General Discussions

**Learning Newbie** · 02-01-2008, 07:48 PM

Another thread pointed out that SQL Server is the best product Microsoft has ever put out, and it made me think. That might be true, I think it gets my vote. From some of what I've heard, Vista seems to be their worst, but there are so many choices. Remember Microsoft Bob? Windows ME?

So what do you think is their best and worst software? I know you could ask that question for any company, but Microsoft is the Google of computers.

**jamestl2** · 02-01-2008, 08:04 PM

Best: I like the Xbox (360), it may not be the best piece of hardware out there, but it sure is fun to play.

Worst: Take your pick

Seriously though, I'd probably just choose to vote for either Internet Explorer or Outlook, looking back, I don't how I could ever use that browser or application.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-01-2008, 08:28 PM

Worst: As bad as ME was, I'd say FrontPage for spawning a legion of bad websites. It was so bad that I ended up gaining a sixth sense for detecting FP sites just by looking at them. A close second would be Microsoft mice. I don't know where they found the plastic for those things, but they're awful. I know you said software, but hardware deserves some mention.

Best: I've always felt that both Access and SQL Server were underrated, but the best product in my eyes is Windows Server 2003 Small Business Edition. It isn't meant for a Fortune 500 environment, but for the small businesses I deal with it's perfect. It's easy to configure, especially if you do it on a clone server, and being able to access all of the XP machines on it remotely is a major timesaver for me; I don't have to go all the way up to a client's location to fix an email issue or figure out why something isn't printing. I just do it from here.

Not only that, on days like today (4-6 inches of snowfall) people can work from home and not lose much in terms of productivity.

**ForrestCroce** · 02-01-2008, 09:57 PM

I've always liked Server 2003, too; even enough to run it on my laptop for years. XP isn't terribly unstable, but server was xp on steroids. I really like SQL Server 2008. Apart from everything else we've come to know and love, it supports geo-spacial data natively, and the client tool has intellisense and collapsible regions.

Great Plains is the worst I've used.