I've been looking at the various desktop search engines available and I decided to (loathe the thought) see what Microsoft has to offer with there Toolbar. While at the site that had the little animated demos of the Toolbar's various features, I found the statements made about, and questions asked of, the current state of Windows and some of MS's core applications to be, at least, humorous:
Browse with tabs:
Ever been frustrated managing all those open Internet Explorer windows?
Block pop-ups:
Unsolicited pop-up ads are annoying and may introduce spyware to your computer.
Search your PC:
Ever been frustrated trying to find something on your PC?
Where do they get off asking, me the consumer, if their products are this way like it's some new, divine revelation from the heavens? Am I wrong for expecting an apology when they announce that their product causes frustration? They used the word 'frustrated' twice in describing how users might react to these products! These are the kinds of statements/questions I'd expect a 3rd-party vendor to make who knows there product is a patch for someone else's shoddy product.
What's that Microsoft? You mean you guys *really* didn't know you're software was this crappy and you think that I'm just as unaware as you? Well, really, I'm glad you finally know; and it warms my heart to see that you are willing to do something about it by making me download and install yet another product of yours. Thanks.
As a counter-point, I am actually looking forward to Vista, which from what I've read and heard will provide the solutions to these dilemmas in one package (as soon as Win FS is available that is); hopefully they'll get it right this time.
-Zach