Infoworld: Microsoft’s WIndows Vista not so revolutionary after all

37 Comments

“I just finished previewing Vista Release Candidate 1 for the Test Center, and I suddenly realized I’m more underwhelmed than I anticipated. A few months ago, in this very column, I used the adjective revolutionary instead of evolutionary. I’m changing my mind,” Oliver Rist reports for Infoworld.

“Aero is slick, no doubt about it. But I have to say that the non-Aero interface, which I used on my anemic Gateway M-255E notebook, is slick enough. If Microsoft was going to deploy loads of programming talent to figure out a specific technical issue, I wish it had done it for WinFS or the full version of the Next Generation Secure Computing Base.,” Rist reports. “Instead, I now have a much slicker-looking version of Windows XP … along with significantly increased hardware requirements.”

Vista “really just adds up to a sexier XP experience. The Sidebar gadget-fest, for example, so far amounts to a power user’s toy store. And it’s nothing I can’t get on XP,” Rist reports. “I feel as though I go through this with every Microsoft OS release: a certain amount of anticipatory excitement when loads of new features are announced, and then a ‘Where’s the beef?’ moment when I actually see it running. I suppose that’s enhanced here somewhat because much of the beef I was hoping for wound up in the butcher’s freezer. As it stands, Vista is a worthy upgrade to Windows XP, but if RC1 is any indication, there’s no need to rush.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kevin” for the heads up.]

Related MacDailyNews articles:
A Windows Vista reality check for Microsoft – September 08, 2006
Pirillo: Windows Vista RC1 disappointing, schizophrenic, disordered, inconsistent, and sad – September 07, 2006
Key Microsoft exec exits as clock ticks down on oft-delayed, much pared-down Windows Vista release – September 06, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Development approaches of Mac OS X Leopard vs. Windows Vista yield very different results – August 15, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Symantec researcher: At this time, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X – July 13, 2006
Sophos: Apple Mac OS X’s security record unscathed; Windows Vista malware just a matter of time – July 07, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006

37 Comments

  12. i’ve a nice thing to say about Windows and would like it to be available on Macs: quick image previews.

    i can double-click an image in Windows and the picture viewer allows me to zip through images quickly. Can’t do that on 10.3. (I don’t have 10.4) I’m using Phonix Slides but it’s not the same as being built into the OS.

    Reply

  21. Hey, anyone want to give MicroLimp some help? A little pay back for the loan last century? Everyone nows MacHeads are more creative. I’ll give it a shot and start it off:

    “Vista-Because You’re Not Getting Any Smarter”

    “Vista-Because Everyone Else Is Doing It”

    “Vista-The Best That We Could Steal”

    “Vista-What Were We Talking About?”

    “Vista-Beacuse Africans Have AIDS”

    Reply

  22. NO? Let’s think bigger then.

    MicroLimp-Our Ballmer Blows Jobs Out Of The Office!

    MicroLimp-We’re Looking Out For You, So You Better Look Out For Us…

    MicroLimp-Without Us, What Would You Do With All That Free Time?

    MicroLimp-I Loved The Company So Much, I Quit It

    MicroLimp-We Have More Money Than You

    MicroLimp-If You Can’t Get It Right The First Time, Through More Money At It

    Reply

  25. Anim8r (or shall I call you Ian),

    Nice of you to try and indulge the audience.

    Of course, when somebody says Go and find a POSITIVE review of Vista!, what they’re forgetting is that whilst the Internet is a place where you can find information, porn, women, men, political bias and a whole lot more besides, it’s not a magic place where things can exist outside the realm of human imagination.

    Reply

  31. TowerTone: MS could never come up with slogans that original. If they were making a new slogan (it would take 5+ years), they would copy and modify someone else’s.

    Microsoft: When You’re Desperate Enough to Buy the Very Worst.

    Microsoft: Think Indifferent.

    Reply

  33. @TowerTone: Good topic, I like “Best We Could Steal”
    @DistantThunder: Love “Think Indifferent”

    Here’s a few:

    “Vista: Dismays For Sure.”
    “Vista: Delays For Sure.”
    “Vista: Ablaze For Sure.” (also good for Dell/Sony)
    “Vista: Reappraise For Sure.” (Okay!)

    “Vista: What Was Hip Last Year, Available Next Year.”

    “Vista: If It’s Good Enough To Ship.”

    “Vista: Donate Your Old Hardware To A Third-World Country.”

    “In Vista, No One Can Hear You Scream.”

    “Vista: Not Quite People-Ready.”

    “Vista: Powering Nuclear Subs The World Over” (there’s a scary thought)

    “Vista: Throw Enough Shit Against The Wall…”

    “Microsoft: How Would You Like To Suck Today?”

    And one of my favorites:

    “Microsoft: Marching Backwards Proudly Into The Future.”

    —

    MW does — “does” this qualify as extra credit?

    Reply

  35. Joe said:

    “bootcamp is awesome.. now I can just run windows Vista which is nicer looking than OS X and run it on a beautifull white mac…”

    Like I say with any Windows user, there’s just no accountability for taste. Widows Vista looks like an eplosion at a Fisher Price factory. OSX’ look is simple yet elegent. Some people actually prefer McDonalds to In n Out (you non-west coasters are missing out, big time). Strange.

    Reply

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