mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu (05/04/88)
If we're going to flame Microsoft (and if you DON'T flame Microsoft, there is something seriously wrong with YOU :-) ) (By the way, MICROSOFT, WHERE THE HELL ARE THE Windows SDK'S ORDERED MONTHS AGO????? ) why not flame them about their general setup procedures. This applies to lots of other companies as well. If they don't make a product that is sufficiently reasonable that all you need is "copy b:*.* c:*.*", they should include written instructions as to how to do it. IT should NEVER be necessary to run some totally weird setup program. Most of their setup programs are abysmally stupid- the one for Windows 2.03 is so stupid that it reloads the whole thing, desk accessories included, if you just want to change video drivers. And, you can't just go partway through it, or some other parts won't work. Whoever writes these damn things must be INCREDIBLY STUPID!
kworrell@urbsdc.Urbana.Gould.COM (05/06/88)
If we are in a flaming mode about setup programs, we should also be torching IBM for their auto-configuration system. I find that it is nice when it works (and it does work most of the time) but it has some limitations. The worst is that you can't boot the machine with an unknown adapter installed. This is just a pain. There should be some 'out' so that you can still use the machine without that hardware option. If you have two floppy drives, it automatically assumes that both are 3-1/2" disks. I have a standard Model 80 and a 5-1/4" Sysgen drive (which I like a lot). Now suppose that I want to copy an adapter option disk's info to my reference disk. Well, they said, "He's got 2 drives, we might as well use both and have him put the ref disk in A: and the Adapter option disk in B:." But this doesn't work at all if the I have 2 3-1/2" disks. Automation is a good thing assuming that you can think up every possible configuration. We know this isn't possible. There should always be a manual way out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kurt J. Worrell USEnet: ihnp4!uiucuxc!ccvaxa!kworrell Gould CSD-Urbana ARPAnet: kworrell@gswd-vms.arpa 1101 E. University !ARPAnet1: kworrell@Gould.COM Urbana, IL 61801 BELLnet: (217) 384-8500, x740 **** Standard Disclaimer ***
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (05/11/88)
In article <45900126@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: | included, if you just want to change video drivers. And, you can't | just go partway through it, or some other parts won't work. Whoever | writes these damn things must be INCREDIBLY STUPID! I have watched several people do the installation, and not one problem yet. What could be easier? You type SETUP and answer questions, then swap disks when told. I guess they assumed that anyone so smart that they knew about a partial installation would know how to do it... -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me