Criticism of Microsoft Windows
The various versions of Microsoft's desktop operating system, Windows, have been the target of a number of criticisms over the years.
Criticisms that apply to several or all versions of Windows
Clock management
Windows expects the real-time clock of the computer to run on local time. Although since Windows NT there is a registry entry RealTimeIsUniversal=1, this feature is not supported or fully implemented yet (including Vista), so it is not possible to run the real-time clock on Coordinated Universal Time, which may be desirable for example to avoid problems with multi-boot environments or disk images and daylight saving time, because Windows changes the real-time clock when switching to or from daylight saving time, but other operating systems or other instances of Windows cannot know if the real-time clock has been changed already.[1][2]
File sort order
Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft introduced a new default sort order for files in the Windows Explorer file manager which can lead to confusion. There is no simple configuration option to switch back to the usual alphanumeric sort order; instead it is necessary to edit the Windows registry manually, which is rather complicated and dangerous, or use special software.[3][4]
Hiding of filename extensions
By default, the Windows Explorer file manager hides filename extensions, which can lead to security issues, e.g. if a computer virus has the name "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs", which will be displayed as "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT" and appears to be a text file. However, the hiding of filename extensions can be disabled via menu settings.[5]
Criticisms that apply only to a specific version of Windows
- For criticism of Windows Vista, see Criticism of Windows Vista
- For criticism of Windows XP, see Criticism of Windows XP
- For criticism of Windows 2000, see the criticism section of the Windows 2000 article
- For criticism of Windows Me, see the criticism section of the Windows Me article
- For criticism of Windows 9x, see the disadvantages section of the Windows 9x article
References
- ^ Microsoft (2007-07-02). "The BIOS Real Time Clock is set back one hour after you deploy a Windows XP image or Windows Vista image to a computer". Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ^ Kuhn, Markus (2001-07-02 / 2006-11-02). "IBM PC Real Time Clock should run in UT". Retrieved 2008-09-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Microsoft (2007-08-28). "The sort order for files and folders whose names contain numerals is different in Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 than it is in Windows 2000". Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ Brinkmann, Martin (2007-11-09). "Change the Windows XP File Sort Order". Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ Granneman, Scott (2008). "Configuring Windows To Show Extensions". Retrieved 2008-10-16.