Microsoft haters, Mac daddies, and Linux lovers

You think the presidential election got people hopping mad? Try talking operating systems. Cringely revisits why people love to hate Microsoft.

Now that the elections are finally over, let's focus on something even more contentious: the holy war over operating systems. I've gotten a lot of responses regarding my Halloween post on Microsoft's "I'm a PC" marketing campaign and Windows 7. Some good, some bad, and some plug-ugly.

Lady Geek took mild umbrage at my joke about Windows 7 being "Vista in garters and a tight sweater."

Garter and tight sweater? Buff up, take off the shirt, oil down, tight pants, now we're talking! That'd make me notice Windows 7. Not all geeks are guys!

She's absolutely right. But every time I read that comment I imagine Steve Ballmer, and then I can't eat for two hours.

One of Cringeville's longtime citizens says he tried to upload his own five-second video offering to Microsoft's marketing gods, but was rebuffed. The "I'm a PC" site said his file format was unsupported.

The format in question: Microsoft's own WMV. 

W. P. says he created the video using Windows Movie Maker running under Vista. He even tried to convert the file using an XP-based version of Movie Maker -- still no luck. (You can find the video here -- it's freaky and cool and disturbing, all at once.)

Yet some commenters wonder why I rag on Microsoft so much. To wit:

You're just another "dime a dozen" Microsoft hater. This article was just a cynical waste of my time.

and

This article should be renamed, as it is pointless one-sided dribble [sic] that merely points out that that [sic sic] Microsoft has new commercials. Wow, amazing! I think we're all suckers for reading this.

and

So. ... I've read theis [sic] twice now and have a question: what was the point of this article? Where is the "sucker" part? Why is a Mac a "she"?

My problem with the "I'm a PC" campaign is that it's just more of the same. Microsoft is trying to win on muscle and marketing gimmicks, not merit. And when things don't work as advertised, it's user error, third-party applications not playing nice, and so on. Even when all the software involved comes out of Redmond, they generally find a way to pin the blame elsewhere.