By Don Burnett
Warning, this is opinion, but one I have heard many places today... Starting with Robert McLaws over at WindowsNow.com. I am not trying to do a hatchet job here on Microsoft. I love the company, but the folks in the decision making arenas with this kind of thing need to wake up and smell the coffee of how they are alienating current users, in ways that are making them less credible and less likely to retain a user base. There are over 15 comments on the Blog entry announcement asking why their OS isn't supported on Chris Jones' Announcement that back this up.
Example Prime: Windows Live Writer
How ridiculous is this?? I have Windows Live Writer installed on this Edition of Windows Vista Ultimate X64. It's worked flawlessly for the last seven months. It has had it's own installer and continues to work perfectly for me. Look out though for the next few months if I loose the stand alone installer or the beta times out I loose useage. In fact here's a screen shot of this blog entry being written right now in Windows Live Writer on an X64 Windows Vista Ultimate OS..
Enter the Windows Live Combined beta..
Now if I go to the page to download the latest version of the beta.. and I download the new combined installer... I get this message... This is completely and utterly RIDICULOUS...
This has got me upset at whoever wrote the installer and the project manager who decided not to support X64 if all components couldn't right away and allow a 32-bit only installer to be released in this day and age... and this brings up a point about Microsoft 64-bit support that needs to change internally about their development practices... 64-bit support should not be an afterthought, it should be there from the beginning. They should have made an option in the installer to support things that do. It amazes me that up until this beta most if not all these separate components functioned just fine on x64 in all of their previous PREVIEW releases to the public. Who made this decision? It's really shooting the product in the foot..
There is an old saying among marketers and politicians.. You can give something to someone but taking something away isn't all that easy.. Politicians and marketers alike will tell you that customers remember when you do something like this and it's a black mark in their book.
Policy Change Needed from Corporate for Windows Software Development Teams for supporting x64
Microsoft's software developers and company policy should require development teams to support 64-bit and 32-bit EQUALLY with equal development... Will I be forced to drop using my favorite blog writing tool since it came out? Just because some other products in Windows Live stable aren't supporting x64 environments properly or someone only wrote the installer for 32-bit? That's not fair to us who are already using Windows Live Writer and loving it. Taking it away for even a few months is SOO UNCOOL... Even if there is a work-around you have to look for it or know where to find it.. This needs to change.
Really what is Microsoft saying to their consumers and people brave enough to use and support their x64 versions of Windows?? You made a HUGE mistake in going with it and expect equal levels of support. I think this is a really bad move on their part, and while I have seen a lot of silly things happen in the past, and since this is a beta it might be a temporary situation (which I am hoping it is) this is a HUGE STEP BACKWARDS...
Microsoft You SHOULD BE LISTENING TO THIS! Do you know that most users of your x64 operating system feel like the neglected step-children, because your x64 support continues to take a backseat?? This is a real marketing problem for you and for people who want the latest and greatest and are willing to live on the bleeding edge just because they require higher performance computing platforms for daily work who invest in running the x64 version of your platform..
We are tired of seeing things like this popping up all of the time...
This is just unacceptable especially so late into the x64 Vista release. Those of us with x64 suffered through the XP x64 release and it's lack of drivers, and thru a time where after release Vista x64 lacked drivers.. This issue needs to be addressed by both the Windows Live Team and corporate policy makers as soon as possible. The least you could do is make the separate install of Windows Live Writer and components that did work in x64 available again..
PROBLEMS WITH HOTFIXES ON x64
In this case you guys have a real PR problem on your hands and silence is deadly and makes for an unhappy customer base who are waiting for Vista SP1 and who are unhappy with HotFix releases for x64.
The IE 7 cumulative security update, that caused IE to crash after the 2nd or 3rd time you click on a URL that crashes IE 7 when it tries to open a new window comes to mind right away. This is also known as "update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB932596)". If you have that installed and find IE 7 Crashing regularly, I think if you remove that update and hide it from windows update, then your crashing stops. I don't recommend this update to anyone..
We x64 system owners deserve a lot more than the support we are getting on this, and even with these problems, I really do love the x64 version of Windows Vista. However, it's time to get on the ball and make a change here.
x64 shouldn't be an AFTERTHOUGHT!
Gosh I love this program but,
However, Microsoft Giveth...
Microsoft Taketh away...
Should I continue to support using this program or look elsewhere for other blogging tools..
UPDATE: Kip (a reader of this blog) wrote a comment that I accidently lost. Sorry about that Kip! His message was There is a work around over on liveside.net (Opinon: they should post that work around right to the download page IMMEDIATELY!). However this just underscores the issue that I am talking about earlier.. The installer shouldn't have been 32-bit only from the start. There needs to be a change in the process on this from top to bottom corporately. It shouldn't be an after thought..
3 comments:
The work around for the windows live installer, also mentioned at http://www.windowsxlive.net/?p=1433
doesn't seem to work on my machine at all, the message comes up before the .MSI sources are extracted...
Seems to me like we have to wait and see if they re-do this installer..
My original comments stand with much frustration..
You either need to pick up the .msi files from a 32-bit OS, or, use a hex editor to hack the installer to partially work on a 64-bit OS. The LiveSide instructions do say this but they could be clearer.
It's still not an "official" fix, but shoot me an e-mail if it doesn't work for you: joe.cheng *AT* microsoft.com.
I could probably do that, but most people can't.. I just think that the installer shouldn't be the last piece of code someone writes or the last thought.
A lot of 64-bit owners and Windows Server users are complaining about this, and my point about policy needing to be changed you aren't denying. I love Microsoft, but 64-bit support should be a first thought there, even on something you aren't producing an x64 specific product on.
We can all learn from the situation, especially features missing from office, like e-Faxing..
Even with a clearer liveside work around, this shouldn't even be an issue or a work around. The problem shouldn't exist at all at this time in x64 history.
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