Windows PCS are like cars without tyres

Thank you for answering my question about DVR-SCAN ( www. snipca.com/37639) in Issue 602 (page 19). With your help I’ve now got this program working. I always enjoy reading the Best Free Software section and use many of these tools myself, but it got me wondering.

Not that long ago you could buy a PC that had all the tools you could generally want, provided by Microsoft and built to a high quality. These days, Microsoft has removed a lot of tools, even for everyday functions, and those that are included typically aren’t very good.

This is disappointing for a personal user, but with the increased awareness of cyber-security it’s also a nightmare in a business environment, where IT departments need to have Microsoft support and every program has to be vetted and accounted for.

In some cases, even with paid-for software, you can be blocked from using a program simply because it hasn’t been made by Microsoft, or is not officially supported by them. The problem with this is that the default alternative is either below par or missing entirely.

It seems that buying a Windows computer these days is like buying a car without any tyres. It’ll go, but doesn’t feel right and sooner or later you’ll have to pick up some additions which you thought should have been available to start with.

Meanwhile huge effort has been put into improving the appearance of the dashboard, even if you temporarily lose the steering wheel in the process.