Friday, August 25, 1995
7A
Computer users boycott program
Skeptics ignore hype rally to break Windows
The Associated Press
BALTIMORE — Like millions of computer users, Ed Bunker uses Microsoft's Windows operating system.
But Bunker didn't rush to the computer store yesterday to buy the new version. He stayed home to plot his boycott of Windows 95.
"It's time consumers stood up and said 'Enough's enough,' " Bunker said.
The backlash against Windows 95 is spreading among computer users
who are fiercely loyal to other operating systems, people who see Bill Gates as Big Brother and others who are just sick of the hype.
For the release of Windows 95, Microsoft Corp. orchstrated publicity stunts in more than 40 cities worldwide and got the Rolling Stones to license the
hundreds of dollars.
He organized a similar boycott of major league baseball earlier this year. In his view, the baseball strike and Windows 95 bear a striking similarity.
"We're basically being held captive by people who are putting the interests of financial gains up against what's best for the consumer," Bunker said.
Charles Forsyth, a Dallas-based software consultant, said Windows 95 wasn't as good as Microsoft would like the world to think.
"It's a cruel hoax really," said Forsythe, an OS/2 user who saw test versions of Windows 95. He said Windows 95 was not as user-friendly
"It goes back to the same thing: lots of funk and flash but little substance."
song "Start Me Up" for a TV commercial about the new system, which is touted as faster, easier and more versatile than the old Windows.
It was too much for Mark Fay, a computer consultant from Lantana, Fla.
"It goes back to the same thing; lots of funk and flash but little substance," said Fay, who uses IBM's OS/2 operating system. "Making lots of noise, saying this is good stuff — if anything, it's turning me off."
From his suburban Baltimore living room, Bunker was sending messages over the Internet to organize a boycott of the upgraded version, which he calls a corporate conspiracy to force computer users to spend
as promised and was just plain clumsy for advanced users like him.
Mark Fay
Userof IBM's OS/2
Forsyth also expressed irritation over the control Microsoft exerts over the personal computer market. Its software runs 80 percent of personal computers worldwide.
it's pretty clear that Microsoft wants to run the world." Forsythe said.
IBM and Apple said their systems already do what Windows 95 does.
But on the Internet, users of the Macintosh and OS/2 systems were arguing with Windows 95 advocates over the finer points of 32-bit multasking, graphics capabilities, and the like.
"Stop blaming (Microsoft) for everything from devil-worship to monopoly, and start trying to find the real reason for (Microsoft) dominance — better business," one Windows 95 advocate wrote.
"Better' business? No, just sneakier, more underhanded," an OS/2 fan responded. "Not 'better' at all."
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