Even Bill Gates Appalled By Awfulness of Microsoft's Products and Web Site
In fact, judging from the steam coming out of his ears in this 2003 flame to his development team (the ones he's written about Vista haven't been leaked yet), Bill has been very misunderstood. He's not the eccentric geek people make him out to be. He's a human technology user, just like the rest of us. And in this hour of PC-induced hell, Microsoft is the bane of his existence.
Highlights:
- "totally confusing"
- "pathetically slow"
- "unusable"
- So complex and mysterious it requires "a bunch of incantations"
- "crazy"
- "garbage"
- "crap"
- "an absolute mess"
- "scary"
- "terrible"
- "lack of attention to usability blows my mind
Full email and commentary on Gizmodo.com >
From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM
To: Jim Allchin
Cc: Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)
Subject: Windows Usability Systematic degradation flameI am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don't drive usability issues.
Let me give you my experience from yesterday.
I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack ... so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.
The first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.
This site is so slow it is unusable.
It wasn't in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45.
These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like: C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.
They are not filtered by the system ... and so many of the things are strange.
I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.
So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying - where is this Moviemaker download? Does it exist?
So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.
They told me to go to the main page search button and type movie maker (not moviemaker!).
I tried that. The site was pathetically slow but after 6 seconds of waiting up it came.
I thought for sure now I would see a button to just go do the download.
In fact it is more like a puzzle that you get to solve. It told me to go to Windows Update and do a bunch of incantations.
This struck me as completely odd. Why should I have to go somewhere else and do a scan to download moviemaker?
So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes.
Doesn't Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?
Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff.
This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg.
So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn't use it for anything else during this time.
What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished.
Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time?
So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state.
So I got back up and running and went to Windows Updale again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker.
So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.
What does it mean to have to click on that folder? So I get a bunch of confusing stuff but sure enough one of them is Moviemaker.
So I do the download. The download is fast but the Install takes many minutes. Amazing how slow this thing is.
At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to download.
So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things like "Open" or "Save". No guidance in the instructions which to do. I have no clue which to do.
The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing.
So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove programs place to make sure it is there.
It is not there.
What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package, Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.
Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable? The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable. This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.
But that is just the start of the crap. Later I have listed things like Windows XP Hotfix see Q329048 for more information. What is Q329048? Why are these series of patches listed here? Some of the patches just things like Q810655 instead of saying see Q329048 for more information.
What an absolute mess.
Moviemaker is just not there at all.
So I give up on Moviemaker and decide to download the Digital Plus Package.
I get told I need to go enter a bunch of information about myself.
I enter it all in and because it decides I have mistyped something I have to try again. Of course it has cleared out most of what I typed.
I try (typing) the right stuff in 5 times and it just keeps clearing things out for me to type them in again.
So after more than an hour of craziness and making my programs list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven't run Moviemaker and I haven't got the plus package.
The lack of attention to usability represented by these experiences blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don't you just love that root certificate message?)
When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.
Please stop filling your blog with this stupidity. It's not a real story and makes you look like an amateur, silicon valley hack in search of credibility. Thanks.
Even Microsoft comes out looking okay: No new news on the product design issues, but a clear picture that they care about fixing.
Again, I'm happy I spent 3 minutes reading it. Happy to post similar emails from other tech CEOs if you forward them.
I could not disagree more.
As a 20+ year (former) MSFT OS user, the above quote is nonsense. With almost every MSFT product, I have gone through repeated generations of stupid design issues with not a trace of awareness of the silliness. Examples: remember the infernal clippy the paperclip that took almost seven years to get rid of in Word even tough thousands of users hated it with a passion.
If you used a WinMobile device, it took three generations to get an app kill switch even though all the reviews pointed it out. (Ever wonder why no one seeks a WinMo killer? It is already roadkill from all the clumsy nonsense in it.)
Moreover, each MSFT app generation does the same thing: lards in new useless, superfluous "features" that no one seems to be interested in.
MSFT has a studied history of writing complex, clumsy software that would (and did!) make a CEO almost cry.
The tragedy is that he never drew the right conclusion: Get a Mac.
Not only that, but the posting seems completely in line with the nature of this board, and I don't see the "cheap shot" nature of it at all. The headline accurately reflected the story...
- re: your first point, precisely. it's not everyday that a ceo's internal e-mails are made public - period. if they were, you'd be terribly naive to think this is very rare in the dev process. second, i'm going to politely suggest that you know nothing about bill gates.
- if you don't find the headline to be misleading, you're too far gone to reach.
Maybe some particular things (that Bill ranted about) were fixed in Vista. And that's why he can say that Vista is such a "usability" improvement over XP.
Good lord...was Gates really that confused with how Windows Update behaves? Or how Windows behaves when you install an update that requires changes to binaries that Windows is currently using? OF COURSE IT HAS TO REBOOT! It's the only way to replace those files. The whole file switch gets dumped into a file which XP reads during boot up and that's when the switch takes place. And Gates was truly out of touch if he didn't understand the way his own damn operating system works.
He had to reboot because "IT INSISTED" on it. haha, that sucks. What's worse? having a bunch of applications open, and excel spreadsheets-- not saved etc. and leaving for a while to come back and discover Windows downloaded updates and rebooted my machine for me. It's too bad it didn't save my files or placemark open documents.
I think this e-mail is pretty rich, We mostly see gates on TV, monotone, drab voice and personality. Any written stuff is of course polished- except for this. It kinda looks like these are notes he took down while he was trying to figure this out. States what he's doing ... then writes down how he feels about it.
I think some CEOs would have got to this first part and then started yelling at some one to get fix it, and not being specifically and thoroughly clear. Just fix it, it sucks!
Gates goes through the whole process and meticulously details the issues, so everyone has total understanding of what needs to be fixed It;s efficient management.
Today the large size of the product teams, with conflicting priorities, personalities and legal considerations results in inferior products & experiences.
To the one that is complaining he/she is probably a Microsoft mole. He/she would have been happy if you had an email from Eric Schmidt or Steve Jobs complaining to developers.
To the moron who complained -- go away you idiot! We live in a free country here. Go back to your pathetic Microsoft blog and live there!
To clarify Klee's accusation- that the e-mail is not real and makes HB look like an amateur:
I came across a post somewhere else and noticed many readers commenting that the email was likely a fake. That defies logic: the person reading the article is more informed and an authoritative on authenticity? vs the author who researched and wrote the article?
The e-mail is authentic, at least the justice system believes it is. Tons of MSFT email was subpoenaed by Justice for the anti-trust suits.
I would guess they might be looking for evidence that MSFT was deliberately developing and designing OS to lock out competing applications, such as Netscape..Realplayer.. etc.
This is the source article link- Todd Bishop is writing a series on Gates and had recently interviewed him. The link:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/141821.asp
This is the PDF link to the court record of the email- It;s a whole thread of communication.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/library/2003Jangatesmoviemaker.pdf
"I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack ... so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there."
1. He's buying MS products and packs? You're smoking crack if you believe this.
2. THEY have a download place? THEY? When is Gates ever in his entire life not going to be a part of "we" in MS? Please don't point to retirement. That's retarded. And "place" is definitely not in any way a tech word. I absolutely do not believe he would say "place." Site, webpage, repository...
"I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing."
-- I have a hard time believing he would try "movie maker" if "movie" didn't bring any results. He'd have to be galactically inexperienced at basic search principles. He would have to have never done a search through his own operating system in his own lifetime.
"Why should I have to go somewhere else and do a scan to download moviemaker?"
-- He's not familiar with the scan his own company does to verify OS legitimacy? I don't believe it. But I'll accept it. Even if he'd never heard of it before, he would know exactly what it does and why the company feels it's necessary. (Personally, I resent the hell out of it. I'm not making an argument for it.) The very idea that he would not only _get_ this but further call it "incantations" just assumes complete gullibility on the reader's part.
"So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn't use it for anything else during this time.
What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished.
Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time?"
1. How long have MS updates been around? And he's never done one and experienced this before? Okay, sure, because he's important, someone else does them for him, always always up til now. For no apparent reason, he's now buying his own software from his own website -- referring to it as "they" -- and he has never ever experienced update hell.
2. He doesn't understand the concept of download and install? What? Further, read the language used here. This is user speak. I did this. Then it did this. Then it did that, as if he has no inside language to describe this stuff. Bullshit. C'mon guys, you can't be serious.
3. He's surprised he has to reboot after an install and update? He's not at all experienced with run_once commands after install. This is a fatal mistake in this urban myth of an email. Rebooting after installs and updates have been around so long, my grandmother is surprised when she doesn't have to reboot. The idea that the founder and former CEO of this company is not familiar with this is just plain ludicrous.
I could go on, but instead I'll just ask that you think about this with relevance to who BG is.
This comment has nothing to do with the guy who put this post up. I don't particularly care about the political conversation going on in many of the other comments. And if I've repeated anything that anyone else has already pointed out, my apologies.
--J
To actually take Gates literally as if HE asking the questions- is missing the point I think.
It appears to me that BG is doing analytical evaluation from viewpoint of the non-tech user.
BG was probably going through the steps, and asking why does have to happen? can it be eliminated? He's playing the role of a novice user, and who would be scared by all these damn pop up boxes and asking questions that a user might not know.
Instead of just listing what he doesn't like, or what should be improved, barking out bullet points - a solution might be chosen that satisfies the issue, but may not be the best solution that could have been chosen, considering the user experience. And not from a tech developer vantage point. People creating the software and the ones using it are polar opposites generally and don't speak the same language.
In my opinion, BG really gets at the core of the issues. Puts readers in the shoes of a novice user, and by asking questions as opposed to directives - goal is to find the solution (best) not just a fix. It's creative- effective problem management.
I love how the transition at the end. " The lack of attention to usability from these experiences blows my mind...I thought we hit a low with network.."
That last part is where BG drops the bomb he points out that MSFT can't even discuss latest versions to software applications because they cqn't even master the most simplest- download and installation. Moving backwards.
The email is real. Confirmed. This is the reporter who reminded him of it a few years later in an interview with him:
Seattle PI Story
From the article:
"When we were concluding our interview last week, I showed Gates a printout of the e-mail and asked if he ever got Movie Maker to work. Gates noted that Microsoft plans to include Movie Maker as part of Windows Live, so people will get the program when they download that online package. The company isn't confirming that officially yet, but's not a complete surprise...
As for the message, Gates smiled and said, "There's not a day that I don't send a piece of e-mail ... like that piece of e-mail. That's my job.""
Lovvve ittt...
About the email, why am I not surprised. MSFT has been so bloated and labyrinthine for so long that this makes perfect sense in a perverse sort of way. I can't believe that anyone thinks that these guys would be able to turn around Yahoo and truly compete with Google in search.
For all of Bill's uber-geek mannerisms (really more like Asperger Syndrome if you read the stories of how he would abandon his car running in fron of the airport check-in terminal because he was "so busy thinking" - what was he thinking about? All of that thinking and so little to show for it in terms of innovation - it's been 13 years, Bill!!!!!!)...
http://money.cnn.com/video/ft/#/video/fortune/2008/06/20/fortune.msft.habits.cnnmoney
... and all of Ballmer's ranting and math obsession (if you read about this, you likely start to see it as the reason why the Yahoo deal hasn't happened yet),
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/20/technology/ballmer_0707.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008062014
there is preciously little of real substance that has ever come out of Redmond.
See, the institutional paranoia that these guys favor only gets you so far when it comes to creating stuff that actually works... in fact, if you really think about it, it's a miracle that any of it works AT ALL.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/20/technology/four_rules.fortune/index.htm
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