You'd think they would have learned something from Vista's failure

It's too bad, because I was hoping MS would do the right thing, and strip the Vista core of DRM, tilt bits, remote driver disabling, etc. in order to make W7. I would have been willing to give it a try in that case, but if it's Vista with a new name, no thank you.

Another messup?

Why doesn't M$ simply take XP and modernise it.
Sell it as Windows7 with updates and a nice new shell.
Insert real objects to the shell like OS/2 had and simply ditch Vista totally.

Windows incl Vista is so outdated on functionality that it's not funny anymore.
OS/2 did way more with way less resources, it even outshines Apple today.
Let Billy talk to IBM and put the shine of OS/2's PMShell into Windows7, PLEASE!!!!

Unimpressed Again

Charlie:

As usual, your article is angry and biased. Did Microsoft and nVidia tag-team your mom while you watched from the closet as a child, and it scarred you for life?

I really can't see how anyone can be that vehemently biased, especially an alleged "news person". The OS isn't out, isn't even in testing, and you've already decided that it's crap. Yes, that's what I call fair journalistic representation. Don't wait for facts, don't actually use a product, just make snap decisions before something even exists. How do you still have a job?

The sad thing is, if the OS sucks, which is always a high likelihood with the workings of Microsoft, you're going to be all high and mighty telling us how you were right all along. Congrats. That's like picking Tiger Woods to win a major when he has a 4 stroke lead going into the last day; it's not a revelation, it's just the most likely scenario.

If I did my job as half-assedly as you, I would have been fired long ago. I should really do what other colleagues of mine do: if they see your name on the by-line, they move onto another article.

If Linux can get moving then

they have a real chance to grow.

Something easy to use, easy to install stuff on, automated with some self-correction/analysis tool that emails/notifies if there is a problem.

If Windows took XP and just made it better then they would be doing fine. I can't believe that they have taken their best product off the shelves.

Can you imagine any other business thinking it's a good diea to kill off their best selling and most loved product?

STFU

How many operating systems have you written, you slobbering imbecile?

Do us all a favor and shut up about something you clearly know burger all about.

Windows MEII? Oh how we laughed. Not.

Bring back Pete Sherriff.

Windows

Just who the heck is in charge of Windows development? It is a matter of ignorance, or it is a case of sticking-head-up-corporate-arseness? Or maybe they are just plain evil? Are they so out of touch with humanity that they look at themselves in the mirror every morning with contentment? I've already listed the Redmondians alongside the Megadodo Publishing Co. executives for when the proper time comes.

In any case, my transition to Linux will be completed. I see no further need to let those "people" have any more of MY money.

Please fire the author of this article

Subject says it all... this is not news, and it is not even remotely close to being true.

Wha

Wow, I am so surprised at how many people bash vista because they are uneducated. I have Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. So far no one problem, not with drivers, malware, security, and compatibility… so far the only problem with Vista is IDIOTS such as you.

Maybe it's because "you're" stupid

M$ has lost its way ...

Windows 7 just goes to show that MS totally forgot how they became dominant - first and foremost by giving people what they wanted. Of course, they also crushed a bit of competition along the way, but that was secondary.

Basic PC software will be commodity in a few more years (Linux, Open Office, etc), so MS OS and Office will be slipping into irrelevance.

Stellar reporting

Glad to know the Anti-Microsoft bias doesn't end with Vista. Windows 7's not even in alpha yet and you're already bashing it. Glad to see you're consistent.

Windows Vista rules!

I love Vista! Great driver support for all things 64-bit, improved security over Windows XtinctP, and it does look pretty! Charlie's ass must be so tightly wound as Vista adoption picks up that he hasn't crapped in weeks.

Seriously, could we stop beating this dead horse? Charlie, you're insulting the OS I am (stuck) working with now. It's my OS and I don't need to hear about what a dud it is. I actually like it and don't need to hear you tell me I am stupid for doing so.

The Inq is becoming nothing more than a discussion forum for Linux crazies.

Spot on

So many comments here classify this piece as Microsoft bashing but neglect to address the valid points brought up by the author. Vista completely failed to bring significant new features to the OS other than eye candy and DRM. Components such as the new file system sadly went missing and now the next version coming down the pipe looks like it's going to be scant on substance as well.

Vista is good

I have been using vista 64 home for over a year now without any problems getting drivers or getting programs to work. It hasn`t crashed once in over a year unlike my xp machine.

nope, vista Does suck

Vista sucks pretty bad. I gotta support that POS because I'm a helpdesk/network admin. Its easy enough to get around in, but actually supporting it? that part is a total pain in the backside.

Window ME 2

M$ will never learn.

did they learned the failure of Window ME?

not really, Window 2000 blows, and XP blows then it became slightly better, until we have no any other choice.

now its Window ME 2 (aka Vista).

will M$ learn? no never.

we are stuck, you want games, you have to use Window....

charlie demerjian

let me speculate the following possibilities:
1. microsoft is paying mr. dementjian to bad-mouth: when people like mr. dementjian can exist, microsoft can do this as well; what say?
2. mr. dementjian now owns the inquirer completely that mr mike magee is raped to silence.
3. the readers like this humble self are getting as demented as mr. dementjian to bookmark the inquirer link in their browsers only to get doped with this nonsense continually.
4. i am really enjoying dousing mr. dementjian just as the others.

These comments supporting Vista

were sponsored by Microsoft, and ME II

here we go again

Linux is looking better everyday.
I hate ms bks.

Reality Check

Dude... You have to move out of your mothing basement. Vista is not even half as bad as you "report". It would be great if you actually reported on tech news instead of the crap that you write. Get the editorial out of your reports and start writing about facts.
I have Vista running on 4 of my machines and other than 3rd party driver issue I have had NO problems. These are not macines purchase just this year either. These are Pentium 4 and AMD 3800 machines with a gig of RAM I'm talking about.
All this negative PR about nVidia and Microsoft really, truely makes The INQUIRER look like a 3rd rate tech news web site.
Learn how to report tech news or close the site dudes... and get a life.

MS employees

I count 15 MS employees above. Is there a special group for this at MS?

Anyway

Charlie with his sarcastic phrases is right, but as always, truth is not in the middle, it's out there.

And until I see the W7 and it's in beta or rc, I can't judge how bad it is, depending only on the broken Vista.

I agree

I agree 100% with the author... Vista is great if you only go on the internet and play some NEWER games but when you want to test some new software or new drivers, it's a pain. Why install those files everywhere where you will have to search a long time to find them. WHY don't vista let me delete what I want to delete.. what is this : you need permission to delete something,,,, it's MY computer damnit. Anyway 1 year later I still find vista to be a useless upgrade. Have you ever tried to remove the check mark at ; alert me before installing this **** , why then after removing the check mark, this question always come back anyway.

Farrell, Are You There?

I haven't the GDI what Charlie's talking about. I don't think that this is the worthy type of website, and you both should be concerned with Jobs. Nebojsa seems to be on to something, but you chaps keep coming in latency. Instead of making up silly notions such as an OS what uses multiple GNUs, you could be learning a thing or two from Ray Tracy's Booth and the new mainstream model automotive engines; or Dean Pullen's G45 finger spanners. I invite both of you, Tony Dennis included, to take up The Grand Challenge. Tell us definitively whether this Tumbleweed flying ball is not a simple a load of quidditch! An old Chinese proverb goes: "Gold and jade on the outside, but just cotton on the inside". I'm not sure what that means, but Charlie could lip sync a few bars. The point is, in case you're wondering, (Paul and Stewart, especially), karaoke must work on the front line, whether red or pastel. Right guys?

More Money for MS

So Microsoft is out to make more money on WIndows 7. So what was Vista? Was it quick money?

eXPired...

You know, I have been playing and working on vista 64 for at least one year. And every time i have to open a virtual machine and so some specific XP test for applications, i feel incredibly overwhelmed as how crappy, useless and Ancient XP is.

No search bar
No indexes
Network sucks
No memory management
No Cached memory
No 64 bit support for real
and the best:

Opening eclipse with a 35 JSF file projects hangs the machine (this with 4gbs of ram and a Core 2 Duo on a fresh install of XP up to SP3)

And you still claim 2001 is better than 2008? Oh well. Go back to your gentoo and slackware isntallations! Maybe they will run in your 8086 with 640K Ram

Makes my life easier

It would truly be unfortunate if Microsoft indeed haven't learned the lesson of Vista. I've been using their products since MS-DOS v5.0 and to be honest it's been a good run, for the most part. A bit too exciting at times, perhaps, but then I never had to recompile the kernel to get my sound card to work, to contrast with my first experience ever with Linux.

That said, this continuation of the Vista legacy in Windows 7 should make it that much easier for me to deploy Ubuntu everywhere that I possibly can at work.

BTW, I have Ubuntu v8.04 installed on my PC at work and the comment I most often get from people "who wouldn't know their Ubuntu from their elbow", to borrow a phrase I read around here somewhere, is: "is that Vista?".

It's about time Linux got some credit for the wonderful work done on "prettying up" the GUI, I believe: Why do people persist in claiming that Vista is pretty? I just don't see that. Maybe the total lack of features has people grasping for straws...? Ubuntu with desktop effects enabled simply has the prettiest GUI I ever used. It absolutely adds nothing to functionality or features and I simply absolutely love it!

What can I say

I deleted Vista off my laptop, installed XP and gee. It's much faster now. What a surprise! Shocking!

lol you are funny

Biased - Even though your “Article” is in the comment section it is quite biased: The OS isn’t even in testing yet but you’re already writing it off as disappointing. That is your speculation, please, next time point it out for the masses as such; put an “I think” before your brain farts next time, thank you.

Resource hog? - had you slept in a cave, just woke up read peoples comments on the internet and decided to also spit out the feces your brain is excreting. Its not a resource hog, its good to fill memory than to have it left unused, vista takes time to learn what programs you use most and put those in at the front of the drive and and in memory so it takes no time to fetch them when needed. It’s like the curing period your thermal paste goes through before it can transfer heat to the heatsink optimally.

Incompatibility? Are you talking about the driver issues at vista’s launch? That’s not really microsoft’s fault as third party manufacturers are responsible for the drivers for their products but they acted real lazy to developing proper drivers on time.

Security? I don’t have a problem with that - some security is better than none. Don’t you agree?

Utter lack of speed? don’t know what you mean by that: I installed vista ultimate 64 on a Biostar NFSLI -A9 with on an AMD 64 3500 at 2.2GHz with 1GB memory with EVGA 8600 OC edition with a 160GB HDD Sata at 3GB transfer speed for my brother and vista is running sweet as ever.

DRM infestation? The truth is that sounds like something you are inclined to say because others are saying it......Answer this then: which particular DRM in vista you are having gripes with that actually prevents you from doing work?

Inbuilt malware? What Inbuilt malware?

Remote kill switch? WTF, what because they locked you out because you “Borrowed” your “Friend’s” activation key or that you found on some website?

Rights robbing genuine advantages? Hahaha, what a way of putting it, lol, yeah yeah we know its not free.

I really dont know who MS talks to now...

....when they develop 'new' products.

Its certainly not the enterprise and corporate market.

They keep adding all this unwanted garnish, bloat and crap into it and when we roll it out to the end users we have to spend ages creating a build that hides, removes or disables 75% of it.

To be honest NT4 with better power management and USB capability would be pretty perfect. It doesnt have to look pretty, pretty doesnt make money.

We just need a robust, efficient and secure platform to run the apps that staff need to run to do their job...for the company that pays them.

Thinking ahead...

It would seem that Charlie is thinking ahead and have begun spitting fire on Windows 7, all in an attempt to fire up the masses against W7 when it's released so he can stay working for TheInq as the main inverted fireman (spreading the fire instead of quenching it), all this with the integrity of a dead mouse.

~_~

Trace back IP's

I would love to do the occasional traceback on the IP's of the Vista boosters. I wonder if any are Redmondites. No one else in IT has any love for Microsoft's monopolist and creepy behavior.

But hey if they are the creeps that pay your bills I understand.

XP renamed?

Whoa... So many people ranting with those comments... Come on, you're criticising a product that hasn't been released. You (hopefully) don't know all the specs of the OS to make an assumption that it is another mess! Suppose since MS realised that Vista was a failure, they would build an XP reincarnation. People say it's just Vista renamed, suppose it's just (semi-crappy in my opinion) XP renamed, in a few different versions, and extra features like WinFS, new Hybrid Kernel, HAL, etc (or do you know what those are?) Although I agree with some parts of your article (slow, stupid security, really dumb genuine program, etc) I think YOU think YOU know too much!

Thanks Charlie

Cheque's in the mail.

-- Apple.

Anyone at the inq actually use Vista?

It works really well for me. Most of the problems I had early on were caused by old Windows XP software that didn't really run very well in Vista (Maya, 3DS Max, stuff like that), but now I don't have any problems whatsoever.

And I can always boot into OSX when I need a change.

So once again...

So once again Microsoft are planning to copy and implement architectural changes in a future Windows product that Unix/Linux have had for years.

And once again. Microsoft will miss the whole point about which are the most useful features, and implement it in a much less useable way.

reading is fundamental

Roy Ventura with all your wit you're too stupid to notice the bold red letters next to the title? Take a look again, it say "comment." Please take the time to read before making a fool of yourself.

When we said shut up about Nvidia....

I don't think we meant just change subjects and write the same contentless and repetitive rants, Charlie.

What about telling us what it has got, what's from Vista, what ALL the bullet points were... etc.

Now I'm moaning about Charlie moaining....

More lies

More lies and half truths from Charlie Dumbasf**k - "The Worst Journalist in the World"

Not worth writing more about his trash.

Move on and get a life!

Promises? Or, wish list? What do you want from your OS? Vista and XP do what they need to do, as does OSX. Windows 7 will be an evolutionary upgrade, just like every Apple OSX update has been. Why does everyone expect Microsoft to deliver a revolution every time they introduce a new product? On the other hand, users are tickled pink when Apple introduces three new bullcrap features (aka toys) in a new OS (some which tether you to other Apple products). Please! While Microsoft may not be perfect, they are keeping their OS modern and usable. Security? Wait until more people sign up for the Apple panacea and eventually the evils that be will begin attacking OSX too. Its a certainty!

I agree too

I agree with Robert and (of course) Charlie. Nothing new to see here (so far) according to what MS is reporting to us. All we have to go on is what they say and it sure doesn't make 7 look much better than Vista at this early point.

For the person who said, "...and don't need to hear you tell me I am stupid for doing so" - well, I checked and Charlie said no such thing. Do a search for yourself. "Stupid" is not in the article.

The way I see it, MS is successfully dictating to the many sheep in this world what OS they are going to use andd what they are going to pay for it. Personally, I use what I want to use, not what is necessarily the "standard" or more common OS. I have my own reasons for using what I use and will not change just because MS wants me too. If I don't like what someone is selling, I don't buy it. If I don't like the price, I wait until it comes down. If it doesn't, I don't buy.

I think for myself and am damn proud of it.

Vista, good or bad?

I'm just going to go ahead and say ... BAD.

I use the.. correction, used the Business version of Vista for a few months. It was all well and good untill all theese weird errors started popping up.

Then a few weeks ago Vista decided to stop detecting my USB devices. The hotfix recomended by VISTA and downloaded from M$ "didn't apply to my system".

Suddenly, my PS2 mouse port gave up on me. Nothing worked except my keyboard. got pissed, spent an hour or two taking copies of all I wanted to save (Not having access to a mouse is qutie frustrating actually, you don't realise what you have until it's gone...) and rolled back to good old XP. Now, XP ain't perfect, but it sure is a hell'o'v a lot better than Vista...

Surrounded by little kids

Don't listen to these idiots Charlie. Every time you read a comment stating you should get fired or INQ should be sued because of something you wrote, just think about tomorrow when ALL of the same people who wrote those comments come CRAWLING back on all fours to read your next article. Don't worry because it's guaranteed they will be back after their mothers have finished changing their diapers.

Oh they will rant, they will whine, some will cry, and others will scream, but in the end they're just like little children and are helpless for wanting their candy. Give the children their candy Charlie.

PS: To all the wannabe Charlies who spend their worthless time to (as always) rant and whine about how the article is wrong, how it made you feel bad, and how the author should lose his job over it: GROW UP and GROW A PAIR. While you're at it, you just might think about what it is that you personally have contributed to these pages besides your salt water tears and sniffles. Did you provide any insight or proof to the contrary or did you just rant because your widdle feelings got hurt?

Not another one...

I can always guess, just by the title, who is the author of these articles. I subsequently click, confirm my suspicions, and skip to the comments section because we all know it's going to be the same ol' biased rants, mispredictions, and blinded worldview of Charlie.

Yeah, this site generally has a bias against certain companies and people, but when it comes to Charlie opinion columns it just gets downright obnoxious. I don't mind strongly opinionated writers; they generally make the writing more interesting than standard articles. However, what I do not like is when the author sounds like a father who tells his son: you will never do anything that pleases me--ever. When it gets to that point, there's really no point to reading anymore, because all you get is distorted fundamentalist dogma. It's the kind of bullshit you'll read from a Mac zealot, and I do mean that in the worst possible way.

Another "Charlie gets us Hits" story.

Everything you read on the internet is true... trust me.

The W7 blog has just gone live, and all they are saying right now is... watch this space.

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/

DRM

if its got DRM you can forget it, when will they learn plus the fall back desktop has to look and behave like XP instead of 98

vista stinks

I've been on vista for about a year now & it DOES stink. i have more buggs/programs crashing than i did with xp. plus all the unnecisary security popups & other annoyances than wernt there with XP. the whole run as administrator crap gets annoying after the 10 millionth time. why does it ask me to run shit in admin mode when im in the admin account... BLAH

i switched to firefox & about 1/2 of the problems went away, now its time to switch to Linux to solve the rest.

there are beter things in vista but overall it just isnt as solid as XP was.

Not buena vista

I tried vista, I was expecting the bad things to be below the surface (DRM and such) but in fact I found it to be an awful UI experience, totally incoherent and unprofessional and inconsistent, and I didn't find it pretty either, the whole thing surprised me because I was expecting the GUI to at least please me somewhat.
The 'security' seems half-baked too to me, it often says "I need to switch to administrator mode to do this, allow?' but then a simple click is enough, as is setting 'run as admin' in the shortcut, so basically any simple script could bypass all of that nonsense and install any old crap, they would not even have to use the deeper flaws exposed like the trust model where the OS trusts certain manufacturers implicitly (even though some have a very shady record) and you can piggyback on their poor software efforts and become trusted, and such hijinx.
I really can't believe people let themselves be hired by MS to post all those "vista is great" comments.
I must say though that those saying bashing something that isn't even in an early release state might be a bit overdoing it, bash the parts they announced, that's enough to bash right there, no need to expand to theoretical stuff.

Finally

Finally some people (commenters) are supporting Vista. It may have had a rough start (just like XP) but now more and more people are starting to like it once they pulled their heads out of their you-know-what (again, just like XP).

Roller coasters are fun, and its Fn annoying to see people like you start the downhill way before the product has even been released.

Have you ever heard of companies keeping details under the radar until a release date reaches sight?

Vista deserves some bashing!

I agree with Charlie, though he does tend to overexaggerate the problems with Vista just to make a good news story ... nothing wrong with this as it does grab one's attention, which is the whole point!

I do like Vista, but I also agree the the DRM needs to be removed ... this doesn't belong in the OS, though this is the most effective place to put it. It's probably the strongest reason for moving to Linux, so MS should take note if it doesn't want to lose market share. There is a tipping point, and if MS doesn't listen to it's users, then they might one day regret this.

Keep up the good work Charlie ...

Microsoft still dont get it...

And now according to Charlie they have decided there is nothing to get. So this criticism and the sales pattern of XP & Vista is all a trick is it? Like the tricks MS try to play on everyone else perhaps. They are so lost in their own deceits.

On the bright side I get the feeling that Linux market share is expanding and set to keep on expanding at this news. Hopefully development models that can provide revenue streams to facillitate R&D will help it move into the big time with increasing rapidity.

Surely getting old now....

This appears to be another example of people trolling Vista for no reason whatsoever (well done once again, Mr Demerjian). I am a full time computer technician, and have been using Vista for 18 months, no problems at all. NO compatibility errors, NO random crashes, NO problems adapting to the new system. It´s not perfect, but please highlight an OS which is?

Mr Demerjian, once again, your reputation is still in the gutter. How about providing SOME idea of the benefits of Vista, or offering an article where you can provide a valid competitor? Biased and pointless rubbish seems to be your specialty (Windows 7 won´t be out for a few years, but you have already consigned it to the tip). If your low standard of writing continues, I agree with previous posters, you should be fired.

Subjectivity and its two-sided coin

No real substance in that article to be honest. It is just a bash fest, aimed and releasing some frustration. Yes, I agree Vista is not the best operating system. Far from it to be honest. It has a few upsides, a lot of downsides and MS will prolly work out the quirkes in the coming months/years etc.

Let us not forget that the same talk was produced when Windows 98 came out, and again when ME came out. NT-Core based systems were more agreeable, and Win 2K did receive a lot of positive voices and negative ones the same due to its lack of multimedia support (for which it was not intended). Yet a few service packs down the road, and its pretty loaded. .Then comes Windows XP. Everyone had a right bash at that. Ugly, incompatible, slow, recourse hog etc. And now? Apparently one of the best operating systems out there, after 3 service packs, thousands of updates, patches etc. It is not easy making a world wide product that runs on millions and millions of hardware configurations.

I am by no means a Microsoft fan, far from it. I just believe that in the interest of media attention, a certain amount of objectivity should be exercised in making anouncements, presenting readers with both positive and negative points based on facts and references, rather than ballant speculation and flaming.

Just my two cents....

HA! LOL! OMG! WTF!!?

Damn Charlie you've made allot of enemies when you smeared Nvidia, look at all those bitter souls that are just waiting to pounce on anything you write.

And yea I agree Vista is crap and MS won't take half as much responsibility in fixing the problems as for Windows 7 I’m not going to hold my breath. By the way has anyone noticed the programming talent has gone down hill at MS since Vista was part the way through its development?

Me thinks the more creative types were protesting too much and as per usual they were silenced, now look at you got.

no more DRM

we dont want any more DRM...

Dex

How did this myth of Vista having better security ever get off the ground?

Anyone that truly believes Vista is more secure than XP should try downloading a trojan that was designed for Windows XP.

Run this outdated-and-not-at-all-pretty trojan in your shiny Vista play pen. Watch that smile turn upside down as it goes to work, blissfully unperturbed by all that "security" you paid for.

ohh god please have the basics

if it has decent disk performance
if it has network speed that is capable of doing what the cable and the controller can do for instance 1gb, and 100mb
if the video cards dont crash, and it plays blueray, and hd, and x264 out of the box

If it has all of these, ontop of what vista is now then I would pay $1000 per copy for it.

such things like this dont come from microsoft very often,
then again neither do aliens visiting earth and speaking to us

so while I am hopefull for both windows become good and functional again
and some aliens coming to say howdy

I just dont see it happening.
once again microsoft, I will pay you 1000 buks US per seat if you can come up with something like vista, and all the above mentioned requests.
1000 buks US per seat

I will even put it in Escrow while we wait

I Wonder...

I wonder if Microsoft actually uses Vista on their computers.

looks bad

windows 7 looks bad touchscreen never going to work nothing great about windows 7

Nurse, the restraints!

Losing. The. Plot.

OK, I am a vista hating and unbearably smug linux bigot, and proud of it. I do experimental high performance video work with linux, and still shudder at the memory of tryying to run vista on the same hardware. Basically, I am a little biased. Hell, I'm writing this on a little eeeeeeeeeeeeePC running Umbongo. That's me, suits me fine..

BUT..

The speculative, nonsensical foaming screed above gives microisoft-hating a bad name. Frankly, while we're biased aholes, we are for a very good set of solid technical, ethical and financial reasons. Too much of this sort of gibbering is basically a gift to Redmond's PR bunnis; naysayers can be dismissed as worthless lunatics with bold strokes, just by dragging up this sort of crack-addled drek.

Seriously, Charlie, take a friggin' break, you're coming apart at the edges. You used to have a clue, make sense, be funny and smart. Now you're just embarrassing, like a drunken uncle screaming obscenities at a wedding reception.

Take a break, fix yourself, come back your old self- you used to rule, some of us miss you.

Works for me

I've been using Vista Ultimate since release and have had to reinstall it 3 times (due to me screwing up the install procedure for a laptop with no drivers, not because the OS failed). Once it was on it worked. And has done ever since (I reinstalled XP once every three months when it started to crawl).

And can someone tell me where all the DRM is please as I can't find it... I rip CD's to my music library using media player. I rip DVD's for use on my iPod without problems. Just what is the OS stopping me doing?!?!?

LET MY PEOPLE GO!!

And the masses became tired of LIES, CHEATS, DRM, and other CREAKS and GROANS of poorly written software.
They became disenchanted over the EVERYTHING for MS and NOTHING for the REST of YOU mentality, and way of doing business.
They SEARCHed.
They collectively discovered what was right before them. What MOST of the internet already knew. LINUX, and ( for me PC-BSD) Free-BSD was waiting. No drama. No fanfare. Just well written. Safe, secure. Just waiting.
EVERYTHING free. Well-written. Just works.
¨Nuff said

DRM???

I would like to know in what manner any DRM in Vista has hampered anyone yet? I have been running Vista x64 for a long time now and have yet to have any single time Vista refused to do anything with any audio or video file. I have not once had it tell me I need permission from anyone to do anything. I have played, recorded, edited, encoded, decoded and streamed, archived, ran virtual drives etc....Not one single time has Vista ever stopped me from doing anything. Never has DRM ever even shown itself to me.........

So where are all these rampant DRM issues you write about every time Vista is mentioned?

biased BS

seriously, has the author of this article ever written his own operating system?

has the author ever taken into account that Windows is developed for mass-compatibility with endless possible configurations?
whereas Apple only has to make Mac OS X compatible with their limited configurations?
seriously, did Microsoft personally wrong you or anything? because all I see is brainless bashing of an operating system that is more stabile and secure on its 2nd year of existence than Windows XP or any previous OS was on its 2nd year.

please go back to journalism school and pay extra attention to the classes about neutral reporting.

or did Apple shove a couple of packs of £100 bills in your pocket?

If I were to write an essay as biased as you write an article, I would be kicked out of college.

you're working for what's supposed to be a professional news website, so act like a bloody professional and don't go vista bashing like your average 15-year old that hasn't even used the OS ever or since the release candidate.

Not for everyone

I have heard of people for whom Vista works with no issue. I directly know of only one (1) person that claims no issues. In my case, every single laptop with vista from different manufacturers I have touched had issues. For those who are enthusiasts and are willing to forgo stability and compatibility for the 'latest and greatest', with a multicore processor, more than 2Gb of RAM and the desire to play with DX10* vista may be an alternative. For businesses it isn't, and I professionally do not recommend it to anyone, nor there is any single machine in our office with it.
Yes, it _is_ possible to have an stable version of Vista but so far -and to my knowledge- most of those who have tried to use it in a serious production environment have rolled back to XP. If Vista works for you, great, be happy man, because from my perspective you are in the minority.
Now if Win7 is a rehash of Vista with the same DRM (which I suspect as the responsible for most to the file management issues I have found with the system) then either they make it seamless or their market share will keep slipping slowly but surely.

* I haven't seen any real advantage in DX10 compared to DX9c yet.

What Happened to Modularity?

In a properly designed system the bits would all go together like Lego. You'd assemble as much or as little of the system as you needed for a particular target environment. Instead, with Windows, you get this "all or nothing" approach. Its more trouble than its worth.

Even Apple has figured this out. MSFT would do well to copy them (they've done it before, after all).

the hell

you all fail.

ubuntu ftw!!!

Do u all know whats really happening.

Take a look at the list of new technologies MS has posted. The .net framework, WPF, WCF, directx 11, Speech API, Multi thread and Core APIs, new graphic API, patented touch or surface applications, new rewrite of all win drivers (32 and 64bit), windows Live Mesh, Windows server 2008 Kernel and the list goes on...

It develop software by looking at the number of users of an OS. Microsoft has secretly changed the land scape for applications and OS development, and made it's software more dominent.

Do yourself a favor and read between the lines. Windows 7 will change the surface of computing for every.

For all those who did not see this, go to this link.
"www.microsoft.com/surface"

It a preview of whats to come. No more keyboard or mouse as we know it. And all those new technologies bundled into one OS. It will be hard to beat.

And by the way. MS patented the whole thing since 2000.

I didn't Read This Article.

Because Charlie is a dimwit. I find myself avoiding theinquirer more and more because of Charlies bogus rants.

I used to visit theinq several times a day, now it just makes me sick thinking about bringing up the site and seeing Charlies awful and negative commentary.

If Charlie had his way we would all be using Apple computers run on AMD CPU/GPU's. Talk about god awful. No class, no taste, no talent hack.

Save Charlie

There is a lot of heat vented on these comments from techie minded folks, and want to put the spaner in the works of Charlie, but some of us just come here for the sheer entertainment value.

So please, please do not harm, kill or sack this Charlie fellow.

A Chimera in the making

Vista + sheep's clothing = Windows 7

@Wayneo

Are you for real?

Have you ever looked at OS, then tell me what technology MS ever brought?

Multi-Core/CPU = SMP -> Intel, Unix, OS/2-> stolen by MS
Speech -> OS/2 Warp 4 by IBM stolen by MS
Multithread -> Windows barely -> OS/2 has -> MS will probably steal more of it.

Microsoft is the biggest crook around the world, they steal everything they can.
If that turns into a lawsuit they simply buy the company or sue it bankrupt.

Microsoft is out of ideas now, that's for sure, and the best ideas are owned by IBM and IBM is 1 step to big for them!

Microsoft did buy 33% af Apple shares! To "safe" competition....sure most remember.
Microsoft killed BeOS, OS/2, Lindows, DrDos, Gem and on and on....
They even didn't make their Office, it's all stolen or bought.
Windows Defender, bought.
Windows Virtualisation, bought and killed the OS/2 version!

Please stop telling us Microsoft is about technology, as it's not, they are a bunch of crooks with money killing everything on their path.

In fact, compare OS/2 with any OS you like, it's far more superior then anything on the planet, Windows isn't even close to what OS/2 can do or is capable off.
True Objects on the desktop, Windows has no clue...Apple knows to some extent.
Multi-threading...Windows is a dumb as it can be, Apple knows a bit more.
SMP usage, Windows is CPU hopping and doesn't know what to do with many cores/cpu's....you have to use special programs to make use of it.
IE can't even print and spelcheck at the same time....Windows....yeah, the most stupid OS ever.

Somewhat Spiteful Speculation

While I found the article very entertaining, laugh out loud funny in places even, I am concerned it may be a little too early to be counting eggs.

Surely Microsoft is not intentionally committing market-share suicide, by virtue of their recent non-success in penetrating the X86 PC market with Vista. The features or "pillars" as described in the article, were most certainly the key reasons people had initially considered buying Vista.

I'm not so certain that's necessarily true this time around. If Microsoft can properly bridge XP and W7, I dare say people will move with little resistance.

I would hope Microsoft has learned from pushing a product to be ready by a deadline, and thus having to cut core features when time runs out. Hopefully with W7 they can either deliver on those core features, or give indication they are seriously working on them for a future OS, and in the meantime making W7 a more polished product than Vista or XP.

Dance of the Sock Puppets

Question for the Inq: do you backtrace the IP addresses of article commenters? I'd be interested to know how many originate from MS blocks, correlated against the content.

I'm prepared to bet that those who challenge Charlie's CV haven't exactly got a ton of OS-writing experience themselves.

I don't know about Charlie's CV, but I _have_ written operating systems -- yes, from scratch, and yes, for pay. Fully multi-threaded, pre-emtive multitasking, with hard real time (guaranteed latency). And. from that perspective, Charlie's largely right in his comments.

MS had ages to get it right, but Vista's a mess, with all the most attractive features removed because they were too difficult, apparently, and little left but "slow shiny" and rights restrictions. Windows 7 doesn't sound like a sea-change either, based on what's leaked from the dyke thus far.

At one time, there was a saying that you couldn't be sacked for buying IBM. Now IBM services niches. If MS doesn't start delivering value, and (more to the point) the value that the market needs, it will end up in the same place.

Charlie is not a Journalist

Charlie is a columnist. The entire purpose of his employment is to spew forth garbage that is engineered to get a reader reaction. This results in more site activity, and resultingly, more revenue. Show the Inquirer that you do not appreciate their yellow-journalism and either stop reading Charlie's articles, or use Adblock on the Inquirer.

Depressing

Couldn't agree more with Ryan's comment above. Depressing, lazy, tabloid 'journalism' with little factual content.

I've read the Inquirer for years but garbage like this article just puts me off. To think, he got paid for what is effectively a beery rant!

DRM?

Oh, it's another article from the guy who is too dumb to realize Vista supports every single open format in addition to proprietary interfaces for those who wish to use them...

<backspace>

Vista x64 isn't so bad!

I love Vista, I personally think its superior to XP. There are a few things to take in to consideration though:

- Vista x64 is superior (in my opinion) to x86. Any incompatibilities with drivers or software is the driver/software authors fault, not Microsoft. They've had plenty of time since Windows XP x64 came out to get their act together and make their software 64 bit compatibile, and if they are too slack to make 64 bit drivers then I will not look at their products as its obvious their customer support sucks. For antivirus & firewall, the antivirus and firewall can still be 32 bit, its only the 'driver' (yes they use a dynamic driver to connect to the system) that needs to be 64 bit. In this sense, 32 and 64 bit works together. For avast, the drivers required for this total 343kb for x64 and around the same for x86. Just an example :)

- You really need to disable UAC, I hate it :)

- Disable any services that you don't use. Make sure you disable the correct ones otherwise you may find things may not work properly. There are many services though that YOU do not need, but others might. Microsoft can't make it ideal for every situation, and have to err on the side of caution.

- Disable superfetch. DO NOT do this under services, this will make things slower! Disable it under the:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
Change the 'Superfetch' from 3 to 2. You will still gain all the advantages of superfetch but without the disk thrashing which can slow down your computer and use more battery on laptops :)

- Disable windows search service. This can also slow things down, and if you don't search your computer everyday there is no point having indexing turned on (although doing a full search you need to select non-index areas). Can also improve battery life.

- Have Windows fully UPDATED! This includes the latest Net Framework, currently 3.5 SP1 (different to vista sp1), VCredist latest (currently august 2008), and Directx (currently august 2008). That way programmes that use these features can run at their best :)

It's all true !!

I have tried Vista and it's great for a home user who likes nice visuals, surfs the net, watches videos and listens to music but try to put Vista in a business environment !!!!
No same IT dept. will choose to support Vista right now....MS wake up and smell your stink.

Mixing up the maths.

You can't use a decimal in a fraction.

It's commonly called 1/6th.