the people over there at microsoft would like you to believe they do not hold a monopoly on your pc. they want you to think it’s really you that chooses to let everything on your pc be microsoft.
i beg to differ.
take, for example, the wonderment that is the “windows update.” first of all, before i rag on them, i should say they are to be applauded for the fact that they are willing to interrupt you on a weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly basis to let you know, ’hey, we found something else we %#@-ed up on. allow us to remedy that.’
but here’s the thing: they interrupt you to tell you there are updates available. and then they interrupt you to let you know that you can keep working while the updates download.
and then they interrupt you to let you know the newly downloaded updates are ready to install. and then they interrupt you to let you know that you can keep working while the updates install.
and then… and these are my absolute biggest pet peeve… they interrupt you to let you know that despite the fact that they just told you that you could keep working while they “work in the background” some four or five times, they now want you to stop what you’re doing and reboot.
oh, you can try to ignore them. they give you an “option” to restart later. but, go ahead, try to go back to work. go on. try. wait for it. waaaaaait for it. there it is. about thirty minutes later, “Updating your computer is almost complete…” and you have a countdown.
these are especially helpful if they happen to begin the moment you’ve wandered away from your desk to say, grab your prints off the copier or run to the loo. cause three minutes is just soooooooo generous. i especially love it when, after having deterred it’s attempt to not interrupt you two or three times, it oh-so-politely saves you the effort (and further interruption) by greying out the restart later option and just friggin’ does it anyway.
but no, no monopoly here. i’m totally in control of my own pc.
and they say it's not a monopoly