Here is my idea: A class action suit brought on behalf of Tech Support workers everywhere against Microsoft.
The premise: compensation for all of the time that we have had to spend supporting their software, while not being paid to do so. Hell, we could even bring in damages to our respective businesses (lack of confidence, lost business and the like because of putrid operating systems).
Ah, come on. Microsoft is there to help you with any problems you may encounter with their otherwise fine software. Why, a tech support phone call to Microsoft only costs $250! That’s barely more than the operating system costs in the first place, so what can there possibly be to complain about?
If you’re a totally cheap bastard, you can get an emailed response to your question for a mere $100! Talk about service! Microsoft is covering all the bases!
So the next time you spend several hours trying to fix a problem that has twelve possible fixes in the Knowledge Base, none of which work, you can rest assured that help is a mere phone call and a half-month’s rent away!
LOL! neutron star there’s even a better way! Spend $2000 and about 2 months getting your MCSE!
I have a love/hate relationship with MS. I refuse to use Linix (I’m a gamer, nothing works with Linix) and I hate MS. When there’s a problem, I just reinstall (DVD-RWs are really nice in this regards). I like MS because it’s simple (compared to linix line commands) and fairly easy to fix (format c: /s and reinstall! )
Ironically a lot of issues are fixed by using the newsgroup forum on MS’s site. Their knowledge base sucks monkey balls.
Sure, NurseCarmen, but you will have to provide notarized clippings of any hair you pulled out while attempting to make Microsoft products work as advertised.
Heh. It’d be about time. “There’s nobody to sue” is a common argument against all the free OS systems out there, but MS stuff breaks all the time, yet nobody gets legal on their a$$ets.
Got that right! 5 times a day I bow towards Washington State and pray that Bill keeps up the good (crappy) work. Everytime they start making claims about plug and play, or making it easier for the user, I smile knowing that I’m guaranteed at least another 5 years worth of work.
Not when I’m helping grandma or her friends or any of my non-tech friends figure out why Windows keeps crashing or freezes randomly. Which, over the years, amounts to a hell of a lot of time supporting Microsoft products for no remuneration whatsoever.
To be fair to MS a bug chunk of my unpaid support time is the result of dodgy drivers by other companies, and equally shitty support from PC retailers.
Clearing up a misconception. I am paid to support a specific set of software that my company authors. Every time I am stuck on the phone helping people with stupid Windows problems, it is costing my company money, and I am essentially a surrogate Microsoft Tech Support guy.
I would not be “out on my butt” looking for work if I did not spend my time doing this, rather I would just have a lot more happy customers.