Doug's Mailbag: Microsoft Still Bad After All These Years?

Yesterday, Doug mentioned that Microsoft seems to be shedding its Evil Empire reptuation. Readers share their thoughts on Redmond's image makeover:

You asked if Microsoft's negative perception was ever valid in the first place. The answer is no. If the public only knew the truth about how far Microsoft has gone to assist us...
-Anonymous

I still consider Microsoft the "Evil Empire." Would be nice if they tightened up the code and reduced the memory hog it is. Windows 7 might be better, but Vista really sucks.
-Bill

I work for a very large company and I agree that Microsoft has changed. I hope Microsoft's customer focus continues and grows.
-Anonymous

Yes, I agree that Microsoft today is more of a partner than just a monolithic company.
-Craig

Whether or not Microsoft deserves its reputation (whatever it is), one reader has just one question for the company:

When will Microsoft ever sell an operating system with the ability to make restorable backups of the OS itself, including all its service packs and updates?

In other words, why, when the electromechanical hard drive tanks, do we have to find and reload the OS and each of its service packs?
-Anonymous

Here are more of your impressions -- good, bad and mixed -- of Office 2010:

As an IT pro, I am OK with the Office 2010 changes for the most part. If you are using Office 2007, 2010 will not catch you off guard. But if you're moving from 2003 (like most users), Outlook will drive you CRAZY. I like the idea that it compacts and fetches other related e-mails, but for the average user...watch out! I see an IT headache.

Maybe we need a Microsoft Bob for Office 2010. Or at least that annoying little dog.
-Dennis

MS has removed a very handy feature from Office 2010: the Document Image Writer. I searched Google to see if it was simply hidden like Quick Launch is from Windows 7. No luck. MS has the habit of removing excellent features from its newer versions.
-Dave

I've had a challenge or two using Office 2010, but mostly love it.
-Trevor

I have been using Office 2010 since it was available from the Microsoft Connect program. Mostly I am using Word with applications performing heavy automation tasks, Excel and Outlook. So far, I have been very pleased with what I routinely use. I particularly like the new printer support screens with the common printer controls exposed and built-in document previews.

Whether it is faster or not, it's too early to tell. Beta versions (I am now on Beta 2) tend to be loaded up with stuff to support the development/support as well as non optimized code.
-Al

I had to uninstall Office 2010 for two reasons. The first is a major priority: the inability to synch BlackBerry with Outlook. The second is just irritating: There's an Outlook bug that constantly asked permission to delete the trash every time I closed Outlook in spite of settings to the contrary. This bug has been known for a long time and yet it remains in the latest builds.
-Mark

Office 2010 is the only Office product I'm running on my system. I've experienced no problems yet, although the new Outlook ribbon bar is requiring a little time to learn. But just like the other ribbons, it won't take long. So far, it's working great!
-Jim

And finally, many readers yesterday cited Anrdoid as their mobile OS of choice, but one reader just doesn't see the appeal:

I've used WinMo 6 for a year-and-a-half, and I am hoping to move to 6.5 soon. Fortunately, most of my favorite apps were available in Windows versions -- which is NOT the case for Android. Also, the Android's inability to synch seamlessly with my Exchange Server makes moving to that platform impossible. Finally, have you actually looked at the Motorola Droid? It isn't exactly an attractive device.

On the other hand, being a serious Redmond fan, going iPhone was the last thing I planned to do -- until I saw my boss' iPhone. If iPhone comes to Verizon, I'm there.
-Shirley

Tell us what you think! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 12/04/2009 at 1:17 PM