Whether Microsoft Vista is a decent operating system or not, the perception is that it is difficult to upgrade to, expensive to outfit, annoying with its security features, still incompatible with many applications and drivers, and slower than XP. All this is sending a strong message through the entire technical community. For the number of technical professionals that like the new OS, you will find many more that want nothing to do with it. To add to this perception, most businesses and consumers simply don’t want to spend the money… and why should they. The Windows XP operating system does everything most people and companies need it to do. Why would anyone upgrade then? Because Microsoft wants to make more money and its operating systems are one of its primary sources of revenue growth.
Unfortunately, you can only do so much with an operating system before it becomes “overkill” for your daily requirements. It seems that Vista has reached this level making it rather irrelevant in terms of the need for its implementation. Yet, the most basic reason for all of this negative feeling towards Vista is, as Theresa Poletti demonstrates in her article below, people are simply tired of uprooting the foundations of their computer systems for a new operating system when everything is working just fine.
Maybe if Microsoft made their upgrades far less expensive without the need for new hardware while increasing the simplicity of the installation process like Mac’s OS-X, we wouldn’t be seeing such a response to their latest OS. Yet, this hasn’t happened and it is doubtful it ever will.
As much as I like developing with Microsoft products, the truth of the matter is they are making it increasingly difficult for technical professionals, end-users, and companies alike to maintain any kind of loyalty to a company that seemingly responds so poorly to an increasingly disgruntled customer base.
THERESE POLETTI’S TECH TALES
Clamoring for Microsoft to keep XP alive
Commentary: Why not kill Vista instead of Windows XP?
By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch
Last update: 12:01 a.m. EDT May 8, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — After being spurned by Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer surely has too many other problems right now to ever listen to the following suggestion.
Moreover, there is not a chance it will ever happen, not after all the billions of dollars the software giant’s probably poured into marketing and developing what may be its most unpopular operating system, Windows Vista.
But in the wishful thinking/fantasy department, I think Microsoft Corporation should euthanize Vista and write it off as a big mistake. Many consumers looking for a new computer also may prefer my idea. Because after June 30, Microsoft will stop most sales of its seemingly more successful operating system, Windows XP.
I am not alone in my lunacy. A group has formed to try to save Windows XP on the technology news site InfoWorld. (OK, the petition only has almost 194,000 signatures, but it legitimizes the notion that not everyone wants Vista.) The petitioners want Microsoft to keep selling Windows XP indefinitely — which is asking a lot, but compared with the alternative is understandable. See the petition.
Even the big PC makers seem to be more receptive to the outcry than Microsoft. Dell Inc. DELL and Lenovo are all offering consumers a way to purchase a PC or a notebook computer with the last version of XP via a so-called downgrade. This basically means you are paying for Vista and getting the discs, along with the option of upgrading to Vista anytime in the future.
Go here to read rest of article…
