Vista: Disavowed or Disenchanted?
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News Commentary. My eWEEK colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols claims that "Vista is pure misery" and that Microsoft has essentially "disavowed" the operating system. Really? |
SJVN lives and breathes Linux. He is an unabashed Linux fanatic who wears his pro-Linux/anti-Windows position like the Congressional Medal of Honor. He's quick to raze but not to praise Windows. Can his Vista bashing commentary truly be taken seriously? Yes, and no.
Vista is a kind of leprosy, within Microsoft. Pretty much everyone associated with the operating system's launch is infected and avoided. Vista is no path for Microsoft career advancement. Maybe SJVN is right about the disavowed but not who they are. Microsoft has disavowed the people responsible for Vista more than the operating system itself. There are few even modestly high-level people responsible for Vista's development that either haven't left the Windows group or the company.
In the annals of Microsoft history, perhaps only Bob was as much a marketing disaster as Vista. Microsoft chucked Bob—fast—but not Vista. The upper management may be disenchanted with Vista's launch and market reception and perception, but not enough to disavow the operating system.
Rather, Vista is being closely aligned with Windows Live, as will be its successor. Microsoft set the Windows plus Live strategy in motion with MSN rebranding in November 2005. There was something eerily prophetic about the rebranding. Microsoft decided that its MSN services would benefit more from being associated with the stronger Windows brand. Microsoft had yet to delay Vista's launch, nor was there yet indications that the marketing efforts or supporting Windows ecosystem would derail.
More than two years later, roles are somewhat reversed. Microsoft executives see Windows Live as the brand for pulling along Vista. Who could have guessed? The approach is sensible and actually resonates well with market transitions. Windows' importance is diminishing, as people do more online. Informational relevance is shifting away from the desktop to the Net and devices that easily connect to it.
Yesterday, I drove with friends to Los Angeles, where my daughter's choir performed. The driver, a San Diego native, was uncertain about the last 20 miles of the trip. I got out my AT&T Tilt, which runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and launched the TeleNav GPS service. I had downloaded the software and signed up for the service but hadn't set up or used it. Short process later, we were watching real-time graphic images of our location and updated information on the route to our destination. Now that's software as a service—no Vista, but still Windows.
The future is software plus hardware plus services.
Wow, When, Why
Windows Vista's one year anniversary is Wednesday. Microsoft released the software to everybody on Jan. 30, 2007. A day earlier, I attended a launch gala for Vista and Office 2007 in New York. Yesterday, a friend said that he would be taking his son to see Angels & Airwaves when they come to San Diego in March. I told him about the band's performance during Windows Vista's launch gala a year ago.
Microsoft made big marketing "wow" noise about Vista, but the operating system didn't get the kind of anticipated response. Reviews were decidedly unenthusiastic, and persistent applications and hardware driver compatibility problems dogged early adopters.
I'm already on record stating that a year later Vista is much better when current updates are installed. Right now, I've got Vista running on a Lenovo ThinkPad T60p with 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 100GB hard drive (but with about 86.8GB available to the user), 15.4-inch widescreen display with optimum resolution of 1680 x 1050, 256MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5250 graphics processor (dedicated RAM and 767MB shared with the system memory), multi-DVD recorder, 802.11 a/b/g wireless, Bluetooth and biometric reader. In late November, I reinstalled Vista and let Windows Update find all the drivers. The process was surprisingly smooth.
My Windows Vista satisfaction: Easily four stars. The operating system has never crashed on the T60p. But not everyone shares my opinion, and Microsoft Watch commenters are evidence enough of that.
Last night, I drove my daughter and some of her friends to the movies. A 17-year-old asked, "Have you used Vista?" I raised an eyebrow. "It sucks," he asserted. "Have you seen it?" I asked. The teen has a Vista notebook at home.
Now contrast the one teen's reaction to another's. A 16-year-old teen from Australia occasionally IMs me about technology stuff. This teen is excited to get Windows Vista, perhaps as soon as Service Pack 1 releases (the dad wants to wait until then to buy a new computer).
Teens are remarkably good technology judges because they are digital natives. They've grown up with Windows, mobile phones and the Internet. I'm a digital resident alien, meaning that I didn't grow up with the stuff but later adapted to it. Older folks, like my mom, are digital immigrants. Most technology newer than microwaves overwhelms them. They will never be part of the digital culture—the digital lifestyle. They are foreigners.
I've randomly talked to around 50 teens about Windows Vista. Not one of them that actually had used Vista praised it. Most of them expressed a ho-hum attitude about the operating system. I found lots of interest in Macs, however. These kids are the future shapers of business. Enterprises won't change course because of them today, but almost certainly five years from now when the teens massively move into the workplace.
Windows Vista + Windows Live
My, arguably anecdotal, Vista research reveals one interesting trend; Many teens are interested in what they do around Windows, and Vista at least as much as XP. Digital natives are constantly connected, whether by PC, mobile phone or game console. They easily socialize online and they are more comfortable using online applications.
Enterprises would be wise to study digital natives before they dominate the workplace. For example, in October, Gartner said digital natives would be instrumental in enterprise social software marketing growth—compound annual revenue growth of 41.7 percent through 2011. If there was a bell curve for enterprise employees, digital resident aliens would round out the shape, for now.
Digital natives are quicker to collaborate online and they spend loads of their time there. Microsoft's increased emphasis on Windows Live is sensible, then, as is the marketing and product/services tie-in to the operating system. The potential benefits are much broader than digital natives because they are purchase influencers, now. How many families do you know where the most computer capable person is a kid?
The Windows Vista + Windows Live strategy probably won't cure the Vista leprosy inside Microsoft. But the people working on Windows Seven need to be careful not to catch that disease. They will be under extreme pressure to deliver a great product.
Meanwhile, the Vista brand is a mess. I strongly contend that there's nothing wrong with Vista as a product. The user experience was broken, but Microsoft has mostly fixed that through Windows Update.
What's really missing: Native applications. Native means applications that tap into some of the Vista plumbing, like Windows Presentation Foundation or search. The biggest indictment against Vista is the lack of real applications. I see four basic reasons for this situation:
- Web 2.0 platform popularity among developers
- Windows XP ecosystem maturity compared to Vista
- Complexity associated with Vista architectural changes
- Negative perceptions about the new operating system
SJVN is right about the disavowing but not who's doing it. The way I see it, many developers have disavowed Windows Vista. Microsoft is going to have to put up to keep up. Live can't just be services running on or extending the Windows platform. Live products have to tap into Vista plumbing and be the operating system's showcase applications and services. If Windows Vista + Windows Live is only about marketing, the strategy will fumble in the present but perhaps succeed with the next operating system.
Microsoft can't move fast enough. Can you say, "Internet time?"
Comments (19)
It just seems that Vista isn't so much "rejected" as it is "ignored".
I think of Vista more and more as a stepping stone to a longer-term goal for Microsoft... Breaking the XP monopoly on applications.
-Vista is more secure than XP
-Vista pre-installs will dilute the marketplace.
Vista in itself is nothing special. But it's part of the larger goal to dilute the XP market, so that one day XP may lose its significance...
Posted by ZzarkLinux | January 28, 2008 8:21 PM
Sounds like on "Casual Friday" in Redmond the Vista crew has to wear sackcloth and ashes instead of designer jeans. It's very interesting that you state many Vista staffers are out the door.
Posted by mgo | January 28, 2008 8:35 PM
Spot On in so many ways!
It will get there. When enough "Vista mass" is reached the applications that reflect its strengths will emerge. Rich Internet Applications using secure web services will quickly change the way distributed applications are built and used. Browser based applications will slowly give way to a richer and more compelling set of user experiences.
What many now see at work, they rarely see reflected in our industry's press. Our press focuses on the single user and it doesn't speak to the larger truth that exists for so many in business.
I am speaking to the increasing number of small and medium sized businesses that already make use of well integrated hardware + software + services.
Hosted Exchange and Communicator, well integrated Sharepoint services, baked in reporting services as web-parts and controls extending business intelligence and reporting into applications, which deliver visual business information as easy to consume products... these all serve as examples that well illustrate what digital natives use every work day. Since each of these is securely accessible over the public networks and Internet, they have changed how people live and work and while too few businesses use these integrated services now, that will quickly change.
We have been building and hosting this combination of services for years - nearly 10 now, and as compelling as Vista and the new Office can be on their own, one would likely gain a greater appreciation for them when they are viewed together and connected to the services I have described. When delivered as part of turn-key services that add hardware, managed networks and support, it makes for a powerful set of tools.
This is the Vista we see and use and it is a very different perspective and presents a very different view of the value inherent to the new operating system.
Our press has to look past the desktop and equally, past "Live" - Windows Live is simply a reflection of its bigger and more agile older brother. Namely, all that is possible within the enterprise, but too hard to roll out quickly at that level and for now, what has been best executed in the SMB space. Vista's growth has been from the middle out [or up and down, depending from one's perspective]. As a client, it has been an amazingly capable, and most crtical component.
Posted by H3 | January 28, 2008 10:33 PM
well, i'm a windows proponent and a reseller. i've probably sold a hundred copies of xp. i've sold zero copies of vista. i sold 3 notebooks with vista, made the user use vista. all 3 now have xp, they all hated vista. i've been a beta member since win 95, and have always used the latest version of windows. not this time. it does suck.
here are some reasons i refuse to use it.
the search sucks. if i want to find a jpg, it will find it. but hell, i know where those are. i can't find the windows files i need.
used to be able to right click on a folder to search it. now, i have to open it, then it rarely finds what i want.
there are no file size totals in the status bar. it shows the number of files, but not the total bytes. (that must have been hard to code in.)
the entire line get the focus when clicking in an explorer window. it's annoying, because i don't even want t select a file, just give the window the focus.
here are some more:
1. forced to wait for performance test on first boot
2. forced to defrag all drives, unless command line used; No GUI
3. cannot drag toolbar from taskbar to desktop
4. cannot put menu bar on same line as toolbar in windows mail or internet explorer
5. when autohide is selected, cannot drag shortcut to taskbar without dragging it over start button area
6. takes more clicks to change time
7. take more clicks to update time
8. can’t right click on network icon to get properties for status or repair
9. can’t change attachment/watched column widths in windows mail
10. column dividers are only 1 pixel wide
11. windows mail watched messages doesn’t work
and they refuse to fix it.
Posted by gary | January 29, 2008 12:05 AM
forgot one. the ui is slow. i have an nvidia 8800gt with 512mb, a quad core phenom and 4 gb of ram.
drag a window byt the title bar around the screen, it's choppy as hell. try it on xp, smooth as hell.
this is even with aero basic.
Posted by gary | January 29, 2008 12:08 AM
Quotes by Joe;
"My eWEEK colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols claims that "Vista is pure misery" and that Microsoft has essentially "disavowed" the operating system. Really?
SJVN lives and breathes Linux. He is an unabashed Linux fanatic who wears his pro-Linux/anti-Windows position like the Congressional Medal of Honor. He's quick to raze but not to praise Windows."
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I remember reading some of SJVN articles when he first started trying GNU/Linux, as he was a Windows user, most likely XP. The thing that impressed me about him, was that he was keen on learning new things.
What I would say about SJVN and almost all other GNU/Linux users, is that they were, or are still, to some extent also Windows users. Therefore, they know both operating systems, and the strengths and weaknesses of both. This I know also as I have used both, and regularly fix windows computers. Now if you have only used Windows, you really are not in a good position to judge another OS, or even the judgement of SJVN.
Joe, I know you have some experience with Mac OS/X, but I have yet to see you talk about any first hand experience with any GNU/Linux distro. Myself, I have little experience with Mac OS/X, except for what I read about it, and my friend who converted over from XP and now hates all things Microsoft. I find myself in the ackward position to have to occasionally stick up for Bill Gates with my Machead friend. So please do not take this wrong, but getting some Linux experience would be a good thing for someone writting an article such as yours. Then, and maybe only then, you might be able to see why SJVN is, as you put it, an "unabashed Linux fanatic who wears his pro-Linux/anti-Windows position like the Congressional Medal of Honor."
Then again, maybe I am just tired of watching all the computers coming in the door with more windows malware on them for cleaning. It could be that, or just the software glitches of xp and vista when MS updates them and they stop booting up, or just crash.
Or maybe like SJVN, I like the fact (1.) that Linux so far has never ever crashed on me. (2) it has never been infected with malware, of any sort. (3) no need to spend time scanning for Malware, ah the endless scans of windows virus programs. Yes can install virus scanning programs in linux that scan your email so you don't pass on a windows virus to a windows email reciepent. (4) no reason to defrag in linux (5) stable like rock solid, never crashed on me, even makes XP look unstable, and that was MS best. (5) I have run linux under heavy load of programs for weeks on end without ever turning the machine off, and it run just as fast as when I first turned it on. The same treatment with XP on the same machine, I would be lucky to be able to reboot after 3 days. (6) seldom ever having to reboot after installing software or patches in linux. (7) the price, its free, and better than Windows (8) the licence, I can put it on as many computers as I want to. (9) no activation or serial number pains. (9) Big Brother Bill Gates is not looking over my shoulder with all his spyware, DRM, and WGA thats installed in ViSta. (10) GNU/Linux will run circles around the performance of Vista. (11) not only is GNU/Linux free for most users, but so is the software for it, like OpenOffice for example. (12) I like GNU/Linux community distro's that make "live cd's," as these can be freely downloaded, and tested to see if you like them, and if they work with your computer hardware, before you install them.
Posted by chips | January 29, 2008 12:31 AM
Vista is a dead horse, so why do so many people insist on flogging it? Just erase it from your hard drive and use Linux. If you must use Windows, well I guess you'll have to stick with XP. But Vista has no place on your PC.
The fact that Micro$oft's own people have found that being connected with Vista is akin to having a disease should tell us something.
Posted by Maddog | January 29, 2008 4:56 AM
The comparisons with Bob are a little unfair on Bob. The customer feedback shows that for the people that Bob were targetted at - who have a genuine fear of the everyday WIMP interface - it was ideal. These people *loved* Bob. It allowed them to work productively with a computer for the first time. Of course it was hounded out of the market by precisely the distro-loving crowd at the other end of the bell curve. Sadly that effort poisoned the well for continued efforts in that direction.
Vista on the other hand, has no natural domain of users. Microsoft cannot articulate to me, as a seasoned Windows software veteran (and who would like a no-brainer user interface) what the value proposition is for me over XP.
Posted by Mike | January 29, 2008 5:03 AM
I think Windows Millenium is Microsoft's worst software ever!
Posted by Nik | January 29, 2008 6:53 AM
gary :"forgot one. the ui is slow. i have an nvidia 8800gt with 512mb, a quad core phenom and 4 gb of ram."
I am not by any means a Vista fan, but if your ui is slow and windows choppy when moved with that hardware, something's not right. I have an ATI x1300 with 512mb, an AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 3800+ and 2gb system RAM. Not cutting edge, and the Vista UI is absolutely gorgeous and smooth as silk.
Do you have this driver installed?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_169.25_whql.html
nVidia released it 12/20/2007.
Posted by Tom Berber | January 29, 2008 8:46 AM
What the heck is "Windows Live" and how will it save Windows Vista?
I ask this question because in my various wanderings around the internet I have never read on any web site, "Hey! You must go to (or get?) Windows Live to access (or use?) this really great content (or features/applications?)!"
As a brand, if there is a Windows Live, it is living a rather existential existence on the web.
And, as far as helping Vista, I'd say it's more like two drowning people holding on to each other.
Posted by Just-a-drone | January 29, 2008 9:42 AM
Windows Live apps are just a bunch of Windows apps that MS isn't baking into the OS. Probably hoping not to rile up the anti-trust sentiment. Nothing in there to write home about.
Windows Live Hotmail is a nice internet email web app. It's a bit less cluttered than Yahoo mail.
Posted by Tom Berber | January 29, 2008 11:40 AM
Vista's birth was long and difficult, and the MSFT employees associated with the project(s) who weren't disciplined or berated, were demoralized by the process. Is it any wonder that many want nothing to do with it today?
Posted by George | January 29, 2008 3:37 PM
"Now contrast the one teen's reaction to another's. A 16-year-old teen from Australia occasionally IMs me about technology stuff. This teen is excited to get Windows Vista, perhaps as soon as Service Pack 1 releases (the dad wants to wait until then to buy a new computer)."
THATS ME! :D :D :D
Posted by puppet | January 29, 2008 9:22 PM
Wow.. some of you are clueless.. like "gary"... if dragging a window in vista with your 8800 is choppy and your reaction is to blame vista, then you are truely clueless about computers.
You can right click on a folder in windows explorer and search... wow, have you even used the product?
Vista run flawlessly without crashes. Learn how to install software/drivers/OS properly on your systems or if you are clueless, pay someone who knows how to do it... seriously.
Posted by Frank | January 30, 2008 9:26 AM
With all the hand ringing about Vista and MS management I wonder when a business case will be created about the whole affair.
Vista is the first real product to be created after Bill has taken his hands of the wheel of MS. Another question would be how were the teams formed for the project? Was the development done in the US or outsourced internally or externally to South Asia?
Lot's of questions just begging to be answered.
Posted by Wondering | January 30, 2008 5:01 PM
Vista who?
I'm a software developer, I know a plenty of other developers. Most of us are working on Web apps, only a few are still maintaining existing Windows desktop products. I don't know *anyone* creating new desktop apps for Windows. Three years ago those stats were almost completely reversed.
So don't hold your breath for those shiny, new apps that tap into Vista's plumbing. A few may make it to market, but most software developers have moved on to more fertile pastures.
I suspect that the "window" is closing for Windows. MS may get a bump here or there for a new product release, but its days of ruling the desktop are coming to an end quickly. I can foresee a day in the not-so-distant future where Windows will just be the default for anyone not informed enough to make a choice on their own. Kind of like people living in Miami who wind up with undercoats on their cars.
Posted by ethermeme | January 31, 2008 5:48 PM
The system specs you just quoted, 2 Gig DDR ram, 2GHz core 2 duo processsor, 256 mv video chipset... Whatever. Those system specs would run Windows XP 4 times over. You have 4 times the hardware, but you are not 4 times more productive. Your system is not running 4 times faster. It is not doing 4 times more work. I doubt your user experience is 4 times better. Personally, I think we need it about as much as we need dancing hamsters and flames slowing down web pages.
System requirements should not be increasing at a faster rate than system hardware. It is a step in the wrong direction, and so it the whole vista fiasco. Vista was designed by a committee that has lost sight of the user. It is not progress, it is a big money grab.
Posted by Michael | February 1, 2008 1:04 PM
Want my thoughts???
Why make a new OS when you cant get the one you have right
why dont they fix or improve what you allready have instead of moving on to a new OS like Vista
the reason???MONEY
they made a new OS so u have to buy it MONEY MONEY MONEY
Fix what u have first b 4 moving on
Posted by HAWKFLYERS | February 18, 2008 12:48 AM