I’ve been developing software for Microsoft platforms since 1990. I’ve been a user of Microsoft development environments since 1993. I’ve also been a dedicated Microsoft customer: I’ve used Windows at home and at work during that whole time. I have friends that work for Microsoft. Ok, ok, I admit it – for a long time, I loved Microsoft.

But things are changing. My switch from ASP.NET to Rails is one example of how Microsoft no longer has a stranglehold on my loyalties anymore. How did this happen? How did it happen to me, a devoted follower for so long, and why are so many other Microsoft developers turning away at the same time as me?

First, and in a word, spyware. Why has spyware tainted the reputation of the internet for so long? Because of IE. IE has outrageous security holes that allow ActiveX components to install a few strings into the Windows Registry causing IE to totally trust the ActiveX component and let it ruin the user’s computer. Literally. We all know someone who’s had spyware almost totally take over their machines – slow-running hard drive, popups everywhere. Remember, Windows 95/98/98SE/Me/XP Home all run in “administrator” mode by default, and IE 6’s default security level (“Medium”) allows bad stuff to download and install themselves.

And what has Microsoft done in the past 3 years to help people who are using Microsoft operating systems and using Internet Explorer? Nothing. That’s right. NOTHING. Not even a simple patch to bump up the “Internet Security Zone” setting. Microsoft has not claimed any responsibility, never even attempted to say “we care about our customers.” What do they say? “Wait until IE7 sometime in 2006”, or even better “You need to upgrade to Vista sometime in 2006”.

Second, they don’t care about small development shops anymore. Visual Studio 2005, the Greatest Software Environment Ever (according to them), absolutely SUCKS for professional developers who don’t want to shell out $10K for an IDE. Without Team Foundation Server, you don’t get unit testing support, you don’t get a new source control system (you’re still stuck with SourceSafe), etc. Not including unit testing support in every version of their IDE shows the growing stupidity in Redmond. Unit testing is not something only big corporations do, it’s something every individual developer – including non-professionals like students – should do! Fact is, if you’re a one-to-ten person company, Microsoft couldn’t care less about you.

Third, they don’t understand how to convince people that their products are good. I know that Vista is going to suck because they’re gearing up their biggest marketing push ever to try to convince people that it’s good. You know why I switched to FireFox? Because, #1, it doesn’t allow spyware, but #2, it’s good! It’s really good! When was the last time I used a Microsoft product and said, hey, this is really good? I can’t remember. Word 6.0 maybe? And that was a long time ago.

Lastly, they don’t make things simple. As a career client applications developer, I’ve often wanted to get into the website-building business. But ASP pages sucked. It wasn’t simple, it wasn’t easy, and I blamed myself for not being smart enough to figure out why it seemed so hard. ASP.NET promised a new world, and you know what, I still hated it. God help me get a simple datagrid working in a production environment. If the IDE couldn’t do something for me, I was often lost.

And now? I started using rails with Notepad, and about two hours later I had a simple web site working. I had never used Ruby before, I had never deployed a “real” website before (unlike Brian), and I had never managed a database before. I then switched from Notepad to Scite, downloaded MySQL, and had my first public website up and working in two weeks. All for free. Thanks Microsoft, but I’ll take my $10K and spend it on something else.

I still use Microsoft software at home and at work. I still think maybe some cool things can be done with .Net and Windows apps. But at the rate Microsoft is going, things are going to get worse for Microsofties before they get any better. If they ever do.