4 ms·

In assessments of Steve Ballmer's tenure (including Ballmer's own assessment as reported on ZDNet) Vista is mentioned as a prominent failure. No one seems to wa

by petilon 13y ago

In assessments of Steve Ballmer's tenure (including Ballmer's own assessment as reported on ZDNet) Vista is mentioned as a prominent failure. No one seems to want to mention the bigger failure: Windows 8, whose adoption is below Vista.

muzz 13y ago
True, but the market landscape recently was very different those two times. When Vista launched, the personal computing market was basically Microsoft's to lose. Mac OS existed but iOS and Android didn't. Now with those two powering tablets, the personal computing (PC+tablet+phone) is much more competitive: http://www.asymco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-Shot-2012-01-15-at-1-15-8.45.58-PM.png http://www.asymco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-Shot...
buster 13y ago
Wasn't Vista supposed to be that awesome new-technology operating system with WinFS and whatnot? I think the big failure was that it came out as a Windows XP with a new (worse?) interface and too many problems. Windows 8 is just a continuation of that road, still no new technology under the hood and an even worse interface for desktops (imo).
- johnchristopher 13y ago
  It was being hailed as the best software ever to land on our computers by some vocal microsofties on some forums at that time. When it became clear that half the things promised (dbr filesystem, etc.) weren't delivered or were sub-par to promises Vista was then hailed as "foundation for the future... when you build a house you first dig foundations then put walls and a roof". Except when I buy a house, I want a house and not some hole in the ground. IIRC there were four pillars: WinFS, Aero, Avalon and sthg else (audio or DX stack) ?
  - jaredsohn 13y ago
    You're thinking of Indigo. "(It included) several main pillars: Avalon (Presentation), Aero (User experience), WinFS (Storage), Indigo (Communications and collaboration), and Palladium (Privacy and security). Of these, one pillar (WinFS) would be dropped completely while another (Palladium) would be so stripped down that it's no longer considered a pillar at all." http://winsupersite.com/product-review/road-gold-long-road-windows-vista-part-2-2003 http://winsupersite.com/product-review/road-gold-long-road-w...
yulaow 13y ago
Also I think at that time the pc-market was not in a situation of crisis as in the recent years. The problem, now, is not only that w8 bring a different ui and so a lot of people are just a bit frightened by it, it is also that the sells of general purpose pcs are worldwide down.
mbell 13y ago
Balmers actual quote was a bit more nuanced than what the media reported, the actual quote is: > I would say probably the thing I regret most is the, what shall I call it, the loopedy-loo that we did that was sort of Longhorn to Vista. Which I interpret to be in reference to issues with Longhorn development rather than issues with the final product (Vista). e.g. the failure of WinFS which Gates also mentioned in a Reddit AmA awhile back as something he wished had made it to market.
huhtenberg 13y ago
Luckily for Microsoft, Windows 8 failure really comes down to the lack of the Start button on a desktop screen. If it were there, everyone would've just skipped the fancy tiled screen, went straight to the desktop and got an improved W7 experience. Windows 8.1 puts the button back, so the adoption rates should climb back up and rather quickly.
- mythz 13y ago
  The Start Button isn't back, it's the same lose-context-and-switch-to-Metro B.S. that was in the first version. So instead of activating the hot corner, there's now a prominent button where the Start button was, but it still takes you to a disjointed (touch-friendly) desktop that many wish could be disabled entirely.
  - michaelt 13y ago
    To be fair, Windows isn't the only desktop environment to throw away old interface designs and adopt new ones that many wish could be disabled. Not saying it's a good (or bad) think in either case (as I don't know) but it's certainly not a unique-to-microsoft thing.
snowwrestler 13y ago
It's not just that Vista was poorly adopted. It's that Vista took WAY longer than expected to write and release, and then it was terribly flawed anyway. It's still very early in W8's life cycle to call the game. XP was not very popular until SP2.

by petilon 13y ago

muzz 13y ago

True, but the market landscape recently was very different those two times. When Vista launched, the personal computing market was basically Microsoft's to lose. Mac OS existed but iOS and Android didn't. Now with those two powering tablets, the personal computing (PC+tablet+phone) is much more competitive: http://www.asymco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-Shot-2012-01-15-at-1-15-8.45.58-PM.png http://www.asymco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Screen-Shot...

buster 13y ago

Wasn't Vista supposed to be that awesome new-technology operating system with WinFS and whatnot? I think the big failure was that it came out as a Windows XP with a new (worse?) interface and too many problems. Windows 8 is just a continuation of that road, still no new technology under the hood and an even worse interface for desktops (imo).

johnchristopher 13y ago
It was being hailed as the best software ever to land on our computers by some vocal microsofties on some forums at that time. When it became clear that half the things promised (dbr filesystem, etc.) weren't delivered or were sub-par to promises Vista was then hailed as "foundation for the future... when you build a house you first dig foundations then put walls and a roof". Except when I buy a house, I want a house and not some hole in the ground. IIRC there were four pillars: WinFS, Aero, Avalon and sthg else (audio or DX stack) ?
- jaredsohn 13y ago
  You're thinking of Indigo. "(It included) several main pillars: Avalon (Presentation), Aero (User experience), WinFS (Storage), Indigo (Communications and collaboration), and Palladium (Privacy and security). Of these, one pillar (WinFS) would be dropped completely while another (Palladium) would be so stripped down that it's no longer considered a pillar at all." http://winsupersite.com/product-review/road-gold-long-road-windows-vista-part-2-2003 http://winsupersite.com/product-review/road-gold-long-road-w...

yulaow 13y ago

Also I think at that time the pc-market was not in a situation of crisis as in the recent years. The problem, now, is not only that w8 bring a different ui and so a lot of people are just a bit frightened by it, it is also that the sells of general purpose pcs are worldwide down.

mbell 13y ago

Balmers actual quote was a bit more nuanced than what the media reported, the actual quote is: > I would say probably the thing I regret most is the, what shall I call it, the loopedy-loo that we did that was sort of Longhorn to Vista. Which I interpret to be in reference to issues with Longhorn development rather than issues with the final product (Vista). e.g. the failure of WinFS which Gates also mentioned in a Reddit AmA awhile back as something he wished had made it to market.

huhtenberg 13y ago

Luckily for Microsoft, Windows 8 failure really comes down to the lack of the Start button on a desktop screen. If it were there, everyone would've just skipped the fancy tiled screen, went straight to the desktop and got an improved W7 experience. Windows 8.1 puts the button back, so the adoption rates should climb back up and rather quickly.

mythz 13y ago
The Start Button isn't back, it's the same lose-context-and-switch-to-Metro B.S. that was in the first version. So instead of activating the hot corner, there's now a prominent button where the Start button was, but it still takes you to a disjointed (touch-friendly) desktop that many wish could be disabled entirely.
- michaelt 13y ago
  To be fair, Windows isn't the only desktop environment to throw away old interface designs and adopt new ones that many wish could be disabled. Not saying it's a good (or bad) think in either case (as I don't know) but it's certainly not a unique-to-microsoft thing.

snowwrestler 13y ago

It's not just that Vista was poorly adopted. It's that Vista took WAY longer than expected to write and release, and then it was terribly flawed anyway. It's still very early in W8's life cycle to call the game. XP was not very popular until SP2.