- John-John & I just piled another 85 pieces on the (ALMOST COMPLETED) AT-ST Lego Walker set! 906 down, about a hundred to go …..
- Wow! What a waste of 3 hours …. that Eagles-Jets game was a “snooze-fest”
- Gold Brick # 45 in Star Wars Lego just fell to the power of the Force (or John-John playing as the Emperor)
- Well – we overcame an emotional hurdle; utilizing a paid baby-sitter to watch John & Stephanie for a couple of hours!
Well, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. For the past 11 months I have been using Windows Vista on my home development PC. When it first went RTM Gold on November 8th 2006, I took advantage of my MSDN license to install and put it through its paces. In the ensuing 11 months, I have gone through a series of emotional ups and downs with Microsoft’s new OS. This is my chance to vent a little bit against MS, the Vista detractors and even the odd CNET blogger who recently called for Microsoft to abandon the Vista platform entirely. (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9785337-7.html)
The Good with Vista
1) A number of things have struck me since I first started using Vista. The first of which is (IMHO) the ease of the installation process. Now before anyone starts shaking their fists at this comment, keep in mind my number one recommendation when installing a new OS: “Never upgrade an existing OS with a new one! Always wipe and rebuild the machine first”. With this said, MS has taken the effort to create a universal base OS image which expands and installs onto the target machine in a fashion which is a lot more streamline than in the past. There are fewer questions to answer upfront and contrary to some FUD reported on the Internet, Vista installation only requires a total of 2 reboots before the OS is ready to be used for the first time. As someone who has performed hundreds of XP installs and has installed Vista now a dozen or so times, I can also say that the time to install is indeed shorter now than it has been in previous versions.
2) Improved security and a much cleaner user experience – Microsoft pissed off a lot of 3rd party software vendors (i.e. Symantec) when they announced that they were going to change the security model of Vista (by refusing to allow kernel patching), however this was a much needed paradigm shift that was sorely overdue (IMHO). Fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon your perspective) they also introduced UAC [User Access Control] as another salvo in the improved security strategy. To say that UAC has been controversial would be an understatement at best. The area in which Vista gets the highest grades from me is on its UI re-design. Some people may not feel that the eye-candy, widgets and Aero interface are really worth the cost of the upgrade, but I know that I would never want to be forced to go back to the Windows XP shell again.
3) Improved quality of native applications – Microsoft did a real nice job on improving the usability and quality of the applications that get bundled with their operating system. Most notably – IE7. In eleven months of exclusive Vista usage, I have yet experience an application crash that has IE7′s fingerprints attached to any of the standard OS logging artifacts. I have also been pleasantly surprised by the quality of Photo Gallery (the amateur digital photographer now has almost no use for any other 3rd party photo editing application) and the ease of use of DVD Maker. I also appreciate the backup features that are bundled in Vista which allow you to make complete image backups of your machine. (Thank goodness, I’ll never have to buy a copy of Norton Ghost again)
The Bad with Vista
- Multiple Versions: Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business & Enterprise – What a total joke!
- Pricing: $319 for Vista Ultimate (retail), $249 for the upgrade; I don’t care how much R&D MS spent over 5 years, this is also a joke! Even the $219 (retail) / $149 for Home Premium is too high.
- Broken Promises: Microsoft has sorely missed both delivery dates and on delivering promised features. Those of you who paid extra money for Vista Ultimate, are still hoping that they didn’t pay an extra $100 for just a Texas Hold-Em game. On another note, why exactly did it take 5 years again to deliver Vista to the public?
- Where the heck is SP1?: This one is the most egregious IMHO. Now I realize that most people automatically get updates pushed to them through their broadband connection and Windows Update, but there is a large number of people (and organizations) who simply will not touch Vista until the first SP is released. Microsoft has had enough time (11 months) to have the first SP out the door. The latest has SP1 not being available until the middle of 2008 (and we all know how good of a reputation MS has for meeting their delivery dates). The funny part of this whole thing is that I believe Vista to be a pretty stable OS at this point. Even if SP1 is just a superficial milestone, why can’t MS simply throw the millions of soon-to be adopters a bone by releasing it already?
It’s not all Microsoft’s Fault
Many a blogger and technology reviewer have cited poor early driver support for Vista during the first 3-6 months of availability. Shame on the hardware vendors who have had the Vista driver specification for almost 18 moths before Vista’s release and did not have compatible drivers ready on the consumer launch date. Most notable offenders: (NVidia, Logitech, Creative)
Damn the FUD Mongers
You all know who you are (spreading Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) : “Vista requires all new hardware”, “You have to upgrade your memory”, “You have to buy a new video card!”, etc., etc. Although some would contend that this produced the fodder for some pretty funny ads from the boys from Cupertino, this drove me crazy. Bottom line: if you have a PC that is older than three years old, you shouldn’t assume that a new OS (regardless of who makes it) will run as fast as the OS that the machine originally came with. You are smoking something if you think this is a reasonable expectation. Besides, most people get a new OS when they buy a new machine anyway; and those that do upgrade their PC’s OS? They already know this anyway!
Legacy Application Compatibility
Reports of legacy applications that are not compatible with Vista have been greatly over-exaggerated by many (IMHO). However as users we have come to expect that our applications should work with new versions of an OS. Whose fault is this? Well that’s pretty simple, it is Microsoft’s fault! Or is it?
The reason why Microsoft has reigned supreme in the desktop OS market for so long is simple: they made a fanatical effort to ensure application compatibility from one version of the OS to the next. This has resulted in an OS codebase which still suffers from years of band-aids and hard-coded SHIMs that the Windows development team could not possibly get themselves out from under. So here we are: to ensure software compatibility Microsoft has to deliver an OS which is poorly engineered from the get-go. In order to deliver a well-crafted OS, Microsoft would have to completely break compatibility with all of the existing software that is out in the market. What would you do if you were in charge of Microsoft? I would love to see Microsoft be upfront and announce that the next release of Windows will completely break compatibility in favor of an OS foundation that will ensure the product line for the next 10-15 years.
“Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself”
My ardent belief in the first amendment requires me to recognize the opinions of others even if I deem those opinions as naive, foolhardy or even WRONG! Give Don Resienger’s recent posting on NEWS.COM’s blog all the credit that it deserves: it managed to get my blood boiling a little bit, but at the same time it presented arguments that I’d be hard pressed to refute. I seriously doubt that Microsoft got much more than a chuckle out of Don’s article, but it did make me wonder: despite being reasonably satisfied with Vista (I’d give it a 8 “out of” 10 rating), why do I feel “sheepish” when I tell people I work with that I am in fact running Vista on my main PC? The answer may not be simple but I’ll give it a try:
The Apple Factor
The old adage of a politician being asked to specify what constitutes pornography holds true in this discussion: “I don’t how to define it, but I know it when I see it!” These words are very appropriate when thinking about exactly what constitutes a great product design. For years, Apple has been able to (with very few exceptions) release products that have captured the imagination of the consumer. Regardless of what you may think about Steve Jobs, Apple’s agreement with AT&T, or even the issue of DRM music – there are really very few people who can argue with the aesthetics of Apple’s products. However, when people try to bring Microsoft into a discussion of product design, I always shake my head because it’s like trying to compare well … apples to windows.
Emotion & the Consumer
In today’s marketplace, most people buy things for 1 of 2 reasons: (a) the target product is truly a necessity of life or (b) because the consumer believes the target product will produce some perceived amount of enjoyment. For the most part, the majority of consumer electronic appliances fall into the second of these 2 categories. When we browse/walk through consumer electronic sites/stores most of us are able to realize that difference between necessity and luxury. However, when we ultimately decide to purchase that $400 iPhone or that $600 PS3 – it’s the belief that the transaction will deliver some level of happiness that allows us to justify an otherwise superficial purchase. Besides, who spends a lot of money on consumer electronics without the expectation of being able to brag just a little bit? Personally, if I find myself showing something off, it is usually because I have become emotionally attached to it. Which returns me to my original question: which would you rather get emotionally attached to?
Apples or Windows?
The first is a fruit and could arguably be classified as a food delicacy, while the second is a fundamental requirement for most modern day dwellings. Ask a person to pick up a piece of fruit, and it has the potential to elicit an emotional, tactile or even taste-sensitive response. As human beings, we tend to invest ourselves in things that elicit strong emotional responses. The folks @ FrogDesign know this only too well (www.frogdesign.com). As a strategic-creative consultancy firm, FrogDesign looks to create design prototypes which enable products and services to elicit strong emotional responses from the average consumer. What do you think is more likely to garner an emotional response from the consumer: an operating system or something that they can touch, hold and interact with every day?
“The WOW Starts Now“……. When?
Microsoft’s marketing campaign for the release of Vista is interesting and has been the source of derision by many in the industry. By their own expectation, Vista is supposed to instill emotion within the consumer (the WOW factor). Herein lies what I believe is my biggest problem with Vista. Is it a good product? Will it eventually be required by the majority of consumers looking to buy a new PC? Does it offer productivity improvements? Is it an improvement over previous versions? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding YES. However, eleven months after I installed it onto my main PC, I am still waiting to realize that emotional attachment that Microsoft promised. Better than XP? Yes! But do I bring up Vista during conversations with my friends and family? Not anymore.
By the way, if you’d like to see pictures of my kids – I happen to have my iPhone right here.
/8-)
Tags: MS Windows
- How is it possible to LOVE & HATE Vista @ the same time? I’ve found a way to do it! I’ll blog on the details later …
- Getting ready to go out to the Flyers’ home opener!
- Wow! I’ll be hurting tomorrow @ work; but to watch the Flyers thump the Canucks 8-2 (@ 1am) definitely worth it! Fly Boys are looking good.
- On the train coming from home work: 76 people in total; 32 with some type of portable media players; 21 of them are wearing Apple earbuds!
Episode 10: John-John Talk (October 8th, 2007);
Topics Include: Getting ready for Halloween, visiting friends, a galactic battle with Uncle Paul and the end of the baseball season.
Tags: John-John Talk
Episode 9: Stephie Talk (October 8th, 2007);
Topics Include: Stephie Joins the Podcasting World: singing the ABCs and the duckie quack-quack song!
Tags: Stephie Talk
I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but the following snippet out of Ed Moran’s column in today’s Daily News resonates with something that has been bugging me for a while now.
Ranger lawsuit
Flyers president said yesterday he was staying quiet on the New York Rangers’ lawsuit against the league until he has a better idea of the facts.The Rangers filed the suit in federal court claming that the league is violating U.S. anti-trust laws by fining the Rangers $100,000 a day for not giving the league control over the team’s Web site.
The Rangers’ suit alleges they have the right to run their own Web site and control the sale and promotion of team merchandise and branding and that the league seeks to take that away.
“By seeking to control the competitive activities of independent businesses in ways that are not necessary to the functioning of that legitimate joint venture, the NHL has become an illegal cartel,” the suit said.
Anyone that has a vested interested in the Web as a vehicle for marketing and promoting your business should be offended at the NHL requiring all of its teams to be held hostage to a content management system and e-commerce platform that is dictated by the league in almsot every regard. This has been slowly rearing its ugly head over the last few years. When you go to the Flyers website, it will look, act and behave exactly like the NY Rangers, New Jersey Devils or even the Nashville Predators site. Yeah that makes sense – because Nashville, New York and Philadelphia are so perfectly equivalent in their respective marketing, business and sports merchandising strategies.
I really hope the Rangers win this one; I have to believe the Flyers would welcome the chance to let their marketing and IT departments take back control of their website and internet marketing. By the way, this trend is not restricted to the NHL. MLB enforces the same stupid template and strategy on all of its teams.
Tags: Flyers Hockey
- 65 more pieces – John put the side plate on the head of the AT-ST walker tonight. 821 total pieces are now in place!
- Racked up gold bricks #s 44 & 45 in SW Lego II; Smashing that movie theater screen is awesome!
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