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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


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