Vista: It Just Gets More Bizarre
We couldn't make this up. Not only is the
release
date for Vista's SP1 still a mystery, and not only is Microsoft already
starting to drop hints about the
next
version of Windows after Vista, but it now appears as though Microsoft at
some point posted the bulk of SP1 online...and then
took
it away!
Could we get some sanity here, please? And maybe just a bit of transparency?
Look, Vista has been
disappointing enough without all this cloak-and-dagger stuff in Redmond
clouding the picture of the OS' future. Either post SP1 or don't; either tell
us about Windows 7 or leave it alone. Partners need to go to customers with
some level of certainty (especially with an OS that's not exactly selling itself),
not with obfuscation, confusion and rumors. Please, Microsoft, get it straight.
We continue to receive loads of e-mail about Vista. Most of it is negative
toward the OS, but not all of it -- and in the interest of balance, we'll run
some of the positive stuff here. Be on the lookout for more negative comments
tomorrow, though...because some of them are just so much fun.
Stuart writes from London:
"If you really want Vista take-up to improve, then perhaps you should
stop peddling so much negativity. It's quite tiring and frankly naive. All
the Vista problems I'm hearing about are the same ones that appeared when
XP came out: stability, performance, 'excessive' hardware requirements, lack
of third-party drivers and the fact that it wasn't that much different from
Windows 2000. And look what happened: service packs were released, consumers'
hardware caught up, third parties released drivers and users started to realise
that the 'insignificant' user interface changes actually led to a marked increase
in usability and productivity. The Vista story will be no different. Come
2010 (or whenever MS releases the superseding version) we'll all be wondering
why on earth we should upgrade from our beloved Vista."
Well, Stuart, we've said here before that Vista will eventually become most
people's default OS (if we're even bothering to use an OS anymore in a few years
-- hello, SaaS), but we can't blame partners and users for expecting more right
out of the box after years of waiting and tons of hype. Still, you might very
well end up being right in the long run. It's almost always been the case in
the past with Microsoft.
In a similar vein, Mark offers:
"Do you just rerun your columns? Or do you actually put thought and
consideration into each one? It looks like the former.
"If you take your '"VISTA BOUNCE" MORE LIKE A THUD SO FAR'
column in your recent RCP Update e-mail, substitute 'XP' for 'Vista,' it is
virtually the same complaints as in 2001. You are putting too much stock into
partners that are looking for a quick windfall from the Vista release (that
includes AMD's recent whining). Just like the Windows XP release, and Windows
95 before that, it will still take partners to work their sales process to
convince clients to upgrade. As more and more become comfortable with the
new features, as more and more is seen and written on the new features, and
as more and more sales work by partners is done, the clients will move. They
are moving now, as evidenced by the statistics you mildly reference down in
paragraph three. They will move more in the future. If partners want to help
their clients move along, get out there and sell, sell, sell clients on the
benefits, not sit and wait on orders."
That's a clarion call from Mark, partners -- get out there and move Vista.
Tomorrow, we'll run some other thoughts on Vista.
Keep adding fuel to the Vista e-mail fire at [email protected].
We'll get as many in as we can! And thanks to Stuart, Mark and those who have
taken the time to write.
Posted by Lee Pender on August 01, 2007