Vista in the Shadows of Windows 7
Even as one branch of Microsoft touts Vista and all its alleged features, another is pushing the (currently nothing but vaporware) Windows 7 as the be-all of operating systems. Not only is this bad for Vista, which continues to suffer from low acceptance and high dissatisfaction; it also indicates the company is being pulled in multiple directions from within. That’s not good.
It’s common for certain business units in a given company to push their own projects to the detriment of others. This is natural, especially in companies that allow internal business units or project teams to duke it out for resources and glory. However, it’s usually kept behind closed doors.
The last image a company wants to present is one of internal strife or a lack of direction. Competitors circle around scenes like these with shark-like precision, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that happen in this case. Apple, the various Linux vendors, and others could use the Vista Stutters as an opportunity to play catch-up, or even leapfrog ahead of Microsoft in terms of features and reliability.
Windows 7’s alleged list of features sounds very tasty. But as the author of the above article notes, Microsoft “can tease us with innovations like baked in virtualization and—bless them—gesture-based multi-touch screen support—but a lot can happen in 24 months. Apple , obviously, won’t wait to trump Microsoft.”
That’s right, Windows 7 isn’t due for at least two years. Anyone who follows technological advances knows that’s a millennium in computing terms. Someone else could easily steal Redmond’s thunder while they’re trying to reorganize. So far, Windows has kept its lead due to its huge existing customer base (largely acquired during the 1990s, while Apple languished and Linux was in its infancy). The Vista Stumble could erase all or part of that lead now that Apple is back and Linux is mature.