Microsoft must abandon Windows Vista to save itself

[TheReasoner]

"An editorial written by Don Reisinger over at CNet's News.com takes Microsoft to task for the outright failure of Vista. He suggests that Vista may be the downfall of the company as, despite years in development, Vista was delivered to market too early. His suggestion? Support those who are running it, but otherwise ditch Vista and move on. 'Never before have I seen such an abysmal start to an operating system release. For almost a year, people have been adopting Vista and becoming incensed by how poorly it operates. Not only does it cost too much, it requires more to run than XP, there is still poor driver support ... With Mac a new OS X release hot on its tail, Vista is simply not capable of competing at an OS level with some of the best software around. If Microsoft continues down this path, it will be Vista that will bring the software giant to its knees--not Bill Gates' departure.'"

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

Hate to say "I told you so", but I told you so... Windows Vista = Windows ME 2. It's simply not ready, and it seems it simply doesn't get ready either. It hogs resources, has a very poor utilization of the resources it uses (doesn't use your computer's full potential) - and much more.

 

[horuhe00]

Hahahaha I Love The Title!!!

Down With Vista!!!

Bring Back XP!!!

 

[Thirst_For_Knowledge]

ubuntu

Seriously, why are people even paying for software, anymore?

Opensource is your friend.

 

[TheReasoner]

Hahahaha I Love The Title!!!

Down With Vista!!!

Bring Back XP!!!

I think you got it wrong.... I'd like this chain of events....
1. Microsoft eliminates XP, goes Vista only
2. Microsoft marketshare plummets due to dissatisfied customers
3. Apple launches Leopard, Ubuntu makes a few adjustments making it even more attractive

4. Microsoft keeps plummeting, creating a more diverse market. More competition and more innovation.

 

[trunks2k]

ubuntu

Seriously, why are people even paying for software, anymore?

Opensource is your friend.

Video games. The most popular video games run on windows. Yeah, you can set up something like Wine, but that isn't guaranteed to work and can really be a pain.

And there is a sharper learning curve on a linux machine of probably any flavor than on a windows machine. I have bachelor's degree in CS, and I had a tough time getting the flash plugin to work on my Ubuntu machine. Adobe apparently hasn't made a plugin compatible with a 64 bit Firefox version for Linux. Took some work arounds but I eventually got something to get it to work.

People can be totally clueless when it comes to computers. The majority of people are willing to pay for an OS that is slightly more user friendly.

 

[wiggsfly]

Although Vista has its issues, I don't find them much greater than XP, 2000, or pretty much any other operating system from Microsoft.

They are all buggy upon release and often aren't widely adopted until after the first service pack. Sales of Vista will pick up, it's just a matter of time.

 

[TheReasoner]

Video games. The most popular video games run on windows. Yeah, you can set up something like Wine, but that isn't guaranteed to work and can really be a pain.

And there is a sharper learning curve on a linux machine of probably any flavor than on a windows machine. I have bachelor's degree in CS, and I had a tough time getting the flash plugin to work on my Ubuntu machine. Adobe apparently hasn't made a plugin compatible with a 64 bit Firefox version for Linux. Took some work arounds but I eventually got something to get it to work.

People can be totally clueless when it comes to computers. The majority of people are willing to pay for an OS that is slightly more user friendly.

Thing is though, Windows isn't that userfriendly.
But you're right. Most users are clueless about what is out there. And how to use their computers properly. There's a reason why malware spreads so fast. And the main reason for it is lacking knowhow among the users.

Windows is good for corporate networks and for gamers. For almost everyone else I would recommend either Ubuntu or Mac OS X. Depending on their level of knowledge. There's no reason to spend as much money on an OS as Microsoft demands for their OS. There's no reason to get lost in the version jungle of MS either.

I have used XP, Vista and Tiger for some time. Tiger and XP are both superior to Vista. I assumed Vista would get better with time, but so far it is still not good enough to be implemented at work. And I sure don't want to use it at home - I like to get more out of my PC than Vista so far allows.

 

[TheReasoner]

Although Vista has its issues, I don't find them much greater than XP, 2000, or pretty much any other operating system from Microsoft.

They are all buggy upon release and often aren't widely adopted until after the first service pack. Sales of Vista will pick up, it's just a matter of time.

Why though? It's uglier than the Windows classic style - which is saying a lot... Even the 3D effects it employs are quite cheesy/tacky. It doesn't take as much advantage of the resources as XP does. And it's still buggy.
I'd just wait for SP 1 to get out - at least. But I stick with what the author says - Vista is a flop.

 

[Jacey]

Vista is very ugly. Have it on a laptop I use for my second job and can't stand it. It looks like it's supposed to imitate a Mac but..........blah.

And it's a pain in the rear to use a lot of the features, I prefer XP

 

[wiggsfly]

Why though? It's uglier than the Windows classic style - which is saying a lot... Even the 3D effects it employs are quite cheesy/tacky. It doesn't take as much advantage of the resources as XP does. And it's still buggy.
I'd just wait for SP 1 to get out - at least. But I stick with what the author says - Vista is a flop.

As for the looks most I know using it prefer the visual effects to XP which is often viewed as "cartoonish" in comparison. As for resource usage, of course it uses more. This is true for every generation of the Microsoft OS.

Its biggest setback is it is buggy and driver support. Microsoft did screw up in not getting specs out to hardware manufacturers with enough time to create drivers. However as time goes on and XP goes out of production the world will slowly turn over to Vista.

 

[TheReasoner]

As for the looks most I know using it prefer the visual effects to XP which is often viewed as "cartoonish" in comparison. As for resource usage, of course it uses more. This is true for every generation of the Microsoft OS.

Yeah, I agree. The XP visual styles were too cartoonish. But I disliked them as well. An OS is supposed to be elegant - yet minimalistic. It's supposed to be beautiful, yet not so glossy it takes your eyes off what you're doing onto the visual effects. The effects need to be subtle, yet elegant. Minimalistic, not 'boasting'. Microsoft has gotten this all wrong. The styles they generate are glossy, much like the stuff you find in Arab stores - whenever I see Vista I think of those electrically powered pictures on the wall that move and shine. Or a golden, cheap plastic model mosque calling for prayer with an extremely low quality speaker from a cheesy trinket-filled table in the corner of a trinket filled room... I'll reiterate;
It draws your attention, but not to the right things. It's too cluttered by default. The gadgets on the side are annoying at all times, again, sucking your attention to where it shouldn't be. The taskbar is also normally filled with icons in the quicklaunch bar, or in the systems tray... It's cluttered and messy in my opinion. The messages popping up requesting permission to open files or perform actions are also too messy and confusing to regular users. Even the semi-transparency of the windows does not have a very appealing look in my opinion.
Yeah, if you configure it - tweak it to your liking - it's decent. (though buggy) but straight out of the box......

Then again, I'm a sucker for aesthetically pleasing yet functional design. I'm a minimalist and 'purist' I guess in terms of what I like. And I feel strongly about it. So it is a matter of course that my viewpoint is not universal - or even necessarily right. But it's an observation from a subjective standpoint on the design of Microsoft's new OS.

This is something I find Apple has gotten right for some time, and something I feel Microsoft got somewhat right up until XP. Leopard seems too glossy for my liking, but we'll see how it works out.

Its biggest setback is it is buggy and driver support. Microsoft did screw up in not getting specs out to hardware manufacturers with enough time to create drivers. However as time goes on and XP goes out of production the world will slowly turn over to Vista.

We'll see. I for one hope for more variety and competition. I hope Microsoft loses 10-20% of it's market share. At least.

 

[trunks2k]

I have used XP, Vista and Tiger for some time. Tiger and XP are both superior to Vista. I assumed Vista would get better with time, but so far it is still not good enough to be implemented at work. And I sure don't want to use it at home - I like to get more out of my PC than Vista so far allows.

This is why I think that absent people being forced to go to Vista (i.e. no longer producing or supporting XP or 2000), Vista is going to be a miserable failure.

You take a hit in performance to be able to do... well... nothing that important that you can't already do with XP. The only thing I can think of is directX 10 support, but I don't think any games actually use that yet.