Dear Bill:

First of all, let me state that I *understand* that Bill Gates no longer “runs” Microsoft.  I know that he’s passed his legacy on to other people and that he alone is not at fault in the defects and issues that Microsoft seems to possess.

But, let me also say that this is a post about Microsoft products; namely my Windows 7 phone, and the issues I’m having trouble understanding.  And, I’m PRETTY SURE there’s a “Bill” somewhere on one of the Windows 7 / phone teams….

I’ll admit that originally I was a Macintosh girl.  Not by choice, mind you, but it was the computer I worked on in my first large scale company job.  Although Macintosh/Apple has come a long way since then, I was unfaithful to Macintosh and ‘stepped out’ with Microsoft products at my next employment. I should have realized that my new electronics relationship was going to be trouble when I stared at my first blinking prompt on the DOS system.  The relationship has been downhill since then, with only brief blips of joy.  I still fantasize about Mac and may yet return to my first love.

If I had wanted to be a programmer, I would have certainly taken courses in college to understand how to communicate in computer-based languages.  Instead, I chose the path of being an administrative assistant (“secretary”) and chose to learn to type, operate a 10-key and answer the phone, as well as filing, communication with carbon-based life forms and processing reports. 

   

Since my initial introduction to “DOS”, I have been forced into learning all types of languages and communication skills that have no real basis in what I do on a daily basis.  Most of these languages involve some words my mother never taught me and my pastor wouldn’t approve of.  And the communication skills I’ve had to learn resemble banging my head against the wall instead of actually trading any information.  

Peeve

But, I digress; my issues with my most current Windows product deals with my Windows 7 phone; an HTC with AT&T service.    Yes, I know every phone is different and every service and every experience.  My blog, my rant.

First of all, I had to wait months for the “Mango” update on my phone.  My husband (same phone, same service) received his several months before I did.  Not having the Mango update on my phone meant I couldn’t download ringtones.  Stupid reason to be irritated?  Maybe.  But I hate electronic ringtones because they’re either chirpy or twangy or somewhere in-between that makes my head hurt.  

Then, when I finally got the Mango update, my calendar wouldn’t upload from Outlook.  I installed the Outlook Connector and nothing.  I asked my techie husband, and nothing.  I looked online (sorry, using Google) and nothing.  So I went through the LABORIOUS task of transferring all my outlook calendar information to my Hotmail account.  As I have things on the Outlook calendar scheduled several months out, this was quite a task.  Sigh.

Peeve 2.0

Version 2.0; get it?  I’ve had a Hotmail account but I never use it.  I was *forced* to use it to access our Troop’s former website (former for many, many reasons).  Except, one day, out of the blue, Windows Live decided it no longer liked my Hotmail account and wouldn’t let me in.  So, I switched it (eventually, after days of trying to fix/decode/figure out the silly thing) to my home email.  Problem solved.  Great; except shouldn’t a Microsoft program (Windows Live) have a pretty sure thing mentality towards a windows email (Hotmail)? 

Okay, so now I have a Windows Live account that won’t take my Hotmail account but will take my Verizon account.  Except Verizon changes to Frontier and I have to fix my Windows Live account.  No can do.  Okay, so I create yet another account (which means I have to create another password.  My feeble brain can only invent so many of these things).

So, now I have a Windows 7 phone, a Windows Live account that I access through my Frontier account and I’m using the calendar for Hotmail to dump onto my Windows 7 phone.  But, I can’t send calendar dates to my husband without sending him my entire calendar.  (Sending “appointments” was by far my FAVORITE thing about Outlook).  And, because my husband’s Hotmail account doesn’t work either, he had to set up a new one.  This means he has to *fix* the Windows Live component in order to view my Hotmail calendar.  So, we can no longer share dates on our calendars with each other.  Which means neither one of us know what the other one is doing unless I kill a tree by printing a paper calendar and hanging it on the wall.  Welcome to the age of technology, eh? 

Peeve 3.0 – 6.0

Applications?  Well, sure we’ve got apps!  I can play for (after a fee) any Xbox game I want on Windows 7 phones.  I can FINALLY access my Facebook application via mobile app.  I can play Words with Friends…wait a minute!  My iPhone friends have an app for WWF but MICROSOFT doesn’t?  What’s that you say?  I have to wait another 4-6 months for the mobile app for my phone?  

Some Podcasts work, some don’t.  I don’t understand which ones and why and why not.  Ravi Zacharias yes.  Dan Savage (what was I thinking?) yes.  T.D. Jakes?  No.  Same Podcast download, different results.  

My Bluetooth headset no longer syncs with my phone.  Why?  Don’t know.  All the internet searches say it “should”.  Great.

And Microsoft?  Somewhere in India there is a programmer who needs to learn to read US street signs.  I thought I was having an out of body experience the first time "Map Chick” told me to “Turn right at Nebraska 97^th Street”.  Nebraska.  United States Postal Service State Abbreviation NE.  It’s also, oddly enough the abbreviation for North East.  Which, I thought was pretty standard map-reading language.  Apparently, I was wrong.  Now, I realize that “Map Chick” means Northeast but just says Nebraska and I laugh.  Out loud; every time.  While I’m dissing “Map Chick”, I’d like to say that I KNOW how to get off my street thanks; and sometimes I drive the shortest way to the freeway just to hear you say “You’ve gone a different way! Tap anywhere to recalculate!”  Maybe I’ll have a life someday when I move to Nebraska 97^th Street.

Are there things I like about the Windows 7 phone?  Sure.  I like having my email show up on my phone so I can decide if I have to answer it right now or wait until I get to the laptop.  I like the camera function.  I like having the weather forecast and the Scanner application (saved me 30% at Bed, Bath & Beyond!).  I like that it sync’s with my Facebook peeps and that I can type notes or stories on it (I’m not fond that I have to wrestle yet again with Windows Live to transfer it to my laptop).  I haven’t used the cloud and I haven’t put music on my phone.  I have a Zune and I use it for my music (not my phone).  I have a couple of FREE games downloaded that I play while I wait at school for pickup or while I’m on hold on the land line.  And, yes, the phone works like a phone should.  

But then, my pay-as-you-go phone worked as a phone too but didn’t make promises it couldn’t keep.