MS Dissatisfaction High, Users Consider Switching 815
chriscooper1470 writes "Almost two-thirds of respondents to a recent
InternetWeek Reader Question said they are dissatisfied with Microsoft software, and 41 percent of respondents are at least thinking about switching away from Microsoft software. Only 28 percent of users responding to the poll described themselves as satisfied Microsoft customers. There are some great comments at the bottom of the article discussing why people voted the way they did. My favorite quote: 'At the end of the day, I still wish we had a viable alternative. There isn't one -- yet. We'll keep looking.' - Sure."
Lack of alternatives (Score:3, Insightful)
It's the little things that sink the ship.... (Score:3, Insightful)
See, it's just little things like this, but boy are there a LOT of these little things. Fix them, and maybe we'll see people treat Linux and OSS as a serious alternative.
Monopoly (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean, what's the difference? People are going to buy their stuff whether it's good or not. This reminds me of the South Park episode where Mr. Garrison comes up with an alternative to the airplane industry. The only problem is that it has serious, terrible drawbacks. (To say the least) Still, people go after it because even if it's terrible, it provides an incremental advantage to how terrible the airlines were.
Part of the lack of choice isn't Microsoft's fault. Computers are new, and society at large is sorely lacking in the skills necessary to use them effectively. Computer education at all levels (not programming, just training on effective use) is vital if you ever want people to take an alternative to Microsoft, even if it is ever presented.
Re:Lack of alternatives (Score:3, Insightful)
The *best* quote (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes 'Linux'. No distro, no particular installed apps/services, no particular kernel, just 'linux'. Linux, the company, you know..
Well done Chris Schlehein... I think you really deserve your title of "Enterprise Network Administrator". Your obviously SO clued up in the world of computing.
Geek != businessman (Score:4, Insightful)
If people don't consider Linux a viable alternative, the problem lies with Linux, not with said people. Attitudes such as this will do nothing to help Linux.
Re:This is terrific, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
b) Windows nerds are just as rude as Linux nerds. By and large, nerds (unfortunately) have poor social skills. Windows nerds are just as rude as Linux nerds.
You Know.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Instead, because it is Microsoft, the editor (namely that tool timothy) takes it as self-evident and obviously true since it confirms his own biases.
Exhibit #15432 why Slashdot can't be taken as more than a joke.
Re:Will this finally make microsoft shape up? (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't forget that not so long ago is you suggested using MS software in an office you would have been kicked out by both IT AND management.
Then again this kind of poll is useless. Sure they are dissatisified. You always says you want a better/cheaper product. If you say you are 100% satisfied they will up the price.
No, Linux is NOT an alternative (Score:2, Insightful)
Linux doesn't fit the bill. While it is simple to use at a basic user level, the various applications are not at all integrated. Applications are fiddly to get to work properly. X is slow unless you work at it.
bias (Score:4, Insightful)
That's one loaded question. Why would anyne who disagrees with the premise even bother to answer this?
Re:Lack of alternatives (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Zealot. (Score:2, Insightful)
Aside from the desktop unfamiliarity, applications could be a very big headache. Our corporation has desktop apps that are incompatible between Windows versions (hence, we don't have XP everywhere), so switching all users to an alternative desktop just isn't an option. Unfortunately, it's a catch-22 for many corporate IT departments. They can't switch desktops because the apps don't support them, but the vendors won't support other desktops until the userbase of alternative systems goes up.
At this time, I just don't see how a non-Windows desktop is a viable solution for many enterprises. For certain users (developers, DBAs, admins, etc.), yes, is is a good idea. But, the users in Accounting, Legal, HR, etc. may be locked in.
Re:Lack of alternatives (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Where you gonna go? (Score:3, Insightful)
Okay, put down the Kool-Aid and the crack pipe and step back slowly with your hands in the air.
That said...ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?
If your answer to the question is "no", perhaps you'll want to enlighten us further as to where your formulate this opinion, because right now it seems that you have no experience with Linux or Mac OS X, and are just toeing the MS Party Line.
Get an OS X box and Red Hat box and call me back after you've used them for a few months.
Re:Geek != businessman (Score:5, Insightful)
He was quite impressed with Gentoo's speed and the ease of use of my system (Gnome, Gaim, Totem, AbiWord, Evolution, etc.). He uses his computer for gaming mostly, so I don't see him switching from Windows anytime soon, but he seemed fairly impressed at my framerates in Enemy Territory, and even more so at the fact that I hadn't paid a dime for a damned piece of software running on my computer.
Lots of people who do know of Linux don't realize how far Linux has come. Back in the summer of 2002, when Gnome 1.4 and KDE 2 were the norm as far as desktop environments went, I thought to myself, "Linux is pretty cool, but I don't think it will be ready for the desktop for another three or four years." Now, using Gnome 2.4 and GTK2 apps, I am astonished at how much the open-source community has been able to accomplish.
I think Linux is ready for the desktop right now. I think if computers were sold with Linux, for hundreds cheaper than comparable Windows PCs, people would start using it. And if not, maybe it would put some pressure on Microsoft to drop prices and stop making shitty products.
While I am no microsoft fan... (Score:2, Insightful)
We asked the question: "Microsoft users are getting fed up. They're battered by worms, viruses, security patches and increasing enterprise licensing costs. Aggravation has users talking about switching from Microsoft software to something else. We're trying to figure out how much of that talk is just talk, and how much is serious action. Do you seriously plan to dump Microsoft software?"
A question like this is very leading, and is likely to induce a testing effect, in which the actual asking of the question, and they way it is asked, changes the answer the survey taker gives. You can't preface a question by talking about how horrible microsoft is. The question should simply say: "Do you plan to switch from Microsoft sofware?" That would be much more statistically valid, and I can almost guarantee would lead to a diffent percentage of answers. That being said, I agree with the "41%".
There are no good alternatives (Score:1, Insightful)
1. direct-render windowing system. XFree86's architecture is unfixably inefficient for typical desktop users. Window dragging in X is clearly much less responsive than on Win32 due to the silly message encode/decode overhead, context switches, and inter-process copies. DirectFB provides some hope here but their multi-window code is still immature. Network transparency should still be supported (and better than Win32 VNC), but not used for the local desktop.
2. Consistent "ooh, shiny" widget set. The computing public expects computers to make them feel futuristic and sexy, not like dateless engineering nerds. WinXP's advantage over Win2K is purely visual--there were basically no interesting technical changes (proof that Microsoft is a stagnant market-driven company). With ATI releasing specs and NVIDIA losing market share to the point of irrelevance, free software can leverage hardware acceleration to build sleak UIs.
3. Much higher efficiency. Practically speaking that means straight C. Nobody has figured out how to architect, write, maintain, or compile C++ efficiently. Don't use it.
4. Avoid shared library hell. Gnome seems to require about 200 shared libraries, which slows down the dynamic linker and creates a maintenance and installation nightmare (GNUCash).
5. fast, efficient browser. mozilla is a slow bloated tribute to the horror of C++ software engineering. The dillo folks have the right idea but are way behind IE. A free browser can ignore javascript, java, flash, and ActiveX as these are not critical to building a viable desktop.
6. media players. mplayer is better than anything availible for Windows. no problem here.
7. Full Win32 compatability. Wine is making great progress here. Once Win32 apps (especially games) run at native speed it's all over.
8. Office Suite. OpenOffice is a horrid, bloated mess. AbiWord is better. Free software developers are wasting their time on backwards compatability. Develop a better system, and people will switch. It is always possible to dump the useful contents of a Word doc to plaintext or HTML using Word itself, so free software developers should not waste time trying to reverse engineer proprietary formats. Develop something faster, cheaper, more stable, better, and let users deal with the conversion.
9. package management. Instead of forcing developers to write nasty packaging scripts, design a system which takes a tar.gz URL, auto-calculates dependencies based on autoconf, then installs and manages the program transparently. Once that happens you've freed 10,000 Debian maintainers for more useful work.
10. no open ports and state-based firewalling. It's trivial to beat Microsoft here.
When companies have a significant competitive advantage using a free desktop the ones who don't switch will go out of business. The develoeprs of this system will have guaranteed, well-paying jobs. revolution complete.
Re:Lack of alternatives (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is that high-end Macs are competitive to high-end PC's, and mid-range Macs are (somewhat) competitive to mid-range PC's, but there are no low-end Macs for businesses who want bare-bones end-user computers.
The difference... (Score:1, Insightful)
The difference is that nobody is saying that Walmart is kicking puppies and laughing at old people, while people are really pissed off at MS for their software instability and problems.
It only seems like a loaded question to you because you, deep down, don't really see a problem with MS software.
Re:Geek != businessman (Score:3, Insightful)
It's arguable that the same would be true if Linux were as easy as Windows, but parts of the Linux desktop are getting there. But at that point, that still makes Linux an alternative, but maybe not the best one for some people.
One of the bigger problems I can see with Linux for the masses is the fact that there isn't enough abstraction for the user. No one I have talked to about this subject knows, wants to know, or gives a flying f*** how the OS really works. They want it to just work, out of the box, without spending hours reading TFMs. Geeks thrive on that though, and many of us don't want an OS like this, we like getting our hands, wrists, elbows, and sometimes waists dirty diving into the system.
I'd say we just have to find the middle-ground where we can put up a small wall, one side of which is usability and simplicity across the board. The other, the nuts and bolts for those in-the-know to play with.
Re:Will this finally make microsoft shape up? (Score:5, Insightful)
Whenever you post a survey like this, you mainly get responses from people with strong opinions. What we really need to see is the responses from the other 80% of the people who don't care enough to respond to a survey like this.
-a
Re:Will this finally make microsoft shape up? (Score:3, Insightful)
What is surprising is just how insanely dominant they became, and that they suddendly managed to get a foot in the server arena as well. I'm still surprised - sure, it was perfectly natural for me to use Microsoft software on my C64 (I didn't even know that it was Microsoft software back then), or MSDOS, or Windows 3.1 back in these days, but there always have been viable alternatives, from Atari to OS/2. Somehow, in the mid-90ies, it stopped being common to be asked "for which platform do you want it" when you bought software. Ever scince, I can't help but feeling like I'm in some cartoonesk hollywood movie when I think about Microsofts economical, social and political role.
Indeed. The same people would likely laugh at you if you would suggest switching to any of the alternatives, or if they would switch, they would be just as dissatisfied, for other reasons.If you want to know what people want, it is a bad idea to ask them. Look at what they do. Everybody likes to bitch, but few actually do something about it. If they would want to get rid of the security problems, the annoying licenses, the cost etc. they could, today - Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, Solaris or AIX all exist. Since they they decide to stay with Microsoft, they deserve what they get - I just wish that every new MS worm wouldn't harm non-MS users as well.
Re:Geek != businessman (Score:3, Insightful)
That's not going to happen, though - the only way to make a *comparable* Linux-based PC hundreds (of dollars, I assume) cheaper than a Windows-based one would be to take a loss on it. I bought an OEM copy of XP Pro for 116 sterling (about $200) in January. There's no way that a commercial PC manufacturer would be spending anything like that much money per licence.
To make a Linux-based PC that much cheaper than a Windows one, they would have to lower the specs, it's as simple as that.
maybe it would put some pressure on Microsoft to drop prices and stop making shitty products
Well, as we're talking specifically about operating systems, I have to say that I find very little wrong with XP. It crashes on me about as often as Mandrake does (which is to say, almost never), and compared to a lot of the software I use on a daily basis (eg JBuilder Enterprise, Oracle 8i, etc) it's very cheap. No, it's not as cheap as freely downloadable, but using software costing in excess of 100,000 sterling at work makes it seem pretty inexpensive in the grand scheme of things.
Re:WHY do most people need MS office (Score:2, Insightful)
Hereabouts, any given moment, there will be at least three local high schools, a community college and a public library offering evening classes in Office, with additional free outreach programs for the elderly, the disabled and those on welfare. The message---heard loud and clearly from every potential employer---is that these skills are marketable.
Re:Loaded (Score:3, Insightful)
My girlfriend and I have been trying to stop going to Walmart for the last year. Every time we go its dirty, crowded, the employees don't give a damn about the customers and the isles (Which I'd like to see if it violates fire code) are full of pallets of stuff making it a maze to walk through.
Every time I go I leave with a forehead popping vein. And every time we say we're not going back.
But alas, Walmart is the only store in my area that has decent prices and is open past 10pm. So if I need to get something after 10pm, I have to get it from Walmart... Target sadly closes at 10. Target may have its own set of problems but at least the one by me is clean and the employees actually treat you like a customer and not someone who's in their way..
But yeah the analogy is pretty good. People want to go elsewhere, but they can't. Thats why we had the whole antitrust trial. Whats funny is Microsoft lost, yet nothing has changed. Way to go.
"chicken-egg-either-or" is hampering linux (Score:3, Insightful)
the users can break this cycle by getting out of the "either-or" mindset and using BOTH for awhile. they should just get a linux box, today, and start using it. keep the windows one around for stuff for which there is no alternative. or use lindows to even further minimize the amount of machine-switching you must do. by being present in the linux end-user marketplace, they will create the demand for applications.
IT departments should take the lead on this, but same goes for home users.
you can get a linux box for $199 at walmart, for christ's sake.
Re:Lack of alternatives (Score:1, Insightful)
How much time does every employee waste per month on the virus of the week? I bet you could recover the costs of migration and training for an alternative os in just a few months.
Linux is STILL better. (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously, now... People say that you have to patch Linux just as you have to patch Windows. But they don't realize something that is quite different between the two:
Under Linux, you have total control over the system. There is nothing hidden away, like it is under Microsoft. Therefore, when you apply a patch, you can know exactly where that patch goes and what that patch does. A sysadmin or two can put together a configuration (for 1 box, 100, or 10,000) that they like, and then when a patch comes out, write a small script that busts it into all the systems companywide.
Besides... Under Linux, it is not quite as critical to apply every single patch, as it is under Windows. Because sysadmins can control everything, they can prevent a lot of the stupidities that make Windows boxes vulnerable, like faulty configurations. And, because every company will likely have different Linux setups, viruses or cracks written for Linux will not have the same widespread effect as they do on Windows, where every Windows box is essentially the same, give or take a few variables.
Re:No, Linux is NOT an alternative (Score:2, Insightful)
But so they're fed up anyway, and they want an alternative. Hypothetically, they buy a computer preloaded with linux and set up with all the hardware and the software they want. The argument about the difficulty and time it takes to set the damn thing up is gone. However, what happens when they want to install some new software? They expect to be able to click, download, install, and run with no thinking involved. Now why avid linux users around here would like to read about the project on sourceforge, download the source code, go through line by line making sure it's okay to run, compile it, and then manually install it, no one else wants to do that. And if they do have RPM's available, they do not always work on every computer due to dependencies.
Now the only linux distros i've used are red hat, mandrake, and suse, so I have not used apt get. Everything I've heard of that does a lot to help this situation and I admit that I am ignorant on that so don't bother sending a response based on that.
I agree that people can see beauty in the second process of installing software, but that is because you appriciate it. The consumers of the software that open source programmers would use over ms software must spend more time making installation easier. Maybe that's why ms software is so popular, it may run like shit and crash, but at least it only takes a monkey to install it.
And programmers do not have to compromise their talent and respect for their own work by spending more time making installation easier. By making installation easier, then more people are willing to try it and give more feedback on how to improve it. If only a few geeks use a program and their feedback is only technical, then the project can slow down. But if the software is easy for a lot of eager people, but without programming experience, then they could give feedback on the design elements and how to make the program work better.
Most people who use computers aren't software engineers, but they can tell the difference of a well designed and a badly designed program. In order for linux to knock ms out of the water, programmers have to focus a lot on this.
I think a standard to install one piece of software is what we need. Linux advocates are always touting the benefits of standards, and this is the only glaring one I see. An alternative to creating the standard from scratch might be to adapt apt-get to make it more friendly, but again I've never used it so I'm just guessing on that.
Re:Loaded (Score:3, Insightful)
Question:
"Do you support Jim Smith for Senator, knowing that he is against the environment, healthcare, education, and children?"
Pollster's result:
"Oh, look, 84% of people are against Jim Smith for Senator!"