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Windows Vista proclaimed "Me II"
Could Windows Vista proof a repeat of Microsoft's Windows Millenium Edition (Me) marketing disaster?
Several people are starting to ask just that question after Microsoft released a $3 software bundle for developing nations and Dell brought back Windows XP systems.
Windows Me was released in 2000. Microsoft at the time was the laughing stock of the high tech world. It had just been convicted of abusing its monopoly and had completely missed out on the internet boom (well, it acquired Hotmail, but that was it). The Windows Me launch prompted headlines like "Windows washes even whiter", to indicate that the launch was 99 per cent marketing fluff. The market agreed. Consumers held on to their Windows 98 systems and Me sales tanked.
So is Vista a useless update? At work we're still running Windows XP, mainly because several of our applications won't support Vista or Internet Explorer 7. Having run the operating system on a home computer for several months now, I can hardly say that it wows me. The user interface is pretty. It is slightly easier to find documents and applications than it was in Windows XP. But the nicest feature by far is the deep sleep mode that drastically shortens the boot-time.
If shaving off the odd minute from the boot-time is your best feature, something is severely wrong.
Microsoft will tell you that Vista is all about security. But security is a checkbox item: essential to have but mostly a pain in the behind when it's flawed. Secondly, most users are confident that they are safe online until they catch a virus. Security doesn't drive sales.
A second sales pitch would talk up Vista's multi media capabilities. We have yet to see applications that use the stunning graphics that Windows Vista supposedly should offer. And a Netgear media adapter that is supposed to play content from the PC on the stereo won't function, even though both Vista and the device are supposed to support the same industry standard.
Lastly, I'm pissed off that my cell phone won't synchronize with Vista's bundled calendar and address book applications. Syncing requiresOutlook 2007 - for some reason Vista doesn't support Outlook 2003. But I certainly won't shell out $500 for Office 2007. Instead I downloaded OpenOffice and increasingly find myself using Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
Now that I think of it, Linux should be well equipped to perform all the tasks that are currently performed on my computer. Perhaps it's time to create a Linux partition.
April 25, 2007 at 08:02 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Thanks for posting your experience with Vista. I've been trying to get a feel for what the general impression is, and appreciated your post.
I haven't switched yet, and may hold off. I'm even thinking about getting a Mac.
I read another interesting commentary on Vista, overo n Media 3.0. Shelly Palmer wrote a piece called "Cracked Windows."
It's worth checking out:
http://advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com/emmyadvancedmedia/2007/02/cracked_windows.html
Thanks
Alexandra
Posted-by: Alexandra | 25 Apr 2007 21:00:44
I've tried "Ultimate," and "Business" versions and settled with Vista Basic, it's on a dual boot system, XP is still my primary operating system. I offer hardware/software support to several local clients, and have yet to recommend Vista to anyone of them. Yeah, Aero is fun to look at but it does very little for my clients video processing abilities. Regretfully I have Vista on my system but it's intalled as a dual boot and XP is still my primary. Micorsoft -- give me a break.
Posted-by: JoAnne | 26 Apr 2007 20:40:59
I prefer WIN XP, I don't want problemas with vista.
Posted-by: Nicolas | 30 Apr 2007 22:01:24
Hey people get Ubuntu Linux
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Debian 4.0
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Posted-by: Gary | 1 May 2007 09:07:26
Hehehhehehe don't waste ur money, I am using a carcked version of Vista and a cracked version of Office2007 without paying 1 cent... I like it, it works perfect in everything I plug in... Just get eMule and download the permanetly activated version of vista for free and thats it!
Posted-by: The Trooper | 2 May 2007 06:46:42
I have most every home computer operating system at one time or another. I still legally have win2k and xp to keep my skills up, I would never purchase vista. The security and virus issues are the largest concern why I do not run Microsoft based systems, I have spent too much time cleaning them up when I was a tech. Also too, Microsoft is alledgely now going to use your windows machine for data mining whether you like it or not. Your files are no longer private. If I were still a Windows user, I would be raising heck about it to my elected officials. I now primarily use bsd and linux based systems with an abundance of open sourced software. I for the most part have no problems and require little support needed on those machines. I am now developing my own os so that I can control my machines without outside interference or meddling.
Posted-by: ricogiove | 31 Aug 2007 00:02:20
u r all full of shit vista is gr8 lots of new stuff added and it runs faster than xp (if u dont have a pile of shit pc)
Posted-by: yo mumma | 31 Aug 2007 22:48:03
Vista will never be faster than xp , im guessing microsoft will make something like a better polished xp for future consumers, Vista is just too incompatible , too much drm , sound is Software accellerated and steals cpu/ram instead of hardware etc , as for the Aero interface its ugly bloatware i rather run my modded shit :D 300 MB finished install =)
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