From the Editor - November 1995
David M. Kalman

Love, Hate, Like, Dislike

Much of my role at DBMS involves listening to readers in an attempt to understand what they want and need in the magazine. Listening to readers often includes interpreting subscriber studies or monitoring subscriber renewal statistics. This kind of "listening" offers a statistical basis for many publishing and editorial decisions, but it can't really convey much about the readers' personalities and attitudes. Yes, there are many expensive research methods that I could use, but I prefer direct communication, even it lacks statistical accuracy. One reader who offers an intriguing suggestion or asks a probing question can be more valuable than the cumulative results of a survey.

To interact with readers I attend a variety of conferences and trade shows. I also review the message threads on the DBMS CompuServe Forum. Sometimes I pose questions to readers as informal e-mail surveys. You can find the corresponding Online Surveys page on the DBMS web site. In my September column, I asked the question:

I [like/dislike/love/hate] Microsoft because [enter as many as 50 words]

Thanks to everyone who answered the survey. The results seem to be split fairly evenly; I'll decline to quantify them further. The following is a sample of the responses, lightly edited for spelling and grammar. I also added the headings.

A Trend-Setter
Like. I like Microsoft because it is a trend-setting company. They may not always have the best product, but the thing they bring to the table is the threat to take over the world, so all the other computer companies try their best to put out the best possible product, and therefore the overall quality of products is up. -- Anthony Terry/aterry@usa1.com

Innovative and Aggressive
Like. I like their innovation (presumed) and aggression in introducing useful products to the end user. -- Mathew Thankachan/Mathew.Thankachan@Ebay.Sun.COM

Get Warped
Dislike. I dislike Microsoft because they are putting out a new operating system that is only a transitional piece of software. They are looking for everyone to eventually use NT when all the "older" applications are gone. I think they should just take one package and make it work for everything; a little like Warp. -- Ekimnosneb@aol.com

Air FoxPro
Love. In addition to excellent products, Microsoft offers excellent customer follow-up. Here's one example: I ordered Microsoft Visual FoxPro. The Air Express service took a little longer than usual to deliver the package. I got a personal telephone call from Microsoft customer support to see if I had received their package. That meant almost as much to me as the product itself. -- Ed Grote/epgrote@pixi.com

OS Only
Dislike. It is not fair for a company that develops an OS to [release] its products for that OS as soon the OS is ready. It is giving a great advantage to MS, being pioneers with the software available for that OS. It gives small chance of competition for other companies. They should only develop the OS or at least reveal full planning of the OS, so others can develop for that OS. That is exactly the way that MS got their hold in the market. --Meni Hillel/meni@mercury.co.il

Windows for Hungary
Like. I like Microsoft because Bill Gates is going to Hungary on September 1 to discuss Windows software development with MATAV [the Hungarian Telecommunications Co. Ltd.]. -- Julius Nadas/jnadas@ccgate.ccc.cc.il.us

Upgrade-itis
Dislike. In order to take advantage of the 32-bit architecture of Windows 95, I have to upgrade/repurchase my Microsoft applications and development tools at a higher price than I originally paid. Whatever happened to inexpensive upgrades? -- Ron DeMass/Ron_DeMass.hill@notes.compuserve.com

Consider the Source
Hate. A force for evil in the economy. Squashing economic diversity in perhaps the most important, strategic "national security" industry we have for the next 50 years. -- disisit@ibm.net

Great GUI
Like. The great Microsoft Windows GUI system. -- Wei Zhu/zhuwei@public.sta.net.cn

What Customers Want
Like. 1) They have defined their mission, and they are leading the rest of the industry. 2) They have attained one of the highest level of professionalism. 3). In most cases, they give customers what customers need. -- vkievsky@ftdetrck-ccmail.army.mil

World Dominance is Uncool
Dislike. I dislike Microsoft because if they get to where they are going -- complete computer world domination -- then it will take the fun out of what I love to do: use computers to do cool stuff and develop computer applications. What would I do then, sell insurance? -- Clark Jackson/powops@halcyon.com

Hated It!
Hate. The Windows 95 hype, in spite of the fascinating way they turned a much-ridiculed delay into a marketing device! ("It's almost here! Reserve your copy now!") I'm waiting for Windows 95.3 so they can get rid of the bugs they should have taken care of in beta. -- Doug Anderson/moriturus@aol.com

Mediocre Products
Hate. I hate Micro$oft because it has used hype, misdirection, and pressure (at times unethically) to eliminate/trivialize superior products in favor of their mediocre products. MS has trained users to accept mediocrity and bugs instead of excellence, and they then charge for upgrades to fix features that have already been paid for. (I count 48 words, so I don't have room for cannibalization of partners, changing OS specs to break competitors' apps, giving inside information to their own app developers, and non-cooperation of industry standards.) -- Chuck Hinkle/72154.1543@compuserve.com.

Windows for Your Washer?
Hate. I hate Microsoft because Bill Gates, the president of Microsoft, is trying to force the computing world into a Microsoft view of things. Microsoft has been accused of producing software that takes advantages of hidden tricks in Windows, but not revealing these neat tricks to the competition, thus creating an unfair advantage in the marketplace. Because the vast majority of PCs use Windows, we are forced to eat whatever pablum Microsoft decides to throw at us. Some people gobble it up willingly with a smile, all the while knowing what they are doing but loving it anyway. Must be sadomasochists. Their latest venture, Windows 95, is supposed to be the operating system of the future. However all of the bells and whistles, and other "cool stuff" has been available in OS/2 for years. Microsoft has also been accused of sending out updates to Windows that made it difficult for OS/2 to run Windows applications. And although they claim Windows 95 is the 32-bit operating system to measure others by, look under the hood and you'll see bail and wire and bubble gum holding the thing together. Microsoft is like a snake oil salesman and companies like them scare me because they have the potential to be more powerful than any leader of any country. Imagine having only one option when it comes to computing: "Do it my way or do not do it at all." There will be a Windows interface to your dishwasher, microwave, and refrigerator. Imagine having to interact with a smart alec Max Headroom kind of interface to get access to your refrigerator. This could put people like Richard Simmons and Jenny Craig out of business. Well maybe there is some place for Windows after all. :) --Les Labbauf/les.labbauf@bitbytes.clark.net

Win-tegrated Solutions
Like. I have chosen Win 95 as my desktop and Win NT as my server. [Microsoft is] the only company defining a set of standards to make these choices integrate well. Will IBM/Lotus support Win NT completely (every module), with Notes? --Don Frye/donfrye@dow.com

Young and Rich
Like. Because of Bill Gates. He is rich, young, and a genius. --Wiriadi Saputra/wiriadi@rad.net.id

Good Support
Like. Their products are as good or better than any others on the market, and their support (via Technet, and so on) is excellent. -- Steven Campbell/steven.campbell@dtv.ssw.transnet.co.za

Mass Appeal
Like. They really make software for the masses to use! --Chakkrapong Tongsak/ct@lily.bu.ac.th

The Great Communicator
Like. I like Microsoft because they can effectively market their products and ideas (vaporware or products planned 100 years down the road) to a huge audience that sort of knows where it stands with [Microsoft]. The majority of software development firms (one of which employs me) do not communicate their vision to their customers, nor do they develop what the customer really wants until the third or fourth version. -- Michael Marchuk/mmarchuk@fsc.follett.com

A Windowcidal Maniac?
Hate. They use their customers to debug released code, and to me, the "Microsoft Fix" -- - (with which you lose your data) -- is not acceptable. To add insult to injury, partnerships and contracts lock us into using their products at work and even at home, because we aren't given a choice of what is loaded on our PCs, even when other companies have better products. Where is the free competition here? After using an OS/2 machine for some time, I get nearly homicidal when I see the hourglass! C'mon Bill, how many more billions do you need?? -- Janice Scheerer/2014137@mcimail.com at Internet

And That's The Way It Is
Love. NT is the best operating system today and Cairo will be even better. MS is disorganized, arrogant, and frequently hard to deal with. So what! For the foreseeable future any serious development that will be widely deployed will be based on COM and OLE. Period. -- Jeff Barnes/barnes@apg16.saic.com

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