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Enough Already!
Like most PC users, I am running windows. I also have a lot of programs installed on my computer. But there's something I'd like to have more of: peace and quiet!
Every little program that I've installed wants its own little system tray icon. Some of them, like anti-virus, I need running all the time. Most, I do not. But each of them goes about their little jobs, a few times a day popping up to remind me what a great tool they are. What nobody at these programming shops must have realized was that 20 times a "few times a day" means every few minutes I've got some software busybody interrupting my work with news of its latest effort. Enough already!
Look. I'm sure that I'm "protected against rapidly spreading threats." That's why I write the check every year for my virus subscription. I also know that friends of mine log in and out of the internet. I know a lot of people, and every second or two I get a status report on whether they are logged in or not. It's only a second of my time - -a second I could be spending somewhere else -- but over a year or two I'm probably wasting an entire day with the knowledge of the computer habits of people all across the world.
Look. WinZip is a great program. I use it all the time. But does it need it's own little system tray icon? Do I really want to click down there to find out my most recently used zip files? Sure, if I was writing a book on zipping files, I'd want it close by. But not so much so for everyday use. Does QuickTime always have to be running? What's it even doing down there, anyway? Checking for movies I might want to watch? Heck. Most of the stuff on my Start/Programs folder is crap I never click anyway. I do about 7 things all day. The rest should just be automatic, got it?
Software quality, at least to the end-user, means doing your job and getting out of my way. I don't want to see no popup, splash screen, or balloon tips. And don't even get me started about that little paperclip guy in Microsoft Office. I don't care how many programmers you had, or what version you are running. Just go do what I paid you for and leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?
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I will have to agree with you on this. Although now I am no longer using Windows. I have not yet had a balloon notice, pop-up, or "clippy" show up on my screen. Not to mention... NO ANTI-VIRUS! Linux works great! Give it a try sometime (personally I use mandrake, but many people like redhat/fedora).
You can download Fedora at a cost of $0.00 visit http://fedora.redhat.com . I would recomend this to MOST Windows users who are ready for a change. And you can also install all your IM clients WITHOUT annoying popups. Give it a try, you can install it on your Windows computer (dual-boot).
What to fix? Fix your OS. Way back in 1995, I had a strategy to prevent Windows slowdowns: I'd wipe the drive every 6 months and reinstall everything from scratch. I learned the hard way that you have to re-install in "time order" because Office97 will downgrade the DLLs that any newer app installed. I also learned that MS doesn't value people's time. It would take 6 or 7 reboots to install MS SQL Server 7 on NT 4.0. (First install service pack 3, Reboot. Then install IIS 4, Reboot. Then install IE 6, Reboot... Why the database refuses to install without IE6 is a matter that the Justice department should have looked into.. )
I got off the MS treadmill in 1997. I install programs (including web browsers and databases) without rebooting. I can unstall any program I please (including the web browser that came with the OS). There are no antiviral utilites (unless you want to scan for Windows viruses), no popups (unless you want them), no software forced down your throat.
Unlike Windows, Linux has a lot of choice. The downside is that it can be overwhelming when there are ~500 Linux distributions. http://lwn.net/Distributions/
The best thing to do is download a few "Live CD" distros. You boot from the CD, and they don't mess with your harddrive unless you want them too. Some can read settings off a USB Key, which allows you to work on any public terminal.
The short list of really awesome Live CDS: Ubuntu, Knoppix, Mephis, Kanotix. http://www.linuxiso.org/
> "Software quality, at least to the end-user, means doing your job and getting out of my way."
That sounds like the philosophy behind Mac OS X. I switched three years ago, and I've never been happier with my computing experience. There's not nearly the level of annoyance. Things just stay out of your way on a Mac. I'm not trying to convert you here, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.
If you want a little change, try either Mac OS X if you're wealthy or Linux if you want to be free. Mac OS X if you want to use commercial programs, Linux if you want free and sometimes better programs. Mac OS X if you like style, or Linux if you want YOUR style.
I find spybot incredibly useful to clean persistent programs. The startup tool nicely cleans programs which I do not want to run by default, and I do nto need to hunt through each applications cryptic menu settings just to uncheck "run-by-default".