Windows Vista: Microsoft's Monster
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The other night I was flipping through movie channels when I came across a spectacularly bad slasher flick from a couple of decades ago, the sort where some oversized mutant in a mask runs around operating lawn-trimming machinery in ways definitely not recommended by the safety directions. I bring this up not to illustrate the dangers of insomnia, but because that villain reminds me a little bit of Windows Vista. Like a cinematic monster, Vista's shadow continues to loom large over Microsoft. Every article about Windows 7 (my own included) seems duty-bound to discuss the negative perceptions surrounding its predecessor. Of course, if you scan the reader comments beneath those articles, you'll find the occasional poster reporting that Vista always worked fine for him or her, thank you very much; but for every one of those, it seems a dozen others appear with complaints about Windows XP compatibility, or how the operating system made their processors squeal futilely for mercy. So Microsoft, like the blonde cheerleader who decides in the movie's last 10 minutes that fighting is a viable alternative to ending up as sashimi, has decided to try and finish off Vista once and for all. At a Sept. 1 press conference, Microsoft attempted to show how Windows 7, when paired with Intel's "Montevina," "Lynnfield" and "Westmere" processing platforms, operated faster than Vista. Pairing two identically configured ThinkPad T400 notebooks, one running Vista and the other Windows 7, Microsoft also sought to demonstrate that the Windows 7-Intel pairing translated into 20 percent-longer battery life. Of course, with any demonstration of that nature, the results are extremely subjective; alter the hardware configuration, and the statistics for processing speed and battery life could change drastically. But that's not the point here, I suspect. I think that Microsoft's doing everything in its power, on every front, to drive a stake through Vista's heart by showing how superior Windows 7 is by comparison. Will it work? Vista's much-publicized issues initiated a migration by a certain subset of users to Apple and open-source platforms. Whether they'll be coaxed back by Windows 7 into Microsoft's embrace is a huge question, although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested during a recent analysts' meeting that Microsoft was already solidifying its market share against arguably its biggest competitor, Apple, even before the new operating system release. Other Microsoft initiatives centered around Windows 7, including a free 90-day trial offered to IT administrators and other professionals, represent a further attempt to get small and midsize businesses and the enterprise used to the operating system -- and possibly help dispose of Vista that much quicker. However, Microsoft will continue to offer support for Vista even after the release of Windows 7, meaning the monster will continue to hang around ... at least for a little while. |
Comments (15)
Microsoft Marketing 101:
The Previous Version of (Product X or OS Y) sucked I tell ya!!! - you have to get the latest (Product X+1 or OS Y+1) or an angel loses his wings!
Posted by Robert | September 2, 2009 5:41 PM
Vista is not the problem for Windows 7 - it is almost universally accepted that Windows 7 is superior to Vista in every category.
Microsoft's "problem" is convincing current Windows XP users to move Windows 7, specifically those of us who aren't buying a new computer anytime soon.
If Microsoft can show that Windows 7 can run (and run well) on the existing hardware currently running Windows XP quote happily, they will have a winner.
Posted by M J Marshall | September 2, 2009 8:12 PM
After WIN7SP1 Vista Will Fade Quickly.
Posted by A41202813@GMAIL.COM | September 3, 2009 8:28 AM
I really hope Windows 7 is *less* not more. Vista is so over-bloated, it's ridiculous. Start of a process monitor and let it run in the background while using a default installation of Vista and you'll see a gazillion processes all churning away, seemingly doing nothing other than slow the machine and drain battery life. I just bought a new laptop with Vista a month ago and I'm still fighting with it, trying to permanently close all those garbage processes that make the computer nearly unusable.
Vista is bad. Really bad. So bad, that I'm scared of Windows 7. Will Windows 7 *really* fix all these problems or is it just more crap on top of crap? If it weren't for my work with ASP.NET, I would be running Linux 24/7. In fact, I still might.
Posted by Jim | September 3, 2009 8:42 AM
Unless the Windows 7 upgrade is priced really cheap, like Snow Leopard's $29 cheap, I won't be upgrading. I've already dropped a bundle on Vista, and I won't pay through the nose for yet another OS update. You hear me, Microsoft? $50...tops.
(I have *lots* of problems with Vista networking when coming out of sleep mode. Damn annoying!)
Posted by Richard | September 3, 2009 9:57 AM
I use Vista SP1/SP2 every single day, and it works just fine.
For the most part, Vista's critics are stuck in the past, before the release of SP1.
In addition, some people buy low quality computers, and then blame Vista for the OEM's screw ups.
Posted by JohnJ | September 3, 2009 6:05 PM
w7 is vista sp3 in sheeps clothing..
Posted by jg | September 5, 2009 11:59 PM
recently, I see many clients get their computers with 64 bit vista Home Basic and Home Premiun for the simple reason they have 4GB RAM.
However, I do not see any of them having even 1 64 bit program to use, but create lots of compatibility issues. The 64 bit vista Home and Home Premium only made them to hide Vista and back to XP.
I really hope those people should be careful if they really need 64 bit Vista.
Posted by Shiguo Fan | September 6, 2009 4:03 AM
After forcing my employees to use Vista, they now love it and refuse to go back and use an XP machine.
People just don't like change.
Posted by Dave Hunt | September 6, 2009 2:37 PM
After being "forced" into VISTA through my laptop purchase and struggling for several months to make it work for me I had a choice of downgrading to XP or upgrading to WIN7 RC. Now I am trialing Windows 7 RC on all sorts of low end hardware - including my atom processor 1Gb RAM eeePC and it works very happily. I even -successfully- set up SQL2005 on the eeepc under win7 just to see what would happen.
I am happy, but all thiose machines will go back to WIN XP licences if Microsoft are to greedy with their pricing. Better to sell 1000 copies at $50 than 100 copies at $100.
Posted by RussW | September 6, 2009 6:51 PM
On the consumer side, Vista x64 Preinstalled has dominated the new computer market since at least last Christmas. When I custom ordered an HP desktop computer last Christmas, Vista-32 wasn't even an available option.
Current hardware/software works just fine with Vista x64; and I have had zero compatability problems.
Posted by Tom21 | September 7, 2009 12:23 PM
Is not it the opposite effect that Windows 7 has UPdate only from Vista if Microsoft is going to really hush up Vista?
Posted by tokumoto | September 7, 2009 6:48 PM
>Better to sell 1000 copies at $50
>than 100 copies at $100.
MS doesn't give a f*ck, they will charge anything they want, and people are going to suck it up, and open their wallets. They are locked in.
Posted by felipe | September 8, 2009 9:13 AM
Anyone who says Vista works fine and that people are just hanging on to the pain that they suffered early in Vista's life is a douchebag. This means you *JohnJ*. Vista is a bloated pig of an operating system. If all you do is surf the web and check email, Vista *might* not implode. Everyone else that works for a living, knows that Vista is one of the greatest sins commited against Microsoft loyalists. Microsoft did all they could to shove this piece of crapola down out throats at $400/copy. Now fork out another $400 to get Windows 7. I'm running windows 7 and haven't experienced any pain as of yet. It runs leaner and faster than Vista, even on my custom built machines. *So far* it appears as though MS got it right this time. I imagine this is what they wanted Vista to be, but were in too much of a hurry to get it out the door. It just bugs me that I have to pay another $400 to get what I already paid for with Vista, but never got. I have sworn to never let MS shove another product down my throat again. Absorbing the pain of learning a new format would be no worse than dealing with the pain and expense of another Vista.
Posted by Jason Jones | September 8, 2009 7:40 PM
The talk about getting and using Windows 7 Enterprise for free for 90 days is nothing compared to Windows Server 2008 R2. Anyone can download and try free for 6 months! You need to enable desktop mode and some other services, but it will look and act very much like Windows 7. A six month try-before-you-buy, of the gold-code, will be plenty of time to decide if you even want Windows 7. I suggest you dual-boot with your current OS to save you time if you decide to go back.
Posted by Ed Brigg | September 24, 2009 3:02 PM