Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!beartrk!cjp
From: cjp@beartrk.beartrack.com (CJ Pilzer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: All these Windows 3.0 questions ...
Summary: Pirating assumption may not be justified
Message-ID: <414@beartrk.beartrack.com>
Date: 1 Jul 90 06:44:21 GMT
References: <7356@ucrmath.ucr.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Bear Track Computer Co., Takoma Park, MD.
Lines: 30

In article <7356@ucrmath.ucr.edu>, lulu@ucrmath.ucr.edu (david lu) writes:
> 
> 	Regarding all the Windows 3.0 installation problems
> that has been posted on the net ..[deleted] ... Doesn't Microsoft 
> has a telephone support line for these problems? 
 [deleted]
> 	Or, could it be that all these people with problems
> never (gasp!) *bought* the program?
> 
MS does have a support line, but it is not toll free.  There is a long wait
for service because they are terribly overloaded.  Much of the overload
may be coming from people who did not *RTFM*, but also the documentation leaves
a little to be expected which one hopes will be imporved in the next edition
based on the questions asked in this flurry.  Also, it is impossible for any
company to check all the possible combinations of hardware and software that
will be met in the field.  For example, I have a Northgate 486 i25 which is
a machine that just came on the market in May.  Windows 3.0 kept crashing.
I did talk to MS on the Compuserve network where they maintain a support
service that will respond to requests in less than 24 hours.  They made
several suggestions; none of which helped.  Finally, someone else on the
net notified me that it was a problem of incompatibilty of the AMI bios
on my machine with Windows 3.0.  A call to Northgate got me new bios roms
the next day.  I would never have thought to call Northgate without the
suggestion on the net.

Well I guess I don't have to belabor this with many more examples of simular
nature.  I hope that I am helping to explain with out criticism of anyone
intended.

-- cj