End of retail customer service as the weakest link for Microsoft products?

Not an unusual view in some Best Buy stores: empty displays or
misplaced merchandise, not to mention frozen PCs. This is my experience.

Microsoft has finally decided to be on top of things to guarantee that its latest PCs with Windows 8 get to more customers, taking a page from the Apple stores. Needless to say Apple sells more and more computers and software thanks to a well greased retail system where the customer service reps actually know what they are talking about, let alone the quality of their products. Contrast that with the poor experience you get when visiting a retail store like Best Buy or a similar chain. First of all, the reps kind of elude you and if you finally get their attention they may talk down to you and try to get rid of you as soon as possible. Or even worse, they don't understand your questions if you happen to be a more educated consumer. The other day I asked one of these young fellows "What is the computer with the best quality, the best materials?", I said that referring to some flimsy plastic HP laptops and looking for something better. Though I had to rephrase my question, the fellow replied "I don't understand your question" (!) with an unequivocal expression of annoyance. I don't think this is just my personal experience. Let's hope that, now that Microsoft and Best Buy are teaming up to open 500 Windows Store locations inside this big retailer stores, things get better. On the other hand, I hope that Microsoft Retail Stores improve as well. I remember very well when I visited the one in Times Square, New York (is it still there?) to find a very nice place with nice reps but not too well versed in Windows 8. I was showing to some of them how to use Windows 8... (!) Retail will continue to be the weakest link for Microsoft as long as they continue to hire at lower wages people who are not exactly experts in their wares (unlike the Apple guys). Why don't you hire people who really know IT and who appreciate Microsoft products? The caveat is: you will have to pay them higher wages... That's small potatoes for the deep pockets of Microsoft, so why not?

Why chkdsk in a Windows 7 and Windows 8 dual boot?!

In a PC with two main operating systems like Windows 8 and Windows 7, each one in a separate disk partition, there appears to be a problem when switching to Windows 7 (after having previously loaded Windows 8 and restarted the computer). This is a really annoying situation in which, just when you thought you were ready to start Windows 7, the basic black screen pops up with the message: "One of your disks need to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but itis strongly recommended that you continue." Of course you can cancel the timed operation but it will show up the next time... and you are never really sure if there is an actual problem with your disk and/or each one of its partitions. I have not yet found the solution myself, but there are some options may be worth trying. The first one is to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows. Other options I will have to first find and then test, but I read somewhere that a Windows 8 not correctly shut down may affect starting other operating systems, like Windows 7. I'll post the solution when I find it.

It's not the economy, it's lousy customer service, stupid

You'd probably have thought about this more than once. Whenever you go to a "information age" store (the big IT supermakets, or any wireless phone service provider) or even call a 1-800 service, have you not left, or hung up, with a sensation that you deserved better attention and better information? Don't you find frustrating when you have a question or need something and there is nobody around to help you? And how about, when you finally get hold of someone and this person, who almost invariably never smiles, is either "cold" in a a rude sort of way or plain clueless, or both? I've experienced this more than once and throughout the years, and I do not believe, for  a moment, that it's because I live in a self-centered and in-your-face city like New York. I know this is a national phenomenon. Let's face it. Customer service in the U.S. sucks. I have one simple explanation, rooted in corporate greed: cheap labor. It's not, mainly, the economy. Cheap labor entails hiring low skilled people, paying them minimum wage (or less!), a work force ill-prepared to help people, with an attitude that says loud and clear "I don't care", and who most of the time are young people, who are longing to punch out the clock the minute they start their work shift. I don't blame them, they are nickled and dimed every day. Remember CompUSA? I witnessed their demise and how it was rare to find genuine help. The same fate befell Circuit City and it will continue to be like that for other giants. I believe, for example, that Apple stores have been successful also because their employees are focused and willing to help, in spite of low salaries... The root of this bad customer service situation, more a consequence than a cause, is corporate greed, where big selfish, self aggrandized honchos, refuse to share their wealth. What's a few million dollars to hire, train and retain, sterling customer service in the big scheme of things of a company that have even billions in profit? They're shooting themselves in the foot... Provide good customer service and expect repeat business. This simple truth apparently escapes many a CEO who thinks the bottom line is only about sophisticated "business models" and Excel charts and business jargon and Wall Street... Only in America?

Outlook.com: a modern email for the next billion mailboxes

Microsoft launched today its new web mail service, Outlook.com, as a personal e-mail service that aspires to be "a modern email for the next billion mailboxes." It is the same desktop application and service for business (Exchange server) that you are probably already used to, but with a new Metro interface, from within your Internet browser, with a neat interface and a nimble performance . You can subscribe to this free service either creating a new account or using one of your Hotmail or Live.com accounts. Outlook.com will replace Hotmail and its aimed, among other things, to attract users from Google's Gmail service as a very solid competitor. Microsoft thinks that the time is right to reimagine email, "we realized that we needed to take a bold step, break from the past and build you a brand new service from the ground up." Read more in the Outlook Blog.

Surface: a tablet to level the field

Yesterday, in LA, Microsoft launched new devices to go with the upcoming iteration of the Windows 8 operating system frenzy in the form of a new tablet, called Surface, and with Microsoft hardware. It happened during a secretive gathering of selected media representatives who never knew exactly what they were going to cover up until the last minute. There are two products that were introduced: Surface for Windows RT and the Surface for Windows 8 Pro with an Intel microprocessor, full HD display, both having specs that rival the finest ultrabooks. The live coverage was really poor and did not do justice to what was introduced, not because of lack of information, but I would say because of the preconceived notions about Microsoft products coming from die-hard Apple and Linux (Android) followers, some of them among the press corps. I was able to see the entire launch show late last night (length: 47 minutes) thanks to my Nokia Lumia and the super useful and fun app called I am a WP7, though I could not find it today. I was really astonished by the coolness of the product and the perfect coreography that started with a Steve Ballmer more focused than ever, almost as a real guru, followed by the rest of the team, including a trip down memory lane through 30 years of Microsoft hardware innovation and some actual pictures of the Surface being designed and built in a sophisticated environment. What the media saw in LA was not reflected in what I have read so far on the Web. When the show started with Ballmer, practically nobody gave him a welcome, but as the show rolled down, you could hear the audience more enthusiastic, cheering. No doubt. Surface is a compelling and impressive product.

Easybits, get off my computer now!

I have discovered on my desktop a shortcut icon to something called GameXN, a program which was installed unbeknownst to me. After some research I found out that this is the "game go organizer" or whatever that is called, a software product coming from Easybits (there is no link here, therefore no free publicity),  a Norwegian Company based in Oslo, developing the "Skype game channel". What in the world?! Who asked for games? This might have happened while I opened Skype the last time. Can we trust any messages or prompts that pop up in familiar applications any longer. No wonder Skype users are or were riled. My installation took place only a week ago. Look and see if you have a folder called C:\ProgramData\GameXN, then uninstall it, if you did not request that installation.

Mistery error 1310 when performing software installations

Apparently, many a vendor just test their software applications only in the Windows XP and below operating systems, leaving the Windows 7 users under the "buyer beware" policy and in the process they stick the product with the "Windows 7 compatible" label, regardless. Case in point, the T-Mobile webConnect Manager software installation. This particular installation process decides that in addition to unzipping the necessary files to a temp directory (C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp, which is normal, though not necessarily into the Administrator folders) it also unzips them into the path shown in the attached picture above. After much tweaking, I was able to solve this problem but only after performing the installation logged in as Administrator, since the simple "run as" won't work, and the .inf file shown in the path above does not even exist. Only logged in as Administrator, and having started the installation process, you will be able to see that directory and that particularly file, BUT you still need to modify the access rights by giving all access to "Everyone" not just the Administrators group. Once I did that the installation continued and it was successful, both in Windows 7 and in the newest Windows 8 Release Preview. However, the whole process went not as smooth as it appears to be. Previously, I had to call T-Mobile tech support only to hear that they (three differents customer reps) don't know about "Error 1310" (but are they supposed to know about it?) and that this error was a problem with my computer, and (perhaps understandably so?)  they also did not even care to hear what the message read. The only "solution" they offered was that I have to get a wi-fi connection in order to set up my Internet connection with my broadband modem and that only under those circumstances it will work. It wouldn't. However, the actual problem ("error 1310") was "access rights" within a folder the installer has no business dealing with, in the first place. Who should we blame? Software vendors for substandard software? Tech support for not offering at least some hints? This situation of not well documented, at least consistently, error messages is what goes against a brand name and contributes to popular perceptions or misconceptions of a product (whether software application and/or operating system).