Integration and Simplicity Upgrades

First, two caveats about this story:

1. I like most Microsoft software. The quality is generally high, and the consumer experience is awesome. For example, I recently installed a Microsoft wireless access point – it was awesome, my mom could have set it up.

2. I dislike most major ISPs. For a geek there is low cost/benefit value. However, I tend to recommend them for non-geeks that want to get online. MSN, AOL, whatever… in my mind they both are relatively the same, offering basically the same services for a consumer.

Enough with the caveats...

My in-laws were having problems with their computer. It was a 2 year old “Tiny” computer (remember them? they aren’t in business anymore) – 500 Mhz, 128MB, 32MB TNT2, 13GB, Win98, 56Kbps modem. The machine has probably 200 software programs installed (Gator, AIM, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Kaza, Morpheous, WinAmp, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc.). Now they are seeing hangs, problem getting online, etc.

I decided the right fix was some hardware and software upgrades. So I buy 128MB of ram, a 40 GB hard disk (the smallest I could find), a CD R/RW drive, Windows XP Home, and MSN 8. I’ll skip the hardware saga (which was a pain), and go right to the meat – the software.

One would assume that MSN 8 works amazingly with Windows XP Home. It should be a match made in heaven. Given that my in-laws have 5 kids and 2 adults, we of course want separate logins into Windows XP. Of course, MSN gets amazingly confused by this. I end up having to run the complete MSN install for each user. In addition, I have to add each of their Hotmail accounts to MSN through the browser before they can login.

First, you have to add each user to MSN. I have to login as the “master” account for MSN. Once there I have to click “Help & Settings”, then “Settings”. Then I click a very small “Show All Settings” link. Hmm… once would think that “Settings” would show all the settings. Now, I get to find a “Add Member” link which spawns a wizard tool. Here I get to type in the user name I want to add AND THEIR PASSWORD. I guess someone on the MSN team decided that mom and dad get to know the password of all their kids.

After I do that for each user I then have to configure MSN for each Windows XP account. I login as the first account and double click the MSN icon on the desktop. I have to select “I have an account”, type in each person’s hotmail address and their password, and then I get to pick the phone numbers that will be used to connect to MSN.

All in all, I spent the better part of 2 hours doing nothing but getting MSN configured on the machine. There was no way that I could ask my family to step through that process.

Given that XP is designed to have multiple users on it, and given that MSN is designed to allow for multiple people in a family to share the internet connection, why is this process so painful?

People complain about Microsoft product integration all the time – I personally hate that they aren’t more integrated. Why can’t MSN and Windows share the same login? (Before you flame me, I understand the technical and product reasons why this can’t happen – but as a consumer, it is what I want. As a consumer, I would like to have AOL and Windows share the same login also!)

I look around my house at the microwave, dishwasher, and television. I have never had to call my friends over to my house to figure out how to use my microwave. Home computers are so far from being “appliances” it isn’t funny. The industry has to make monumental improvements in the simplicity of the software and hardware before we can begin to get to the level of a microwave.

However, I’m torn. The flexibility of the PC has enabled the word processor/game machine to evolve into the web browsing/music machine. Without some of this flexibility the rapid evolution of the device wouldn’t happen. You could make a single purpose appliance that read email, or surfed the web – but could it rip and burn music CDs? Or become a digital video editing station?

Whatever is decided, Simplicity must be the means to the end.