Updated May 5, 1997
Updated (May 5, 1997): Fixed the link to IBM's 15 questions about Windows 95

David Neto's pet peeves and projects

This page lists things that tick me off. To avoid being totally negative, I've also listed some back-burner projects I have.

Contents:


Pet peeves

Web stuff

I intensely dislike those WWW pages with tons of graphics in them. And yes, that's even after I switched to Netscape.

Microsoft Windows95 Annoyances

Umm, it's not my favourite operating system... I do tech support for a number of friends and family who use it.

If you want to get rid of some of Windows95's annoyances, then visit the extensive (ha ha) page by Creative Element.

If you use Windows95, then God knows you need help. Visit a Windows95 Help Site. It's run by volunteers.

Also, IBM has a list of 15 Questions to ask Microsoft about Windows 95.

Microsoft FUD

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. It's the preferred marketing tool of incompetents. Here's an exposure of some:

X-ORIGINAL-NEWSGROUPS: comp.windows.ui-builders.teleuse,comp.programming.contests,sfu.general,soc.culture.kuwait
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ui-builders.teleuse,comp.programming.contests,sfu.general,soc.culture.kuwait
Subject: Re: Is Windows 95 Worth it?
Summary: 
Expires: 
References: <41j7f6$ebb@seymour.sfu.ca>  <41lsr4$gt6@news.tamu.edu> <43b8m0$mhf@morgoth.sfu.ca>
Sender: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: 
Organization: Department of Computer Engineering, University of Toronto
Keywords: 
Cc: 

I'm allowed one off-topic posting every once in a while... :)
I've just gotta rant and rave at this stuff.

[Rant on]

In article <43b8m0$mhf@morgoth.sfu.ca>,
Christopher Patrick Devine  wrote:
>Gopal Agrawal (gagrawal) wrote:
>: In the mean time, OS/2 might be a better bet for the pros.

I use OS/2 and Linux.  I like both (right tool for the job), except
that OS/2 is missing most of the goodies I get in Linux.  Linux is most
especially comfortable for people who like a command line interface.
(Not that the CLI can be replaced in Linux in principle with
something else -- see NextStep.  Of course, depending on the task,
I may not want to.)

>:                                                            For the
>: novice, watch out - PC Magz. reports it is really hard to get the
>: hang of its interface. 

Uhh, no.  That's the old Microsoft FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt).
Find out for yourself.  I find the OS/2 Workplace Shell object model
very easy to use.  Right mouse button on any object brings up a menu
for it.  That is all you need to know, really, together with the Master
Help Index, which I leave on my desktop.  For novices, just double
click (left mouse button) the "Start Here" bullseye object that
appears right on the desktop after installation (which I had absolutely
no trouble with, BTW).

I've read that Windows95 steals this context-sensitive popup
menu idea.  (I don't even know or care if it was original with OS/2,
but it was and still is a good idea.)  That appears to be a major
part of the "learning curve" for Windows95.  I ask, why is it "too
hard for novices" when OS/2 uses it, but "worth the effort" when
Windows95 uses it?

Incidentally, I took Windows95 for a test drive on August 24th.  
I noticed other features stolen from OS/2, like the "Properties"
item on each object menu, which is a blatant copy of the "Settings"
menu.  Another thing, in the Properties window, they put the
"page selectors" along the top (a la Lotus 123 menus), 
which makes them harder to pick out, and allows fewer of them.  OS/2
puts the page selectors along the side, which makes them easier to
read and pick out.

I was disappointed with the Windows95 Help system.  For example, there
is a "Send To" folder under Windows95 which takes care of faxes and
email, I understand.  Under help, it is called "Send To".  When I went
looking for it, I couldn't find it using this name.  I even used the
automatic search facility.  After about 10 minutes (and I'm no fool), I
found it under "SendTo", i.e.  no space.  I may have the particular
names reversed here -- the salient point is that the help entry *did
not agree with reality*.  Incidentally, had this been Unix, I would
have done a "du / | grep [Ss]end" and would have found it almost
immediately.  :)

>
>I'll stick with Linux/Xwindows, thanks.

Linux is not for everyone.  Yet.

>
>(and it even premptive multitasks!)
So does OS/2...

BTW, when will Linux have multithreading (within a process)?  That's a
neat but underused feature of OS/2.  I suppose we can get by with
shared memory in differing processes.

Pet peeve:  Microsoft has millions of people brainwashed into thinking
that "Windows" = "win" (as opposed to "lose").  At the DOS prompt, you type
"win" to launch Windows, even though "windows" is a perfectly good
7-character command in even the restrictive 8.3 format that DOS used to
mandate.  Ugh.

Pet peeve: Microsoft thinks that people are too stupid to use a third (middle) mouse button. Remember the early Logitech 3-button mice? Microsoft decided not to put any middle mouse button functionality into Windows. Now, market forces have taken over, hence the plethora of two-button mice on the market, but dearth of three buttom mice. Well, I've got news for them: I've found a use for my middle finger -- I use it to good effect it under Linux/XWindows. :) [Rant off] David Neto neto@eecg.utoronto.ca

I.e., e.g. and all that

Far too many people confuse ``i.e.'' with ``e.g.'' and vice versa. The phrase ``i.e.'' means ``that is to say'', while ``e.g.'' means ``for example''. Please get this right.

Pet projects


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