MY OPINION ON THE STATE OF COMPTING TODAY...

OR-THE FORGOTTEN USERS-WHO SPEAKS FOR THEM?

I work on a daily basis supporting end users running DOS from version 3.3 to Windows 95/OSR2. Their CPUs range from the 80286 to Pentium/200+ MMX machines. I've also dabbled in various versions of OS/2 in the past year.

The typical user I support daily runs DOS applications(!) or perhaps Windows 3.x, owns a small business, is not very comfortable with computers in general, does not read or subscribe to any computer magazines, dreads the day they have to "move up" to any version of Windows (or just started feeling comfortable with Windows 3.x) and "merely" wants their system to be EASY TO USE, PROBLEM FREE and WORK! They don't understand device drivers, COM ports, screen resolution-most of our jargon or "techno babble."

These folks are what I call the "Forgotten Users." Ever wonder how we can end up alienated users like this? You know the DOS and Windows 3.x folks. We in the computer industry (This very much includes the computer press) keep advocating and shoving ever faster hardware and more bloated software into the market at an increasingly rapid rate. Someday I'm sure much of it will "trickle down" to my typical user. Question: What person of "normal income" can keep up with just the ever more rapid advance of CPU generations these days?

The whole industry (Again the computer press included) is not only infatuated with itself but with all that's "Cool" which means nothing that has anything to do with the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid!) principle! You want an example?: How many Windows users can say they've downloaded and have installed the latest drivers for all their hardware? (This can become almost a hobby!)

But, let's look back. I can remember when I had my first 8 bit Z80 CPU computer with some of the first functional word processing, spreadsheet and database programs. Yes, hardware and software have advanced light years since then...but what have we really gained with all the money we've spent over the years just to keep up with the what we've been told is the "bow wave" of computer technology? For example, most of the word processing I do today could have just as easily been done with Wordstar almost fifteen years ago! My typical user feels the same way-it does not matter if it's and old computer with old application software it meets their main criteria-and WORKS for them!

Look at the basics-other than all the useful internet and communications things we can do now, what true "killer app" have we gotten since the three main types of application programs noted above? Oh sure, today even our word processing programs have all kinds of bells and multimedia whistles...but doesn't everything these days! Heck, some of this stuff is actually effective and useful!

So, what's in store for the future? Here's my opinion of the trend. Someday in the near future folks who use DOS programs are going to be "thrown under the bus!" Sooner than we'd like to think,-you will not be able to run programs except by double-clicking on cute little icons. The "newest" version of Windows will no longer run DOS applications-there will be no more "DOS prompt." The point is that too many system/software performance compromises must be made to retain compatibility with DOS applications!

Given my above comments, here are my pet peeves and highlights having played in the microcomputer world since 1981.

PET PEEVES:

• Making useful DOS applications obsolete or unusable by merely upgrading DOS or Windows: All was well when we had DOS 5.0-we could load things in upper memory and get lots more free DOS memory. DOS 5.0 even had a simple backup/restore that worked. Then "they" issued DOS 6.xx-and we lost BACKUP.EXE and got the kludgy MSBACKUP. But we got around that minor detail-and had for a time some smooth running Win3.x or WFWG/DOS 6.xx systems. But again, to stay even we upgraded or Windows to Windows 95. Now the DOS PRINT command is gone in the Win95 normal install or upgrade (Yes I know the file is on the CDROM). Most recently, the latest, greatest Win95 called "OSR2" (OEM Service Release 2) or "Win95B" does away with the SHARE.EXE DOS program because it will not work with the new "FAT32" feature! Excuse me-didn't anyone remember that some DOS application programs might still need some of these DOS support programs like SHARE? What was wrong with PRINT.EXE? Being able to print from a mere DOS prompt is a great way to troubleshoot even Windows printing problems! Example: If your system will not print a text file with PRINT from a DOS prompt then it sure as hell is not going to print from anything in Windows!
• Modems and printers that only work in Windows!
• No more Paper User Manuals: I'm sorry, I think whomever decided that online help files and "wizards" are a replacement for good paper manuals DID INHALE in the 1960s!. I realize it's cheaper to make and distribute the documentation without the paper books. When I get any large, new program these days I throw away any books that come with it (Windows 95 is a great example!) and go to my local bookstore and buy a real paper book on how to use the program (most come with a CDROM of goodies too)!
• Plug and Play (PnP) a.k.a. "Plug and Pray": The industry's attempt to make it "easier" for novice users to install new hardware. Great if it works-a bitch to get working for even the most experienced users if it doesn't! Who decided that most PnP cards would generally not come with DOS level PnP device drivers and that you must run Windows 95 because it's PnP smart? Thank God many systems allow you to disable the PnP in the CMOS setup!
• "Smarter" CMOS/BIOS: Many new computers have a BIOS/CMOS that is a "too smart" IMHO. Want to have some real fun? Try setting one COM port plug to COM1 IRQ4 and the other to COM3 IRQ4 on a typical new computer-many new computers will not let you save this setup because of the "assumed" interrupt conflict-BUT what if the external devices I intend to plug into these plugs/ports will never be used at the same time? No way to override it short of playing musical modems, soundcards, etc. or even having to add another serial port card to get a system to work as intended.
• "Computer Experts": Everyone has a "friend" that is a "computer expert." From my experience, there is a 50/50 chance that this person will actually be of any real help. In many cases these "experts" are so confident of their skills they forge ahead well beyond their real knowledge-and make things worse! Pick your "expert" like you would a good mechanic for your car-ask around!
• "Retail Computer Salespeople": Most used to sell used cars or home appliances right? If you really want to hear "computer jargon" and general "techno babble?" Then listen in on the sales pitch of one of these folks!
• Technical Support: I, like most other users am frustrated with when trying to get help too-especially from the largest computer or software companies. From endless waits "on hold" to having to first deal with a person (probably making $5 an hour) obviously asking me questions off a script before I get to a real support engineer to Email help requests that are never answered-I'm not happy either! There are bright spots in this mess-see the comments in "Highlights" below. Generally speaking, we within the computing industry do not get any better support from other computer companies than you folks in the general user community do-there are very few "secret Email addresses or phone numbers" that allow us to get help any faster!

HIGHLIGHTS:

• WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) word processing and printing: I feel that this is the positive most fundamental change that Windows has had on computing in general besides the GUI and point and click.
• Printers in general: So many great, inexpensive printers these days-kudos to those folks! Caveat-if the drivers work!
• The Internet: I believe the proliferation of company websites has greatly helped technical support. One no longer has to remember the phones numbers of every company's BBS! Some of the online support pages are very good indeed. Some companies, like Microsoft, have very extensive web pages-but finding just "the answer" you want falls victim to poor data organization at the site. Hopefully, in time, this has to only get better. I've leaned that making a useful website is an art not a science.
• Technical Support: Some companies seem to really be trying to make it better. Symantec has created their own USENET newsgroups to support their customers monitored by their support teams-this concept seems to work well. My "honor roll" of companies with responsive, quality support is short: QuarterDeck (QEMM) Norton-Lambert (Closeup comm software) and Symantec for the above noted newsgroups.

That's "my nickel" for now....

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