Vista Bashing = Cheap Traffic!?
It seems the web (and certainly the blogosphere) is full of posts damning Vista for various reasons and I do not believe all this harsh criticism is justified. It all came to a head when I read a particular blog entry tonight. I started writing a brief reply in order to express my feelings on the matter, but it turned into a semi-lengthy rant which I would like to reproduce in a somewhat tweaked / editing form here.
What worries me is that it is very fashionable to bash Vista. It feels like any self proclaimed Tech expert thinks it is almost their prerogative to write long anti-Vista articles based on and citing other anti-Vista articles – does anyone else see a pattern emerging here?!
For the record I should say I am a huge fan of Linux, I run more Linux boxes than Windows, but of those windows boxes, the majority are XP and only one is Vista. I am very happy with Vista as well as XP but it is about managing your expectations. It is completely unrealistic to assume Vista will run on hardware that is a couple of years old (or even some budget machines.)
Surprise surprise, it won’t, Vista has been plagued by hardware and software incompatibilities – what does this tell us? Simply that Microsoft was not lying when it said Vista is a major update to the Windows platform. Historically all major updates have had driver and software compatibility issues (anyone remember XP 5/6 years ago?!?) Drivers are the responsibility of the manufacturer NOT Microsoft, for years prior to release Microsoft were talking to hardware companies, asking them to update their drivers but most ignored them. Why!?? Very simply because they will sell more hardware if people have to go out and buy Vista certified equipment. It is not in their interest to revisit hardware they released 2 years ago – it does not make them any more money and the consumer be damned.
Saying that, there are a number of platforms / situations when Vista is clearly not suitable and for those I still run XP – it is more responsive on such hardware and has the added bonus of comfort factor (i.e. I have been using it for years and I am very familiar with it,) but lets not forget, this is old technology that has not really been worked on since 2005 (sp2.) SP3 is nothing more than a security roll up with a few extra Vista developed features added. The desktop rendering in XP (called GDI+) is based on a software stack that is several years old and incapable of hardware accelerated desktop compositing – the same thing Mac OSX and Linux have been capable of for years.
The problem is, noone seems to have a long enough memory to remember the Windows 2000 / 98 saga, or the Windows XP / 2000 saga that followed that…
There is nothing wrong with Vista*, similarly nothing wrong with XP*, nor is there nothing wrong with Linux*, and even with OSX* – it depends on what hardware you have and what you want to do with it.
* Of course it is not as black and white as this, all platforms have their inherent strengths and weaknesses.
I wish we would move beyond this fanboy like bashing, if there is merit to a discussion I am all for it, but I am getting fed up of reading the same FUD constantly. Most of it is simply fishing for cheap traffic.
/Rant š
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I think you make several valid arguments and I definitely agree with you on many of them. I’m actually the person who wrote the article “The end of Vista?” and I think you may have misunderstood what I was trying to convey. For starters, by no means do I consider myself to be a self proclaimed tech expert, while I certainly consider myself to be knowledgeable when it comes to technology, by no means would I consider myself to be an expert, I just really enjoy learning and writing about technology. Secondly, I was not trying to bash Vista in any way, as can be seen when I state, “Could Microsoft be attempting to quietly abandon Vista? I hope not (I own Windows Vista Ultimate).” I have been using Vista for some time now and enjoy it quite a bit; however, the tech industry as a whole seems to be indifferent to Microsoft’s latest operating system and that was what I was trying to address. While I personally like Vista, I still feel that it has its work cut out for it, which is too bad because I think it does have some very nice features. I also addressed how “Windows XP had its fair share of complaints when it first came out too”, hinting that perhaps the criticisms directed at Vista are unjustified. I sincerely hope that Microsoft can strengthen Vista and assuage people’s feelings about the OS. As a user of the operating system, I would like to see support for it continue to grow. Lastly, by no means was my article an attempt to obtain cheap traffic. I was simply trying to address the recent announcements pertaining to the future of Windows and what those announcements might mean for Vista. I also use a variety of operating systems and am happy with all of them (including Vista). As you state, all operating systems have their strengths and weaknesses, which is why I don’t use just one OS. Once again, you have some great points and I enjoyed reading your article.
Hello! I read your comment and wanted to say that it’s refreshing to find somebody who has an opinion with more depth than “it’s great” or “it’s rubbish”. It gives us computer sightly-illiterate people a better idea of things š So thanks!
I am not a computer expert, though I use computers quite a bit and even teach some computer classes. Not being an advantage is in some ways an advantage as a teacher because I experience the same problems and frustrations as my students and can relate to their frustrations and confusions.
I consider myself completely as a “mercenary soldier.” I will use any computer or operating system that someone pays me to use. Obviously, there are differences and advantages with each system, but it is pretty foolish to become very emotionally involved with hardware and/ or software, unless that is what gets you off.
Your original comment and this post are both very good.
Typo: meant to say, “Not being an expert is an advantage…”
Honestly and truly… Vista’s “issues” are in no way shape or form foreign to any previous Windows user.
The error dialogs are just shaded differently š
Actually they have been few and far between since I’ve been using Vista.
I know exactly what type of OS I ordered, and I knew what I was getting into.
I knew the OS was brand new and some drivers (and even libraries) wouldn’t work well. Some would fail outright.
This isn’t necessarily completely bad, since I’d rather see MS do some improvements to the internal plumbing than just assure backward compatibility. And, honestly, I’m amazed that they did preserve as much backward compatibility as they did.
I think MS has finally started to realise that patchwork upon patchwork unleashed on the same NT core wouldn’t work for the next few years. I’d much rather see the fruits of this new labour than be given the same platter.
Do I get upset that my new favourite vid-card doesn’t work on Debian or SUSE because of driver issues?
No… Again the issue, as you pointed out, are the hardware manufacturers who show little interest for the Linux platform. There’s no incentive to release drivers for a niche market (as some companies still refer to the Linux sector). “..consumer be damned” Indeed.
I knew that when I installed the OS’s. So it would be pretty silly of me to treat Vista differently because of compatibility issues.
Though Kyle may suggest in his post that MS may be trying to, quietly, abandon Vista, I think the they are more focused on abandoning what ties Vista to XP and by extension Win2000.
So, in essence, he’s right… And wrong.
Hardware capability, generally, evolves a lot faster than software. Vista is just one rung on a ladder to a level where that may change.
@Kyle: Please don’t think that I singled you out for all my criticism on this subject. This is something I have wanted to write about or a while and my comment on your blog turned into a bit of a rant š Like you I enjoy tinkering and learning more about technology as I go along and again, please do not think I was targeting you directly – more the entire blogosphere to a greater or lesser degree. Thanks for the comment š
@Sarah: Thanks for your kind words and visit š
@Modestypress: I agree, sometimes having that different prospective is really useful in terms of understanding the needs of the greater community. I work part time in IT support, trust me when I say the range of computing experience that I come across varies greatly š Thank you for the visit and comment!
@Eksith: haha, I completely agree. You make some excellent points which I think are completely valid, the model for Linux (and expectation of suitability/usability) being a different operating system can be applied to a major OS revision like Vista also. One of the great things about the F/OSS community is that they keep working away at hardware compatibility long after the manufacturers have moved onto something else. Sadly this normally means full hardware support lags behind modern hardware, but given the reverse engineering some hardware requires (thank you Broadcom) it is amazing the job these unsung individuals do.
“There is nothing wrong with Vista*, similarly nothing wrong with XP*, nor is there nothing wrong with Linux*, and even with OSX*…”
I think it is more accurate to say there is something wrong with all of them, but Vista is probably the worst. Why? Bloated resource hog, DRM, hardware incompatibilities, etc.
BUT, the number one thing wrong with Vista is that it is produced by a giant unethical corporation whose treachery goes back decades.
Microsoft has over and over shown their disregard for not only their customers, but also fair business practices. Witness the latest- the ISO scandal relating to OOXML. There are dozens (hundreds?) more examples going back at least to their screwing of Stac Electronics in the early 90’s.
I appreciate your trying to be fair and reasonable, but Microsoft is never “fair” and that needs to be kept in mind when making a choice. Why support a convicted monopolist with your money, when they are doing everything their billions will allow to take away your choice and freedom?
Hi,
While I a gree with your overall theory on “bashing”, which I think can be applied to any person, product, company what have you.
What about simply humors comments and jokes? These types of things have been mae for years. If it’s obvious that someone creates a work, to bring entertainment to others, and that the work is meant as satire then what’s the problem?
It might actually bring in more people who are interested and increased sales – after all it is said any publicity is good publicity, right?
Point taken š It was just a rant against fanboys who think following the crowd by criticising Microsoft is a good idea when all they are doing is perpetuating a very flawed opinion rather than promoting discussion.