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Arghh! Windo$e is "helping" again

 
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Have I ranted about Windoze this week :roll:

Please, please, please if you are one of the miscreants in Redmond...STOP forcing your so-called "help" on me! If I want your help, I will ask you for it.

I can't wait to be done with this windose-required project...

 
Sheriff
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I know I've posted this here before but.. I can't resist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6aXzMuYN7U

Hope it makes you feel better, Bert.
 
Sheriff
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I'm stuck with Windows at work. I can't tell you how often I thinking, "If I was using a Mac, I would be done by now." Or simply, "Why can't Windows do this?"
 
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My favorite MS "help" feature is how when you select text, the spaces around your selection are more or less randomly added or removed from the selection. There's actually a term for this -- it's "intelligent cut and paste", or some such. Whoever invented this must've been on crack. When you actually do cut and paste, you are 100% guaranteed to get extra/missing spaces before or after what you've pasted, which you then have to go back and fix.
 
Ernest Friedman-Hill
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My favorite MS "help" feature is how when you select text, the spaces around your selection are more or less randomly added or removed from the selection. There's actually a term for this -- it's "intelligent cut and paste", or some such. Whoever invented this must've been on crack. When you actually do cut and paste, you are 100% guaranteed to get extra/missing spaces before or after what you've pasted, which you then have to go back and fix.
 
Wanderer
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Or sometimes you can accidentally paste the same thing twice in a row. What a pain that is.
 
Bartender
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<space> you are 100% guaranteed to get extra/missing spaces before or after what you've pasted<space><space>



And you know what happens when you leave a trailing space in a [java] properties file
 
marc weber
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
My favorite MS "help" feature is how when you select text, the spaces around your selection are more or less randomly added or removed from the selection...


If you're using Word, you can go to Tools > Options > Edit, and uncheck the option "When selecting, automatically select entire word." This helps.
 
Marshal
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I went to copy a password out of my e-mail (MS Outlook) so I could paste it into the password box of a web application. So this panel pops up on the right-hand side of the window, something about item 2 of 24 in the clipboard. And this icon shows up in my taskbar with all the other icons down there, only this icon doesn't do anything when you click it or right-click it or double-click it. It just sits there like a rock. Eventually I went back into Outlook and found the option to turn all that business off.
 
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Ok, going to play devil's advocate here for sec but my disclaimer is that while I do despise products like Office I've never really had that much of a problem with XP but I do prefer Ubuntu. With that being said...

You have to understand who the target audience is for MS Applications. It's not you, Bert, all around technical savvy guy. It's your mom, my mom, my sister, your cousin, you know, all those people that call you asking you for help because, quite frankly, the software isn't helping them enough, if you can believe that.

So yes, it would be nice for these apps to get out of our way, but then how would your Auntie Bernice be able to use it?
[ January 09, 2008: Message edited by: Gregg Bolinger ]
 
Bert Bates
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I'll say one thing I like about windo$e...

Bashing it is so gratifying, and it's such low-hanging fruit

Gregg - I think your point has some merit, but frankly, over the last few years, when I bring newbies into the "tech fold" I always push them towards OSX because I think it's just easier for everyone - regardless of their skill level.
 
ranger
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Originally posted by Gregg Bolinger:
Ok, going to play devil's advocate here for sec but my disclaimer is that while I do despise products like Office I've never really had that much of a problem with XP but I do prefer Ubuntu. With that being said...

You have to understand who the target audience is for MS Applications. It's not you, Bert, all around technical savvy guy. It's your mom, my mom, my sister, your cousin, you know, all those people that call you asking you for help because, quite frankly, the software isn't helping them enough, if you can believe that.

So yes, it would be nice for these apps to get out of our way, but then how would your Auntie Bernice be able to use it?

[ January 09, 2008: Message edited by: Gregg Bolinger ]



Yes it is for them, however, it is more frustrating to them than anyone else. My wife will try to Highlight some text, but it will always get more or less than she wants, and she doesn't have that steady hand that is now required to get just what you want. So I say this makes it harder for the everyday user.

I would rather have a Mac, even though I haven't used a make since 1994. But don't give my Linux.

Mark
 
Ben Souther
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My favorite is this two part conspiracy designed to madden anyone who has to share a war or jar file with someone:

1) By default the "Hide file extensions for known file types" is on.
2) MSIE reads either the mime type or the magic numbers of a file that you've downloaded and appends a file extension for you if the existing one doesn't match.

Either, by it self, would be annoying but together, they insure that a downloaded war file gets renamed to myApp.war.zip with the '.zip' part hidden.

Brilliant.
 
marc weber
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Actually, I think it might be novices who are the most annoyed by Windows' "helpful" features. At least someone with a little savvy can figure out why the "help" is preventing them from doing what they want to do.

For users like my parents, Windows' concept of help is good, but the implementation is dreadful and just ends up frustrating them.
 
greenhorn
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Originally posted by Bert Bates:
Have I ranted about Windoze this week :roll:

Please, please, please if you are one of the miscreants in Redmond...STOP forcing your so-called "help" on me! If I want your help, I will ask you for it.

I can't wait to be done with this windose-required project...



your books and windows has one similarity: both are simple.
 
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