From xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Thu Oct 23 00:09:00 2003
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 20:29:30 -0600
From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: trinity's M$ hell

Here's the entry she'd posted up in her LiveJournal:

**
/*Microsoft - Need I say more...*/
I've had it. I've fucking had it. I don't even know how on earth I 
lasted this long, but I'm done. I'm so fucking pissed off and about 
ready to throw this entire computer out the window. I don't even care 
anymore.

So, I went to Staples yesterday in order to buy Microsoft Visual C++. 
What a waste of my time and money that turned out to be. Someone should 
have just shot me for wanting to buy a program with that god-awful word 
in it in the first place. I don't know what I was thinking.

After first having trouble buying the god damned program because the 
store would not accept my check card without a driver's license, the 
whole situation went down hill. What the hell? What freaking moron said 
that you had to have a fucking driver's license in order to use a 
fucking check card? It's my fucking money and my fucking card. If you 
don't believe it is, then have me type in my god damned pin number. Why 
in the hell do they need to see my driver's license? Am I not able to 
buy something with MY OWN MONEY because I do NOT OWN a FREAKING driver's 
license? What the hell? I'm just glad mom was kind enough to put the 
purchase on her card. All of this over a freaking $100 program?

Oh, and things only get worse. I then went home, happy to have gotten my 
lovely software so I could now write my program for this god damned 
school that uses Microsoft compilers. I put the first CD into the drive, 
labeled Disc 1. Go figure. The god damned thing then said to insert some 
other CD, which I found after searching through the 6 of them and trying 
to read small white text on piss yellow coloured CDs. I insert this disc 
and after having to install Microsoft FrontPage in order to continue 
with the actual program installation, I finally get to place CD1 into 
the drive.

I was then greeted with a lovely screen asking me to accept a TOS 
agreement and type in my product key. Easy enough. I clicked Accept and 
typed away at the 300-character product key, making sure to type in each 
character correctly since one wrong move could mean death. Finishing, I 
click Continue. But what is this? I am now greeted with a lovely popup 
telling me that the product key was invalid. Still fairly calm, I type 
in the key a second time, once again making sure to type it in 
correctly. Pressing Continue a second time, the same message pops up. 
Getting a bit frustrated, I asked mom to read off the key just in case I 
was reading something incorrectly. Sure enough, after clicking Continue 
that third time, the same message appeared in front of me. Furious now, 
I just went and watched Trading Spaces before I ended up having to 
either bash my head into a wall or break all of those stupid CDs.

Day Two:
I had to go to school early for an Alpha Lambda Delta induction ceremony 
at 12:30, which was rather nice. I got a nifty pin and a certificate. Of 
course that didn't run as smoothly as I had hoped, but I'll save that 
whole mess for another post.

Continuing...
I get back up to my dorm at about 4 after the ceremony and going out to 
lunch with my family. I start up my computer, hoping to be able to 
install the troubled program. I went through the whole ordeal with the 
CD order and was met by the lovely accept-TOS-and-punch-in-product-key 
screen. I type in the product key, pretty much having memorised the 
damned thing after having to type it so many times. I then click 
Continue and the same little message pops up telling me that the key is 
invalid.

Furious, I go to microsoft.com in order to find a solution - *mistake 
number two* by Trinity. Microsoft giving me a solution to a problem? I 
think the only solution would be to destroy the god damned money-hungry 
monopoly. Down with BIlly-Bob!

After looking around for about ten minutes, having registered for some 
.NET Passport (whatever the hell that is; at least I used the junk 
e-mail account to register), and posting at some newsgroup, I still find 
no answer. I checked back at the newsgroup in order to see if the 
message posted. Sure it did, but the "message is unavailable". Oh, what 
help that will be. Tell me WHY it is unavailable, please... Now with no 
number to call unless I spend $250 a year to buy some support plan and a 
big problem still on my hands, I'm still about ready to break those 
fucking CDs into not only halves, but millions of pieces.

Looks like Microsoft will be of no help, nor will Staples since I took 
the plastic shrink wrap off of the box. God forbid anyone return 
anything without that plastic wrap. What if I opened the box and found 
that one of the CDs was missing or broken? I guess I'd be screwed. The 
plastic wrap is gone! Of course you cannot return the product! It would 
just take too much time to put more plastic wrap on the god damned box.

So here I am, writing a novel in this journal and still about ready to 
bash my head into a cinder block wall, while 6 piss yellow CDs sit 
beside me with their cases, the box with the product key, and my Alpha 
Lambda Delta certificate. Hey, at least St. Vincent thinks I'm smart..

Moral of the story - Mircosoft really does suck. They suck more than 
anything has ever sucked before. This is it for me. *Debian Linux* IS 
going on this computer THIS WEEKEND. All I'm saying is that I sure as 
hell better not have homework because I must get it installed. I can't 
stand this anymore.
**