Silicon Valley Sleuth posts a scathing attach on Windows Vista.  Here are just some of the highlights:

Next came sidebar, the idea that Microsoft stole from Apple's Dashboard, which stole it from Konfabulator.

And:

What about the new photo editing tools? It allows Windows to do what Google's free Picasa application has been doing for years: organise photos.

And:

And certainly don't forget the new user interface for your windows and applications like Windows Media Player. Because, really, its shiny black interface is the main thing that a user will see when he boots up Vista, and the only feature that's really new about the operating system. All the other "new" features are just rip-offs of existing applications that Microsoft copied. In the end, Vista won't do anything that Windows XP can't do already with a little help from third party vendors.

Oh, and:

Cynicism has taken over in Redmond. Microsoft has taken five years to finally make a secure operating system and now wants us to pay for it. After Microsoft pulled every feature in the software, all that's left now are under the hood adjustments.

Gosh, where to start.  To begin with, Finding out what people want is a moving target at the best of times.  I'm a true believer in the notion that most people really don't know what they want anyway.

One of the issues with Windows Vista is that it is being developed at a time when security is a primary concern.  But the problem with security is that people don't realize how much they need it until they find out that they didn't have it.  In my opinion, the added security in Windows Vista makes it an upgrade worth purchasing.  You can't "see" the extra security but it certainly exists.

I guess I'm also wondering, "just what else does anyone want in an operating system?"  Put too much in it and people claim it's bloatware, put too little into it and people want more.  No-win situation.

I think that the bottom line is that too many people forget what an operating system is - it's a platform for software and hardware.  A new operating system should be a fresh new platform that brings in new features that software can leverage and which also supports cutting edge hardware. 

Windows Vista does this just nicely.

One final point I want to pick up on:

As a user, would these features make you stand in line to purchase a copy, some night in November when Microsoft chooses to launch Windows Vista?

See, again this is a naive journalist's view of what Windows Vista (or any operating system) is.  People upgrading represent only a very small part of operating system sales for Microsoft - most sales are when it's bundled with a new PC.  No matter what anyone, anywhere says, when Vista is launched most PCs shipped with Windows will ship with Vista.  After a few weeks you won't be able to get a PC with XP on it and all the fuss will be over.

Security, robustness, reliability and speed, that's what people want in the end.  I believe that Vista will offer them just that.

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Microsoft, Vista

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2006 at 10:12 and is filed under PC Doctor's Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.