send us an email and we will be more than happy to help you.

Thank you for contacting Microsoft. Have a nice day!

Regards,

xxxxxx

Customer Service Representative

Microsoft Customer Service, South East Asia (SEA)

I thought it hilarious when i visited the suggested link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/feedback.mspx

It includes info like (and you can easily tell it hasnt been updated since Windows XP was released):

Microsoft's mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. A key part of delivering on our mission is achieving a broad customer connection: understanding customers' needs and how they use our technology, and providing value through information and support.

You havent done any of that lately, especially understanding customers needs OR how they use technology, we're not all neanderthals who poke aimlessly at our computers with touchscreens on them....

Software Updates

Microsoft has been working hard to stay connected with customers by simplifying and even automating the process of keeping software current with the latest security features and other critical updates. running smoothly

Actually simplifying the process of updating wouldnt be something id still have in this page...see aforementioned lack of general availability of windows 8.1 ISO for those who admin several PC's. then also go and talk to the people that have had several goes at trying to install Windows 8.1 via the Microsoft Store and incur a 2Gb each time they do it.....i guess if you actually released the Windows 8.1 update via Windows Update it would then have to be considered a service pack, oh but you dont do that anymore right, no instead its an "update" (which in Microsoft terms now means an entire new OS has to be downloaded) via the Microsoft Store.....tell me how thats an improvement?

Microsoft Error Reporting

In a letter to customers, CEO Steve Ballmer highlights an innovative new way that Microsoft enables users of our software to easily report problems they encounter. This error-reporting feature, now included in Windows XP, Office XP and most of our other major products, has already helped us to accelerate the elimination of bugs in our software and in third-party software written for our platform.

Again so outdated, it mentions windows XP. As for monkey boy Ballmer, since he was in charge of this abomination id be purging his name from every web page at Microsoft.......Steve Ballmer (CAFE)...Chief Architect Of Failure, and Evil

The Community Connection

Join, share and learn from Microsoft Communities. The communities provide a variety of resources including Tips and Tricks, chats, newsgroups, featured downloads and more. Gain from valuable peer-to-peer support relationships and learn more about our MVPs, who provide real-time customer guidance and feedback based on their daily involvement with Microsoft customers and products.

Id love to take part in your "community", i used to, right up until the time, inexplicably around the same time Windows 8.1 went RTM, that you cut off my subscription and wanted me to pay for the same level i already had before you terminated it.......

Edited October 21, 2013 by stylemessiah

[MidnightDistortions]

Windows 8 is a joke and Microsoft is even screwing with W7 and XP updates. Heck, they are determined to get XP users off and onto Windows 8. I had a few people tell me that i should upgrade to W8 from W7. LOL not going to happen and i'll be using Linux before upgrading Windows.