Here is part of what the Gizmodo story says…

Second, every Vista user should get it for $49, or even less.

Here is what I said in my recent blog, “Vista Isn’t the only Thing that Sucks“…

So does this mean that Vista is exonerated for sucking?  Do I hear Bill Gates faintly crying… “come on… everybody’s doing it”?  Probably.  But I still want Windows 7 for $50 or less.

“Traitor!”, you cry.

No, no, please let me explain.  I never said that Windows 7 was going to be a bad Operating System.  I haven’t tested it yet.  The early reviews are a decidedly mixed bag, but I’m actually rooting for Windows 7.

Why am I rooting for Windows 7?

Well, first of all, I want it for FREE as compensation for the pain and suffering inflicted upon me by Vista.  I’m hoping that Microsoft has taken the Vista lemon and gives me lemonade.

Secondly, I’ve been a faithful Windows user since Al Gore invented the internet, and I’m generally a “mate for lifer” type.  My alternatives are to join the Mac Snobs and pay the corresponding premiums, or become a Linux nut.  I love Linux as a server, but for my OS?  Nah.  I never cared much for DOS line commands in Windows, so the serious geek tweeking of Linux just doesn’t appeal to me.

Ok, so back to downloading Windows 7… hmmm, it is now at 28%.  I guess that means that Microsoft fixed the download problems that forced them to pull the beta offering Friday (the same day they first offered it).

So goal one – to determine if the Windows 7 Beta Download was fixed seems to be accomplished. Although I haven’t tried to grab an install key yet. [UPDATE - Whoops! I just realized that upon download I was given a Product Key to use in the dialog box - although I haven't tried it yet.]

The next obvious question is – so what happened on Friday?  Why did the download meltdown?  Is Microsoft short on servers or something?  Somebody call Amazon quick!  It will be interesting to see what the hard core geeks have to say about this.

Here are my theories…

1) Microsoft just really is that dumb and were poorly prepared for the download hits even though Ballmer goosed it on Wednesday.

2) Bug Spin.  I read at least one report that the beta install delivered BLUE SCREENS OF DEATH when installed as an upgrade.  Is it possible that the beta code was pulled because they had to fix something right out of the chute?  So Microsoft figured it would be better to say that the download servers were hammered than to say that there were problems with the install code.

3) Microsoft still does not “Get It”.  People really, really, hate Vista.  Really.  Maybe Microsoft figured that only geeks were going to download this beta.  My guess is that a lot of ordinary Joe’s and even some completely clueless end users are trying to install it.  Because they weren’t going to be able to figure out a downgrade to XP on a brand new machine, and they’ve been living with the stinking pile that is Vista and cursing under the breaths about the stench for years.  So they figure anything would be better than Vista and they are trying to install and run Windows 7 Beta on a primary machine.  Thus, Microsoft might have vastly underestimated the amount of downloads of the beta.

One final question.  What am I going to do with this Windows 7 Beta that is now at 94%?  I honestly have not figured that out yet.  I’ll get back to you.

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, sayeth the Preacher.

In no particular order here are some things that are irking me today…

1. Blogger.com is a great idea.  There are a lot of great writers out there and Blogger.com gives them a voice.  Unfortunately Blogger.com’s WYSIWYG editor is crappola.  There are so many things that are wrong with it that listing them almost seems pointless.  Is it really that hard to provide a decent editor?  Are the Blogger.com people just sadists that enjoy inflicting pain and suffering on hack writers? My Kingdom for a LINE BREAK!  Of course, if I had a kingdom to spare I would be paying other people to right down my history for posterity and then read it to me at bedtime to put me to sleep like King Xerxes in the book of Esther.
2. WordPress.com is another noble venture with serious warts.  Sure the WYSIWYG editor is better than Blogger.com, but that isn’t saying much.  The same line break nightmares at Blogger.com exist here as well.  And am I the only person who reviles CSS and would really appreciate a simple button for making my text bigger or smaller?  Seriously, who uses all that Heading 1, Heading 2, Paragraph, ad nauseum?  And why if I DO select those obnoxious format choices (always a glutton for punishment) doesn’t it just enlarge the text I have highlighted instead of the whole stinking paragraph?  Back in the day I could highlight a single letter if I wanted and enlarge it.
3. Adobe Flash.  I love certain aspects of Flash.  It is a great technology.  But I’m losing patience with it.  Over the past year there were some gaping security issues.  Now I’m finding more and more problems where Flash is killing IE 7 and Firefox (especially Firefox) when I have multiple tabs open.  And it always creeps me out when I write click on a Flash object and it has that button that asks if I want to give it access to my camera!  Whoa!  One of these days someone is going to hack that feature and start taking video of people without their permission.
4. Yahoo “Plus” Email.  How can Yahoo charge people for an upgrade where most of the new features don’t work in Plus mode?  That truly sucks as hard as Vista, maybe harder.
   

   The Dog Apparently Ate Yahoo's Homework

5. Facebook for business also sucks.  Dear Facebook, your advertising application for Facebook is pretty cool.  I like the ability to easily include an image in my ad.  But the set-up path for a business account is about the most exasperating thing I’ve tried to do in months.  Really. Do you WANT businesses on Facebook or not?  I’ll mail a bag of Philly pretzels to anyone who can tell me how you figure out what the URL of your business Facebook “page” is.  Cuz I sure can’t find it.

So does this mean that Vista is exonerated for sucking?  Do I hear Bill Gates faintly crying… “come on… everybody’s doing it”?  Probably.  But I still want Windows 7 for $50 or less.  Great companies are supposed to LEAD, not follow.  A lot of people have blamed Bush for the current sorry state of affairs of this economy.  I’ll give “W” a piece of the action on that but while we’re at it how about a shout out to ol’ Bill Gates who ran off and hid in the boy’s room after Vista pantsed him.  One thing is for sure.  Vista sure isn’t doing business or consumers much good.

This so-called experiment of Microsoft’s is an insult to science, and to our intelligence. And I am dying to see the out-takes from their shoot. I mean, how many people do you suppose like being told, “Hey, this giant, unpopular monopolistic software company just made an ass out of you! Ha ha! Our leading scienticians just PROVED that you LOVE VISTA and WANT TO MARRY IT. You are TOTALLY GAY for Vista! Haaaaaaa HAAAAAAA!”

Yeah, good point! When a company starts having contempt for their own customers you know they are in deep trouble. It was bad enough that Microsoft was getting slayed by those Apple ads, now Microsoft decided to lampoon its own customers. But I digress… another point made by Mr. Shipley was that the Mojave Experiment was sort of like the “Pepsi Challenge” where Pepsi routinely won blind taste tests against Coke, but Coke still sells more than Pepsi. The theory is that Pepsi is very sweet and will win in a “Dixie cup” tasting challenge. But after a whole can Pepsi starts to wear on you like a Sponge Bob marathon. Shipley’s “Pepsi Taste Challenge” analogy fits Vista and XP like a glove.

But I have another one… Vista is a dumb blonde bimbo gold digger. I’m not saying blond women (or men!) are inherently dumb or bimbos. Or that all bimbos are gold diggers. But Vista is all of these. At first her Aero effects make you a little weak in the knees. But in the end you realize her appeal was the equivalent of a gold ring in pig’s nose. Plus, she’s very expensive to have around. She’s needlessly complicated, daft, chews up resources, goes through batteries like they were “bling”, doesn’t get a long well with others, embaresses you at business meetings… sigh. Vista, we had a good fling, but now, “the morning after” I’m seeing your true colors.

So will Windows 7 be sexy AND smart. Kind of a witty and tart brunette ala Tina Fey? Here’s hoping.

But I’m still convinced that Microsoft owes the faithful who have had to put up with the “bimbo” Vista an apology and a VERY steep discount on Windows 7.

If you agree please drop me a line.

“it’s Windows Vista, a lot better”