Microsoft Doesn't Let Users Touch the Immaculate Windows Vista

Jim Allchin, the former Co-President, Platforms & Services Division, responsible for bringing Windows Vista to the market, stated even before the operating system's launch that the product was neither foolproof nor perfect. Allchin retired from Microsoft on the very same day Vista was released to the general public. The Redmond company failed to comment in a negative tone Allchin's divorce, but maybe, just maybe, the Co-President, Platforms & Services Division was no longer seeing eye to eye with Microsoft on Vista.

And this because Vista is perfect and flawless... Or at least this is the impression delivered by Microsoft via an online survey form made available to Windows users for error reporting. There are a total of seven operating systems for which errors can be reported, including: Windows XP, ME, 98, 95, Windows Server 2003, 2000 and NT 4.0. But no Windows Vista in sight. The operating system version can only be selected from a drop-down menu and not entered manually. In this manner, Microsoft offers users no say that would even come close to contesting the immaculate Vista.

"Microsoft apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the error you just experienced. Please fill out and submit the following survey. The information you provide will help us find and fix this problem," reads the message at the top of the page hosting the error reporting form. But as far as Vista is concerned, there can be no error reports coming directly from the end users, outside of the Windows Error Reporting infrastructure built into the platform.

Now, there are of course a couple of explanations for this. First off, Microsoft could have simply overlooked mentioning Windows Vista among its operating systems at over nine months since the product hit the shelves. But at the same time there is also the possibility that Microsoft is trying to actively influence the reliability statistics of the platform. Less error reports...the more reliable Vista is.