From: mike 



http://www.smh.com.au/news/laptops--desktops/vistas-honeymoon-is-over/2007/03/1
8/1174152859046.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

===
In one of the new "Get a Mac" ads on television, PC appears
wearing a hospital gown, prompting Apple to ask if he's going in for a
check-up. "Well," PC says, "I'm upgrading to Vista today,
which is great, but I get a little nervous when they mess around with my
insides."

Apple fans may have a bit of a chuckle but early adopters who rushed out
and bought Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, as well as more
system and graphics memory, have failed to see the funny side.

Since Vista was launched on January 30, its creator has been racking up
negative commentary.

"Utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of
tune," was the verdict at Forbes.com . "Wait for half a year
until the driver issues are settled and then buy a new PC," the BBC
instructed its readers. "Not yet ready for prime time," USA Today
wrote.

The blogosphere hasn't been much kinder. Stories detailing lengthy
installations, absent drivers, frequent crashes and overzealous
"security" prompts are littered throughout the net.

One user angry at the limitations of Vista wrote a blog entry that struck a
chord with hundreds of readers. Author and technology enthusiast Chris
Pirillo of Seattle wrote "Vista: I'm breaking up with you" after
installing and testing the operating system. He came up with a shopping
list of problems he encountered including a non-functioning scanner,
Windows Movie Maker crashing on a regular basis, Explorer losing settings
and fax software that refuses to work under the new operating system.
Pirillo has vowed to switch back to XP for his primary desktop machine.

"There are certain things I'm willing to deal with and live
with," he said. "But when it starts interrupting my productivity,
my daily life, I can't deal with it. I want to ask Microsoft to take stock
of the situation. People who are buying Vista machines are having issues.
What are you going to do about it?"

As the new operating system suddenly renders various peripherals and
applications obsolete, Microsoft has moved quickly to hose down claims the
operating system was rushed out the door in a less than perfect state.

Paul Randle, Microsoft Australia's consumer audience marketing manager,
says Vista has been received "phenomenally well" since its launch
a month ago. "We completely refute the product wasn't ready. Negative
feedback has been in the minority."

Randle says there are 1.5 million devices compatible with Vista and new
drivers are constantly becoming available.

It's too early for official sales figures but Australian retailers have
reported strong activity. Rutland Smith, general manager of computers and
communications at Harvey Norman, says the retailer will sell 50 per cent of
all copies of Vista in Australia.

Smith says he's been "thrilled" with Vista sales to date. There
has been some increased demand for support, but this is normal, he says.
"With the release of any new OS, you will see the occasional
glitch."

Given the increased hardware requirements, Smith says it's important
customers talk to sales staff to ensure they get the right version of
Vista.

Even better news for Harvey Norman, of course, is that users will need to
upgrade different bits of their PCs to get Vista working optimally. This
year will be a very good one for hardware sales, Smith says.

Users should not be surprised better hardware is needed to run the latest
operating system, says Martin Gilliland, research director at Gartner.
"Microsoft has never tried to hide that fact or shied away from
it," he says. "If you want to get the new operating system, you
will need to upgrade your hardware."

Most consumers will avoid the upgrade route altogether and simply buy their
next PC with Vista pre-installed. Gartner is predicting that by 2010, 72
per cent of machines sold to consumers will come with Vista.

And the rest? "Seven to 10 per cent will have Mac, less than 3 per
cent will have Linux and the rest [15 per cent] will be people downgrading
Vista to XP," Gilliland says.

Sounds like a cue for another Mac ad.
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 /m

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