DMLGroup has been providing specific clients and projects technical support on some of our software and custom applications. The tech support experience is one that almost every large company has to provide -- some enjoy it and others disdain it. Part of that reaction is due to the variety of questions posed and the trouble folks can find on their own. (We have found that there really are dumb questions).  In honor to all those that provide tech support - in any work environment - the following software tech support scenario is provided for your enjoyment. The application is:

GirlFriendPlus 1.0

Last year, my friend upgraded his GirlFriend 3.1 software to GirlFriendPlus 1.0 (marketing name: Fiancée 1.0). Just recently he upgraded Fiancée 1.0 to Wife 1.0 and it's a memory hogger, it has taken all his space; and Wife 1.0 must be running before he can do anything. Although he did not ask for it, Wife 1.0 came with Plug-Ins such as MotherInLaw and BrotherInLaw. Given this situation he has experienced, I am requesting features for my next upgrade.

Some features I'd like to see in the upcoming GirlFriend 4.0...

• A "Don't remind me again" button
• Minimize button
• Shutdown feature
• Renew cache resources subroutine
• An install shield feature so that GirlFriend 4.0 can be completely uninstalled if so desired (so you don't lose cache and objects).

I tried running GirlFriend 2.0 with GirlFriend 1.0 still installed, however, they both used the same I/O port and conflicted. Then I tried to uninstall GirlFriend 1.0 but it didn't have an uninstall program. I tried to uninstall it by hand; but it put files in my system directory. Another thing that is very concerning with all versions of GirlFriend that I've used is that it is totally "object oriented" and the only supported hardware requires gold plated contacts. Cache and resource logs are systematically deleted each maintenance cycle.

***** BUG WARNING ********

Wife 1.0 has an undocumented bug. If you try to install Mistress 1.1 before uninstalling Wife 1.0, be aware that Wife 1.0 will delete MSMoney files before doing the uninstall itself. Then Mistress 1.1 will refuse to install, claiming insufficient resources. 

Tech Support Note:  Tech Support does not recommend any version of Mistress (installed, demoed, downloaded) or similar entertainment applications, as they are completely open source and subject to a variety of viruses, trojans, as well as system crashes – cache deletion and memory leaks are only two of the millions of symptoms . The sanctity of the operating environment is threatened by such and as it states in the ULA “use at your own peril”.

NOTE:  Mistress (any version) or similar virtual entertainment applications are not WYSIWYG.