Calvin & Hobbes, © Universal Press Syndicate. Original work by Bill Watterson. Found via Transmogrifier.org
I’ve often wondered about Windows Vista, and I’m still wondering. Admittedly, I was slow to adopt Windows 3.0, 95, 98 and XP — I think I’ve had too many wasted days upgrading, and am deeply skeptical of the whole “there’s a new operating system out, so let’s buy a new computer” thing, so I know how much pain is involved in installing an operating system. Assume your day is pretty much gone.
So when Microsoft said that part of its impressive quarterly figures were in part down to Vista, I was as gobsmacked as anyone. I don’t know anyone in my (admittedly small) circle who has installed Vista (as opposed to buying a computer with it already on), so I was wondering who all these people are who have bought it? Jason Hiner of TechRepublic wonders too, and writes a good piece taking a look inside.
As he points out, “it looks like there are three primary factors driving Microsoft’s surprising spike in Vista revenue:
- Worldwide growth (10%) in PC sales, featuring Vista on over 90% of them
- Consumers buying the higher-priced Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Vista
- Businesses signing general licensing agreements that include Vista (future-proofing their PCs for if and when they deploy Vista)”
But as Jason puts it, this is not quite as impressive as it could be. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you’re unlikely to opt for an XP-installed PC if you’re offered the choice in a shop, especially with all the whiz-bank eye-candy of Vista and heavy breathing from the sales dude salivating on your collar. The truth is that we don’t really have any choice about upgrading in the long run. It’s like Calvin being forced to have a bath; we know we have to and we know we will, but that doesn’t mean we’ll do it until all other avenues are exhausted.
“These developments,” Jason says, “are not a ringing endorsement of Windows Vista. They merely make it a melancholy inevitability.”
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Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw this computer shop’s new Vista business model on my drive back home. (Cheesy cameraphone snapshot)
The great Vista debacle is precisely why I know people who are moving to the Apple platform, less plagued by crap that Microsoft puts out. My advice is always: Get a Mac!
I love the picture from Scott above. It’s GREAT.
Is there a choice? It’s Vista or nothing these days. My ME crashed, and my new computer with Vista Home Premium was the cheapest computer I have bought todate. This first one, LOL was Windows 95, my second was Windows ME, I skipped XP( my intuition to wait it out)and when the old HP hard drive did it again, I was ready. Lots of surprises for you who have not converted. Alexa is not compatible yet, they working for a fix. Microsoft has the world by the tail, and don’t they know it.
A September NY Times column made a similar argument — that Vista is the only game in town. I can’t agree. A couple of years ago, the score in my house was Windows XP: 6, Others: 0. Now it’s OS X: 3, XP: 2, Ubuntu: 1.