I think efficiency of an SP release, really is a measure of where they draw the line on the number and severity of the bugs they fix. I get the impression they chose to fix a few high severity bugs, rather than chase down more medium severity annoyances. Perhaps this is a sign of good sense. Perhaps this is a sign of the slowing pace of Windows system development. To me most of Vista's big problems weren't bugs but deliberate feature decisions like DRM, WGA and such. The real test of Windows 7, I think, will be how many of these anti-consumer features remain in the product.

Joe,

Your use of methinks is really starting to detract from your points. Please do your best to cut back on using this phrase.

Thanks!

-jay

Service packs are always a good thing, but lets hope that Vista service pack 2 is better than XP service pack 3 which caused some problems. My only hope for the sake of the consumers (and Microsoft) is that Vista SP2 is well tested before release.

Joe, we will be looking to hear your comments on SP2. If everything goes well, it could be a bellwether to how well Windows 7 goes.

I don't believe however, service pack 2 will do anything to stimulate sales of Vista. It could make existing Vista users feel that the OS is still relevant and maybe try to put some peoples fears at ease.

Actually the big news for April is Ubuntu 9.04 with promising new exciting features. Much of the computer world is buzzing already about this much anticipated release.

I really do look for a worthy successor to Windows XP. Vista (in my opinion wasn't ). Regardless either way I will continue to use Linux.

Now on a very positive note for Microsoft.

Windows Server 2008 got some very high marks and even one of the administrators of the Ubuntu forums praised it! In fact he replaced it with XP as his desktop.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=889367&highlight=windows+server

If what I read is correct, and IF Windows 7 is based from Windows Server. Then Microsoft will have their worthy successor to Windows XP.

If Windows 7 continues with Vista and the included DRM and bloat like some are speculating...then it will have another turkey on its hands.

As they say stay tuned.

"But not if people really pay attention to how efficient Windows development has become under the newer management."

Nobody cares how efficient the Windows Client team are, all they care about is application and hardware compatibility, not having to learn something new and maybe even getting a feature that would make their life easier.

"Most of the people who brought you the nuclear application incompatibility bomb called Windows Vista no longer work for Microsoft, or—if they do—not for the desktop client team."

Again, nobody cares who they are or who they work for. The driver and application incompatibility is already done, do you think they are going to revert to XP API's? Apps and drivers that work with Vista will work with 7, ones that don't work now will not work with 7. Thats why Ballmer et al were saying you should upgrade to Vista now, if you can make it work with Vista then it will work with 7. If you go from XP to 7 then you will have the same problems as XP to Vista.

If you think the big selling point of 7 will be "we have a really efficient client team", then I think you are wrong. Most people don't know what a client is and why it would matter if the team was efficient.

The best features of 7 seem to be, its less bloated than Vista (ie we stripped a lot of crap that wasn't needed), and the new taskbar that was not copied off Apple at all. Things like slow file copy and application compatibility are not going to be fixed.

"Windows Server 2008 got some very high marks and even one of the administrators of the Ubuntu forums praised it! In fact he replaced it with XP as his desktop." So, he still prefers XP to Windows Server 2008.

Perhaps you meant "Windows Server 2008 got some very high marks and even one of the administrators of the Ubuntu forums praised it! In fact he replaced XP with it as his desktop."

@Ralph,
Great points there. To me (and I presume you) 99.9999% could be using a Windows platform and Id still use Linux, since I am happy and comfortable with it.
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Windows 7 has got so many barriers to break down. Forgetting for a minute the bad PR behind Vista, Windows 7 is claiming (like Vista did) to be all things for all people.
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MS still cant resist adding more features though and Id guess for every one they remove in the spirit of anti-bloat they will add another. Look at this touchscreen sillyness that seems to be a selling point for it. Who honestly considers that an essential feature, when as Vista has shown people want a compact,fast,reliable OS. The bells and whistles can be added once the system is stable IMO.
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Windows 7 is also claiming fast load times, and I saw one source claiming that MS is aiming for 15 seconds.....er hello? Microsoft? you there? Thats firstly not an important feature, as I (and Im sure most) would consider anything less than 30 seconds very good, whilst MS have been getting themselves all excited for a 15 second bloatfest, they have failed to notice their "record" has already been beaten.
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Again, Im using a statement I made a few weeks ago: "Too little too late"
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Ubuntu Jaunty will be out in April, and I believe this will be a turning point for the Linux platform. With 6month release schedule that Canonical has, Id expect atleast one more release before Win 7 has even hit the shelves, what will the market be like then for MS?
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Good luck Microsoft, I sincerely mean that.

Reading some comments it's clear that people still don't get what Vista was all about.

If Windows 7 will be a good OS that's only because Microsoft made some though choices in Vista that might not have paid back right away but they will in Windows 7.

Many will say that Windows 7 is what Vista was supposed to be... yes in a fantasy world, in real world things are thougher and require intermediate steps to get it all right (or you guys have just forgotten how ridicolous was OS X until Tiger?).

Anyway to go back to topic I'm downloading Vista x64 with SP2 right now and I'll test it on a MacBook, I'm interested in the Wifi and BT fixes/improvements (no need to install Bootcamp drivers/utilities to test what I'm interested in).

First of all how is this a surprise?
Windows 95, a real overhaul since 3.X, was flawed
Windows 98 (and 98SE) fixed that.
Windows ME, a real overhaul since 98, was flawed
Windows XP fixed that
Windows Vista, a real overhaul again was flawed.
Seven will probably fix that.
They tend to get things right the second time around. Not that that's an excuse, but looking back it seems to be a fact.

Secondly in response to Joe: "Or maybe you think I'm wrong, and this new Windows client team isn't as efficient as I claim."

The service packs ease the pain, they do not fix it. They usually bring new features too. SP2 or 3 usually brings features that are incorporated in the next OS too. So this is somewhat of a test of Sevens features. Also they are showing commitment to the people that have bought Vista.

Goblin :wrote
"Great points there. To me (and I presume you) 99.9999% could be using a Windows platform and Id still use Linux, since I am happy and comfortable with it."

----------------------------------------------------

I still use XP occasionally and even Mac OS X Tiger on my IMac as well as Linux.

I really like the style and the concept of the IMac's cube TV all in one design even though it must be approaching eight or nine years old. I use it as a spare computer in the spare room. But beyond that I really see nothing real special about Mac. Its nice and simple to operate. I recommend getting a older IMac with OS X Tiger, they can be had for $100 or so on E-bay or a outdoor flea market maybe for less.

Still overall I think Linux is much more responsive overall. Also I don't notice any memory leakage with Linux and have ran the computer for weeks at a time. And I have wireless working fine on my Linux laptops.

Joe,
'methinks' is a bad English, please avoid using this in IT blogs.

Shakespeare used "methinks" a few times in Hamlet:

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html

"But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air."

"The lady protests too much, methinks."

"Methinks it is like a weasel."

If you think the Bard wrote "bad English", well, a lot of people are going to disagree with you.

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

"'methinks' is a bad English..."

Methinks your glass house is stocked with stones.

Why pay for Windows when Linux is free ??
Ubuntu does everything most people want.

I heard Windows 7 referred to as 'aka vista sp2' - being that it's based on vista. I guess it'll be vista sp3 based on this article.

but if you are basing it on vista at all, why will it be accepted any better than vista?

These articles are always fun to read. My philosophy on all newly released MS software is that it is essentially still a beta product until SP1. If I get 7, and hopefully it won't be the disaster that Visa is, I will still wait for Windows 7 SP1. When MS releases 7 to the public for general consumption, it will still be a beta product until it gets SP1.

That is just my experience in general with all MS software, not just Vista.

@Mike
I would say a vast majority here (including myself) have not tried any beta of Window 7 and like everyone else are just reading about it.
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We dont know exactly how MS is developing its Windows 7, and we wont until we try the version that hits the shelves next year.
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The problem is MS doesnt exactly put its hands up about Vista, the ms shillers wont answer any questions and simply place advertisments with conflicting comments.
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Many people call Windows 7, Vista SP3. We will see but whatever Windows 7 is or isnt, MS is slowly loosing its market share to all the companies/platforms that have an interest in the PC O/S. Because MS has so many products, its being attacked on all sides by companies who are seen (rightly or wrongly) as more fashionable, reliable & IMO trustworthy than MS.

Some corrections Joe.

Windows Server 2008 R2 is actually (Windows Server 7), you made some mix up with Windows Server 2008 SP1.

@Andre
Andre said "Some corrections Joe.
Windows Server 2008 R2 is actually (Windows Server 7), you made some mix up with Windows Server 2008 SP1."
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Maybe thats because he lives in the IT bubble (as per your previous post)
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Nice to see you back Andre, you've reminded me, I need to get over to your blog and order some Nike trainers as an Xmas present.
MS still not responded to, or fixed the spaming problem on their/your site? You asked them a while ago didnt you? Maybe it will "be better next time".
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All the best Andre. - Maybe you should consider Wordpress as a more suitable place for your blog?

"Who really cares about when this service pack is going to release? Certainly not the majority of businesses, which are running Windows XP and not Vista."

Many businesses will be running Server 2008. Server 2008 is actually a pretty good product.

Server 2008 shares the same codebase as vista so SP2 (essentially SP1 for server 2008) will be noticed by businesses

Sp2 will include the RTM version of Hyper-V amongst over things

So now Joe Willcox is predicting that Seven will come out this summer, and as I have said early June, maybe even sooner.

Windows Seven needs to come out soon, even though it will be a ripoff of Vista with a fresh coat of paint. Some improvements, I would hope so. Worth paying for, no, no, no H**l no.

And why will MS rush out Windows Seven? Here's why:

Microsoft Market Share Slips: Pressure's On for Windows 7 and IE8

http://www.cio.com/article/467916/Microsoft_Market_Share_Slips_Pressure_s_On_for_Windows_and_IE_

Quote: "Not only was the November percentage drop for Windows the biggest in two years, but Windows market share dipped below a number where it has historically held tight: 90 percent. According to Web metrics company, Net Applications, Windows market share as of Dec. 1 is 89.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Mac OS X posted its largest gain in two years, with 8.9 percent market share at the end of November."
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A trend has been established, users are moving away from Vista to alternatives, and rightly so. While Mac has doubled in size since the advent of Vista, Linux has more than tripled or come close to quadrupled, if the figures from Net Applications are accurate, which I for one, have reservations about.

At my company, we are coming to a close on our "Desktop 2007" project, which involved upgrading over 1500 users to Windows Vista. With the exception of issues with our proprietary software, Vista is amazing for our business. Personally, I am in IS User Support, and it's much easier dealing with the Vista machines than the <1% of our end users still on Win2K. Yes, I know I am comparing 2k to vista, and not xp to vista, but I'm just working with what we have. Vista Enterprise SP1 has been a very solid platform for us to work with, both as an end user, and as someone who supports it.

In regards to the "methinks," it is not BAD english...it's derived from Middle and Old English. The fact that it is outdated and not commonly used doesn't negate the fact that can still be grammatically correct within a modern sentence. I agree it sounds goofy, but it's not wrong. I do not feel it detracted from the overall impact of the article.

Seriously, who the hell says methinks anymore? Do you say in casual conversation with your friends and family? "Methinks I need some more pizza."

Really, stop doing it from now on and while your at it, when you get mad at someone, don't end it with sir. Thank you.

vista is great i think you should give it a try. has never let me down and have never had any issues with it. stop nagging and upgrade your hardware. its been 8 long years with xp and its time for a change. thank you.