Bill Gates: Frustrated with Windows

With all the anti-trust suits filed against Microsoft, you know that something interesting had to come out in disclosure. Well, folks have been combing the email archives for interesting messages from Bill Gates. While this is pretty irrelevant to anything, there's a fabulous rant he wrote in 2003 about how hard it was to use Windows.

Gates tried to download a program called MovieMaker. After a couple of hours during which microsoft.com told him he needed 17 MB (!) of security patches (!!), he wasn't any closer to having MovieMaker:

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.

Not that it was any easier getting that. It's quite an interesting read, especially the unexpected punchline at the end (which I won't spoil). It has the ring of truth to it.