What Went Wrong with Windows Vista?
link: original article - section: windows
December is the month for year-end reviews. We begin our first 2007 look back by offering 10 reasons why Vista failed to "WOW" consumers or businesses.
Make no mistake: Despite PR assertions otherwise, Windows Vista did not meet Microsoft expectations. The signs are everywhere:
* Windows Vista advertising ended almost as abruptly as it started
* Microsoft beat the drum a bit too loudly about the number of Vista licenses shipped
* Windows Ultimate Extras became a real dreamscape of empty promises
* Microsoft already is advancing plans for Vista-successor Windows 7
Some of these signs are bigger than Vista's early disappointment. There has been a change of management in the Windows group since Vista's launch. Also, Microsoft executives are feeling better about Vista today than in, say, March or April. Vista delivered good revenue results during Microsoft's 2008 fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30.
That said, Vista has gotten off to a rocky start, which could have been avoided. My reasons from 10 to one:
10. Too many versions. From a revenue perspective, six Vista SKUs (including Starter Edition) makes sense, because Microsoft wanted to:
* Successfully increase pricing on a monopoly product
* Move the install base to richer margin "Pro" versions
* Increase Windows volume-licensing revenue
From a marketing perspective, the SKU strategy is a disaster. Windows isn't toothpaste or cosmetics. Windows, and other operating systems like it, are unique products in that they are multifunctional and multipurpose. Most successful products do one thing really well. Windows adapts to many roles. Microsoft's SKU strategy attempts to make Windows into what it's not: A differentiated product.
9. DOJ and the EU. The U.S. and European adverse antitrust rulings hugely impacted how Microsoft develops Windows. Competitors and pundits can whine about anti-competition—perhaps with some justification—but Microsoft has changed. Vista is evidence. Microsoft clearly curbed the amount of bundling—that is, integrating—new features with Windows. With the exception of security features, XP and Vista bundled features aren't much different (see #2 for reasons why this matters).
8. Office 2007 missing link. Until Nov. 30, 2006, Microsoft hadn't shipped versions of Office and Windows together since 1995. Last time, Microsoft used Office to jumpstart the application transition from 16-bit to 32-bit software. Meanwhile, Windows 95 helped drive up Office penetration. Microsoft should have been able to do something similar with Office 2007 and Windows Vista. Instead, there is almost no synergy between the products.
7. WOW went away. Microsoft launched Windows Vista with great advertising. The WOW ad campaign was compelling and perhaps too convincing, because it promised too much (more on that in #2). But Microsoft nixed the marketing campaign after only a few months.
6. The ecosystem wasn't ready. It's still not ready for Vista and may never be. During Microsoft's 2003 developer conference, Chairman Bill Gates laid out his expectations for PC configurations in 2006. Vista clearly is designed for the system requirements Gates identified four years ago. But that's not the hardware most OEMs shipped when Vista launched, nor are they shipping enough today. This is particularly true of graphics; many computers are underpowered.
5. Design by committee. For years, Microsoft has let too many chefs in the kitchen. From massive business and consumer research to analysts, customers, partners and testers, Microsoft has collected loads of input about Windows features. That's a recipe for mediocrity, because not everyone—not even most anyone—can be satisfied. Microsoft collects way too much input and listens to way too much more.
4. Bad timing. Why did Vista miss holiday 2006? There's no excuse for it, unless something wasn't ready—and that would be Microsoft's Windows ecosystem. Surely if committed, Microsoft could have delivered code soon enough to make the holiday rush, because how can you miss Christmas? The answer is you can't. Some retailers make 40 percent of their revenues for the year between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25.
3. Complexity is a killer. Microsoft made architectural changes, particularly around security, and user interface design decisions that make Vista overly complex. The aforementioned versioning strategy also increases complexity. As will be explained in #2, Vista needed to be a whole lot better than Windows XP. Increased complexity makes XP seem better in some ways. For people used to going 120km per hour down the XP highway, Vista presents them with persistent speed bumps, like UAC (User Account Control) pop-ups.
2. The "good enough" problem. Microsoft's biggest competitor is itself. In a market where one product dominates, older versions compete with newer ones. The problem exacerbates as a product improves and more people use it. Windows XP reached the "good enough" threshold, in terms of features and usability and market saturation.
1. The Windows XP ecosystem. Microsoft talks about the value of the Windows ecosystem, for good reasons. The huge network of software developers, channel partners and hardware manufacturers provides great value to customers and creates a natural barrier against the success of other operating systems.
