New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he is done with his 'undependable' Microsoft [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | October 19, 2016 | Ariel Zilber

[vpintheak]

It must block him from cheating somehow. Poor fella.

[angryoldfatman]

If Gillette Stadium has poor Wi-Fi perhaps Belichick should correctly identify the problem rather than blaming his device.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m an IT guy as well, though never a director.

That said, determining the computer problem is not Belichick’s job. His job is to coach players.

We in IT tend to forget that computers and networks are merely tools, which are secondary to the jobs that end-users must do and tasks they must accomplish.

Computers and networks are supposed to remove barriers, not create them.

Unfortunately, Windows 10, in trying to be a one-size-fits-all OS, has turned out to be a one-size-fits-nothing OS.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

ping.

[Crusher138]

You would be correct since - except for the Surface - Microsoft doesn’t make PCs.

One is a Dell and one is an HP.

The issue really isn’t hardware reliability. The operating system itself is unstable compared to OS X. Take networking, for example. My Windows PCs will spontaneously “lose” their network drive mappings, even from one PC to another. Clicking and reentering authentication takes care of it, but my Macs never do that.

One more, but I could do dozens of these, we run Corel Draw on the Windows box to prep art for printing. Every now and then - a couple of times a week - Corel will lose it’s digital mind and start doing stupid things. Restarting the program doesn’t always fix it, usually you have to reboot Windows. I know, that could be a Corel issue (but I’m sure they would blame Windows) but the real kicker comes when you go to reboot and Windows starts installing updates! Sometimes these updates take up to an hour, all the while precious production time is lost. Mac updates are, by default, user initiated.

I could also toss in issues with Quickbooks, printer drivers, video drivers, Flash updates, Acrobat updates, on and on...

As a guy who started selling PC compatibles in 1983, who has built dozens if not over a hundred Windows boxes, who at one time was a Microsoft Certified Network Administrator, who once banned his company’s art department from using Macs, who used to make a living doing computer consulting, I have only one thing to say:

Macs...are...better...

[minnesota_bound]

A co-worker who has to use some company software to run his office uses it and curses it but he also has much on 3 x 5 cards so when he has to get an answer quick he pulls them out.

I use a program to record my Help Desk tickets and it works pretty good but.... I learned years ago to always have Notepad open and type in my notes there first just in case the ticket system stops working.
Notepad always works.

Now I do not know what the football coach is doing with the tablet but you would think drawing lines and writing notes would be a simple task.
Microsoft should send over one of their nerds and ask the coach what he needs to fix this.

[Alas Babylon!]

I’m an MCSE, current since NT 4.0. Also an MCT still currently teaching. Believe me when I tell you, the hardware and software being made together makes all the difference in the world!

Macs are great for THAT very reason. If the hardware was made by others, the drivers would be just as messed up. And don’t get me wrong, I like Apple—have several iPads and LOVE Linux—I teach custom integration classes on all three from an administrator’s perspective.

BUT. Don’t take my word for it, just try a Surface (get the Pro, then again, I don’t think they’re selling RT’s anymore—I have one, not as good) yourself.

[dayglored]

Tablets take a hit at the football stadium ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Thanks to conservatism_IS_compassion for the ping!!

[lepton]

If you read broadly and remember, it is common throughout the NFL for there to be headset/wireless problems. It just gets more than an off-hand mention when it reinforces the conspiracy theories.

This is not surprising when one understands how complex an electromagnetic environment a stadium with tens of thousands of broadcasting comm devices is.

The NFL itself controls the headset communications equipment.

[lepton]

Landry in particular may not have used the headsets as head coach, but he was responsible for the rule banning use of radios in helmets as the aftermath of the squabble from his listening to radio communications of Paul Brown’s teams.