del@pilchuck.UUCP (02/09/87)
This explanation has been posted before, guess it's my turn. I saw someone from Microsoft post something similar to this once a long time ago, I guess they have given up trying to reason with people. Microsoft does not have the best customer support in the world, but it is at least reasonable. It is unreasonable for you to expect them to support MS-DOS! MS-DOS is an OEM product only, Microsoft does not sell it (retail). PC-DOS is only MS-DOS with IBM PC drivers in it, OEM'ed to IBM. Whoever the OEM that purchases the MS-DOS is expected to provide their own support for it. Or they could probably pay Microsoft to provide support, but I suppose they would rather pay less money and not get the added service, why should they? If it doesn't increase their revenue more than the cost of the support, it is wasted money. I have no doubt that it is a real pain for Microsoft to have all these people running around pissed off because MS doesn't support "their" product. In actuality, you should be pissed off at the OEM that is the "sponsor" of your particular version of MS-DOS. I actually had one guy, that was so ignorant that he didn't know PC-DOS and MS-DOS were one and the same, tell me he would never buy another product from Microsoft because they don't support their customers, and HE bought his DOS from IBM because theirs was better, had fewer bugs, and IBM supported their customers (!?!). I don't work for Microsoft, don't particularly like them, and have no association with them that is not absolutely necessary. But I support free enterprise and their right to run their business in a manner that will make a fair profit. And I respect them for doing an exceedingly good job at the latter. -- del (Erik Lindberg) uw-beaver!tikal!pilchuck!del
grandi@noao.UUCP (02/10/87)
In article <599@pilchuck.Data-IO.COM> del@pilchuck.UUCP (Erik Lindberg) writes: > >Microsoft does not have the best customer support in the world, but it >is at least reasonable. It is unreasonable for you to expect them to >support MS-DOS! MS-DOS is an OEM product only, Microsoft does not sell >it (retail). PC-DOS is only MS-DOS with IBM PC drivers in it, OEM'ed to IBM. > When I bought my "generic" PC clone a few months back, the version of MS-DOS I bought was a RETAIL release from Microsoft. It is packaged with GW-Basic and (as noted on the release disk) is intended "For Personal Computers Compatible with IBM(R) Personal Computers." Also, I've seen this release listed in the ads by Jade in Byte Magazine. Since Microsoft has released a clone PC-DOS to run on clone PCs, why shouldn't they provide support? (Well, since they don't help you much when you buy Microsoft Assembler or C, I don't think they will start now!). -- Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, AZ, 602-325-9228 UUCP: {arizona,decvax,hao,ihnp4,seismo}!noao!grandi Internet: grandi@noao.arpa SPAN/HEPNET: 5356::GRANDI or DRACO::GRANDI
jantypas@hope.UUCP (02/10/87)
> > Microsoft does not have the best customer support in the world, but it > is at least reasonable. It is unreasonable for you to expect them to > support MS-DOS! MS-DOS is an OEM product only, Microsoft does not sell > it (retail). PC-DOS is only MS-DOS with IBM PC drivers in it, OEM'ed to IBM. > And I suppose this excuses them for the acts they do? They can be rude and downright insulting. Try talking to some Xenix customers . Even IF Microsoft doesn't sell the product directly, they should be considering what their dealers do. SCO is their only dealer and they are also rude and insulting at times. (That's why I went with Microport. They may have bugs, but I know at least they try to fix them.)
michael@orcisi.UUCP (02/10/87)
One of the problems is that Microsoft allows their name to be attached or otherwise connected to an OEM product. If you are a supplier to an OEM and you don't want the OEM's customers banging on your door, you should prevent the OEM from using on your name. On the otherhand, can you imagine what it would be like if every OEM had a different name for MS-DOS?
zemon@felix.UUCP (02/17/87)
Just for the record, I bought my MS-DOS from Zenith (when I
bought my Z151). It came with a phone number which is
answered by knowledgeable, courteous people who have always
answered my questions promptly.
There are some advantages to buying a name brand computer
instead of the Acme PClone with no support. And as long as
I'm on the subject, here is my horror story for the day:
A friend called me up and asked me to installed the Acme
PClone that he bought. Configuration? The sales guy told
him he had a CPU, keyboard, 30Mb hard disk, monitor, and
MS-DOS. "Some assembly required," of course!
What he didn't have was the mounting hardware for the hard
disk, manuals for MS-DOS, or even instructions for which
way to hook up the ribbon cables between the hard disk and
the controller (which, fortunately, was configured properly
'cuz there aren't any instructions for that either).
When I finally got it all running, the first thing I made
him do was buy a legal copy of PC-DOS so he would have a
full compliment of the transient programs and the
documentation to go with them. Now I don't have to answer
questions like "How do I format a floppy disk?"
--
-- Art Zemon
FileNet Corporation
Costa Mesa, California
...! {decvax, ihnp4, ucbvax} !trwrb!felix!zemon