Brett Borders

Dear Microsoft Corporation,

You’ve really done it this time.

And I am leaving and never speaking to you again.

It’s not that I want to dislike you. I was loyal to you for so long.

I stuck with you through thick and thin. From DOS 5.0 through XP. Through decent functionality and through countless crashes.

But this new operating system is the last straw.

I’ve read through hundreds of online reviews and comments about Vista. I’ve asked IT guys and Microsoft Certified Professionals. I’ve read the PC magazine reviews. I’ve given it a spin on my friends’ laptops.

You’d think at least someone (other than your PR people) would find something to like about a piece of software that took an industry leader five years and a gazillion dollars to develop. But I’ve yet to hear anyone say “Wow!” about it.

There’s a few lukewarm praises like “it looks better than XP if you have a new graphics card.” But most people say it’s a just a naggy, inferior imitation of Mac OS X.

A Windows worshipping gamer acquaintance told me it took literally seven or eight hours of churning to install his Vista Home Premium (sic) upgrade. After staying up all night, he found none of his device drivers worked.

With the tales of the new DRM lockdown, the User Account Control nagging, the virtualization restrictions, and the priced-to-upsell $400 product – your credibility is about as good as OJ Simpson’s.

I just don’t trust what you say anymore.

It’s a shame because there were better times in our 15-year relationship. There was the golden era a few years back (around the dot com bubble) when Windows was the platform. There was an aura of innovation and lots of exciting software new coming out for Windows.

But those days are gone. And your days are numbered, Microsoft.

I had this epiphany when I tried out my friend’s Macintosh with OS X. I realized how much grief you’d put me through: the constant crashes whenever I tried to run more than three applications, the endless required reboots, and the vicious malware attacks that I wasted many precious hours wrangling with. And then having to pay extra for third party security and virus programs – because you couldn’t keep a handle on things.

But as a veteran power user – by grace or by service pack – I always managed to fix it.

Others aren’t so fortunate.

You’ve terrified folks like my poor dad. He is afraid to install new software for any reason. He mumbles things like “Computers – you just can’t trust them.” He’s been conditioned that if he tries to install a new program or download an update – even if he does it correctly – something is likely to go awry for no explicable reason. That’s why he sticks with IE 5 and Office 97, cause he sees upgrading as too risky to gamble with.

You made millions of poor secretaries and office workers cry just for trying to do normal things like printing and saving.

It didn’t have to be like this. Shame on you!

The secret is out, Microsoft. The reputation that you can’t be trusted to deliver reliable software is getting around fast.

Hasta la Vista!
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This post was originally written by Brett Borders and it made the Digg home page.