Customer Rating: 
Summary: Automatic Update Problem
Comment: Microsoft
Windows XP functions very well, which balances out the one star rating--lowest possible--I would give its automatic update function. After downloading an update, it attempts to restart your computer and will do so if you don't tell it "Restart Later." Even if you do this, it will again attempt to restart your computer.
In other words, if you don't know this is happening and you fail to intervene, the automatic update will reboot your computer and destroy every single piece of work you were doing, perhaps hours of work if you are unlucky. This has been pointed out to Microsoft, but the problem has not been fixed.
Customer Rating: Summary: XP Versus Vista - It's MS Extortion
Comment: I just bought XP Pro because MS is supposed to phase out XP in June of this year. Go to InfoWorld and read about why the world is up in arms with MS. Over 200,000 signatures have signed the petition to save XP.
And MS is loving every minute of it, as well as all PC and hardware manufacturers. Why?
Vista has promoted the sale of new PCs, Printers, Scanners, etc. This is a win-win scenario for MS, PC and hardware manufacturers. And Vista will not run off most of your 3rd party applications, but it runs MS's Office, games, and other MS applications. Does this sound familiar (IE vs Netscape wars)?
Because Vista does not work, everyone must buy a copy of XP to replace Vista. All of the different packaged versions of the same Windows OS were created to take advantage of everyone. A few years back I bought XP 64. It was not supported by Adelphia (now Comcast) and I could not even get on the Web.
I believe MS designed Vista so it would not work on most machines and to promote PC and peripheral sales; money flowed to MS by selling flawed Vista and by double-dipping XP Pro/Home to replace dysfunctional Vista just to make our expensive PCs useful again. In 2010 MS will grease world-wide ATM debits by selling Windows 7/its next version. MS learned well from all of its other OS failures (95, 98, especially from Millennium).
MS and PC hardware manufacturers are in the hog pen together, selling Windows, Printers, software applications, and on and on. Aren't most of the hardware manufacturers behind the power curve, not producing drivers or driver updates for Vista?
I think Congress needs to do some investigating, that is, if they are not already in MS's deep soft money pockets!
The Al Queda mind set (AQMS) is in warp drive in the U.S., the AQMS financial version that is (also oil, mortgage ARMs, medical, drugs, and so on).
"Let the Buyer Beware" does not apply to MS software because many buyers are trumped by clever advertising/hype/mis-information. "Plausible deniability" has become a legal cesspool in the U.S.
