Microsoft still pushing Vista compatibility story
Microsoft on Tuesday released a new tool designed to allow customers to see whether their hardware and software will work properly with Windows Vista.
No, this isn't an old article. It is July 2008 and Microsoft still finds it necessary to show customers that plenty of hardware and software works with Vista, which has now been on the market for more than 18 months.
Don't get me wrong, I think the Vista Compatibility Center is a good idea. I just think it's the kind of thing customers want when a new operating system launches. The fact that it is still needed today indicates the challenges that Microsoft continues to face on both the compatibility and marketing fronts with Vista.
Michael Keigley, the Microsoft product manager in charge of the product, concedes that compatibility concerns, both real and perceived, are still important issues for small businesses and consumers as they consider a move to Vista.
"At the launch of Vista, there's no denying we had incompatibilities in the system," he said. A big part of introducing the tool now, though, is clearly in hopes that customers will find that their hardware and software actually is Vista-ready.
However, the online tool is off to a rough start as well. It was supposed to be publicly available in beta form starting this morning. However, those that went to the site on Tuesday morning instead got the message, "The Windows Vista Compatibility Center is currently unavailable. Thank you for your interest, but this site is not available yet. Please check back soon." (See below for screenshots.)
I'll let that speak for itself.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the issue should be resolved later in the day.
When it eventually launches, Microsoft said it will start with about 9,000 products, roughly a third of which are software products and two-thirds of which are hardware devices. About half of the products are those that have undergone testing to be part of Microsoft's Vista-certified logo program.
Here's what Microsoft hoped customers would see at the Vista compatibility center on Tuesday:
Microsoft's Vista Compatibility Center is aimed at showing off just how many products work with the operating system.
(Credit: Microsoft)Here's what they are actually seeing:
As of Tuesday morning, though, the site was broken. A spokesperson said it should be up shortly.
(Credit: CNET News)Update: The site still isn't up, as of 1:50 p.m., but the message has changed to read: "The Windows Vista Compatibility Center will be launching soon, please check back!"
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Let's see a BETA web site that's not on-line on schedule = it's broken, Microsoft sucks.
"Vista is all-but-useless." -- Driven, you are SOOOO right! That's why I use Vista on all of my PCs. I love being useless so why shouldn't my OS be? Maybe I should go back to my Amiga... Or better yet OS/2!
And by the way, BETA means a WORKING product, not a BROKEN one.
My calculator is actually faster for simple math than my Amiga and likewise Vista is better for what I do than my Amiga. You have to use the better tool for the job. Being a tool yourself I?d hope you?d understand.
So again, who's the 'tool' in posting it? And if we complain about it not working, we're within our rights in complaining about it as well. Maybe you should use a better tool on your way of thinking.
Problems with a beta program? Man, they should have put it through a beta test before releasing it as a beta test. Come on people, seriously.
New software doesn't work with crappy old hardware. I didn't throw a fit when the latest version of Premiere Elements wouldn't run on my 5 year old computer, I bought a new computer! That's how tech works. People buy new Macs like every 2-3 years because of the system requirements, why aren't we yelling at Apple?
MS= incompetent.
You do not know what you are talking about. A lot of us still use G4 PowerMacs, (2000 - 2005) They run the latest Apple software.
Lerainus...think before you jump. Moronic statements get you nowhere.
Is my existing printer compatable? (just bought it new)
No! But for a sizeable amount of money you can get one from our list of compatable printers. After all you kids don't need to eat and your SUV doesn't need gas, right? MS Smiley Face!!!
Is my expensive video card compatable? (I sure hope so)
No! but for a good chunk of change you can pick from our list of other expensive video cards. You can do this if you skip off the rent for a month, your landlord won't mind right ? MS Smiley Face
Boy I hope my 512 memory stick Vista Home Preimum
No! You must buy more!!!! Now fork over the cash and get at least 3 gig for a good low end start. But if you want the best buy 8 gig and go for Vista ultimate Edition for an additional cost. After all this is your money where ripping out of your pockets. Please keep spending for we are not through with you yet. Yes we have Windows 7 coming next year and you will get to do it all over again!! For after all we at MS are only wondering as to whats left in you wallet! MS Smiley Face
Perhaps I should change to Linux like all my friends?
No! You should never spend OUR money on other operating systems, no matter how good they are. MS Mean Face
But Linux is FREE!
No! Nothing is free! Do not believe it. Now start saying MS is my God! MS is my God! I will offer up all my hard earned money to MS! I will offer my life and children to ..............
MS Joyful Face!
I kinda feel ashamed for CNet actually. Fancy publishing 'hate' news. I don't see that as quality journalism. Even as an 'opinion' piece, it's disguised, biased and ugly.
A sure way support Vista is to make MS the underdog.
I don't care either way. Like chrisaroz says....if you really think about it...you buy a new computer every 2 years. I'm buying my first Max ever....just to see what all the fuss is about. I bet I find problems...who wants to take that bet?
Vista never worked from the get go, so stop defending the product.
I'm still using a good ol' 478 P4 (not about 5 years old) and I'm running games like Crysis and COD4 so why would I bother upgrading when my current rig does the job just fine?
Oh btw XP user since RTM, and will remain so till 7 comes out, Vista is nothing more then a reboxed and slightly upgraded XP core with a new layer
Anyway, what's a 'troll'? I don't know what you are talking about.
If you are saying that I am some sort of 'Vista' supporter. You're wrong. I've had problems, but i'm not going to cry about it.
I have to agree with mr_rojo. Publishing 'hate' and YELLING and silly stuff like that is childish. I expect better from CNet and its readers.
Not publishing HATE, just the facts here.
Then you've never met any hardcore gamers. I average either a completely new rig or a massive upgrade about every 18 months. My old systems end up being better than current midrange stuff on the market.
I'm a gamer too...maybe not as hardcore as you, but I question why? I have an AGP based system as well a PCI-E custom machines. Most software (not games, but apps as well) dont even require the lastest graphic cards or huge memory. Maybe you're the minority, but the rest will not even bother or dont have the financial means to upgrade $800 worth of components. So even though you may have the means too, doesn't mean the average home user will.
The "average" computer owner can go at least five years before replacing their computer. Most people I know wait till their computer is old, smoking, has seized fans and almost blows up when they turn it on before they consider buying a new one.
Of course, those same people "average computer owners" have no need to purchase Vista. They won't get a now O/S until they purchase a new computer.
Since we're talking facts here, here's a fact for you. MS dumbed down the requirements for Vista because some large computer companies had large stocks of computers that did not meet the system requirements, so MS artificially lowered the requirements knowing that machines just meeting those requirements would produce a very poor experience running Vista. There's a big law suit going on in the US over that exact issue right now....perhaps you should look into it.
I play a lot of games myself, and my upgrade cycle for my home computers is about every two to three years. Perhaps you shouldn't assume everyone does what you do. Just because hardware is old, doesn't make it crappy. If MS didn't over-bloat all the software they make (most notably their operating systems) it would run fine on older hardware. Because they want to build in media players, browsers, security software, 3d GUI, instant messaging software, DRM, and a whole hoard of other stuff they cause their software to run slow, crappy and cause computability problems. People have been complaining about these issues for years, but MS ignores their customers and does what they wish. "My way or the highway" is their motto. If the games I play were available on linux, I would have abandoned MS years ago.
If MS made a sleek, fast, small o/s I would be happy to buy it. I could then add the software I want to make the o/s secure, stable and keep it fast. I don't need to be told what browsers and media software I should be using. It's supposed to be an operating system, not an o/s plus everything else.
Have fun using your bloated o/s.
As to cameras...... if you are buying a camera that is over 300 dollars that is a digital camera, yes. You shouldn't have to upgrade every 3 years or so. However, for anything BELOW that price level, upgrading should be done every 3 years or so.
Or is Paul right?
http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/07/08/tech-press-continues-bashing-windows-vista.aspx
Vista works fine for me... but I guess I got lucky... It's easy to bash Microsoft though isn't it?
Vista doesnt work on either of these brand new machines. Vista is bloated and horrible. It runs nothing well, not even itself. I replaced the OS with XP Pro and am hoping like hell that Windows 7 is usable, and even more that Linux or another entity comes along with a viable option that will free us from the shackles that Microsoft keeps us in.
Do I want them to go under? No. I want them to have COMPETITION. That's the ONLY WAY to make them create products that are actually worth losing. The company has the potential like none other. They ignore it and remain at their bottom-rung level because they can, and their number one goal has always been to have that kind of power.
The monopoly has to be broken. Only then will we see what Microsoft could be.
Vista is crap, whether or not you can use it. For anyone to deny this is to be following some bizarre personal agenda, and doesnt lend to the discussion.
I have Vista laptop that I absolutely love. The only problem I saw with it was something Toshiba fixed via a BIOS update and last time I checked, that has nothing to do with Vista.
Before those updates, yes, I had problems. But they weren't coming from Vista, they were coming from Toshiba products that I finally uninstalled and wiped all the mentions of them from the Registry.
whats the point, if you don't have the hardware to run it, don't run it. I remember when xp came out, people were still running win 98 easily 18 month's into xp's release.
Last I looked there are no applications (or very few) that are vista only, and won't run on XP. If you only upgrade your hardware every 5-7 years as some have pointed out, why do you expect to upgrade your operating system more frequently.
I use vista at home, for gaming and it runs great.
Better products already exist. Why do business with criminals when you can deal with honest people?
PS. C/net, please put the message boards back the way they were before. I liked being the only one who could use line breaks. :)
- by The_Decider July 8, 2008 2:54 PM PDT
- Ina is a notorious MS fans. But even this writer is smart enough to stop shilling for such a crap product like Vista. Vista is a total failure, it is a simple fact.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- by Lerianis July 8, 2008 8:46 PM PDT
- No, it is not a simple fact. The fact is that many of the things that people were saying that were 'bad' about Vista were unjust accusations and proven to be false by the evidence recently.
- Like this
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (80 Comments)Personally, I have used Vista for nearly a year and a half now, and have had NO problem whatsoever with my computer system, that I haven't made myself.