I HATE Microsoft

AND their counter-productive updates!

I know I'm not alone [Google "useless Microsoft" and you get over 4 million hits!], but it feels like I've been thrown in an oubliette whenever I get one of their "updates" - usually it results in me no longer being able to use part of my perfectly good laptop and totally unable to find a way of letting them know!

Each time I lose some functionality, that corporation is driving me closer to buying an Apple machine; when I "upgraded" to the dreadful Vista, the main thing that prevented me from heading to Regent Street in the six weeks or so it took David's IT department to make the new machine actually work was the knowledge that we'd just lashed out several hundred pounds to replace the old machine.

I've only traded "up" in home computer twice, and each time the performance has got worse - Vista made me yearn for the Windows 98/2000 version, which in turn had me lamenting getting rid of my 486 [can't tell you what Operating System that was on, but you can guess it was pretty ancient if I tell you it was an upgraded 386!]...

The other thing stopping me crossing over to Apple was having used an LC II at one office where I temped!

Although I do understand Apple Corp has fixed some of their issued since then!

I've spent about six hours trying to get my card reader to work after Microsoft did 8 uploads, and after only three reinstalls/restore earlier versions and a further 11 uploads from Microsoft [that it sadly gives me no option of refusing], the card reader has magically started functioning again!

It makes me so cross that they can't leave anything that works perfectly well alone!

Because I'm old enough to be competent using keystrokes, I get very frustrated that they have removed some of them; now I have to use the mouse to close the computer down [no longer is Ctrl+Alt+Del S an option]; no wonder everything feels so slow!

Word now won't let me highlight a word and type over it, I have to delete it and then replace it, it's just so frustrating.

I've always seen Macs as a fairly trendy thing, and appealing mainly to style-conscious [as opposed to function-requiring] buyers OR those who need graphics packages for their work (or both, of course!), so I've remained pretty immune to any advertising that Apple may do [do they advertise? I can't say I remember any... But then, I am an advertisers nightmare], but I have to say Microsoft are doing a brilliant job of selling me a Macbook!!!

Everybody I've spoken to who has/had Vista hates it [and no, hate is NOT too strong a word], and all the Mac owners try to convert me; perhaps it's time to get with the program?