Re: Windows Vista was unfit for market release

On Aug 6, 2007, Edwin wrote:
Your personal confusion doesn't really count as a "downside" for
Windows. How did this become a Windows problem and not an CP/M,
DOS, or OS/2 problem, BTW?


It's been a problem on all those systems.

* Drive letters can change and make programs cease working or
make files harder to access

Drive letters don't change on their own, and the person who's adding
drives takes responsibility for this. In any case, that's an issue
with the disk management utility, not with the practice of using drive
letters.


"On their own" is vague, but they will change depending on new volumes
installed or removed. Rarely does the person have the ability or knowledge to
assign a drive letter. Windows assigns the letters, like it or not, and the
user has little hope of changing it. In Mac OS, it is the user who assigns
the names, and they stay that way.

And sadly, even since DOS, users were presented with a perfectly good tool
for referring to volumes: the volume name. Yet you rarely see it used.

* Portable drives are referenced differently on different systems

If so, it's an even BIGGER "downside" for the Mac, where EVERY drive
on EVERY Mac is "referenced differently."

They are referenced by the the name the owner gave them and they stay that
way. My "TL-Lacie" volume stays that name at my neighbors house, but if it's
E at home it could be F or whatever next door. You are wrong ... again.

.

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