14 DAY TRIAL // Back on November 30, 2006, Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer launched Windows Vista to businesses at the NASDAQ headquarters in New York. But while Ballmer's tongue hanging out might have been an expression of the enthusiasm and excitement orbiting around the hundreds of millions of Vista copies estimated to ship in the first year, the exhibitionism of frenetic applause was just a taste of the $500 million marketing campaign for the consumer launch of the operating system on January 30, 2007. And at the end of January the Wow hit not only store shelves but also every possible channel of advertising stretching from traditional media to the Internet.
But even before the consumer launch of Windows Vista, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates began applauding the Wow to come. The Redmond company even debuted an initiative dubbed "Show Us Your Wow", with a special invitation delivered by Gates himself. "What's a "wow moment"? It's that instant when you recognize that your life has changed-the moment you transform an idea that you once only dreamed of pursuing into something you have actually achieved," Gates stated at the time. Vista's release to the general public was compared with the availability of the 8080 Intel microprocessor. And of course that with the T.V. video advertisement for Vista, the operating system's Wow was situated as an equivalent of additional amazing, incredible and exhilarating moments.
Eight months into Vista's availability on the market and the Wow is now officially pronounced dead. The "Show Us Your Wow" website is no more, visiting it will display such messages as: "404 error - Page Not Found" or "We're sorry. We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties, please come back again soon." And this is not an isolated incident in October, it has been going on since July 2007. This is why below you will be able to find the autopsy of the Wow.
On the Windows Vista official website the Redmond company has an exhaustive list (and by exhaustive I actually mean highly repetitive and failing to drive the point home) of no less than 100 reasons and I quote "why everyone's so speechless." "100 Reasons You'll Be Speechless - Seeing Windows Vista for the first time may leave you searching for words. Many people just say "Wow." Here are 100 reasons why," reads the message that you can access on the Vista Wow. (The Wow reasons are all quoted from the official Vista website - emphasis added)
1. Wow reason no.1: "It makes using your PC a breeze - Windows Vista features a breakthrough design and easy-to-use organizational tools that make it simpler to get things done and get on with life! Find what you need instantly, on your PC or on the web, with Instant Search. Bring more clarity to your tasks with the spectacular Windows Aero user experience and Windows Flip 3D, allowing you to see everything you're working on at a glance."
Back in July, a survey performed by Support.com revealed that the overhauled Windows Vista graphical user interface, meaning Windows Aero, was considered among the top nastiest problems affecting the operating system. But perhaps the biggest handicap of Aero are the high system requirements it needs in order to work smoothly and the fact that the eye-candy and the adjacent effects do impact your workflow, slowing you down.
2. Wow reason no.3: "It's the safest version of Windows ever - Windows Vista provides better protection for your PC, your personal information, and your family than any previous version of Windows-with new security tools like Windows Defender, anti-spam and phishing filters, and Parental Controls. Automatic backups, Performance Self-Tuning, and built-in diagnostics help you keep your data protected and your PC running smoothly."
And yet Windows Vista succumbed to the .ANI file format vulnerability in March, indicating the true extent of its security architecture. Moreover, the flaw in Windows Animated Cursor Handling in Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was reported to Microsoft by Determina since December 20, 2006, long before the operating system's January launch, but also too late after RTM to do anything about it. While Vista might very well be the safest version of Windows available on the market it is by no means foolproof or perfect.
3. Wow reason no.14: "Make any room a media room - With Windows Media Center, you can access and project your TV, music, photos, and movies to any room in your house when you connect an Xbox 360 and other Media Center Extenders through your wired or wireless home networkN. Just grab the remote control, select your favorite entertainment from your TV or PC screen, and let the fun begin! "
Windows Media Center is among the top features of Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions. But at the same time it is the small details that count. Like the still missing Windows Media Center remote control promised by Microsoft back in 2006, after the operating system was released to manufacturing. And on top of all this, Windows Media Center in Vista has had to rely on the Xbox console as an extender, with additional devices served at the end of September this year. And of course in this context there has to be a mention of the criticism Microsoft has faced for including Digital Rights Management in Windows Vista and crippling the user experience.
4. Wow reason no.16: "Get your new computer up and running in no time - Windows Easy Transfer makes it easier to set up your new computer by automatically transferring your important content, like files, folders, settings, and e-mail messages, from your old computer to your new one."
Microsoft has promised a streamlined migration process from older versions of Windows to Vista. And in this regard, the company did manage to provide two "utensils" designed to enable the seamless transfer of data, settings, files and programs to Vista. The first is the Windows Easy Transfer utility and the second the Windows Easy Transfer Companion. Windows Easy Transfer utility is limited pretty much not only to XP, but also in terms of functionality and while the Companion comes to resolve such issues, it is still in beta stage after more than eight months since Vista was delivered for the users.
5. Wow reason no.25: "It works with the software, hardware, and services you want Windows Vista is compatible with a wide array of software applications, hardware devices, and services to meet your computing needs. Just look for the Certified for Windows Vista logo to ensure you'll get a superior Windows Vista experience."
Right...Windows Vista delivers out of the box compatibility with software, hardware, devices and services. Microsoft was obviously not talking about the same Vista it released in January. And Microsoft was not talking about the same platform that Mike Sievert, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Marketing during the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007, admitted was released into a world that was not ready for it. Therefore leading to incompatibility issues with software, hardware, devices and services...
6. Wow reason no.41: "Because your PC will stay up to date, automatically - Windows Update routinely checks for the latest important updates for your computer and automatically downloads and installs them, so you can always be sure that your computer is current."
Windows Update, oh the good old Windows update infrastructure... Used by Microsoft to serve and install stealthy updates on Windows Vista without even bothering to ask for the users' consent or approval. Windows Update will not only keep your computer "current" but it will also make sure that Microsoft can alter your copy of Vista in any manner it pleases.
7. Wow reason no.50: "Get more out of the web - Tabbed Browsing in Windows Internet Explorer 7 enables you to simultaneously browse multiple pages on the Internet in one window."
Don't get me wrong. Tabbed browsing is nothing short of an excellent evolution for Internet Explorer. But at the same time it is enumerated on the Wow-less list simply because tabbed browsing is in no way a Wow. It is a natural feature, common to all browsers nowadays and I will even venture so far as to say that this functionality in IE7 has never managed to leave anyone speechless.
8. Wow reason no.62: "Because it remembers what you like to do-and helps you do it faster Windows SuperFetch helps improve PC responsiveness and helps make system performance more consistent by tracking which applications you use most often and preloading them into memory for quick access."
Performance... Microsoft has admitted not without a decent amount of subtlety the fact that Windows Vista still has some rough corners related to performance, reliability and compatibility. This is why the company has been constantly improving the operating system with updates and also delivered the promise that the first service pack for the operating system would provide improvements in the three critical areas. Additionally, Microsoft has also made available standalone updates designed to fix performance, reliability and compatibility issues in Vista today, revealing that they would also be integrated into Vista SP1.
9. Wow reason no.88: "Take your game beyond the next level - Hit the latest high-performance games with ultra-vivid 3-D graphics. DirectX 10 technology makes gameplay more engaging and allows you to use the same game controller with both your PC and your Xbox 360. With faster performance and more stable connectivity, it's a blast to go head-to-head online against your best friends or other gamers anywhere in the world."
The DirectX 10 graphics technology is Vista exclusive. And while version 10 is without a doubt an evolution over DirectX 9.x, limiting the technology only to Vista, proved to be a tad of a blunder for Microsoft and yet another source of criticism. Users accused Microsoft that it was fueling the forced migration to Windows Vista from Windows XP and the gaming industry also looked upon the company's decision not to backport DirectX 10 to XP as a mistake. Gabe Newell, president of Valve Software and Igor Lobanchikov, a GSC graphics programmer both lashed out at Microsoft because it impacted the industry as over 200 million users run Windows as their main gaming platform, the vast majority of them with no access to DirectX 10.