6 Months Later, a Report Card on Vista

[Guest 98 Guy]

I wonder why Vista's aggressive digital rights management wasn't

mentioned in this story.

 

I like this point:

 

"Everybody wants there to be a repeat of Windows 98 - the

excitement, the sales volume, the rate of growth and

everything else" said Michael Cherry, an analyst for the

independent research group Directions on Microsoft. "

 

Yea, and I bet they'd like to be able to repeat the relative security

that Win-98 gave to users vs that abomination known as XP.

 

As expected, MS will spend very little to advertise or market Vista,

since it will come by default on new systems because people will have

no choice. It will take 5 years before it reaches the saturation

point of 85%, at which point the Wintel monopoly will engineer another

wholesale hardware change (which even the current Micro$haft mindset

that you have to change-out your hardware every 3 to 5 years goes

against the "green" grain - no doubt people and corporations will be

MUCH more resistant in the future).

 

=========================

 

6 Months Later, a Report Card on Vista

http://channels.netscape.com/pf/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1333&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20070714%2F0739769324.htm&sc=1333

By JESSICA MINTZ

 

SEATTLE (AP) - Chris Pirillo leaned away from his webcam and pointed

to his printer/scanner/fax machine, which stopped scanning and faxing

after he installed Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating

system. "I can't live in Vista if the software that I use in my life

for productivity does not work," said Pirillo, in the third minute of

a 52-minute video he posted on YouTube.

 

Nearly six months after it launched, gripes over what doesn't work

with Vista continue, eclipsing positive buzz over the program's

improved desktop search, graphics and security. With Vista now

shipping on most new computers, it's all but guaranteed to become the

world's dominant PC operating system - eventually. For now, some users

are either learning to live with workarounds or sticking with Vista's

predecessor, Windows XP.

 

Pirillo is geekier than the average user. He runs a network of

technology blogs called Lockergnome, and was one of several "Windows

enthusiasts" Microsoft asked for Vista feedback early on. Still,

Vista tested even Pirillo's savvy. He fixed the hobbled printer and

other problems by installing VMware, a program that lets him run XP

within Vista. But when his trial copy expired, he decided the

solution was too clunky - and too expensive.

 

He "upgraded" as he called it, back to XP.

 

Users' early complaints aren't a threat to Microsoft's dominance in

operating systems. The various flavors of Windows run 93 percent of

PCs worldwide, according to the research group IDC. Last fiscal year,

Windows accounted for about a third of Microsoft's total revenue of

$44.3 billion.

 

Industry analysts say Vista adoption is plodding along as expected,

with most consumers and businesses switching over as they replace old

hardware with new. IDC analyst Al Gillen said he expects Vista will

be installed on the vast majority of computers in about five years,

the time it took for XP to reach 84 percent of PCs.

 

It's too early for industry watchers to know exactly how many people

are using Vista. At the same time, it's hard to gauge Vista's success

by comparing it to XP, because the PC market has grown tremendously in

the last six years.

 

In early May, Microsoft said it had distributed 40 million copies of

Vista, which costs $199 to $399 depending on the version. But it did

not specify the number actually sold through to consumers, versus

those shipped to computer makers like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell

Inc.

 

Analysts noted that as many as 15 million of those copies could

represent upgrade coupons given to XP buyers during the holidays,

before Vista went on sale. Microsoft would not say how many of those

customers installed the new system, but Forrester Research analyst

J.P. Gownder estimated just over 12 million U.S. consumers would have

Vista by the end of the year, out of about 235 million PCs in the

country.

 

As for the compatibility problems, 2 million devices - such as cameras

and printers - now work with Vista, said Dave Wascha, a director in

the Windows Client group.

 

"We are way ahead with Windows Vista right now than where we were when

we shipped Windows XP" he said.

 

Still, it's an uphill battle: Vista interacts differently with

programs and peripherals than previous versions of Windows, and some

companies have chosen not to spend time and money updating older

products. Printer makers, Wascha noted, draw profits from ink

cartridges and services, and have little motivation to invest in

updating drivers for old hardware.

 

As a result, many early adopters have made a sport of grumbling about

the one device or program they still can't get to work. And they've

ranted about other things, from how hard it is to open Vista's

snap-together plastic retail box, to what they see as arbitrary

decisions on Microsoft's part to hide common settings and features.

 

One of the most common annoyances: Microsoft's user account control

feature, designed to protect unwitting Web surfers from spyware and

viruses that would otherwise install themselves on the hard drive.

Dan Cohen, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley startup

Pageflakes, bought a Vista laptop a couple of months ago. After one

too many pop-up windows warning of possible threats from the Internet,

Cohen switched the control feature off.

 

Now he gets pop-ups warning him that turning off UAC is dangerous. "I

feel more secure - and more irritated" he said. When Cohen went to

buy his wife a new computer in April, he stuck with XP on a laptop

from Lenovo Group Ltd.

 

Some analysts say Microsoft hasn't put enough energy into marketing

Vista's benefits to consumers. But it may also be the case that

Vista's biggest benefits are ones that cause average PC users' eyes to

glaze over, like improved security.

 

"Everybody wants there to be a repeat of Windows 98 - the excitement,

the sales volume, the rate of growth and everything else" said Michael

Cherry, an analyst for the independent research group Directions on

Microsoft.

 

At the time of Windows 98's launch, broadband access to the Internet

was catching fire and consumers were pumped up about getting a faster,

cheaper computer.

 

There's no such compelling reason to buy Vista, said Gownder, the

Forrester analyst.

 

Businesses, like consumers, are in no hurry to upgrade. Before the

business version of Vista landed late last year, a Forrester survey of

about 1,600 companies found that 31 percent planned to upgrade within

a year, and 22 percent more planned to be running it within two years.

 

Most businesses think those plans now seem too aggressive, said

Forrester analyst Benjamin Gray.

 

While corporate technology departments are looking forward to some of

Vista's security features and easier administration tools, there's

little reason to switch if more secure PCs end up choking on a

critical piece of software.

 

"They're waiting for Microsoft to bless it with a service pack" said

Gray, referring to a major software update that fixes bugs.

 

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a member of Microsoft's

Vista Technical Adoption Program, started evaluating Vista in January

2006. Today, only 300 of the hospital's 30,000 desktop computers run

the software.

 

Karen Malik, associate director of technical services, said the

rollout is behind schedule because several key programs still aren't

compatible, including patient scheduling software. Malik knows the

software vendors will catch up to Vista - someday. In the meantime,

she's not rushing.

 

"We know eventually we're going to need to move to this operating

system" Malik said. "It's not really an option."

 

On the Net:

 

Chris Pirillo's Vista video: