Friday, September 27, 2013

Changes, Schmanges

Okay, how many you belong to a Yahoo group? How many of you use AOL software? Recently, they have both upgraded. I use both. Can’t say I’m happy with either one.

AOL switched their browser from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome. I made sure NOT to make it my home page, and to only have it affect my mail. Thank goodness I did, because when I upgraded I had no idea WHICH browser it was switching to. Only once I upgraded did I find out.

Opening e-mails is a pain now. I click on the “next” button, but if the e-mail has any links, I don’t get the “enable links” button unless I close the e-mail and re-open it. How is that better?

AOL said it’s faster. I open a news article and it locks everything up. How it that better?

I’m not putting the blame on my computer. With AOL 9.6, I may have had some problems, but nothing compared to what I’m getting now. This only reinforces my hatred for Chrome. And yes, I sent AOL feedback. We’ll see if they do anything.

As for Yahoo... Yes, they upgraded. For the most part I don’t have an issue. I’m not there a whole heck of a lot. The problem I have with them is through their Groups and getting messages through e-mails. Most of my groups are set to immediate e-mail. Ha! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen replies to e-mails come through before the original e-mail. Heck, even an e-mail I sent to a group last week has yet to show in my own e-mail. Kind of wonder when I’ll finally see it.

I did go to the site to offer my feedback, but I think they’re getting the message. LOTS of people are complaining - and I’m able to see the complaints.

Sometimes I wonder if these companies actually TEST their new software before spreading it out to the masses.

I’ll admit it, I hate change (especially when I think it’s unnecessary). It’s one of the reasons I hope I never have to lose Vista. The stuff that replaced it has not interested me in the least (and I’ve used Windows 7 and seen enough of Windows 8 to not even want to bother). Don’t even get me started on upgrading Word 2003. Does that make me a dinosaur? **ROAR**

So how do you feel about change? Has Yahoo or AOL made you crazy yet? Or do you use another browser/software that drives you just as batty?

Here’s hoping it’s not driving you too batty not to enjoy the upcoming weekend. Happy Friday!

 

Stacy

 

13 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

I like Firefox because it's stable but they update All. The. Time.

Re: Word
I updated to Word 2007 and I'm glad I did. There was a learning curve for a couple of weeks, but now it's second nature to me.

JeffO said...

I didn't even know AOL was still a thing! There's a hockey blog run by Yahoo that recently did some upgrades and revamps to the look and function of the site, and it's pretty horrible--the new background makes it hard to read, and the navigation is terrible. If you read an article and try to go back to the main page, it takes you to a generic Yahoo sports page instead of where you were. I'm not sure if that's what they intended or not, but you would think they would either fix it before it went live, or soon thereafter. It's been over a week now.

I use Firefox for my brower--Explorer is terrible and I've heard too many bad things about Chrome to trust it. Have a great weekend!

B.E. Sanderson said...

Exactly! Why do software people have to keep fixing what was never broken in the first place? I didn't upgrade from Windows 2000 until I had to get a new computer in 2010. And then I found a way to make it look like the old version. (I can't remember how or I'd tell you in case you ever *have to* upgrade.)

I'm a Firefox user, too. Maybe because they do upgrade all the time, it's easier to get used to the little changes. :shrug:

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - I've used Word 2010, but hate the wide menu bars. You'd think with more space, they would cram more icons, but no, they just made the icons bigger, too. I always have click and click and click to find what I want. I'll take a drop-down list ANY day over that.

Jeff - Oh yeah, AOL is still a thing. Unfortunately, I have a lot of history stored there. Whether or not I'll ever use it, who knows. I just like knowing I have it.

B.E. - I had to make Vista look like the old XP when I got it. Probably why I still like it. Don't know if Windows 8 can do it, but from the grumbles I've heard, doesn't appear likely.

Samantha MacDouglas said...

Stacy,

I don't do well with change. The past few years they've been "improving" the major freeway in Los Angeles. Every day something is different. Sometimes a road is 3 lanes, sometimes it's 1, sometimes you can turn left, sometimes you can't.

A few weekends ago, they closed the freeway overnight and shifted the lanes several feet to the right. I didn't realize and nearly drove into the center divider.

I'm sure someday I'll be happy about the end result, but I agree with you, change is hard!

Unknown said...

I switched to Chrome as soon as it came out. :) And before that I was on Firefox. Almost all viruses out there get in through backdoors in Internet Explorer, and now a couple in Firefox since it's been out so long. But Chrome was pretty well-designed, and they make it hard to shove stuff through, unless it's not relying on what browser you use (but you have to be downloading things anyway for this to happen).

Chrome is faster. It's having problems because you're on Vista. I cannot stomach the thought of moving to Windows 8, either, but Windows 7 isn't so much different from Vista (except that it runs slower). But then I'm switching to Linux soon, anyway, with an emulator for compatibility. As for word processors, I always use Open Office, whichever version is most updated. It doesn't plug unnecessary crud into your document for you like Word does.

But then, I married a computer programmer. :D

Stacy McKitrick said...

Samantha - I think there's always an on-going road project going on I-75. I-70, too. So the change would be NO project, right? In that case, I could handle the change. Haha!

Laura - I don't do random downloading, and if I have to download, it's from a site my husband has approved (because he's a computer programmer, too!).

I don't have any problems with IE, though, so I'll stick with it.

Jennette Marie Powell said...

Never used AOL, but with you 100% on Yahoo groups. What were they thinking?! I've been using Chrome for a couple of years - much faster than Firefox, and works better with newer websites than IE, though IE's a lot better than it used to be.

Anne Gallagher said...

When we bought my daughter her laptop for her birthday, I thought it would help me as I could now write where ever I wanted and not be stuck downstairs at the desk top.

Of course it was loaded with Windows 7 and I had no clue where to find anything. I've been using 2003 forever. Believe it or not, I found a 2003 disc at the Goodwill for .79 cents so I bought it and uploaded it. It works great and I can be anywhere in the house to work now.

Yes, I hate change.

Michael Seese said...

My wife has used AOHell for years. I run screaming from it. Being a techie, I have a share email program to download email to my PC. Sure, I can't access my email from anywhere. But I can work offline.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jennette - When I went to the feedback place at Yahoo and clicked on Group Emails, you should have seen the "screaming" that was going on. What were they thinking, indeed?

Anne - Sometimes the older software is the best! I say keep it simple!

Michael - AOL isn't THAT bad! But I've had my e-mail address for too long to go and change it now.

The Happy Whisk said...

I dislike when they fix things that aren't broken. Though change on the whole, I don't mind, just stop screwing with things that don't need messed with.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Ivy - This is what I hate: I've become accustomed to something where I don't have to think to use it. Then it changes and my efficiency tanks. I hate being inefficient and I just don't have the patience to learn all over again.