Maine To Skip Vista, Go Directly To Windows 7 242
Preedit writes "The State of Maine is the latest organization to skip Windows Vista, which has been a near-disaster for Microsoft. An internal state document (dated September 15) uncovered by Infoweek reveals that Maine will not be upgrading its more than 11,000 personal computing devices from XP to Vista — ever. Instead, it's going to wait until Windows 7 ships in 2010 and hope for the best. The news is in line with a survey that shows only 4% of businesses in the UK have upgraded to Vista, the story notes. So much for that $300 million Seinfeld campaign." A commenter on the article makes the point that Maine's signing an enterprise software license with Microsoft means that Redmond doesn't really lose out on this deal; it simply allows the state to upgrade its equipment and software on its own time.
Vista- It can't be given away (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait- Microsoft can't get people to install their flagship product, even though they've already paid for it, and the commenter's point is that this isn't bad for Microsoft?
Hilarious.
Umm... Good Choice? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Vista- It can't be given away (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Umm... Good Choice? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:microsoft has lost its tracks (Score:3, Insightful)
Corporate customers want OS that looks and performs like windows 2000, is as secure as XP and doesn't cause excess load on their IT departments.
It's not that hard to make XP (or even Vista) look like 2000. And I think you can even toggle the relevant settings while slipstreaming service packs so you don't need to do 30 minutes worth of tweaking afterwards on each machine.
Re:Go MAINE!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
The comment about this not having much consequence to MS is missing a very vital point: Vista was a back room deal to install locks and keys on everyones machines. They got a lot of money and a place in the new world order in exchange. Only, people are revolting, and they're not installing it like they're supposed to. Which is a big deal, because the economic systems are going to collapse, and their money isn't going to be worth shit. They're going to be irrelevant and hated. They shot big and lost.
Re:Go MAINE!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Windows 7 is effectively Vista SP2.
Windows 7 is a rebranding exercise more than it is a new operating system, due to the debacle of the Vista launch.
This time around:
-the low-end machines will be powerful enough to run all of Windows 7, so they don't need to pull the 'Vista-capable' crap to keep selling cheap systems with underpowered integrated video chips
-way more drivers are available for the devices you will have then (as you stop using older devices, and buy newer devices to replace them or do new things). Notably video drivers and printer drivers are more plentiful and more stable than they were for the Vista launch
-MS hasn't promised the moon for features with Windows 7. Other than the article I read today on a new taskbar, that a bunch of apps included with Vista will have to be downloaded separately for W7, and IE 8 will probably be the default browser, I have no idea what 'new' things W7 will be able to do.
I can't believe MS is blowing so much money the Vista ad campaign (which is basically kicking a dead horse). Consumers have no real choice, as they can't readily buy machines with XP or Linux (you have to actively search for machines with these OS's), and business is still primarily going for XP, even if MS counts them as Vista sales.
Re:Such a huge disaster... OH WAIT (Score:2, Insightful)
That's because there's a lot more computers in the world than there were in 2001. It's got nothing to do with Microsoft, and a lot to do with economic improvements in India and China.
Re:Vista- It can't be given away (Score:3, Insightful)
How many people really buy an OS as a boxed copy? People still buy OEM Vista, and people don't care.
Re:Vista is a disaster. (Score:4, Insightful)
I work for game developer (small by corporate standards, but big for a developer), with about 150 employees. Most of us are running 64-bit Vista. See, the trick is, though, this was part of a round of hardware updates as well. With our machines (quad core, 4 GB RAM, fast video card, etc), the performance impact of Vista is largely negligible.
Most companies are not running games that demand high-end systems. They're running office machines that calculate spreadsheets, write letters, create powerpoint presentations, track inventory, and play the occasional game of solitude or watch youtube videos with office mates. It's hard to justify upgrading to a new operating system with a lot more overhead when your basic computing requirements haven't changed much. In general, I expect that Vista is likely selling at just slightly over the rate of new Windows-based PCs being sold. There are probably more users that upgrade than downgrade, and most new PCs have Vista on them now.
I think this is mostly a case of unrealistic expectations - the idea that an operating system is so compelling that people will rush out to upgrade. I could have told them that most users with would not feel entirely compelled to upgrade their existing hardware. Users seem much more likely to upgrade their operating system at the same time they upgrade their hardware. And frankly, people are finding it harder to justify upgrading their computers when the only thing that a 4 year old computer can't handle is a) the latest, greatest PC games, or 2) the latest, greatest operating system.
The funny thing, if Microsoft had forecast realistic adoption rates of Vista (at just above the purchase rate of new Windows-based PCs), then they probably could have claimed success. But they all drank the kool-aid since it made their forecasts look so much better if large numbers of people suddenly said "Hey, let's give Microsoft a bunch of money to Microsoft for a new operating system, and I'll get a) better security (uh, shouldn't that be freely available as patches?), b) a slower machine (uh... wait a sec), and c) a shiney new desktop - unless your video card can't handle it, or unless you buy the wrong version of the OS." And from a corporate perspective, even if you're already paying for the software, it still doesn't negate the cost of migrating, retraining, and performance-related issues.
And now, rushing a new version of Windows out guarantees a fragmented Windows market of THREE operating systems (which we developers still have to support, even if you don't, thank you). It's not going to encourage adoption rates any more than Vista did. These guys just don't learn.
Re:Go MAINE!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Err... You're not telling me anything? This isn't a stance against Vista. It is "not upgrading at this time." It isn't a stance against Microsoft. It is "not upgrading at this time." This is, in effect, waiting for SP2 (or SP3 I suspect in this case) to push the expense down the road when people are more prepared for it and the regularly scheduled hardware upgrades are already complete. Someone opted to spin the story without regard of the facts. This is *not* an anti-Vista ploy. Microsoft is still getting the same amount of money they got yesterday from us. This is NOT a pro Linux, Mac, Free/Open Source Software anything. This is JUST delaying upgrading until the hardware is available to run it and we can (hopefully) afford to run a few extra support staff to enable the transition to go more smoothly than it would at this point.
In other words, this is a Good Thing® for Maine. We've looked at alternatives (though not for a while) and stuck with Microsoft in the government area and Mac in the scholastic system. We've tossed up a pile of Linux servers (no Unix any more though as far as I know) and even have the internal DOJ running on Solaris (last I knew -- though I'm betting it is still running on Sun hardware). This is not a question of the OS for us, this is a question of keeping it simple so that we don't have to pay for retraining at this time and, if Windows 7 is close to Vista in looks/function then we save even more because the average user will have upgraded and been familiar with Vista by then.
Maine was almost immediately upgraded to Office 2007. The hardware supported it and their licenses allowed it with no additional costing to Microsoft. As contrary as it is to say on /. the help desk instances went up a little (according to first hand reports) and didn't overwhelm them to the point of even needing overtime. This is NOT an anti-Microsoft thing. This is not a potential for changing thing. This is JUST a choice to delay upgrading to ensure that we upgrade at a time when we're also moving the majority to new hardware and that hardware should support the new OS as well as the existing hardware and OS last just fine until that time.
Re:Such a huge disaster... OH WAIT (Score:1, Insightful)
Strange (Score:3, Insightful)
This story strikes me as a bit strange. Maine announces they won't be migrating to Vista, supposedly because it's bad. So far, so good. But then they announce that they _will_ be migrating to Windows 7, which isn't out yet. So there is the possibility that Windows 7 will be even worse (for whatever value matters to Maine) than Vista, but they will migrate to it anyway?
I think what they should have done is compare existing software. If they gain by migrating now, they migrate now, to whatever provides the best result. If they don't gain by migrating now, they don't migrate. Maybe they will migrate to Windows 7 once it's out, but that's a consideration to make once it's actually out.