Microsoft Foresaw Vista Problems

Wall Street Journal ^ | 02/28/08 | ROBERT A. GUTH

[militem]

A Microsoft Corp. executive last year said the software company made a mistake by lowering the minimum technical requirements needed to run Windows Vista, a decision he said was made to help Intel Corp. meet its quarterly earnings, according to internal emails disclosed this week. The emails provide a glimpse into how Microsoft executives and hardware partners grappled with technical glitches and other problems as they prepared the long-awaited Windows Vista software for market. The emails were released as part of a federal class-action suit alleging that Microsoft's marketing program for Windows Vista misled consumers. In several of the emails, Microsoft executives appear to be planning how they will explain to Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner how a branding program implied that certain PCs were technically capable of running Windows Vista operating system when, in fact, they weren't. The emails also show how Microsoft executives struggled to respond to complaints from a Microsoft board member about technical problems he had encountered.

[Cold Heat]

For crying out loud....

I've had enough of this.

The computer pipeline had a lot of units with 512 meg of memory that had already been produced prior to Vista. At the time, any moron with half a brain knew it was not enough and most sales reps indicated the same, but some did not and it turned into a complaint. The complaint was valid, and the situation rectified, but to blame MS for putting out a bad OS is total crap.

I bought VISTA at this same time, included in a laptop. I already knew that 512 meg was not nearly enough as it was also problematic on XP. I bought 2G before I put the laptop in service for the cost of about 120 dollars more. I also informed the sales people about the problems I saw coming.

The faults lie with the computer makers who attempted to hit a price point that was competitive. They were all doing it on XP and when VISTA came out, they continued for a very short time until the supplies of the cheaper units were exhausted.

This is not the fault of MS, but I'm sure they would take it back if they could, but whatever......They had to get the OS out there, and the computers in the stores were not quite ready for them.

BTW, after the most recent updates regarding some third party vendors who have been very slow getting their product updated for Vista, the OS has been fantastic. It manages the computers assets extremely well with no crashes, and no difficulties. I can download multiple video and audio streams and aggregate, organised and save simultaneously and with speed, as I run multiple apps that push the dual core processor to 100% plus, on a 24/7 basis for what has amounted to more than a year. I am very pleased with this OS. Very pleased indeed.

I never turn it off, except to reboot on some updates or installs, and it runs flawlessly. Absolutely flawless.

[AlexW]

Thanks to all for suggestions on Windows.
I am now sure I will not accept Vista, but I will not
change to some foreign operating system like Mac/Apple or Linux. I am sure they all have good points, but I have about 15 years of Windows based programs and I am too old to play with the other systems.

[TruthSetsUFree]

I recently (several weeks ago) purchased a HP Pavillion dv6707us with Vista. It works just fine, even with my older software and printer, etc. I work from home and put my computer to use 10-14 hours a day.

Don’t let all the negative hype about Vista scare you. Most of it is just people repeating what they heard someone else said, who may or may not have ever used Vista.

Just make sure you get 2 GB of RAM.

[Richard Kimball]

I think you're correct. Personally, I'm a Mac guy, but XP is stable and not nearly as annoying as Vista. MS was running into problems because XP is quite a few years old, and Apple had come up with several major upgrades. They tried to clone an OSX appearance and ended up with a pig with lipstick. The DRM is also a huge problem for them.

I prefer my Mac, but have to use XP at work, and can live with it. Vista is the most annoying operating system I've seen.

[xjcsa]

I’m running Vista and I actually like it, but you definitely need to make sure you’ve got the hardware to run it well. Make sure you’ve got at least 2GB of RAM; I started running Vista with 1GB of RAM and it ran really slow until I upgraded.

[TheRightGuy]

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 1.0

I think the problem may be salamander's Windows Experience Index. Most power users have one much higher. Mine, for instance, is 742 ;^)

[Salamander]

I can build computers from scratch, disassemble/reassemble laptops without fear, keep an 8 station network running smoothly and troubleshoot all my friend’s PCs but I have only a “1”?!?

LOL!

I’m fooling *everybody*!

[all that info came SiSoft SANDRA so I have no idea what the “1” is, any way]

[jsharpscs]

"This is not the fault of MS, but I'm sure they would take it back if they could, but whatever......They had to get the OS out there, and the computers in the stores were not quite ready for them."

See, that's where some of us disagree. MS didn't "have" to do anything. They certainly didn't "have" to release bloated and buggy code, CPU cycle eating DRM, high hardware requirements, and poor driver support.

They chose to. And I don't see them taking anything back. Hence, the problems can't be blamed on anyone but them....

[Salamander]

Stop messing with me.
This says it means that my laptop is barely functional under Vista.

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/pages/458117.aspx

What a piece of crap.

I wish I’d had the sense to buy another Sony, instead.

[unspun]

I was speaking about technical ability, not marketing prowess. There has always been a significant difference, in the IT world.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

I’m running VISTA Home Premium, 1.5 Core2 Duo w/2mb L2 cache and 866mhz FSB, 3Gb Ram, 160Gb 5400 rpm drive, and an Intel 965 Graphics Chip. It runs well and although I have had to do some tweaking it is really no better or worse than any of my XP Pro installs.

The two things I'd look at would be the Intel graphics and the 5400 rpm drive.

I wouldn't touch Intel graphics with a 10-foot-pole, and the difference just between 5400rpm and 7200rpm is simply amazing.

I honestly think that the harddrive is the limiting reagent on almost all systems these days.

That and bloatware/malware - I'd uninstall anything which wasn't absolutely necessary.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

I'm sorry, but an Operating System is there to take care of the housekeeping chores of the computer, such as file management and graphical interface, so that programs can run. An Operating System shouldn't be so complicated and computationally intensive that it requires more resources than the underlying programs it is supposed to support. Vista spent more time trying to make the windows do neat graphics tricks when opening and closing than they did in making sure it tracked memory use, file structures, and allowed programs to run efficiently. They should have named Vista Windows MEII because it is going to suffer the same fate as ME.

But "Windows" isn't an operating system.

In fact, in fairness to Microsoft, Vista is three things:

1) The operating system itself [basically the NT kernel, and you might throw in the file system - NTFS - as a necessary part of a practical operating system], and

2) The user environment, which is the windows shell plus all the local libraries necessary to get any use out of the shell [to include all the backwards compatibility with your old Win32/Win16 software, not to mention DirectX 10 & Aero], and

3) The network environment, to include the CLR and all of the .NET libraries, to allow your computer to participate in all sorts of neat stuff in a business environment.

If all you want is an "operating system", then you could just download the basic FreeBSD kernel, with no windowing environment, and then write all your software by hand:

FreeBSD 7.0 Release Now Available
http://bsd.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/27/2255229

By the way, I'm posting this from Windows 2000, so it's not like I'm in any hurry to get all the fancy eye candy that comes with Vista.

In fact, by nature, I'd be more the kinda guy to download just the FreeBSD kernel and write the software myself.

But, again, in fairness to Microsoft, there are a whale of a lotta different things you can do with a properly functioning Vista system.

[militem]

I just got a lenovo ideapad y510 for a great price. It came with vista installed, but I did a fresh install of ubuntu and I’m pretty happy with it. My girlfriend has vista and she is not happy with it.

[Woodman]

It is just a baseline for the masses. Thing is, it’s a laptop and I had to make price/performance compromises. I didn’t upgrade the graphics because it’s not important to me, and the drive is fast enough.

I have a Windows Experience Index of 3.4 on the laptop because of the Graphics. It would most likely have gone to a 4.2 with a card upgrade that would have cost another $100+ dollars. The H/D is fast enough and sometimes the transfer rate and the buffer make a bigger difference than the spin rate.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

sometimes the transfer rate and the buffer make a bigger difference than the spin rate

Agreed.

SATA is fast. Very, very fast.

But, you know, ATA133, with 16MB cache, ain't exactly slow itself.

[TheRightGuy]

Stop messing with me.

aw geez, can't you take a little tease from an aging DOS-jockey circa '83. :-)
(I had no idea what it meant either.)

[kempo]

Cold Heat I’m sure glad to read your post. I’ve been needing a new lap top and ordered a new Dell xps1530 with intel core 2 Duo T7250(2.MB cashe/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms), High Resolution glosy wide screen 15.4 LCD (1680x1050)7 2 mp camera, 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS video card, 200GB 7200rpm SATA hard Drive Fall Sensor. This came Vista Home Premium. I’m not a computer geek and I really don’t know what most of the above means but I will Vista run well on this computer? I got an e-mal from Dell today stating it has been shipped and it will be delivered Monday. I will be using this computer to surf the net, email, and store pictures and music.

[shag377]

Ubuntu is good. Go to www.distrowatch.com and check to see what Linux distro is at the top.

I run PCLinuxOS myself, but I also like Ubuntu.

Linux is free, runs on anything and there is enough support out there where you have no problems with anything. Most of the distros have excellent web-support for any and all newbies, and welcome newbies and newbie questions.

I agree, dump Winblows.

[MikeHu]

I bought that same G4 Titanium notebook (used) myself in the past week.

I had the G4 desktop previously and it did everything I wanted to do reliably. With the PCs, it seems like something new always comes up to change one’s computing environment — and the hardware breaks down. As a writer, my keyboard would break down, the computer would get infected, etc., etc., etc.

Just being impervious to the viruses alone is the greatest recommendation for the Apple. I don’t want to have to deal with those hassles anymore. I want a simple machine that does everything the same way reliably. That’s all I ask.

Let those other guys send a man to the moon.

[Knitebane]

I’m running Vista and I actually like it, but you definitely need to make sure you’ve got the hardware to run it well.

And that's the whole point of the lawsuit.

How can you make a decision on whether you've got the hardware to run Vista if Microsoft lies about what the requirements are?