Brain Damaged Operating Systems

[billroper]

It turns out that Windows Vista has a bug that prevents you from opening and saving a compound document file back to the same name unless you're logged in as an administrator on the machine. There's a hotfix available, which is good. The fix isn't in Vista SP1, which isn't.

Obviously no one at Microsoft tested this on anything earlier than the 2007 versions of MS Office, since all the earlier versions use compound document files for storage. Or else they never logged in without administrator rights.

Security. Gotta love it.

Comments

[robin-june.livejournal.com]

Our lab's Nanodrop (R) UV-Visible spectrophotometer's software has a similar issue. Unless you are logged in on the PC as an administrator, the software only runs in DEMO mode, and won't let you save the absorbance traces of your samples.

We're hoping this gets fixed in the next version, but it's been 2 years and we haven't heard anything yet.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Software other than the most current versions of Microsoft products isn't important. Your computer only exists as an excuse to give Microsoft money.

[celebrith.livejournal.com]

Yup. We're resisting Vista strongly (and so far, successfully) at work. I haven't found any positive business reasons to move to Vista yet, but there's lots of negatives. When it comes time to upgrade, we'll look at Windows 7 rather than Vista.

[tesral.livejournal.com]

There is a reason I avoid windows, and pity those that don't have that choice.

[madfilkentist]

I've run into Mac software that doesn't work properly unless you're logged in as the user who installed it. Normally I install applications as an admin user, distinct from the user identity I do my work under; but I have a folder called "BrokenApplications" for applications which fail when installed that way, and which I have to install as the working user.

[min0taur.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I consider Microsoft's apparent contempt for backward compatibility to be reprehensible and irresponsible, not only to their customers, but to the continued health of their own enterprise. I think tigertoy nailed it, though I do admire your patience and practicality in the face of circumstance.