Comments on: Microsoft readying Vista marketing blitz

Software giant wants to re-create the excitement that accompanied the launch of Windows 95 a decade ago.

[t8]

I can't wait

I can't wait to see what features they have stolen off Google. Of course I won't be buying Vista. It is cheaper to install Google Pack.

GOOOOOGLE

[MacDuff]

"I can't wait to see what they copied, either!"

Apple CEO Steve Jobs would say ;)

[paulsecic]

Just bought

I just bought a PC in July so I'll won't need one til 2010.

[digitallysick]

vista beta 2

running on an overclocked pentium 3.4 , which is oc'd to 4.3, 2 gigs of ram and its still sllllooowww, not looking forward to vista really, i enjoyed xp 64 bit if not for the extreme lack of support

[capfan12]

still being optomized

the are still doing code performance optimization

[bobby_brady]

Yawn!

Will Microsoft tell us about all the new DRM that Vista is infested with?

[nart321]

It will be worse

Companies like Microsoft won't be happy till they have competely DRM'd,patented, possibly rootkitted, and otherwise tied the user to it's OS.Whatever happened to "Fair Use"?

[coryschulz]

That's true...

If Vista has a lot of DRM stuff built into it then I'll probably stay with XP or consider a Linux alternative.

Stealing software, music, and videos are the 3 main things I do with my computer. If I can't do that, then what would I use it for? If I wasn't so poor, of course I'd pay for it. But I have no money to give, and if I steal a few videos it's not like I actually took something out of someones hands, or as though they lost out on an opportunity to make a sale. Maybe that's a little more socialist of me to think that everyone should have unlimited access to information, but then again, that's exactly what my Library does, and that's funded by the gov.

Hopefully someone will come out with patches for DRM to get rid of it.

[coryschulz]

I'm optimistic about Vista...

I definitely see how this system could create a much smoother and efficient computing experience.

I'm interested also in seeing how this platform will effect businesses and how they can take advantage of new development tools to make the consumers purchasing experience more efficient, more productive, and more interesting. This will mainly effect user interaction on web pages.

Application development will become more visual and user friendly. More information will be presented in graphical representations rather then raw data. Information will become mobile and will be accessed from anywhere.

Should be interesting... I plan on buying it if I can ever afford a tablet pc good enough to run it.

[J_Satch]

Me too...

I see it as a great opportunity to switch to Linux!

[YankeePoodle]

Vista 64-bit

Vista and WinFX is something I have been waiting for quite sometime, but I would like to see what kind of support for Vista 64-bit operating system is in place. Vista, if actually with good 64-bit capabilities(both in terms of applications, drivers and support) can lead the transistion of the avg. joe from 32-bit to 64-bit computing.

[Sir Limey]

Too Optimistic

Obviously you haven't used the beta. Slow and way too graphic intense for a work enviroment.

[Solaris_User]

You are a M$ Spy.

Haha. There is no way you are a real person.

"I'm interested also in seeing how this platform will effect businesses and how they can take advantage of new development tools to make the consumers purchasing experience more efficient, more productive, and more interesting."

Unhun.. yeah.. me too. lol

[czarousa]

Its already making me excited waiting for it.

I am waiting and to tell you the truth if its launched in India at the same time I'll be on the stores sooner than you can say aloha!!
I have already a graphics powerhouse as my main desktop and i have postponed my 2nd desktop buy to the athlons new platform and vista.
I cant wait, I have seen the beta and if that is getting better than I am in... NO DOUBT!!!!

[bobj123]

Blitzing?

If there are people out there that really do run to the store for a new Windows OS in the same fashion as if Halo was being released I just have no comment...

[microsoft slayer]

Who Cares?

I like Mac OS X better...and my new MacBook Pro. Vista what?

[wakizaki]

Yehey! New Expensive Bloatware from Micro$oft!

My goodness, seems it's quite hefty on hardware, not to mention on the pocket. I'll just stick with my lean, mean, stable Slackware Linux :D

[wakizaki]

Yehey! New Expensive Bloatware from Micro$oft!

My goodness, seems it is quite hefty on hardware, not to mention on the pocket. I'll just stick with my lean, mean, stable Slackware Linux :D

[Earl Benser]

Just two things needed....

... A fixed and definite delivery data and a firm list, with
descriptions, of the included features. If that can be done, no blitz
is needed. If that can't be done, no blitz will help.

Simple, MS, quit talking and actually deliver!!!!!!

[J_Satch]

Don't tell me...

...you're interested in Windows in anything more than an academic sense, Earl! ;)

[booboo1243]

Techies readying MS virus defense blitz

Fire in the hole!

I'm sure, just like every other MS product release the number of vulnerabilities discovered, worms and viruses released in the wild, will be heavier than the normal amount of MS virus releases for a while.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Shouldn't be..

Note that after Windows Server 2003 came out there wasn't a rush of new vulnerabilities found. Vista will be the first new desktop/consumer version of Windows since XP and one major difference that's occured since then is that MS examined it's code and eliminated a great number of vulnerabilities. That and their new emphasis on not needing everyone signed on as administrators all the time should make it harder for the hackers.

[steven.randolph]

This is not 1995

On the business side, Microsoft's problem is that it's not 1995 and the IT landscape, not to mention the business climate, has changed dramatically since then. In 2006, companies are not going to be eager to upgrade hundreds of thousands of their worker bees unless they see some solid cost/benefit reasons. Maybe Microsoft can sell based on Vista's enhanced security; that is, assuming Vista really does have better security, which I think is very much an open question so far. I don't think business is exactly going to be overwhelmed by Vista's other new features, not even the 64 bit support, and certainly not by any new multimedia and entertainment features. Some of these latter features are Nice to Have, sure, but are these features perceived as really essential to routine daily work? No way, not yet.

[J_Satch]

You forget...

...that managers the world over will read something somewhere and mandate the upgrade! ;)

[Xiaxua]

I agree

Vista is not the paradigm shift in usability that Windows 95 was. Back then they were moving people from black command lines to point-and-click ease of use. Today they're trying to say... what? That the OS looks Good Enough to Lick(TM)? Might work in the consumer space where Apple sells most of its OS X to, but I'm not sure if fancy-schmancy graphics is what the business people are concerned about.

Better security? More stable? That remains to be seen. Not to mention experienced.

[Michael G.]

"Designed for Windows XP"

I don't enjoy the prospect of a significant hardware upgrade (RAM, and perhaps a new graphics card) for my relatively new PC, which is less than a year old. Windows Vista has yet to prove itself, one way or the other. So I intend to keep Windows XP...it's proven to be quite reliable. As the old saying goes---If it isn't broken, don't fix it. The new hardware requirements for Vista are going to be a poor selling point, not only for older PCs, but newer PCs as well.

PCs are affordable enough that it makes sense for those interested to upgrade to Vista by purchasing a new PC in a year or two. That way, one can rest assured that all of the hardware is fully compatible. On the other hand, this is most likely the underlying strategy by Microsoft and Windows Vista---a massive marketing campaign to get people to purchase a new generation of PCs, most likely DRM crippled in both software and hardware.

As for security, if the conflict of interest Microsoft offers by introducing Windows OneCare and Windows Defender at the same time as Vista is any indication of Vista's security, then it won't be worth the upgrade.

[mistergoodman]

I just don't need this

Windows 95 gave me long filenames and real boosts to the OS. I have yet to hear what I can do with Vista that I can't do now just as well. And without the expense and hassle of upgrading my OS, my apps and my hardware. I don't expect to run Vista until I get it bundled with a new machine.

[ServedUp]

Surprise Surprise

Microsoft's just full of surprises..

[rcrusoe]

Smart consumers will wait until Service Pack 1

before they decide to never buy Vesta. ;-)

[john55440]

Vista Preinstalled

I hope my 2002 computer keeps running until I can replace it with a Vista Preinsalled unit.

It HAS to be better than Windows XP, that creaky old collection of thousands of patches.

[ColdMast]

Most Secure Windows Ever

wait... that's what M$ said last time.
swiss cheese anyone.

I hope they have some more skins (basic blue, silver, olive,
media center blue), I'd like to customize the OS look, and to a
lesser extent feel with out having to slow it down my rig to a
crawl with third party solutions (I know there a .DLL file that lets
you run unsigned skins but I shouldn't have to surf through the
net to find them (the skins), micro$oft should offer the cutomer
more freebees. A home user needs a system backup for
dummies button.

With video games systems being what they are I don't need a pc
for games anymore (sorry to shock); a low end system easily
handles almost every media task (except for transcoding), so
why buy a new OS that would ruin all this?

DRM hmmmmmm... how to get around that... I know I'll grab
linux!

[Norseman]

A great product sells itself

by the buzz it gets from satisfied customers. The worst movies are the ones that advertise the most. I think the same is true for computers and operating systems.

[Maxwell Studly]

You're right, which is why Windows dominates

You're right...companies that advertise the most (like Apple) still have nothing to show for it, as proven by OS X's laughable 3% world wide market share. Thank goodness Apple has the ipod though, lol.

Don't cry as Windows continues to handily dominate over all other operating systems.

[MacDuff]

God! Where's my BARF BUCKET??

You guys are HILARIOUS! You think Windows is dominant on
account of SUPERIOR QUALITY to Mac OS??

WOW!

Then, based on your logic, the same could be said of the
following:

Shania Twain is artistically superior to Miles Davis (or even
Mozart) because she has sold more records.

McDonalds makes THE BEST HAMBURGERS IN THE WORLD!! And
that "mom & pop" establishment down the street from you with
people lined up outside the door during rush hours? Gotta be
CRAP food there, as they haven't sold "billions and billions" of
hamburgers.

Dell makes the best computers in the world! BETTER than any
roll-your-own PC you or any other individual could ever TRY to
cobble together!

Need I go on?

Ya get the drift?

Microsoft Windows is dominant for one reason and one reason
ONLY:

Bill Gates is a tremendously smart wheeler and dealer.

Actually, there's another reason:

Many of Apple's Board and CEOs over the years have been really
REALLY stupid.

Are you people actually aware of the fact that Bill Gates sold IBM
on LICENSING DOS -- AND YET HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE IT?
Microsoft had NOT CREATED DOS as of yet! Gates sold IBM
VAPORWARE, convinced the BLIND boys at IBM to accept a non-
exclusive license... and then promptly went out looking for an
operating system TO BUY AFTER THEY SEALED THE DEAL WITH
IBM! Microsoft bought DOS from a small company called "The
Seattle Computer Company" for $50,000.00. THAT's DOS.
THAT'S what you guys ran on for years and years, and it only
happened on account of Bill Gates' BIG HAIRLY BALLS.

Bill Gates deserves (almost) every penny he's got, but only on
account of his excellence in The Art of The Deal; NOT because
DOS -- and Windows -- are technologically superior to Mac OS
(be it X or older). The crown was Apple's to lose, and they let it
slip from their fingers on account of their own short-term greed
and arrogance.

[MacDuff]

This comment is asinine

For starters, Microsoft's marketing budget DWARFS Apple's.
remember all the MARKETING HYPE surrounding Windows 95
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/
microsoft/stories/1995/debut082495.htm )?? God, they had a
gigantic banner hanging down the entire height of the Toronto
CN Tower; the world's tallest freestanding structure. Ditto with
bathing the Empire State Building in Microsoftian color themes.
Didn't they deface the Eiffel Tower in some ay as well? And just
how much was it to license the Stones' "Start Me Up"?? You don't
want to know.

So, if you're right, then Windows truly does SUCK.

Next, Apple does very VERY little computer marketing, and in
fact has NEVER released an ad for their operating system,
certainly not since Mac OS X came out in 2001. Apple is selling
more Macs in recent years and (SLOLY) growing market-share
because people are getting fed up with that "superior" operating
system that Microsoft puts out. HOW are they finding out? Apple
retail stores, the iPod/iTunes experience are two reasons. But, if
they weren't either frustrated beyond belief over Windows, or
blown away by how nice the iPod/iTunes ecosystem works, they
wouldn't be looking to "switch", now would they?

In the crystal ball department, it is reported today that
investment house Needham & Co predict that Apple could gain a
9% market-share ( http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/
index.cfm?NewsID=14042&Page=1&pagePos=2 ). I hope they
do -- but not much beyond 10%. Apple would have a very
healthy situation at 10% -- but not be dominant enough to bee
harassed by hackers and virii like Windows is (despite OS X's
more firm security). Apple's CPU sales are up at least 24% over
2005. So, maybe they'll pull it off?

Meanwhile, if great software sells itself, prepare yourself for the
biggest push of that piece of **** operating system, Windows
Vista (to use YOUR logic, of course). Rest assured that M$ will
pull ALL the plugs to get Vista off the racks and into people's
homes and corporate deployments.

[Christopher Hall]

How fortunate, then...

How fortunate, then, that Apple does not fall victim to similar tactics!

Good thing they never toot their own horn declaring their (arbitrary and subjective) superiority over the competition. Good thing they don't have a yearly event reinforcing said claims to the masses who buy it hook, line, and sinker and leave in a dazed frenzy of ecstacy and stupor not seen since the era of the boy bands. Good thing they don't have to put their CEO on stage to anchor said event because he's the only one at the company who's actually worth anything.

[Turnabuck]

Remember DOS?

In those good ol days I remember cussing at Windows, vowing never to cave to the NEW operating system.

Working endlessly on work arounds. Through each NEW version came the challenge to get around it.

As the operating system got bigger and with my clients needing answers to their Windows questions I was forced to learn it, fix it, and boy that was a task, install it and eventually resort to reselling it.

Thinking back I laugh at my resistance to the whole thing and the time wasted in work arounds.

Today is a new day though. Once Vista hits I will be prepared to face it head on. By the time the NEW operating system arrives I will have 7 Domain Names with VISTA in them, the latest patches, helpful information for my clients and hopefully a whole other income stream.

I can just invision all the high end equipment in trash bins and bulk auction lots. mine, mine, mine...

I guess the best advice I can give is either buy an umbrella or get wet. It's gonna rain like hell.

Hurry up Microsoft!

[stealt403]

confused....

Are you commenting on this article or giving us a short recap of your life through OSs??? This is a forum not a journal.

[mlinder69]

deja vu

Most of the claims for vista I've heard before, better security better blah blah blah! Remember when it was important that we converge on one code base from the forked path we were on? Then it happened but now we are at multiple forks in the road again. I wonder if in a few years we can pay to be unified again? As a small businessperson, I find it hard to justify the constant upgrades. It depends on the job really, but for a lot of workers I think you would find no difference in productivity if they were on Win 95 or XP. Unless I see something that would really help make the company money I see no need for upgrades until it just wont do the job anymore.

[ddesy]

Not really so forked

If you take a look at Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, there really isn't much of a forking issue. The last time there was anything major for concern was Windows 2000 versus Windows 9x/ME. Windows 2000 and higher are all on the Windows NT path, and 9x and ME are on the old DOS path.

If you are going to be running Windows, there is definitely a productivity difference between Windows 95 and XP. Part of the difference is due to the greater stability of the NT code base, and part is due to user interface refinements.

With Vista, the only "forking" is in feature sets and not in the code base. When it comes to compatibility, I don't see an issue. It reminds me more of Windows XP Home versus XP Professional than Windows 2000 versus ME.