Is Microsoft Changing Its Error Messages "Lifestyle" from Cryptic to Funny?

You might find it hard to believe, but Microsoft is right on track to completely overhaul its "lifestyle" built around the error messages integrated by default into its software products. I know that any user in his right mind would be heedful of news that the Redmond company might actually manage to drop the machine cryptic error messages for something a tad more human oriented. Still, while Microsoft has not announced such a scenario, and a potential strategy in this aspect has to be taken with a grain of salt, the fact of the matter is that one company initiative is pointing in this direction. If you are still - not without a healthy dose of circumspection - exercising prudence as to such a possibility then simply click the thumbnail to the left.

This is the new wave of Microsoft error messages. "Good job - you broke Photosynth! Okay, it wasn't your fault. We'd love to tell you more, but frankly, we're stumped. It could be cause by something incredibly minor, and you'll be able to continue with whatever else you were doing, or maybe Photosynth will crash and burn, perhaps even taking this instance of IE with it. Either way, we're sorry you were inconvenienced," reads the error message generated by a crash of Microsoft's Photosynth and the new project involving 3D imagery of the Endeavour shuttle on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

James Senior, Vista Technical Specialist Microsoft UK, explained how he managed to generate the error message. "I was playing around with the new image library of the space shuttle when I broke Photosynth. I got a javascript popup telling me about my faux-pas and instead of just dismissing the error without reading it, for the first time in my life I read an error message. Why? because it was human and funny too - it was like the developer was reaching out to me and giving me a personal experience. It's a nice touch. I came away from the crash feeling weird - not the normal frustration but an acceptance that, ok, we're human and humans make mistakes," Senior stated.

Still, let's be honest. Would you like your $399 copy of Windows Vista Ultimate telling you: "Good job - YOU broke Windows Vista Ultimate! NO! Windows Vista wasn't broke to begin with! Okay, it wasn't your fault. Just go outside and play and restrain from ever using a computer again." Maybe Microsoft will not dump the traditional error messages just yet. Or perhaps with Windows Seven, the classic line could be replaced with a more user friendly approach.