Who’s Giving Vista a Pass and Waiting for Windows 7?

Posted on 21 May 2008 by


Speculation, speculation… I wonder who’s going to take the Vista plunge…or not. 

Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of chatter over operating systems.  Who’s ready for this SP, or that, on this OS or the other… Who’s going to install them or wait it out for a while…that type of thing. I’ve heard a people grimacing over XP EOL and Vista, as well.  What is even more interesting is that some of my IT management team has been saying that they may blow by Vista entirely in favor of Windows 7.

Some people have been wondering if Vista isn’t the Windows ME of the new Millennium.  What this means is that many users just don’t see the value in deploying an operating system on their business or home networks that has so many issues and problems. I wonder the same thing. Sometimes, the latest greatest isn’t that great…

While most home users will likely just grin and bear the pain, most corporate and enterprise users won’t.  I know many IT teams that are just waiting out the Vista SP1 issues as well as the release of the next operating system, currently coined Windows 7.  Windows Vista isn’t completely out of the question just yet; but you still have to wonder if and how it gets implemented in many of the enterprises.

Most IT Managers I know don’t like all of this speculation. As a Software QA Director, I’m not crazy about it either. I don’t like situations I can’t plan for…and this has “lack of planning,” written all over it. I also saw an article (and unfortunately, I’m blanking on where I saw it…It was either BetaNews or Computer World)where Bill is hinting that the Windows 7 beta may actually start a lot sooner than everyone thinks…like in the immediate future.

That being the case, I don’t know many IT Managers eager to jump on the Vista band wagon.  Though it’s not totally out of the picture yet, its EOL may be a lot sooner than everyone thinks (though MS is still sticking with their original release date of early 2010)

However, Vista’s got a long row to hoe.  It was nearly 7 years between XP’s and Vista’s release.  Too many people are used to XP; and Vista is just so radically different and the public’s expectations set so high that it’s going to have a hard time getting adopted. Microsoft’s tried to release patches and updates; and though SP1 has gone a long way to right some of Vista’s wrongs, not everyone has the update yet. It has yet to appear for my MacBook Pro, via Windows Update’s Auto Update feature.  I suspect that has EVERYTHING to do with Apple’s Boot Camp drivers, though I don’t have 100% confirmation on that…it could be something else holding up the download (though I doubt it).

So who is going to hold out for Windows 7 (or what ever MS decides to call it…)? Why don’t you join us in the discussion area and let us know what you think?

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  • raymond_u

    I’ve been without Windows for 7 years, so I’ll pass on Vista… AND Windows 7…

  • alese

    At home I’m quite happy with my XP and have no intention to change that.
    At work standard is still XP and I doubt we’ll change that anytime soon, there is just no particular reason to do it. Since I work in IT, I could if I wanted to, replace XP with Vista, but again why.
    So long story short, no Vista for me, I’ll wait until Windows 7. The only way Microsoft could make me reconsider this would be if it would take too long for Windows 7 to be released or if it would turn out to be another dud (I don’t think even Microsoft would dare to afford that) and in that case I would probably go with either Linux or OSX – at least at home.

  • http://www.s-consult.com/index.php Wayne Schulz

    My day job is consulting with mid-sized companies (typically 1 to $200 million in size) regarding their accounting systems.

    I can’t think of a single one that has made a switch to Vista. Most of their IT guys shake at the thought.

    Recently rather than buy a PC with VISTA for my Mom, I bought a refurb iMac. I just did not want to deal with the hassle of becoming the support department for an OS which I think will ultimately be a footnote in the history of Microsoft.

    At home I made the Mac plunge as well. That was largely provoked by my lack of motivation to analyze the umpteen VISTA versions that Microsoft offered
    to see what I’d be missing if I chose one version over another.

    Microsoft’s biggest problem was they came out with too many “flavors” and didn’t offer a compelling reason to upgrade.

  • reidme

    I agree Wayne. At this time last year our family had four XP PCs: a desktop and laptop for me, desktop for the kids, and laptop for my wife. The amount of time I spent fixing stuff that should never have been broke and installing “updates” that never improved anything was staggering. We now have four Macs: an iMac 24″ and MacBook Air for me, an iMac 20″ for the kids, and a MacBook for my wife. I know it’s a cliche, but 99.9% of the time they “just work” and the family loves them! My mom is next on the list. :-)

    I’ve sent a lot of cash to Cupertino the past year, but frankly, they’ve earned it. I can sum up my opinion of Microsoft’s capabilities, quality control, and attitude towards it’s customers in one word: ActiveSync.

  • http://geardiary.com Christopher Spera

    Vista’s biggest UI problem is that it is so COMPLETELY different from XP. Most user complaints I’ve hard have been centered around Vista’s differences from XP. Microsoft completely changed where things are; and didn’t leave any breadcrumbs for us to follow. As such, most users get lost easily, and spend a heck of a lot more time searching for stuff than doing stuff. Its a huge productivity problem.

    I HAD to move to Vista, as one of my main freelancing gigs requires me to have the latest and greatest MS operating system. However, I agree that Leopard is so much easier, and just works, as most every user would expect it to.

    I also plan to send Steve Jobs more of my money (planning an iPhone purchase, and perhaps a Mac Mini purchase) later this year. While its nice that Mac OS and hardware work so well together, it majorly sucks that they cost so much! I’d have more Apple stuff now if it weren’t for the prohibitive downstroke needed to get things going.

  • raymond_u

    @Wayne Schulz – So do you actually still use a Windows rig for work, or is Mac OS your all-rounder?

    @Christopher – Whatever happened to your MBP? I thought you were a Mac convert?