Why?

Well, it’s not to say Windows will be bad. Vista is actually pretty good compared to XP. But I’m more worried of Windows 7.

With predicted release dates for Windows 7 as early as late 2009, are we looking at another rushed product? The same rush we saw for Vista? Cut the features and get it out earlier just to stop the whiny babies.

I think Microsoft has to really do a few things with Windows 7, and future version of Windows to stop themselves from shooting their feet too many times.

1. Take your time. A late product is bad. A rushed product ill-received and buggy is worse.
2. Be frank with these people. Don’t be afraid to tell the business world to cool their jets. They’ve already sunk in too much time and money to just switch overnight to another OS.
3. Tell the people that if they want a better product they have to give proper feedback. Send out random surveys, or advertise some surveys on your site, anything to get the average Joe talking.
4. Don’t focus only on big name resellers like Best Buy, or Dell. Many of their customers are the kind that buy a machine, and every time something bad happens, they blame Windows. I know because I’ve converted many away from those companies AND that notion. Listen to your small and medium resellers/OEMs.

The Windows Mojave experiment was a great idea. Now learn from it. Teasers are great for creating hype. Image if they did the promotion for Vista like they did for Mojave, just on a larger scale. If people knew how good Vista is, you’d be seeing people lined up outside every computer store. Manage your photos better and share files easier between networked PCs? I get those questions more often than you think!

iSKORPiTX, you’re not cool. Go fuck yourself.

People like you give white-hat hackers a bad name.

I’ve been hacked before, but at least by somewhat respectable people/groups that only change my front page.

You however screwed every PHP file on my wordpress installation.

So you start out in this very dark and ominous area floating above Light Hope Chapel. Immediately inside this building you see some familiar faces from Azeroth. So it’s a nice touch. This all takes place in an area behind Light’s Hope.

Now when you’re questing things get very interesting. The humans they ask you to kill react in a very interesting way. They either fight back cursing you, or they cower and scream in terror. However it’s not a normal scream, several told me “Don’t kill me! I have three children” and others told me “You make my child an orphan today, you fiend!” So it’s a little fucked up.
The majority of the quests involve killing members of the Scarlet Crusade so it can pretty repetitive fast. Thankfully it doesn’t take long to finish all the quests the area has to offer. After you complete the last quest that it has to offer, you’re given the ability to move about the Horde without getting spit on or have rotten fruit thrown at you.

What’s VERY interesting about all the quests in the area is that they almost all are part of a HUGE chain the likes of which I have never seen so involved in WoW. I have to give props to the writers for this area. The ending is VERY surprising, as is the lead in.

My only compaint is that once you complete all the quests there’s nothing to go back to. Because of the way the area progresses (the entire region changes as you quest) once you’re done, all the NPCs and mobs are gone. The region looks like it would after all the events you did questing finished. I guess I miss the ability to go back and help others, but from a different view it’s kinda awesome to see the change happen right in front of me.

After a few issues with getting my account linked up and my password correct, I logged in.

I was presented with the original interface that WoW came with (plus a few additions) because almost NONE of my addons work.
Meh, I can deal. I didn’t use addons the first year of playing WoW. I’m okay.
My rogue is just as I left him, hovering over the entrance to the Scryers bank.
Kind of anti-climactic. I proceeded to take in the new interface options, play with my spec, and crap like that. it’s all on the website really, so I won’t bore you with it.

After getting some very polite and helpful people to assist me, I make my way to the NEW zepplin tower outside the Undercity.
I had chosen the UC zep because the Undead race is my absolute favorite.

After anxiously waiting a few moments the new zep arrived. I boarded and was trying to imagine what new world I would be stepping into.
Would it live up to the hype? Would it fizzle? Would it even load?

After the loading screen disappeared I was presented with this ominous looking area dedicated to creating a new undead plague, and the foothold for the assault on Arthas and the Scourge.
The sound effects were amazing, the music had an eerie mood, but the graphics were stunning.
Such detail went into each building and each texture.
I had never seen WoW with such detail before. When the game rolled into retail in late 2004, the graphics were actually disappointing. However Blizzard had a choice, go all out, or make it possible for lots of people to play. They made the latter. It didn’t look awesome, but it was the right choice.

After walking down the tower, stopping at each chance to take in the scenery, I decided to mount up and explore the area. The creatures I saw and the places I explored were making me feel like I just started playing for the first time.
New mobs models, actually taking a decent beating, new areas getting explored on my map, XP!
I was excited when TBC came out, but this is MUCH better.

This is gonna be awesome.

“Wrath of the Lich King Beta Invitation!”

The first thing that popped into my head was “SCAM!”

But I decide it might be worth checking out, so I open the emails HTML code…

Weird. Everything checks out.

I figure I’ve got nothing to lose by at least clicking the link. I’ve got Firefox, NOD32, and a vast knowledge of virus removal at my disposal.

URL is clean, links are clean, page is clean. HOLY SHIT! I’m in!

So I sign up, copy and level 70 rogue, and now I’m happily enjoying my WotLK beta!

I’ll be posting news of my progress and links to images up until launch. Glad I got my reserve.

People have been getting lazier and lazier. No one wants to do it themselves anymore. I spend 95% of my time cleaning the same fucking infections and bugs because people are too lazy or stupid to learn how to prevent them or fix them.
It’s gotten to the point where some of our “better off” customers are just buying new PCs and laptops instead of putting a little elbow grease into them. It’s disgusting.

But on the other hand companies like Dell and Best Buy aren’t helping. They just show off shiny new things in front of people and send them on their way. No guidance, no manuals. Just show what they could do, not how to do it.
No one teaches them basic maintenance, or infection prevention. And then people get mad at the technology and those associated with it.
I can’t count how many times people have gotten upset with me because I know the technology and they don’t. They get so easily frustrated, and who can blame them? Things have gotten unnecessarily complex and there’s no central location for help.

My problem with all this? I’m willing to share all my knowledge and I want to help people so they can do it themselves. but no one will listen.

But I trudge on, my knowledge base is small and missing many basic articles. hopefully someday it’ll grow to be a large repository for people to easily search for a solution to their troubles.

And with a little luck, they’ll remember what they did.

I’m moving my blog off the front page, and focusing more on a portal to direct people to the various sections of my site.

There are several sections of this site, some new, some old. I recently installed a support ticket system at http://www.rantingjackass.com/support and my knowledgebase will be getting some love at http://www.rantingjackass.com/kb

So please don’t mind the dust!