Anybody who has called Tech Support before will LOVE this story. I've always been of the opinion that Microsoft is decent. They've made some good software, they've made some bad software, etc.. XP fitted perfect with my personal style, and I could pretty much do whatever I needed to do. I still use it at work, and I'm very impressed with how well it has worked for me. I think that's some good software! But then there's the bad software...
I recently bought a Dell Laptop, and having Vista preinstalled was no extra charge, so I thought "Meh - I'll try it - I can always replace it later". So I get it, and I start having some issues. Nothing huge, just little annoying things. My brother-in-law works for Microsoft, and he's always been a genuine pro-Microsoft guy. So I told him my latest frustration, and I'm like, "I wanna give Windows a chance - I could go google this and get the hacky solution, I could switch to Linux - but I wanna se Microsoft solve my problem!" So he gives me a number that I can call for free tech support. I call, and after being told 3 times that I'm being transferred to a technician, I actually get someone who identifies themselves as a "technician". And of course, he's got that familiar tech-support "accent" (nothing racial - but we all know that when you call tech support that's a good sign that the guy on the other end knows less about the problem than you do).
He starts off with, "Have you installed any software since you first used Vista", and I say, "of course I have!". "Well, sir, that's going to be a problem." So he asks me to give him control of my desktop - which I didn't like, but I had expected it, so I had removed all my personal files and backed them up elsewhere before hand - after all, I'm giving Microsoft a fair chance, here. I explained that the problem hadn't existed before, but had started after I ran Windows Update over the weekend. So he says, "The problem is your video card". Odd, considering I have the default option on the best-selling laptop right now! But I go with what he says. He instructs me to open my device manager, and tell him what's listed under "display drivers". So I tell him, give him some other specs, and he tells me to delete one of the 2 drivers, which I do. Still have the problem. Restart the computer? Still have the same problem... Delete the other driver? Now hang on... that doesn't sound right! So I confirm. I very clearly enunciated, "You are telling me to check "delete" and then click the button that disables the only display driver on my system, correct? He says, "yes". So I did...
And the next five minutes were hilarious!
"Sir, are you seeing anything yet?"
"Nothing" (at this point I unplugged the ethernet cable - can't see what he's doing on my desktop)
"That's normal - windows is reconfiguring your drivers"
"..."
"Sir, are you seeing anything yet?"
"Nothing"
"It should just be 1-2 minutes more while it reinstalls your drivers"
"..."
"Sir, are you seeing anything yet?"
"Nothing"
"Okay, let's just wait a bit more and we'll see what happens"
"Sir - my CPU fan is not running, and the "busy" light is blank - my driver's aren't getting reinstalled, are they?"
"Well why don't we go ahead and restart your computer"
"Okay - and how do you propose I do that - guess where the buttons are?"
"We could try that, yes"
"You know what? I'm gonna go try Ubuntu..."
So he transferred me to his manager and I got 10 minutes of this, "You see, sir, in India people use Nokia because it's user-friendly, in America they use Motorola because it's user-friendly for them. We're trying to make Windows Vista user-friendly, and with your help, we'll do it right!"
Ugh... I'm sorry Microsoft - you're losing a fairly loyal fan. Kubuntu is now running with the proper Wifi drivers, and I LOVE IT!
