Blog: Pete Loshin

« Personal Finance, Open Source Style | Main | Open Source and Best Tech Products of All Time? »

Is Vista a Win for Microsoft (or anyone else)?

After years of waiting, is Vista worth it, to Microsoft or to anyone else? The jury is still out, but so far it's not looking that good. Slashdot reported Survey Finds Few Intend to Upgrade to Vista, pointing to a Harris Interactive poll that concluded Most Potential Buyers of Microsoft’s Vista Take a Wait and See Attitude.

The Harris poll, conducted last month, showed that 87% "of those online" were "aware" of Microsoft's Vista upgrade, only "12 percent of online adults who are aware say they intended to upgrade."

Uh-oh.

Hardware vendors aren't happy either, according to an earlier Slashdot item, PC Makers Say Vista Is Not a Seller. That links to a Gizmodo article, PC Makers to Microsoft: "Vista Is Not a Seller. You Suck".

More bad news for Microsoft, despite their optimistic PR, as reported in Slashdot, in MS Says Vista Selling At Twice XP's Pace. The early news coverage on Vista sales apparently derived from Microsoft press releases; the higher numbers may not be that impressive when you consider that there was a big backlog of orders for Vista, as well as a much larger market for PCs this year than five years ago when XP came out.

If that's not enough drama, Slashdot also reported Microsoft Sued Over Vista Marketing, according to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Microsoft sued over Windows Vista marketing.

Apparently, some folks think it's not cool to call a computer "Windows Vista Capable" unless it can actually support signature Windows Vista features.

The bigger question, of course, will be whether this kind of bad news will turn into good news for Linux--can those promoting open source operating system alternatives actually leverage these missteps into competitive advantage?

Share: