After posting a Part 2 to my original notes on Vista and Windows 7 I didn’t think it was possible to get enough material for a Part 3. Hey, I’m no stranger to being wrong and I’ll be happy to admit it. But our “Vista Fan” colleague still cannot face the thought of being completely wrong on so many fronts, and he was enthusiastic to note in a forum recently “Immediately after I posted my last response I received eWeek, lo and behold a lead article on how most corporates will not even consider Windows 7 in the near future.”

I think he’s trying to tell us how great Vista is, to a point that people won’t even consider Windows 7. What he failed to notice, if he actually read the article, was that people are shy about W7 because Vista has been a full-out disaster. This is an example of what our wise President George W Bush once said: “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” I have the same regard for these people, for very similar reasons.

For the record, the article actually includes these selected quotes:

Microsoft may have a hard road ahead in convincing companies to adopt Windows 7, its upcoming operating system that represents the company’s hopes for both increased revenue in a global recession and wiping out bad memories of Vista.

When asked for their reasons behind non-adoption, some 42 percent of those surveyed said that “lack of time and resources” was their chief motivator for not upgrading to Windows 7, while 39 percent cited concerns over the new operating system’s compatibility with their existing applications.

Much of the IT administrators’ concerns may come from memories of Windows Vista, which had a reputation for breaking pre-existing enterprise hardware and software, and which compelled many companies to stick with Windows XP rather than upgrading. To counteract this, Microsoft designed Windows 7 so that applications built specifically for Windows XP will be able to run without issues on the new operating system.

The problem isn’t with W7. Vista has made people shy of any OS updates coming from Microsoft!

Or perhaps he was referring to this article which says:

Many companies have rejected Windows Vista as unstable. For example, the chip maker Intel Corp, Microsoft’s long- time partner in producing personal computers, has stayed with the older XP system.

If you like eWeek, they’ve had a lot to say about Vista over the last couple years and I provide below links for your reading pleasure. The articles themselves merely expand on the delicious titles.

(I’m not converting all of these URLs into links, please copy/paste a link into your browser if you’re interested. If the link is abbreviated, that’s the way I scraped it from the eWeek website – you can easily search the site for the page.

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www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Symantec-Out-of-the-Box-Vista-Prone-to-Legacy-Threats/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/MS-Watches-as-Vista-Gets-0wn3d-by-Rootkit/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Vista-Kernel-Dogged-by-Bad-Drivers/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Vista-Compatibility-What-Does-Microsoft-Owe-Us/
“Opinion: What is the real compatibility picture for Windows Vista? It’s hard to tell with no public sighting of a compatibility list.”
www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Microsoft-Caves-on-Vista-Security/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Vista-Why-Bother/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Testers-Shine-Light-on-CAVista-Vulnerability/
www.eweek.com/…/Security-Vendor-Bypasses-Microsofts-Vista-PatchGuard/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Symantec-Vista-UAC-Is-Still-Too-Chatty/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Hackers-Selling-Vista-ZeroDay-Exploit/
www.eweek.com/…/Compatibility-Concerns-Hinder-Vista-Upgrades-IT-Pros-Say/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Night-of-the-Living-Vista/
(this one is a good read) “Opinion: Vista has turned into the desktop operating system no one wants, and even Microsoft is beginning to get it.”
www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux…/Vista-Aiding-Linux-Desktop-Strategist-Says/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Im-So-Excited-by-Microsoft-Vista-Not/
www.eweek.com/…/Symantec-Voices-Security-Concerns-over-Vistas-Use-of-Tunneling-Protocol/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Cheap-Laptops-Bad-for-Vista-Good-for-Linux/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Windows-7-a-Big-Improvement-Over-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Watches-Vista-Get-Own3d/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Microsoft-Looks-Beyond-Vista-with-Windows-7/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/A-Clouded-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Gartner-Half-of-Current-PCs-Will-Show-All-of-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Vista-Coupon-Craziness/
“Opinion: Microsoft has a new scheme for PC vendors, but it may backfire, as users and vendors become ‘sick to death’ of upgrading from XP to Vista.”
www.eweek.com/…/Symantec-Report-Vista-Code-Contains-Security-Loopholes/
www.eweek.com/…/Vistas-Fortified-Kernel-Could-Trouble-ThirdParty-Apps/
www.eweek.com/…/Businesses-Still-in-No-Rush-to-Upgrade-to-Windows-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Half-of-American-Business-PCs-Cant-Run-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Desktop-OS-Hold-the-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Latest-Vista-Beta-Is-Just-a-Pretty-Face/
“Opinion: The interface is pleasing, and the security enhancements might help, but the compelling new features are nowhere to be found.”
www.eweek.com/c/a/…/Microsoft-Finds-Random-Way-to-Secure-Vista/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Vista-SP2-Comes-With-Few-Significant-Upgrades/
(Article notes that SP2 was over 1GB but wasn’t cumulative, so you still need to add more patches.)
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Will-Offer-Windows-7-Upgrade-With-Vista-Announces-Server-Launch-118377/
www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Windows-7-Push-Includes-Price-Cuts-Additional-Vista-Upgrades-529617/

If you get a new system with Vista now, Microsoft will replace the OS with W7 for free when it’s available. Is there any doubt that they’re on the fast track to overcoming a disaster with as little further inconvenience as possible?