Filed under: Computers

Most users of Microsoft Windows have had days where they wanted to throw their computer out of a real window; days where the thing just wouldn’t cooperate and had to reboot 15 times just to install whatever piece of software or update they are trying to get. Those aren’t fun days, and Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates isn’t immune to them either, as shown in a scathing e-mail originally revealed during an anti-trust suit against the company. The e-mail was just republished by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in a retrospective on Gates, whose last day at Microsoft is Friday.

The e-mail was sent by Gates in 2003 and recounts his troubles trying to download and install Windows MovieMaker and Microsoft Plus. In an e-mail that spans a full five pages, he tells of having to run Windows Update, make multiple downloads, wait through many installs and reboots, and watch as his system is cluttered with meaningless garbage — all just so that he can install that one app he wanted. At the end of it all….well…read for yourself:

“So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven’t run Moviemaker and I haven’t got the plus package.”

Mind you, this was back in 2003, and there have since been many changes made to both Microsoft.com and to Windows, but the next time you’re swearing at Windows, just think about this e-mail and remember that you’re not the only one. [Source: seattlepi.com]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 2:24 pm and is filed under World news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.