Betting on eXPerience over a vast Vista - PHOTO: AP
ONE YEAR LATER: The ?rst anniversary of the launch of Microsoft's ?agship operating system is in many ways a curious affair. Last week marked one year since the release of Vista, the newest Windows version, for the business user. The consumer edition became available from end January 2007. The ?rst anniversary of the launch of Microsoft's ?agship operating system is in many ways a curious affair. Lack of enthusiasm Nearly 90 million copies are said to have been sold, of all editions combined - and clearly this does not represent peanuts. So why are the cheers so muted; the lack of enthusiasm, so palpable? Industry watcher Gartner couches its comments diplomatically: "The uptake of Vista in the PC installed base is taking longer than previously expected." Others are more blunt: Many of the improvements that Vista offered over earlier versions - like the Aero interface that used 3-D-like imagery to making the desktop experience better - was icing on the cake. Great to have, provided the cake itself was perceived to be solid value for money. Unfortunately, Vista required many users to make costly hardware upgrades to their PCs before they could experience the new look-and-feel. If they did not, they were left with Vista without the bells-and-whistles and asked, with some reason, "Why should I pay for this?" That was not all; Unlike earlier releases of Windows from Win 3.1, all the way through Windows 95 and Windows Me, Microsoft did not ( or could not) ensure that at the time of Vista's release, the entire ecosystem that makes for a smooth transition in the operating system, was in position. Thousands of lay users were annoyed to ?nd that Vista did not work with their printers and scanners and CD or DVD players - even models that were quite new. They no longer had a choice of peripherals to choose from. Deciding to move to Vista effectively locked them into a small number of options - devices that proclaimed that they were `Vista ready.' Exaggerated claim This claim often turned out to be exaggerated: the peripherals needed tweaking by a professional before they could be made to mate with a Vista PC. Less than a year after the launch of the consumer editions of Vista, Microsoft is having to release the ?rst Service Pack or SP1, currently in a beta release for professional testers. It had originally planned to enforce a halt to the sale of the earlier Windows XP version from January 31 2008. But the reluctance of many users, both corporate and consumer, to upgrade to Vista and the negative feedback it received from its resellers and PC assemblers, has forced the company to allow XP to be preloaded on PCs till June 30 2008 - and for the XP Starter Edition being sold in emerging markets like India, to be loaded on machines till June 2010. Piquant situation With XP slated to be around for some more time to come, it had to be supported - so Microsoft has also released( in beta) the third Service Pack - SP3 - for Windows XP. Now here is a piquant situation! The technology media has widely reported an interesting benchmarking test carried out by researchers at a Florida (U.S.)-based software company, Devil Mountain Software. They pitted XP with SP3 against Vista with SP1 in a standard test and found that XP easily outperformed Vista, taking 35 seconds to Vista's 80. Granted, these are tests with beta versions of the service packs and possibly not an indication of how things will perform when the ?nal versions are released; granted this is one test by one company and it is always dif?cult to judge which benchmark to use... yet many are ready to read a message into this news. For lay consumers agonising, Hamlet-like : To be or not to be, a Vista user, the message is: "Let's not rush; let's stick with XP as long as we can." And Microsoft seemingly finds itself in the unusual situation of a new product facing stiff competition from its own earlier version. Among business users, the situation is more hazy: Last week, an analyst ?rm, King Research, found that an overwhelming 90 per cent of IT personnel polled, have some concerns about Vista and nearly half have considered a non-Windows option. However, another analyst, Forrester has suggested that use of non-Windows systems like Linux, was still minuscule - and at least half of the corporate world planned to switch to Vista sometime in 2008. Agonised questions Meanwhile, guidance counsellors at tech sites are addressing agonised questions from ordinary PC owners, like: "How do I downgrade from Windows Vista to XP?" (posted at C/ net) and "I had a desktop and laptop both running Windows XP. Life was good. When I went shopping for a new laptop, I was told that (it) came with Vista and I could not have it with XP. Is this true?" (posted in the San Francisco Chronicle). Such users are being told: Microsoft designs software to be backward compatible - you can upgrade an XP machine to Vista. It is quite unprecedented that users are seeking to `downgrade' their Vista machines to XP . and there is no easy answer. In fact, the expert at the SF Chronicle advises that one can partition the hard disk to dual-boot and run XP as well as the (unwanted) Vista, but it is a messy solution. "If I were you, I'd bite the bullet and use Vista, which once you get used to, is a good solid system," he says. Is that acceptable? Are we to move kicking and screaming (when not biting the bullet) to a version that does nothing new or exciting for us, because there is no other way out, but up. Unspoken message There is another unspoken message wafting towards Microsoft from its millions of users after their mixed, yearlong experience with Vista. It says: "Get working on Vista and tweak it so that it is a help not a hassle... so that we may embrace it because we want to - not because we have to." ANAND PARTHASARATHY ________________________________ Notice: The information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us by reply e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. Thank you To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
