Is Microsoft Shooting Itself in the Foot?

Beware of Windows 10!

My computer recently crashed and burned and my replacement computer had Windows 10 loaded on it as the operating system. Microsoft has been playing hardball (not …soft as in their name). They are trying to force their new system through without giving other software companies or their customers enough time to prepare to work with Windows 10.

And… Windows 10 still has a lot of kinks to be worked out. Here are some of the problems you might run into if you switch right away:

You will feel intimidated to switch if you talk with Microsoft employees. You will hear from MS Client Services that they will no longer support earlier versions of their operating systems or their Office software when you call for help reloading software that you already own. That’s scary. And we don’t know what that means so we assume that it will mean disaster if we don’t switch.

Your other software might not work. Actually, it almost certainly will not. I use Act for my Contact Management System and had the latest version on my other computer. Now, it will not work with Windows 10. They tell me I’ll have to purchase Act 17, which they are honest enough to say is still in the development stage. In other words, buy it, and suffer growing pains not only with Windows 10 but with the new versions of Act as well.

Constant Contact, my email marketing software on line, does not work with the new web browser called Edge that comes with Windows 10. They recommend downloading and using Google Chrome or FireFox. Oh, and any web address that you click on in an email or Office document will automatically take you to the web using Edge. You would have to copy and paste the URL to use another browser.

Your printers and other peripheral equipment might not work with Windows 10. Right now, I have to log in to my main computer from my laptop, copy and paste any data or files that need printing, and print from my lap top which operates on Windows 7. My printer is only a year old. I tried three times to download and install drivers from HP for it, even had my IT guy try to make it work for me at hourly rates of $120 an hour, and it just won’t work.

REMEDY

Prevention is the best cure. It has never been my intention to be one of the first to try new software. I just don’t have the time or resources to deal with the de-bugging stage. If you feel the same, don’t upgrade to Windows 10 – yet. Wait until other more technically inclined people (like at Microsoft for example) get it working well. There’s a reason Microsoft is giving it away for free. They want you to do their work for them.

Do what I am doing. If you’ve installed Windows 10 and are having some of these same major problems, get your IT person to remove it and replace it with Windows 8.1 for the time being. If you are like me and love the familiar, ask him or her to make it work like Windows 7 so you don’t have all those in-between, failed-experiment features to deal with either.

THE TRAVESTY IN THIS

Why I ask, “Is Microsoft shooting itself in the foot?” is this. Multiply the time and money cost of my experience over millions doing the same thing, and that of the support departments of all those companies trying to adapt to Windows 10, and you have a waste of productivity that could be in the billions of dollars. Shame on you, Microsoft.

The markets may love you, but right now, I’m upset with you.