Oh, really?
by Jeremy on Jun.02, 2008, under Uncategorized
From ZDNet, it looks like Microsoft is preparing what they call a “don’t blame Windows” tool. What I found incredibly interesting is the description on what the tool does.
Windows Advisor is an easy-to-use self-help tool that notifies users about problems on their PCs and helps fix them. Windows Advisor scans users’ PCs continuously, notifies them about important issues, and, when possible, suggests easy fix solutions. The program also provides users with self-help solutions, including a 1-click checkup function that enables them to check their PCs whenever they like; tips and tutorials that teach users how to perform certain actions on their PCs; and a toolbox that concentrates the important tools that are found in the operating system into one easy-to-find location.
I feel like I’ve heard of something like this before … but, I can’t for the life of me remember where …
$5 Million seems a lot smaller, now that Microsoft has stepped into this particular game. Only, Microsoft has a much wider scope in mind: “Windows”
I should’ve expected something like this would happen over a year ago. Of course, I also didn’t expect I’d be more successful now. Only … I don’t have VCs to answer to. Wink, wink.
June 2nd, 2008 on 11:32 am
If history teaches anything it’s that tools like the one you can’t seem to remember will be more needed than ever. Microsoft already has built in troubleshooting guides in their operating systems (and yes, I use the term loosely). Have you ever tried using one of those things?
Anybody who has any technical where-with-all will have the problem fixed on their own in half the time if they are at all familiar with the problem. If they are not they will still get further faster without it. At best, I’ve seen tech savvy people use it for a quick lap manual. Non-technical people I’ve watched became simply lost in a matter of seconds.
Expect a hearty API to this thing and hope, for their benefit, that the forgotten tap into it quickly and intelligently.