CNET NEws: Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9785337-7.html?tag=nefd.only

September 26, 2007 9:05 AM PDT
Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself
Posted by Don Reisinger

While Vista was originally touted by Microsoft as the operating system savior we've all been waiting for, it has turned out to be one of the biggest blunders in technology. With a host of issues that are inexcusable and features that are taken from the Mac OS X and Linux playbook, Microsoft has once again lost sight of what we really want.

As we're more than aware, Vista Ultimate comes at a premium. For an additional $160 over the Premium SKU price, Ultimate gives you a complete backup and restore option, BitLocker Drive encryption, the ever so popular Windows Fax & Scan, and the "Ultimate Extras." But what started with a promise of "Extras" by summer, quickly turned into an apology from Microsoft and the eventual release of DreamScene and Windows Hold 'Em (among others) today. And while each of the "Extras" runs just fine, Microsoft's "Extras" blunder is just another reason why the company must abandon Vista before it's too late.

The first indication that Microsoft should abandon Vista is its poor sales figures. According to a recent report titled "Windows Vista Still Underperforming in U.S. Retail" from NPD, Vista sales are significantly behind XP sales during its early days. Even worse for Redmond, some are reverting to XP, citing issues with compatibility and overall design. And if that wasn't enough, Macs continue to surge and with the impending release of Leopard, Microsoft may be in for a rough holiday season.

With each passing day, it's becoming blatantly clear that Microsoft released Vista too early and the company's continual mistakes and promises that can't be kept are further annoying the Windows faithful. (more at link)

[catmandu57]

1. I think I'll keep xp for a while

Maybe the next time they roll something out I'll try it or maybe just give Linux a shot.

[billyskank]

2. Millions of others are doing just as you are.

I reckon Microsoft will eventually capitulate and support XP instead. They already announced there will be another service pack for XP. I predict more. Maybe they will fold some of the Vista features like DirectX 10 into XP in a future service pack.

I remember using Windows NT 4.0 on service pack 5 or 7, something like that. They've done it before.

[Deja Q]

4. I hope they offer refunds to Vista users, if they are going to abandon it.

They can definitely afford to.

[billyskank]

6. I'd be surprised

but I hear they have been allowing downgrades to XP.

They won't abandon Vista as such, but it might be quietly forgotten about in a few years, kinda like Windows ME was.

But then, they'll have to replace XP with SOMETHING. Can't keep using a (now) seven-year old operating system forever. But it took them so long to make Vista, so how long would it take them to make the new replacement?

So will they fix Vista instead? I am sure they will try. Can they? We shall see.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. The downgrading thing isn't actually new. A company I worked for years ago wanted to develop in VB 6

which MS has discontinued in favor of VB.NET (another clusterfuck) and we were allowed to buy licenses for VB.NET but install VB6 in equal number on our machines.

[billyskank]

8. In the meantime, I am downloading Ubuntu Feisty to put on my old laptop

and have Slackware 12.0 burned on a DVD for installing on my desktop when I can be bothered.

Whatever people might say about Microsoft's competition, it doesn't stand still. Linux is always advancing.

[Deja Q]

9. I've heard a few good things about SP1 Beta...

But I'll wait for the full SP release, proper...

[unpossibles]

28. I am too. And actually considering buying a Mac

I love OSX.

[Pierre.Suave]

3. I will stick with

OSX, 10.4 for now and 10.5 in a month or so.

[LibraLiz1973]

5. I have Vista at work and to say I hate it is an understatement

It B L O W S

[tigereye]

10. I think Microsoft and Windows should be abandoned!

signed, Happy MacBook and Open Office user!



:hi: CPD!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

23. I have seen flame wars

in the GD for daring to post anything positive about OS X ---

As a fellow OS X user, and someone who lives with a husband who wants to throw his Windows Vista out the window and down into the canyon... I can only say...

Once you go Mac, you never go back....

[regnaD kciN]

24. Sorry...

Once you go Mac, you never go back....

...but I've got both a PC running XP and a Mac running OSX here on my desk. While I use the Mac for various specific applications (like video editing), I use the PC for almost all of my standard computing tasks. And the thought of trying to run them using an OSX environment is, for me, even more unthinkable than that of having to run them under Vista.

[ironflange]

11. I'm using Linux on my laptop at this very moment

Kubuntu to be exact. Simply put, since I made this a dual-boot machine, about the only time I go into XP is to use Publisher and some games. Rest of the time, it's Linux. I love it.

[Deja Q]

12. Do any of the emulators run Office 2007 and Photoshop CS2 well?

If so I might consider migrating back...

[ironflange]

19. I don't know

:(

One thing I haven't figured out is how to make wine work properly. If it runs those two things nicely I may never go back to Windoze. OpenOffice works great in Linux, even on this rather marginal Dell laptop.

FWIW, there's a nauseatingly easy way to turn an XP machine into a dual-boot, if you're interested in ubuntu and its various flavors:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Debian-Ubuntu-Windows-Installer-45804.shtml

I started to do Debian, but it scared me off. I installed Kubuntu with it, though, and it's slicker than owl shit! Run the thing, answer a few questions, and let it work away for a while. It installs into a virtual disk, so it's simple to remove again, in the unlikely event you still like XP better than Linux.

[NeedleCast]

13. Most IT Professionals I Know Hate it

Perhaps the best example was a funny tech support guy I talked to two weeks ago. I'm an IT professional myself, but my area of expertise leans towards software. During a hotel stay in Denver, the hotel's wireless became uselessly slow. Most hotels just don't have enough access points to support wireless users when they're at capacity, but I figured I'd give tech support a call because sometimes the network just needs to be reset. So guy picks up, I explain the problem and we cover a few preliminary bits of information. He asks me what OS I'm running and I say I just switched back to XP. There's a pause, and the guy says "Hell yeah, they can have my XP when they pry it from my cold, dead laptop!"

[Coyote_Bandit]

14. A few weeks back

I bought a new laptop. Not much selection for laptops with XP installed so I got one with Vista Premium. It sucks! Nothing works well with it. Not even stuff that is certified Vista compatible. Now I am really seriously considering buying a copy of XP Pro, reformating, reinstalling and starting all over....And Excel 2007 makes basic math errors. Geeeezzzzzz. I love Macs but 95% of the software I use won't run on Mac OS.....

[DS1]

15. I liked it at first, but it's certainly had some really annoying things about it

once you get to using it for awhile.

It doesn't do anything XP can't do, save for DirectX10

The bastards

[DarkTirade]

16. I'm more annoyed that they've started releasing some software for Vista only already.

Not only is Vista not ready for general release, but even though it's already been released sooner than it should have, it still hasn't been around long enough to saturate the market.

[BlueJazz]

17. As a MCSE, I got a beta Copy of Vista last year and knew .....

...after 15 minutes that it was gonna' be a Failure.

Nothing I had would interface with it plus ..it slowed my fast System down to about 35% of it's usual speed

Not Good :)

[regnaD kciN]

18. Microsoft will do an about-face on Vista...

...about the same time Bush decides to bring the troops home from Iraq. :eyes:

Don't you get it? Microsoft doesn't respond to the market, the market responds to Microsoft.

Another year or so will go by, with all new computers shipping with Vista. More Vista-optimized or Vista-only software will come out. Microsoft will go ahead with their plan to drop XP support. People will complain, but they'll get used to it.

Eventually, a successor to Vista will be released, but it will be more like an extension of Vista than a reversion to XP...and then, people will complain about that product, and long for the good old days of Vista (but will still upgrade in the long run).

OSX? Linux? However nice they may be, they still make up less than 5% of the desktop and laptop market. And 5% never trumps 95%. Never.

[Lionel Mandrake]

22. Yes, the market responds to Microsoft, not vice versa.

Once there was DOS. Then there was a Windows application running under DOS. Then several versions of Windows operating systems, culminating in XP.

Now the all-powerful Microsoft Corp. has decided to release Vista. XP's days are numbered. Most of us will have to get used to Vista sooner or later, whether we like it or not.

I use Mac OS X when I can, which is most of the time. But sometimes I need to use Windows-only software. For that, I bought a computer that runs Vista. I chose Vista over XP because I don't want my machine to become obsolete any sooner than I can help. I made sure my new machine has the resources necessary for acceptable Vista performance - including lots of memory and a fairly good graphics card. I haven't had any serious problems so far. Maybe I'm lucky.

[skyblue]

20. yep, Getting a Mac.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Well, I suppose that means I can keep using XP Pro for...

a while longer.

As much as it pains me to say it, I actually like XP. It does pretty much everything I want it to do with reasonable speed and it rarely crashes. And the restore points are a godsend when I do something stupid.

After years of hating W95 and the slightly less sucky 98, I'll admit M$ finally figured out how to write an OS.

[Downtown Hound]

25. Microsoft will never dump Vista

Because they have nothing else, except the Xbox 360. They spent years developing Vista, too late to go back now.

At some point (and I hate saying this because like any rational Joe out there I think Bill Gates is pure evil who eats babies and engages in bizarre Satanic rites) Microsoft will fix Vista. It's important to remember that XP didn't work all that well when it first came out either. Neither did Mac OS X, of which Vista is suspiciously similar to. OS X didn't really work until version 10.1.5, and wasn't really kicking until Jaguar.

There's already talk of an update for Vista. A few more of those, and a year to two years down the line, and Vista will work fine. Well, as fine as possible for a Microsoft product. It ain't goin' anywhere.

[Orsino]

26. "Abandon Vista to save itself"?

Hyperbole much?

Jesus. For most of us who bothered to "upgrade," Vista is working just fine. I have never heard of "Extras," DreamScene or Hold 'Em, and have no idea what the real complaint is here. Still, it was amusing to read the reviewer's opinion of a service pack he's never seen. I suppose venting helped, and imagining the end of Microsoft?

[B3Nut]

27. My Vista experience has been mostly positive...

I have Ultimate on a desktop I purposely built for it and Home Premium that came on my work HP laptop. I have had a NIC driver issue on the laptop, partially due to Nvidia's buggy driver. An update fixed it. However, I *hate* having to grant admin permission just to look at the damned *event viewer*. :wtf: Stupid. Just stupid. And if I need to release and renew an IP address, I have to run an *elevated* command prompt, I can't just Windows-R cmd<enter> ipconfig /release <enter> ipconfig /renew <enter>. I have to right-click the command prompt icon, select Run As Administrator, grant permission, and *then* I can release and renew. Pain in the ass.

I have things I dislike about OSX as well, but nevertheless the next laptop I get for myself will be a Mac.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan