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Possible Last-Minute Problems With Vista SP2
crazyeyes writes "It looks like Microsoft is facing problems with Windows Vista SP2. The final Service Pack for Vista and Server 2008 (before Windows 7 comes out) has been delayed. The folks who broke the launch details and dates of previous Service Packs for XP and Vista have Microsoft's latest internal schedule. Can Microsoft get it out before Windows 7? According to the new schedule, just barely."
Since Windows 7 is Vista SP3.
These silly Windows stories have pretty much negated their desired effect on people.
Ever since the lead up and release of Win2k Slashdot has been trying to manufacture the news fiction that "Windows total failure. Year of desktop Linux has arrived"
* Late service packs
* Stories of such and such company skipping a certain Windows version or service pack
* Hyping early bugs ever new has and then pretending they were never fixed
With Vista Slashdot went over the top with the Windows FUD and nothing came of it. Now everyone is:
* Trying out Win7 and raving about how good it is
* Finding out that Win7 is just Windows Vista with some UI and performance enhancements
Pretty much destroying any credibility Slashdot might have with exactly the people this site hoped to turn into Linux users with the Windows FUD.
Most end-users running Vista are doing so because they aren't comfortable changing their OS, those who absolutely must have DirectX 10 and don't realize you can get it on XP with some hackery, or Microsoft fans who insist on running Microsoft's latest release.
I'm not sure any of those three groups will care that much about Vista SP2. The first is largely uneducated on technical matters. The second is only fixated on gaming, and the third will be Windows 7 early adopters.
Vista SP2 however is aimed largely at the first group, who bought their computer with Vista preinstalled, and likely won't jump to 7. Microsoft has to support those users for years to come.
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What version of Earth do you live on where Vista isn't stable?
Could it be that the last minute problems of Vista SP2 are just ... well, Vista ?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Windows 7 will also slip.
Windows 7 is superior to windows vista, so who cares if they release a new service pack for it... ever?
Most companies arent upgraded to vista anyway.
Windows 7 is a really nice OS. It just feels like a next gen OS. There are still a few bugs in it, but its still in beta, so thats to be expected. But, ive been using it as my main OS for about two months now and I've never been happier. I'm someone who switches OSs a LOT (usually once a week, I have a disk dedicated to alternate operating systems for dual booting), and i've never encountered one that just works the way that windows 7 just works.
Here's a list I came up with detailing some of the more visible differences in Windows 7. It entails quite a bit more than just a Service Pack:
[snip]
* Less Versions, SKUs: Word on the street is that theyre looking to reduce the number of SKUs involved.
So . . . . point update PLUS service pack. Certainly worth the price . . .
Actually, people are considering stepping over to other platforms (finally) because
a) Apple has very much improved their interoperability and price points since the last major computer buying cycle (3-5 years ago, the Internet age with the G5 (greatest desktop ever but expensive) and P3-P4 (P3 was good but P4 was a disaster)). Now all those P4's are coming of age and a Mac will run your olden programs as well as new ones for both platforms.
b) Linux and even OpenOffice 3 has reached feature parity with what most Windows users are currently running (XP and Office 2000-2003) and has some of the nice things of Vista as well if you have the hardware (accelerated desktop and effects)
c) Vista is a disaster (whether it's PR or not we leave in the middle) and requires an overly expensive computer to run all it's features on. In the mean time, the economy is making people look for lower-end which has Ubuntu on netbooks, gOS on Wal-Mart's stuff or allows Apple to beat Dell in mid and high-end (good looking too) computers (especially business)
d) The geeks that most people ask about computer related stuff have some experience with either Mac/Linux and will likely recommend that as well. A few years ago, most geeks I know were still in Windows 2000-XP land whereas most (the same people) now run Linux.
e) 80% of all incoming students in the University I work at has an Apple machine and I've heard that other Universities are experiencing the same (one executive said in a meeting that within a few years we might all have to switch since all our students will want us to accept non-Microsoft digital formats too). Since students are considered the most tech-savvy in most households (where non-geeks live), most likely the parents are following their lead even if it's just to get iChat to work.
f) Whereas businesses used to be able to spend a lot in IT, now most businesses have tightened their belt, if not only in free-budget IT. CIO's and CFO's are actively looking for cheaper alternatives where before you could spend multiple thousands in server licensing without anybody asking. Also the current and incoming geek-class server admins have knowledge and experience with alternatives where before server admins were sometimes nothing but glorified accountants that worked on a really good spreadsheet in Excel once.
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I'm not sure whether you're just paranoid, or actually stupid. Vista is perfectly stable. Microsoft gets the same amount of money whether people buy Vista now, or Windows 7 in a few months. Do you have any kind of citation, or even an argument based in reality, to say this is a conspiracy?
Comment of the year
I agree that it's difficult to find. 100% of the folks in my [small] office had to ask someone else how to print when 2007 rolled out.
Thing is, the UI isn't any more complicated than the old one (does putting the print function in the "File" menu any better?). It's just different. And when you have been trained for years where to go to print, and then you put it somewhere else, it's not nearly as obvious.
In this case, the main problem is the Orb in the top left looks like the title bar icon from other programs, where you would never go to find the print function, or any other meaningful function that wasn't more easily accessible in the top right. This has been ingrained in them as long as they've used windows.
So the Orb is a blind spot.
Once they knew about the Orb, they have no problem using the UI, so it's not complicated in a strict sense, just initially confusing, and that IS the designers' fault.
passetspike!