This past week, after two months of regular use on my desktop system, I came to a conclusion regarding Vista. After endless dealings with driver and application incompatibilities, reduced overall system performance and considerable frustration with the new “more intuitive” UI, I finally found the fix for Windows Vista more usable – downgrade to Windows XP.

 

Any of you who have been reading the blog over the last few months know that I am not a rabid Microsoft hater, and that’s significant to consider when you weigh my assessment about Vista. I came into this evaluation very open and quite excited about the potential of Vista from the beginning. (See:  Vista + HDTV = Tivo Killer?) That anticipation, however, has been replaced with the dull aching reality that Vista simply carries too much baggage to offset any positives I’ve experienced.

 

What’s more, I have placed an indefinite moratorium of Vista deployment for any of our corporation’s internal systems. I’m also advising customers to do the same in their IT shops. This conclusion is in line with similar announcements from major firms and even government institutions like the DOJ and FAA – this past week these are just a few of the entities that have said “adios” to the Microsoft flagship OS.

 

Does this spell “Doom” for MS?

 

Not hardly, I’m sure the spin-masters at Redmond are working double-time on press releases and other propaganda designed to flood the market with rave reviews about Vista, ignoring the reality of its sluggish acceptance by real-world users.

 

The real test of success is going to be how we all feel about Vista in another year. Sure, early adopters are going to purchase and implement Vista now, and any new systems purchased are coming with it preloaded, but what will the preferred OS be in six months or a year?

 

Will corporations be satisfied with the time tested strategy of waiting for SP1 of any new MS operating system before wide-spread adoption? On the consumer side, will new DirectX 10 hardware and games be so compelling that users will upgrade just for specific titles? 

 

These are entirely possible outcomes, but so are the following:

 

  1. Feed up with the endless Microsoft upgrade merry-go-round, corporations move past the “evaluating” Linux stage to active desktop deployment.
  2. Riding the wave of consumer good will and enthusiast support, Apple, finally cracks past its single digit market penetration as OSX is perceived a better choice then Vista.
  3. Windows XP, now over six years old, remains the preferred desktop OS of choice. Both in corporations that have little incentive to upgrade from a cost and training perspective, and in the home with a large install base and questionable app and driver support home users hold back.

 

All three of these options are viable, and deserve to be explored in more depth. To that end, check back in the coming weeks as I expand on each of these and other paths. Whoever said the OS wars were over anyway?Â