***OT***
>>I don't have any experience with OS 8.1 but I find it is almost impossible to write a program to crash NT entirely (even after MS decided to move GDI module to ring0). I looked at the Copland architecture and I highly doubt it is more reliable than NT.
About uninstall, the problem is that many softwares don't follow Win95 software development guideline. If Mac softwares don't follow the Mac's HCI guideline, Mac is a total mess like Win95 too.<<
Andy -
I have plenty of experience with NT 4.0, and it is usually quite stable. But there seem to be many programmers who have no trouble writing something to make it crash. Sometimes it doesn't crash completely, it just slows down to the point of being unuseable, so you end up having to reboot. Even the reboot takes ten minutes or more because the system has so much trouble shuttting everything down.
If you install a piece of software on a Mac, and it causes problems, you just drag the main program directory to the trash, along with, possibly, a preferences file from the preferences folder, and maybe an extension and/or control panel from those folders.
The problem with uninstalling software in Win95 and NT isn't just from people failing to follow Microsoft's guidelines for uninstall procudures. Some of Microsoft's own software is among the worst in this regard. The problem is that the entire architecture and design of the system is overly complicated and just plain wrong in many ways. Dll files litter the entire hard drive and installation programs often replace shared dlls without ever issuing a warning.
The registry is arcane and complicated. If your system happens to crash during an installation routine of some buggy software (like say, Internet Explorer) you are left with wierdly-named temp directories and garbled registry entries.
Most systems professionals who have run Windows 95 for more than a couple of years have had the experience of having to backup their data, reformat their hard drive, and re-install Win95 cleanly to make their system stop doing something completely weird. This is one of the great pieces of advice most often dispensed by tech support at Microsoft. Reinstall the OS.
I say, they should write an OS that works. Probably they will have to abandon backward compatibility to do it, but a lot of people wouldn't mind that if they were assured of having a working and workable system as a result.
- Allen |
