So, I started getting annoyed by the fact that Windows (XP) was prompting me to Install Updates and Shutdown, rather than just Shutdown, despite the lack of a Windows Update icon in the system tray. I’ve seen it before and it’s annoyed me before (how do I know this isn’t some malware trying to hijack the process?…then again, how do I know that Windows Update icon is real?).
Anyhow, I finally got prompted with Windows Updates to install. Amongst the ten or more other minor security fixes (nothing new), there it was: “Office 2003 Service pack 3″. Oh noes! They secretly released a service pack. What’s it got? It’s chock full of stupidity with a slathering of futility. The best one? This little line item:
Office 2003 can no longer open or save certain file formats. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938810.
If you check out that little KB, you’ll get a blurb about some old file types that they won’t let you open anymore. The best part? It’s all or nothing. You can’t go into some snazzy interface (or something as clumsy as the File Types interface off the OS menus) and just check off something to agree to this. You’ve got to just accept it.
Sure you can scroll down a little further in that KB and find registry files to download and apply to restore access to those files but…really?
It’s another example of Microsoft’s typical bull dozer mentality. Just do the least amount of work, regardless of the user experience, so we don’t have to be liable or have to deal with negative PR. That sort of mentality’s worked well for US automakers…
Now, I can’t say I give a rat’s ass about those file types. What gets me is how Microsoft approaches this crap. There’s no attempt at an elegant solution. It’s just assembly line stamping of a hack onto what used to be a pretty solid OS. Something tells me Windows 7 won’t be much better on this front. I expect by the time you’re seeing commercials for Windows “Blue Whale” (more bloat for more money with absolutely none of that innovation crap!), we’ll have seen at least 2 service packs and a multitude of those tiny little KBs to fix every single security hole they re-introduced with the new OS.
Maybe one day, they’ll wake up and try to implement a mini-VM model in the OS so you never have to worry about one app grabbing another app’s lunch without asking.
You can’t Microsuck enough, Microsoft…