OK, Rant time, and I doubt it’s even going to be a humorous one.  As many of you know, I work for a company that installs and supports POS equipment.  I was at a site today installing 3 new systems, as they had upgraded and the old systems were just not powerful enough to run the software.

Now, before I go further, please know that the software is Microsoft’s Retail Management System.  Yeah, you can already see where this is going.

Now, we are a Partner member with Microsoft (like that means jack.) and the customer has been using Microsoft RMS for around 4 years or more now.

Before going into this, I knew I was going to have issues with the activation of the software.  I dug around on the partner boards and did some google-fu, but guess what.  I could never find a way to move or transfer the activation from one PC to another.  No big deal, just reactivate it.

Now I get on site, and started working on the registers one at a time.  I get them up and running with no issues, up to the point of activating the software.  It fails. I then go the telephone route and proceed to activate it that way.  It fails.  It switches me over to a live person, and then they start asking me if this was a first time installation, how many machines it’s installed on (it’s 1, as it’s a per system license) why i’m reinstalling it, once again how many systems it’s intalled on, and then they read off the activation key….

For Windows XP.

Mind you, this is the Office2007 and RMS activation line.

So, I read off the friggin 59 number activation code..for the 3rd damn time, and they finally give me a correct activation code.

Then I ask, if there’s a direct line or can they reset these licenses as I have 2 more systems I have to do, and they basically tell me to go screw a goat.  OK, maybe not, but they tell me I have to go through the whole IVR steps again with each other PC.

This is friggin’ ridiculous!  This customer has paid a ton of money on the friggin system, and on Microsofts crappy OS, and then alot for each lane license for RMS.  Not to mention what WE pay for yearly support and royalties etc to Microsoft.  And here I am, having to prove to microsoft that i’m not a damn criminal installing their precious software.

It took me 20 min to install each PC and get them up and running, and 30 min on the phone trying to get activation codes from good old Microsoft.  I’m half tempted to send the SOB’s a bill for my time (at $150 an hour, times two hours), since they wasted an hour and a half of it, for installing their damn software LEGALLY!

Now anyone who deals with Microsoft will probably read this and go, “Yeah, what’s the problem?”

And my reply to them would be, if you can’t see the problem, then maybe you need to step back for a minute and re-read this whole thing.  I KNOW that Microsoft is going to do this, but it pisses me off every time, as we’re sinking THOUSANDS of dollars into microsoft and this is the treatment we get.

I know it’s not going to change, but dammit, I just had to bitch for a while.

Back to your scheduled program…

Baxter had his first sparring match/Tournament tonight, and he won, and got first place!

HUZZAH BAXTER!

Here’s a pic of the wonder warrior, and there is more in the Gallery of his conquest.

Whoo-hoo! After watching this, all I need to do is buy one of these (Click here), and I will begin my domination of the human race! {Insert evil laugh here}