I Changed My Mind

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Today's posting was going to be about the new round of rumors about Apple possibly launching an iPhone Nano just in time for holiday shoppers (and fourth quarter sales).

While I writing about it, Internet Explorer 7 (see yesterday's posting) got hopelessly stuck when I dared to have three sites open at the same time.

Three guesses what happened and first two don't count; that's right, it crashed! It crashed taking my almost done posting with it. Curse you, Red Barron!

My question: why have tabs for additonal sites, when most of the time it can't handle it?

I realize this isn't exactly a family audience. But, it is a professional one. So, I will curb my language. Suffice it to say, the air is blue around my work space right now.

An Open Memo to Microsoft

This is why I refuse to upgrade to Vista. After years of considering myself a Microsoft apologist, shamelessly using your products damning myself to be forever technologically "uncool" compared to my Mac friends and open source friends; I've had it. To paraphrase a source of mine, Reuben Swartz, from Mimiran in Austin, TX, quoted in my recent piece about switching to Macs; "I'm tired of more powerful machines that run slower".

I would link to Reuben's site and my piece. But I'm afraid it will crash my IE browser calling up the other pages, so I can cut and paste the urls into my posting.

It's one thing to deal with this forever-rickety, fragile frustrating browser; I would be putting too much of my precious work productivity at stake to entrust my operating system to Microsoft. As it is, I have three browsers on my desktop; Firefox 3 (my favorite), Safari (second favorite) and IE 7 (the devil I know).

Microsoft still has an overwhelming market share in both the browser and operating system war, although it has eroded substantially in recent years (there's a lot of room to fall, when you're riding at 99% for a generation). This means there are plenty of people who are complaining as I am. Here our cries.

Cut it out, Microsoft!

Yes, we want our security. Maybe that would happen if you stopped alienating all those disaffected programmers in Southeast Asia and Scandanavia (I'm not sure why so many viruses and worms originate from those areas. But, they do.). How about that, instead of another overbloated version of your product line crammed down our throats?

Imagine if my Toyota just up and vapor-locked while driving, the way my Microsoft applications do?

Or my central air conditioning system in August?

Or my electrical system in my home?

Or my washer and dryer?

You get the idea. Too bad Microsoft doesn't.

I have a theory: maybe it's because Microsoft has too many programmers on the corporate dole up in Redmond. It would cost too much money to package a significant chunk out to pasture. They have to earn their keep, so the code factory keeps on writing and writing. Microsoft churns out code like Stephen King churns out bookstop- sized spooky-ooky thrillers. Both need an editor and to make use of their word count tool (if it doesn't crash the system).

Microsoft is, what, 25 - 30 years old now? Can we hope a lot of these programmers will retire soon and force the company to get lean and mean with its code, at last.

To quote one of my favorite movies, Amadeus; "Too many notes".

(I am now stepping down off my soap box...)

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio