Brightrev

My intent in starting this site was to create original content and not merely add to the Blogosphere's endless supply of hot air.  Sometimes I just can't help myself, like when I read quotes like the ones in this USA Today article on why Vista isn't being adopted by businesses.  The point of the article is entirely correct.  Right or wrong, businesses don't want anything to do with Windows Vista.  However, one quote in particular really rubs me the wrong way.

The problem I have is with a quote from technology analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies.  According to the article, Kay says, "I have Vista on a notebook with 2 gigabytes of memory and a decent-size processor, and with Vista on there, it just doesn't work. It takes over 10 minutes just to open a Word document."

I'd like to give Kay the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe he was quoted out of context.  Maybe he's trying to open a 5,000 page Word document and the author omitted that part.  His articles seem fine, if a little buzz-laden and wordy, so it's possible that he does great work in whatever it is technology analysts do besides being quoted in articles. 

You could throw a dart out the window, hit any random geek and she'll tell you without even looking that Kay's problem is specific to his machine and not an endemic problem with Windows Vista.  Microsoft did not release an operating system and subsequent service pack that takes 10 minutes to open a single Word document.  It's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

Reading this quote makes me think that a person who makes his living as a technology analyst lacks even rudimentary computer troubleshooting skills.  I don't necessarily expect Kay to be able to fix the problem.  However, if you make your living as a technology analyst, you ought to be able to differentiate between a problem on your machine and a problem with the operating system itself.

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