From: damos@otc.otca.oz (Daniel Amos)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Re: Workers hate windoze, revolution at 11!  :-)
Date: 18 Nov 92 02:27:50 GMT

>>>Although there are a few people who know nothing about computers, but
>>>can still see what a completely lame system Windoze is.  Take my mother,
>>>who just bought (with no aid or input from me, I might add) a brand new
>>>386 machine for word-processing.  She refused to let them give her
>>>Windoze--she may not be very technical, but she's encountered Windoze at
>>>work, and hates it because it's so slow and awkward compared to DOS
>>>text-mode.

I installed Win3.1, Word and Excel on my wife's machine at work, and I'm almost
embarassed that I ever did it.  In her environment, they use Wordperfect 5.1,
and Lotus 123.  Aside, I find that nearly every person that I ever met that
uses Wordperfect will not use anything else - I can't understand it, because I
hate it (I think they invest so much time learning it that they won't give it
up, also Wordperfect runs very well on slow machines, and windows 3.1 won't
even run on most of them).

Anyway, my wife's machine is a PS/2 model 70 with 2 megs of Ram.  The first
thing I noticed was that it ran very slowly (compared to the way it runs on our
8 meg + OS/2 machines).  Next, I discovered that she was having no end of
problems - often simple things that really stressed her.  For example, program
manager (which really sux) - if it is not running full screen and you click on
the minimized group icons, it can do really strange things.  To the
non-computer literate, these things can cause no end of stress - if things
disappear, they think that they have wrecked the system.

Secondly, printing to a file.  She has HP deskjets on other machines, but the
setup isn't networked yet.  So she tries to print to a file - it prints 2 lines
then stops.  I have never had any problems doing this because I always use
Postscript and talk to a laserprinter.  I tried to emulate her problem at home,
and sure enough, it didn't work (Epson LX80 printer),  and again at work on a
Canon bubblejet, and I could no get it to work.  So what does she have to do?
Save here files as Lotus 123 or Wordperfect and print them out that way (this
does no always maintain formats correctly).

Next, the windows interface is really messy.  How could a new user possibly
learn to set up groups etc without a lot of explanations.  The Macintosh and
OS/2 interfaces are far better in general.  Furthermore, they are generally
consistent, so when I learn something, it applies all the time.  in fact, my
biggest problems on the Mac are Microsoft products which do their best to be
non-conformists with a standard interface.  I find Microsoft love gadgets -
they love to have some obscure feature on a tool bar with some obscure icon,
and use it to sell a product which is basically very ordinary (although often
better than many other products).

I've come to the conclusion that Windows is more trouble than it is worth for
new users.  Macintosh is my prefered desktop interface, but this still requires
training for new users (how to use a mouse etc - have you tried explaining a
complicated mouse maneouver to a computer illiterate over a telephone?).  In
general, Dos is less hassle for new users.  I can set up their machine to boot
in a given manner, and write a list of things that they can type to achieve
given results, and provided they type is exactly as it is written, you have no
problems.  My wife got to the stage where she could find her way around Dos in
a couple of weeks, and in general, i can help her over the telephone.

In my opinion, the ultimate environment would be the OS/2 kernal with a
Macintosh user interface, but I hear that Apple and IBM are in bed with each
other... watch out Microsoft.




-- 
Dan Amos        |  ACSnet:     damos@otc.otca.oz
Engineer        |  UUCP:       {uunet,mcvax}!otc.otca.oz.au!damos
Services R&D    |  Snail:      GPO Box 7000, Sydney 2001, Australia
||||OTC||       |  Phone:      (02) 287 3102   Fax: (02) 287 3299
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy