stoneunhinged

Sucks!

OK, maybe it doesn’t comletely suck, but this computer is new.

It looks good, I’ll give it that.  It boots quicker than XP.  I can all my old games (which I’m saving for another post).

But:

(And this is important)

I have spent at least five hours trying to install my printer, and it still doesn’t work.

I repeat:  I can run old video games.  But I cannot print.

You see, the beauty of today’s technology is supposed to be:  I buy a new USB printer, plug it in, and Windows says, “Hey, Jeff, I see a new printer there…let me get it working for you, buddy!”  That’s the whole point of Windows these days.  If I wanted to play IT expert and mess around with registries and all sorts of binary technical stuff then I would run Linux.  And the point of a new Windows system should be that it is an improvement.  Right?

This problem is not unique to me:  Google turns up many websites in which others complain about the problem–same error messages and everything–but I’ve yet to find a solution that actually works.

What is the problem, exactly?  I cannot install a printer driver.  It simply won’t install.  I poke and prod and try tricks and bribes and it simply won’t install!  Vista says, “That printer drive won’t install, buddy!  You’re an idiot to keep trying!  Wait about six months and Brother might have found a solution.  Go to their web site in six months and I bet you’ll be able to do something.  Otherwise, piss off!”

One friend helpfully points out that with the thousands and thousands of peripherals out there these days—all cheap and probably not earning the companies any money (they make it on supplies like toner cartridges)—why bother to offer support (like a printer driver that will install in Vista)?  And he has a point.

Yes, he has a point.

Vista!

jj