No, not support pulled. By "dropped" I mean that MicroSoft will be asking PC vendors to default to a non-Vista 1.0 OS for new machine sales.
I'd guess by January of 2009 Vista as we are discussing today will be ridiculed if remembered at all. The Vista codebase as we are bashing today won't be MS's flagship OS by then, in my opinion.
...and quite frankly, Vista never should have been MS's flagship. It should have been a visual and aural/audio specialty release while Windows XPress was streamlined for even more speed.
That's a better marketing plan, certainly. Offer the "speciality" OS and if it takes off, then you switch it over to your flagship OS with its next patch/update. In the meantime, you dance with the one that brung ya with XP and variations on it.
So you think in just 13 months Vista will no longer be the default install on most PC systems shipped with Microsoft OS’s? Seriously? Based on what, other than your own personal dislike of it, and a few other random articles that don’t exceed typical complaints of new Microsoft operating systems? Have you forgotten how long it took Microsoft to build, beta test, and deliver Vista? Do you realize they are seeing record profits following their current plan? They’ve already equaled the installed base of the competitors in just one year, my prediction is 13 months from now they will have nearly doubled it. And why not, despite the doomsayers they are currently right on that track.
I don't think there is any way in hell that MS will get a new OS out by 2009.
I'm sure the FUD campaigns will be in full swing, but they'll be delivering nothing but vapor util 2010/2011.
From what I've been reading it is DRM that is really the performance killer with Vista. Once people really start caring about HD content, they'll see just how badly MS screwed the pooch on this one.
Thank G-d I don't have to use windows. Consumer choice is a great thing!