A Big Difference Between Microsoft And Apple

Just a short one this time, but a very important principle that i’ve noted over 20 years of dealing with Microsoft and Apple.

Right now, there is an article on Ars Technica, that explains the problem some are having with the Snow Leopard upgrade. While problems are something that Apple certainly has, the method of dealing with those problems differs greatly from those at Microsoft. The Apple way, if we can call it that, is to try to repair things quickly, and under the radar. However, once the flaw has been discovered, there is no obfuscation of the truth. The company owns up, and gets the fixes out.

This is also the IBM way, or it used to be anyway, back when IBM had personal computer operating systems. People I knew used to complain about the IBM Fixpacks for OS/2, but the thing about them was they were addressing problems, and you knew the effort was being made to correct problems. IBM worked hard to eliminate all the problems with OS/2, and got very close, as far as many were concerned. But it probably also made the operating system not very profitable, because not only were the problems fixed, the instances were publicly documented that would cause the problems. It was clear that attention to details was top priority.

On the other hand, Microsoft only admits problems when absolutely necessary. The company seems to weigh whether mistakes and problems can be explained away, as ‘by design’, or if it will actually be necessary to fix a problem, and only admits a problem when faced with an overwhelming assault of customer ire.. (My personal experience only goes back to circa DOS 3.1, I can’t speak for things before that.)

Many times Microsoft will very quietly try to fix a problem, never admitting it was there, and blame the problems on the user. The problem will, after some period of time disappear, usually after a patch Tuesday, where nothing available is there to detail all the fixes.

I really dislike that, and I’m certain others do as well, but that is the Microsoft way.

Another problem is recurring variety, where something is changed, in order to repair something, which breaks something already repaired. I am currently experiencing those problems now. As I write this, with Windows Live Writer, I have found that, after applying this morning’s patches, I can no longer change the text color using the variable color drop box available under the Format header, which is labeled Font Color.  If I do, the Live Writer instance crashes. Now I can only use the fixed increment colors, from the Font menu drop box, under the Format header. Yesterday, this was not the case. It had been happening previously, and, in another one of those ‘mysterious’ patch Tuesday applications, it was repaired. Now we are back to the bad behavior of previous times. In each case, there will be no documentation of this – unless enough people raise a ruckus about it. I have never heard about the same mistake being repeated at Apple.

Is this really the way of a great company? Isn’t the trust of the client built through honest interaction, and taking the blame when necessary, in order to properly repair things encountered? Then, when the fixes come, those customers get the idea that problems are repaired in a timely manner, and the acknowledgement of them shows attention to the wants and needs of the customer base.

This is also shown up by the recent admission of Mr. Ballmer, stating that Microsoft really screwed the pooch with Vista, yet the very next day, it was too much to remain humble and admit mistakes – it was then necessary to blame the beta testers, because we know it is always the beta testers’ fault.

In my working with Apple equipment, I have not come upon this. admittedly, my Apple experience is much less than with PC problems, but I have never seen Apple shirk from the problems it encounters.

This engenders trust, and makes for loyal customers. It’s no wonder that many of the Apple fans believe Steve Jobs could walk on water if he really put out the effort.

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