Joe Wilcox, writing for eWeek's Microsoft Watch, recently did a post in which he lists: "10 Things I Warned Microsoft About Windows Vista". Well, he should have made that 12 things, as I can think of several more reasons that are even more compelling then what he listed, which are as follows:
1. Windows Vista has to be a whole lot better than Windows XP. I agree with Joe on this one. Sadly, even though Vista looks a lot better than XP, thanks, in part, to Microsoft's shameless copying of OS X features, Vista still does not work better. The hardware requirements are very steep, and yet, even with the best of hardware, Vista is still so much slower than XP. Hopefully, the much delayed SP1 will help in this regard?
Yes, mind you, security is better in Vista, in one sense, but in other it's not. Security may be better, but Vista users have to pay for that in a loss of functionality and convenience, or, in other words - it's a pain in the ass as Joe points out!
2. Vista will miss the big PC upgrade cycle. I won't go to much into this, but it's clear that Microsoft missed a big sales opportunity here. Of course, some people, considering the horrors that people are reporting with Vista, might just be thankful that Microsoft delayed Vista, simply because they got XP instead.
4. Call it Windows Basic. I agree! Windows Basic was by far a better name. Vista Basic is almost an insult as far as I'm concerned. Not only is Vista Basic lacking features, etc., but frankly, as far as I'm concerned, Vista Basic should never have been released in the first place. Come on Microsoft, what on earth were you thinking at the time?
5. Vista reminds too much of Windows Me. A lot of people have said that and for good reason. In fact, as Joe points out, a lot of critics of Vista refer to it as Windows ME II. I never used this version of Windows that much, but I do know a lot of people who did, and they weren't exactly jumping up and down in joy over it.
6. One Vista version is enough. Wow, how many times have I heard that one - too many, that's for sure. Even Steve Jobs and other Apple executives couldn't resist joking, at Microsoft's expense, on that one when they introduced Leopard. It's confusing and totally unnecessary, so why did Microsoft do it? Hell if I know? Your guess is as good as mine! A better question might have been: Why did they charge so much for it - as all four million different versions are over priced? And to think that it only took Microsoft about a year to realize that it was asking too much; but, now, at least, they finally bit-the-bullet and lowered the price, which is still too much, if you ask me, but still better than before.
7. It has to be multiple SKUs or Windows Experience Index, but not both. I won't comment here, as Joe does an excellent job on this one.
8. Vista demands too much. As stated before, Vista hardware requirements are just too steep. Especially with the prices of PC's being so low, it's hard for any OEM to really build a powerful enough system and still make money at the same time.
9. Windows Vista Capable is a bad idea. This one says it all; no need to elaborate on this one.
10. Vista security features increase complexity, decrease usability. Basically, good security is really no good at all, if it interferes with your workflow. Constant pop-ups are, at the very least, annoying, but they are more than that, a lot more, because they not only interfere with your productivity, but also in your pleasure in using the OS. Yes, to some, Vista may be pretty looking, but those pretty looks, at times, can be really pretty painful when using Vista at times.
As I stated in the beginning, there are at least 12 reasons that Joe Wilcox should have warned Microsoft about. One big reason is the open sourced community, or in other words - Linux. Linux is still quite not ready for the desktop, but it is advancing, thanks in part to the people behind Ubuntu. One has to admit: Linux is better priced than Vista!
However, there is an even bigger reason, or warning, that Joe left out - Mac OS X! That's right folks, Linux may not be quite ready for the big time, but Apple is! After all, when even PC magazines publications concede that OS X Leopard is the best operating system ever written, it should be something that made Microsoft stand up and take notice better than they have. Of course, Leopard came out after Vista, but Tiger was, at the time, the Leopard of it's day, after being named the best OS several times in a row by PC magazines!
Windows Vista borrows heavily from OS X Tiger, but yet, with all of it's money and talent, after trying to copy OS X Tiger, Microsoft still failed to implement it successfully. Yes, Microsoft is full of talent, money and other resources, but sadly, it is also full of arrogance and pride. It is this pride and corporate mentality that is the ultimate reason why, I believe, Microsoft has failed Vista. Microsoft thinks more about it's corporate needs than that of it's customers needs - the biggest mistake in business. Apple, on the other hand, approaches things from the customer's point of view. If you want customers to flock, as they are increasingly doing to Mac OS X, then you have to think like the customer. Simply stated: Give the customer his money's worth - and they will give you their business!
So, in conclusion, like you, I could probably come up with a lot more reasons to add to Joe's list, but in the end, until Microsoft changes it's corporate mentality and starts to address Windows from the customers point of view and the customers needs, instead of that of it's own, then I predict that Windows 7 will be more, or less, the same story as Vista. By the time Microsoft ever releases Windows 7, it may, sadly, for Microsoft, be too late - as OS X and Linux are not going to be standing still and should have further reduced Windows dominant market share, by then, considerably more than it is today.
And that's my 2 cents this Monday, March 17, 2008
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