People wonder why I don’t use Microsoft as much as I have in the past. Some people think the entire PC/Mac thing is just a joke. I thought the PC versus Mac thing was just a joke, too. It’s not. I’ve been on a Mac now officially for one year.
And I’m spoiled.
The worst thing about working on a Mac is having to work on a PC as well. I do so every day at work. I recently loaded Vista (it still bluescreens after hibernation) and needed to download and reinstall Microsoft Visio Standard Edition. Easy, right? I purchased it from Microsoft online so I’ll just go and download it again, and reinstall it.
I go to the logical place, Microsoft Download Center. There’s a Silverlight beta of Microsoft Download Center so I go for it! I simply type “Visio” in the “search downloads” field. Here’s what comes up first with 119 results:
What’s the first ranked result? Not Visio at all… it’s the 2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS. Huh? (I’m not even going to try to figure out why the first result was rank #31). So, I read and sort and read and sort and expand to show 100 results… I can’t find Visio anywhere… just some viewers and a bunch of other crap.
Off to the Office site! Since I purchased Visio online, I figured I’d be able to get back to the store through the Microsoft. I fumble around a little, but I find it… Visio Standard Edition. And on the left sidebar… Previous Purchases! Yahoo!!!!… er… I mean Wahooo!!! I click Previous Purchases and my invoice number pops up. Yea!!!! Almost there!!!! I click the purchase and this is what I get:
Ouch. I’m using Internet Explorer 7 even… not even risking this one on Firefox. I clear my cookies. I navigate back, click on my invoice… and….
You suck Microsoft! On and off the web… you suck! Now I can’t get my project done today with the software I’m disappointed in that you made me upgrade that cost me another $150 that I can’t download and can’t use.
People really wonder why I’m on a Mac.
No wonder why the Microsoft Brand is in decline. I’d be surprised to learn whether or not Microsoft employees had to even use their own products, online or offline.
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Yeah, I’m sick of M$ crap as well. I recently jumped ship on Outlook 07 and went to Mozillas Thunderbird.. Glad I did. Also goin to be installing open office soon to get rid of the rest of M$ office garbage.
Really considering making the leap and using nothing but linux on my machines now. It has become very user friendly as of late and most winblows software has a linux compatible alternative thse days.
Not sure If I’m brave enough to get a mac tho.
What a nightmare!!! Microsh*te! When we people learn…. Microsoft are going to be in REAL trouble when the corporate community suddenly realise they will save time and money when they switch to Mac and stop using Microsoft products.
And yet, as I read down the article, your Google Ads link at the bottom of your entry has links to purchase Office 2003 and 2007.
And Mac ads on the side, intermixed with other Office add ins.
Sometimes it’s really fun how automated advertising code can pop up at the most interesting times. Your post combined with the “timely” ads made my evening 🙂
Ha! That always seems to be the case, Bob! Whenever I blast someone, their ads wind up on the site. Too funny.
Open Office is here 2.4 and 3.0 will become even one step better. There are also extensions so one can use LaTeX in it nowadays…
Just use OmniGraffle Pro. Visio is bloat-tastic anyway.
I’ve had good luck with OmniGraffle Pro as well, Jason. I wish it were fully file-compatible with Visio (or vice-versa), though! I have clients that use Visio.
You know the Mac wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for all the Mac People.” 😉
Ha! You’re absolutely right, Mike. We are a cranky bunch – especially the folks like me that were deep in MS technologies for the last 2 decades!
I’ve had very few problems with Microsoft products. Oh, I’ve had plenty of problems online, but nothing critical. Due to the general unreliability of the Internet, I prefer to have hard-copies of all the programs I buy, especially when they’re expensive. Old school, I know.
It’s ironic, but I’ve had more problems with Macs and Linux than with Windows, and open source programs never seem to work right with me. It’s certainly not for lack of technical know-how (I’ve been using computers since the days of DOS).
Also, why do people substitute characters when writing “Microsoft”? I mean, it’s not as if actually spelling it out will somehow augment Bill Gates’ unholy power to rule the world. It just looks silly.
Hi Cody,
This post was a big giant vent over my frustration with their site. I think the connection is that Microsoft is somewhat disconnected with their users. My issue wasn’t about the software (this time ;), it was really about the customer service.
For as long as I remember, it’s always been that way. Microsoft has been somewhat unapproachable and has dictated the direction… things like having a browser that didn’t apply standards, building out security models that only worked with Microsoft-based applications, and ignoring other standards – like document standards.
I have a lot of respect for what they’ve achieved, but I do believe their animosity for anyone else in the space is getting the best of them. One look at a Steve Ballmer video spells it out for me!
Don’t get me wrong, Jobs has his quirks, too. He’s a jackass if you read the latest Wired magazine. But I think his attention is much better focused on changing the status quo and trying to make things easier and more stylish for his ‘cult’.
Cheers!
Doug
Just a note, Microsoft did follow up with an email regarding my download today, 4/14/2008 with a link for download and a product key to install.