My Week@Work: How Microsoft destroyed my productivity

For years, I've read countless complaints and horror stories about Microsoft. As a satisfied user of MS Office, I've always wondered, "How bad can it be?" Past 2 weeks was the time when I finally realize that MS Office is pretty much the only decent software that Microsoft has ever created. Here's why.

As a Computer Science student, I was forced to go through the "Microsoft Experience" for the past 2 weeks while doing my Industrial Attachment. Not that I've never used any MS tools before, but this time in particular, I'm dealing with Developers' tools.

There is a vast difference between using an End-user software and a developer software, and I experience this first-hand while I am enhancing an existing ASP.NET project which the previous Interns left behind. Perhaps the most obvious difference is this: For end-users, you install 1 software to complete 3 tasks. For developers, you install 3 software to create your 1st troubleshoot.

Here's the sequence of activities during my past 2 weeks:

If you don't understand the terms used, here's the summary: I haven't done any work other than messing up my HD disk sectors.

To make the whole process more painful, everytime I restart my laptop, there will be an update ready to be installed. I can restart 3-4 times a day and each time there will be an update. Is MS's Windows 7 team that efficient in churning out patches? Wow.

To further enchance your understanding of my MS Experience, try to imagine a housewife cleaning up the house and for some odd reason, the following problems pops up:

- the vacuum cleaner keeps shutting down because it has already cleaned more than 2 rooms.

- the mop is not compatible with the vacuum cleaner. You have to use the broom or else the mop will not work.

- to use the mop, you'll need 3 hours to soak it up with the cleaning detergent.

- when the mop tells you he's not compatible with the vacuum cleaner, you need to use the broom to sweep the whole house again, before another 3 hours to soak it up again.

- finally, when the floors are done, the dishwasher tells you that he's not compatible with the cleaning detergent used on the floor.

At least now I can understand, in all fairness, why Microsoft is the largest software firm in the whole world.

Do you have a bad work experience? Post a comment or send an email to kh [at] laikaopeh [dot] com. Prizes to be won for the most hilarious entry sent.