10 Things I Warned Microsoft About Windows Vista
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 17.3.2008
The imminent real release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is reason enough to broach the question.
SP1 is an important milestone for an operating system that bloggers and other critics consistently ridicule. Oh, yeah, the channel and enterprises aren't exactly loving Vista either.
These 10 things are in no particular order of importance.
1. Windows Vista has to be a whole lot better than Windows XP. Microsoft had left XP in the market for a long time. That version of Windows had reached a certain "good enough" threshold, in part because of the stable, supporting ecosystem. Vista would have to be a whole lot better to drive upgrades in established markets. I received assurances that Vista would deliver on the promise, which was later accentuated in the "Wow" marketing. What happened: Vista wasn't better enough.
2. Vista will miss the big PC upgrade cycle. A major enterprise PC refresh cycle started in 2004 and continued through mid-2006. In early 2006, I warned Microsoft executives that Vista would ship too late. What happened: The major upgrade cycle wound down, but computer sales remained strong because of consumer upgrades and a massive shift to portables. So, Vista missed the big hardware refresh cycle but caught another one. However, in part because of #1, many businesses opted for Windows XP instead of Vista on those shiny, new notebooks.
3. Windows Vista Home Basic is too basic. I strongly recommended against Microsoft's releasing this version at any price. Microsoft executives insisted that OEMs wanted a low-cost Vista version for cheap PCs. But Basic offered less than Windows XP Home for about the same price. I called it a hidden price increase. What happened: There is limited demand for Home Basic.
4. Call it Windows Basic. Vista Home Basic was so defeatured, I strongly encouraged Microsoft to remove the Vista name from the product. I warned that Basic would tarnish the broader Vista brand and that its streamlined features put it in a lower category. I bet a Microsoft product manager $100 that Windows Basic would become the default nomenclature. What happened: Other problems affecting every Vista version, such as applications and drivers incompatibilities, overshadowed Basic's weak feature set. Oh yeah, I owe somebody at Microsoft 100 bucks. I don't recall who you are, but don't feel impish about collecting.
5. Vista reminds too much of Windows Me. In late 2006, I had dinner with some Vista user interface designers. By then, I had used Vista betas for nearly 10 months. They heard: There are two Microsoft operating systems that the more I used them the less I liked them—Windows Me and Windows Vista. While not my intention, the comment hugely insulted the UI designers, because of how much Windows Me is regarded, even within Microsoft, as a marketing failure. What happened: Some critics have described Vista as Windows Me II.
6. One Vista version is enough. I opposed Microsoft's Vista SKU strategy from the first presentation and, later, after some tweaking. I explained that Windows isn't toothpaste. Too many versions would confuse customers, creating an unnecessary impediment to Vista upgrades. How could Vista be perceived as better enough if the buying experience was more difficult than XP? I strongly advocated a one-version strategy, but with differentiated OEM pricing depending on features used by the hardware. I reasoned the approach would simplify Windows purchasing while encouraging greater PC differentiation. What happened: The OEM market has largely consolidated around a single version: Vista Home Premium for consumers. It's all Gateway sells, for example. Many enterprises are adopting Vista Enterprise, which is a volume licensing-only option.
7. It has to be multiple SKUs or Windows Experience Index, but not both. WEI would confuse Vista buyers because the ratings would contradict with some versions. For example, Vista Ultimate could conceivably ship on a notebook with WEI of 3.0 (out of a possible 5.9). Customers would ask: If it's so ultimate, why is the rating so slow? I liked the WEI concept more than the SKU strategy and recommended choosing only the ratings scheme. What happened: WEI ratings were low the first year on notebooks, even those with Vista Ultimate.
8. Vista demands too much. From my earliest product briefings, Microsoft executives carted around big honking laptops—luggables—to get enough processing and graphics power to run early Vista builds. I was told Vista would need less power closer to release. Nope. I got my first Vista test system in February 2006. WEI: 2.0, on above-average hardware. What happened: OEMs shipped computers underpowered for Vista, even through holiday 2007. The operating system demands too much from even modestly older hardware.
9. Windows Vista Capable is a bad idea. Why could Microsoft possibly need two Vista logo programs? The connotations around Capable and Ready were either too alike or too confusing. I said that there should be one program for which everything truly was ready. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn't consult me on the logo programs, so I gave my advice after the Capable logo announcement. What happened: A Vista Capable class-action lawsuit revealed embarrassing Microsoft e-mails about Windows Vista decision-making processes—or lack of them.
10. Vista security features increase complexity, decrease usability. Oh, I was a loud critic of UAC (User Account Control) and Internet Explorer warnings. I argued that Microsoft had made Vista much harder to use than Windows XP. The experience would be worse for many users. Going back to #1, Vista had to be a lot better, not perceptually worse. What happened: UAC warnings hurt usability but caused more troubles; new user rights mechanism broke many applications.
source:
microsoft-watch.com
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Comments(18)
50 ways to leave your vista.
chorus:
you just format the drive ,
clive
get a new mac , jack
you don't need that crap toy, roy
just get
yourself free
boot from a *nix, jix
you don't need to discuss much
install
xp, lee
and get yourself free
and are so special because....
vista is the best os since windows 98 and 2000.
...just another vista/microsoft bashing article...
this news is crap and shows how dumb people are..
why the hell did i read this piece of crap... we've arrived at a point where those vista
rants are not only boring but kind of a sad proof that the author has nothing new to say.
sure vista was not like switching from windows 95 to xp (if and i knew a lot of people
that made this jump) however it is the best ms os to date, especially in its 64 bit
incarnation. i'm using 5 different operating systems at any given time, every single one
of them is different and for a different purpose. i feel like it's a waste of time
setting up servers on anything else than bsd/unix, video editing on mac is a blast and
gaming is absolutely fabulous on vista... so what exactly is the point of this rant here?
did you by any chance mean to say "i was right, you were wrong...?
i could debunk
pretty much any of the points stated above (except the ready/capable program which was
microsoft giving in to oem's - stupid !!!) but seriously, noone wants to read this
anymore.
look at all the microsoft sychophants on here! go away! the world has spoken: vista is an
unneeded, inconvienant bomb like its brother windows me. wake up and smell the coffee
already!
1. its not intuitive, features are hidden. others like uac torture
the average user until they are killed off in control panel.
2. too expensive
from the start. even recent price slashes won't save it.
3. its a memory and
cpu hog! oink!
4. too many versions, i agree.
5. lack of driver
support because hardware manufactures, like the general public don't like it. (btw this
also stems from a lack of trust and respect for micrsosoft).
the point is microsft
needs to restructure. i would personally fire steve ballmer, and anyone involved in the
longhorn/vista escapade. enough already! this is not a consumer friendly os. learn or burn
to jake the snake
1. windows was never intuitive in a common sense, it is however
following the same scheme as the earlier versions, you are required to learn the
interface modifications just like you had to learn them when moving from every and each
windows version up.
2. absolutely correct, waaay to expensive in it's retail
form, however oem is no different than xp (at least i payed the same for the ultimate as
for the xp pro)
3. yup, hardware update anyone? i was annoyed with that, but
then realized that my 3 year old computer is not quite up to the task of any modern app
out there anyways.
4. o common... clearly you only need the ultimate :p but to
be absolutely serious, there is only the home premium and ultimate that can be considered
feature rich and reasonble.
5. that might have been a year ago, i haven't
faced a single driver problem in the last months and i have a lot peripherals (only one
not working is my se smartphone, but that's because sony ericsson are a bunch of wankers)
don't tell me that the hardware manufacturers don't want to support an operating system
because they don't like it... show me drivers for linux, they have to love linux...
common, the good ol' linux ? no ? damn...
i think you're missing the point
here, it's not the general public that doesn't like vista, it's the outspoken power
users that were pissed off by microsofts inability to provide the bang for the buck that
they promised... that's it, no more no less. 100 million of (pre)installed copies tell me
that the general public doesn't give a damn.
you are full of it, your hardware or drivers must be bad for it to be hogging cpu and
ram.
uac is harmless, if that confuses people, then they should not even be
useing a computer..
i gotta say vista ultimate seem to work on my old acer
aspire from 2004 pretty dam well.
best advise i can give is to learn about your
pc before useing it, and when i say learn it i mean understand it before turning it on...
at iq: your iq must be a single digit son. i have run a part time (after hours work pc
business) out of my home/business for two decades. my wife has a degree in computer
science. i myself have done technical support over the phone for just under a decade, so i
think i know what i am talking about here, added to that i tested many builds of
longhorn/vista for years. i run dual xeons 9single core) at 3.8 ghz, 4 gigs of ram, so my
pc is a powerhouse, so don't mouth off to me about hardware. besides, people shouldn't
have to buy a whole new pc just to upgrade to vista. vista is simply poorly designed, its
a resource hog. i have had dozens of people beg me to 'upgrade' their new pcs back to xp
pro. the simple truth is vista is not very intuitive or user friendly, even for advanced
users.
vista is a turd that system u have is way more than enough to run vista. those specs u
said anyway i have never even heard of "dual xeons 9single core"
vista isnt as bad
as people make it sound.
do i use it...no. have i?....yes and its not that
bad. my system is average and slices through vista like butter.
i am reffering to intel chip architecture. ok? there are single cpu core, duo, and quad
core chips. the chips i was reffering to are single core meaning one cpu core apiece) 3.8
ghz clock speed.
but i wish other os's were as easy to use, my xp pro lately is acting a little quirky,
enough for me not to want to even boot it up, games(newer)run(it seems to me) better in
vista. linux (suse 10.3 & fedora 8) are an exercise in frustration, just booted up suse
today and couldn't get to the desktop, (not the first time this has happened with either
linux os now i gotta spend some time finding out how to fix it instead of using it :(
at: not a vista hater
hmmm, well i would run a virus scan and spyware scan on
xp, then run a registry cleaner such as 'registry mechanic, then do a defrag on the
harddrive.
1. how much ram do you have? xp runs smooth on 2 gigs.
2.
clean out your windows startup of items you don't need that can steal cpu and memory.
3. check out 'black viper's page on xp tune ups! http://www.blackviper.com/
all that's been done, 2gb ram, no viruses, have done bv tweaks on both os's. i just
"feel" more comfortable using vista, of course all my parts are supposedly "vista
ready" not sure that means anything though.
vista is more stable than xp. i leave it on for weeks, even on countless sleep modes. and
it performs like it should from a fresh restart. the only bsod i get is when one of my
memory died on me. all my hardwares are rock solid even overclocked. quadcores with vista
is smooth as silk along w/ 4gb ram. vista ultimate x64 is the most stable windows i have
ever used.
it goes to show you do not read very well, i have vista running on an old p4(its no power
pc) and vista runs fine,i find vista very easy to use. i do know when there are bad
drivers installed on vista, the os uses more ram and cpu, this is why i say you have bad
hardware or drivers.
one thing for sure i would never take notice of people
like you, when i know vista is not like how you claim it to be, when i have been running
it with no problems(on many pc's)
and i know your technical support types, many of
which have prooved they know stuff all when asking for support..
ben a fan of vista but now, after this article am beginnig to loose trust in vista.
stay away from vista! i've ben there, tried it, give microsoft atleast a year to sort
out the bugs, stay with xp pro! for more info email me squireflueratyahoo.co.uk
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By Paul Simon on 18.03.2008 - 06:03