Yesterday, I ranted about how Windows 7 might be Microsoft's last chance to keep and get more users. Today, I'd like to talk about the type of things that Microsoft should do to make Vienna something that others would want to buy.
Dear Microsoft,
Here are a couple of thing you'll want to do if you want people to buy Windows Vienna.
Don't rush. It's alright. We'll wait a few more years for Vienna to come us. Just promise us that Vienna will be compatible with everything, and that it works great. Please. Take your time. I don't care if Apple released a new operating system every year. Take things nice a slow, and remember to make sure that the operating system works. We'll wait. Don't worry. Just don't disappoint us.
Stability over user interface. Work on the stability. Pretty please? If your operating is stable, and works wonderfully, I swear I'll buy it and tell everyone else to buy it. I don't care if it looks like something from 1960. I don't care if the user interface looks like a 3 year old got crazy with a crayon. I don't care about that stuff. Give me a good solid operating system, and we can worry about the user interface later. Besides, I can skin it whatever what I want.
Don't get caught up in what others are doing. I don't care if Apple has Time Machine. I don't care if they have Spaces. I don't care if you can get Compiz for Linux. You don't need to waste valuable time working on things like that. Work on compatibility and stability. I'll install some programs later on that makes up for the lack of a Windows Time Machine function. No offense, but you guys aren't in much of a position to compete with others. Get a solid fan base. Then compete with Apple. There is no point in copying Apple software if you can't get it right. Just stick with the fundamentals of the operating system and we'll progress from there.
Trash the UAC. I don't know if you've caught onto this yet...but the User Account Control is the most annoying thing ever devised. This pops up on just about everything. Don't make me click more then once if I want to delete something. I know I want to delete it. You don't need to challenge my intellectual competence by making me confirm the same thing over and over again. If you guys don't want to trash the system completely, then at least make it easier to disable the UAC for certain applications. What is this? It takes eleven steps and the command prompt? No thank you.
Forget Vista. Forget about the mistakes you make with Vista. Pretend it was Windows 2.0. Pretend Vista never existed. Please, whatever you do, don't make Vienna look exactly like Vista. It would only bring back horrible memories of compatibility and driver issues. No one wants to revisit that horrid land. No one. Start off fresh. Work on the important things.
Don't create so many Versions. Don't confuse us. Most people don't know whether or not they should get Home Basic for the cheap price, Home Premium for the Media Center and Aero, Business for Shadow Copy, or Ultimate for everything else. This isn't supposed to be a hard thing. Just create one operating system with everything that you're going to give out. Don't split it up into 10 different versions in hopes of earning more money. Let's not be greedy alright?
DRM? Don't even think about it. No one likes DRM. Just get rid of it. Besides, with Amazon and Yahoo! (Hopefully) jumping on the DRM free bandwagon, it's time for you guys to hitch up those slacks and jump on. DRM music is dead. Incorporating DRM into the operating system is only going to encourage users to crack it. Why waste our time? Just take it out. Take it out, and watch the sale numbers rise...
This isn't Crysis. We aren't all hardcore gamers. Windows Vienna should not be something that requires a high end computer to run. It should not be something that eats up half my RAM when I boot up. It is not something in which we are on a mission to snipe the Emperor of China. This is supposed to be a piece of software that everyone is supposed to use.
If you guys do all these things, Microsoft will no longer be a laughingstock. People will no longer believe that the inner workings of Microsoft is being carried out by a bunch of monkeys with vests. Do these things, and you'll have many users happy. This will save your company.
Recently, images and a video of Windows 7 had been released on a Chinese Website. It depicted Windows 7 (Vienna) in build 6519, and many people have been talking about how things are going for Microsoft. The images of Windows 7 look exactly like Vista, which is making a lot of people hesitate, because it doesn't look like Microsoft has made any revolutions to its current operating system. Is Microsoft doomed? Find out more after the jump.
I believe that this is Microsoft's last chance to impress its users and save the company. Everything could rely on whether or not users are satisfied with Vienna. At the moment, Microsoft still has many supporters; most of which are using Windows XP. They are still loyal to Microsoft because they believe at after the fumble with Vista, Microsoft still might make a comeback with Vienna. But if Vienna fails, most if not all the users of Windows would move onto other operating systems. Linux is only getting better. Leopard couldn't seem any hotter. There are many choices for a different operating system, and if Microsoft just can't satisfy its users, the users won't hesitate to move on.
Windows is no longer the only Gaming machine. Both Apple and Linux programmers understand that their operating systems have a small game deficiency , and they are working on fixing it. Plus, game developers also know that there is a huge number of fans who are using Linux and Leopard. They will be working on game compatibility between operating systems. Windows also isn't the easiest to use, nor the most secure operating system out there. Leopard and Linux(s) are only getting easier to use, and not only are they quite secure; they look beautiful. You might think that Aero looks great, but once you see Compiz for Linux, you'll be blown away.
Microsoft is getting looked down more and more, and most of it is due to Vista. I'm not saying that Vista is completely horrible, because it is alright but the problem is that there are many people out there who do hate Vista, including PC World. These people who are bad mouthing Vista are the ones who hurt the company the most. Not everyone is tech savy, and even those who aren't tech savy know that 'Vista Sucks' because of the large number of times they hear it. They might have heard it from their friends, they might have heard it on the radio. But they know that there are people who don't like Vista, so they don't want to buy Vista. They have never tried it themselves, and probably never will try it due to the influence of others. Microsoft is losing so many potential customers when companies as well as popular tech journalists say things about Vista.
Because people are already sad at the sorry state Vista is in, there won't be many who actually stick around to see if Vienna is any better. Microsoft still has a year to go on this project, but from the way things look; it doesn't seem too good for Vienna. Vienna was supposed to be released in 2010, but it seems that Microsoft had been rushed by the amount of unhappy users to push the release date back. I think that was a big mistake. There is no point trying to finish something sooner then you would normally do; just to please the users.
Trust us. We aren't going to be happy if you release Vienna early and it sucks. We're not going to be happy that we need to stay with Vista until Windows 8 comes out. We'd be less happy if we needed to stay with XP for another 5 years while you get Windows 8 ready. This is your last chance Microsoft. Let's get it right this time.
Microsoft, I do hope you get Vienna right. This is your last chance, so get it right.
Yesterday, I ranted about how Windows 7 might be Microsoft's last chance to keep and get more users. Today, I'd like to talk about the type of things that Microsoft should do to make Vienna something that others would want to buy.
