Vista SP1, XP SP3 and Windows 7 Need to Be on the Lookout for Leopard(s)

Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and even Windows 7 need to be on the lookout for Apple's Leopard(s). The products of a software and a hardware company, Windows and Mac OS X, invite comparison as an inherent extension of the face-off between Microsoft and Apple. In the operating system arena, Windows holds the lion's share of the market, while Apple claims to offer a superior product, boasting advanced security, reliability and performance. But at the same time, it seems that the intimate connection between Mac OS X and Mac computers offers a larger degree of customer satisfaction compared to the bundle of Windows and OEM PCs, according to ChangeWave Research. In this context, although it may already be too late for Vista SP1 and XP SP3, Windows 7 has to bring user experience to a new level for Microsoft.

Back in January 2008, ChangeWave Research revealed via a survey of 4,604 participants that four in five respondents, namely 81% of Apple customers, were satisfied with Leopard. In contrast, only 53% and 51% of those surveyed stated that they were satisfied with Windows XP Home Edition and respectively Windows XP Professional. The numbers for Vista are extremely low in contrast to both XP and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, just 27% and 15% of respondents indicating that they were satisfied with Vista Home Premium and Home Basic SKUs respectively.

Paul Carton, ChangeWave Research Director of Research, made it clear that Apple's proprietary operating system is also the top dog when it comes to the satisfaction level delivered to business users. In a February 2008 survey, ChangeWave Research pointed out that 53% of corporate customers declared themselves satisfied with Leopard. Again, XP trailed Mac OS X 10.5 in terms of satisfaction with only 40% of the votes. In corporate environments, Vista is managing things even worse than it did with end consumers. Only 8% out of the 2,200 participants in the survey said that they were satisfied with the latest Windows client.

The data contradicts Microsoft's own findings in terms of customer satisfaction made public on January 30, 2008, by Neil Charney, General Manager, Microsoft Windows Client. "With any new operating system, there's a natural reluctance to upgrade because people have concerns about compatibility, they’re uneasy about learning something new or unsure about what the move to a new operating system will bring. But those who are using Windows Vista have generally been very pleased. We commissioned independent studies from IPSos and NPD to explore the attitudes of users about the operating system not only in the U.S., but also in China, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. According to NDP, 70 percent of these users say it's an improvement over their previous operating system," Charney stated at the beginning of 2008.

As Vista SP1 was released to manufacturing on February 4, and to the general public on March 18, and with XP SP3 having reached RC2 Refresh stage, it may be already too late for Microsoft to sharpen the user experience claws and fangs. Judging by what Leopard brought to the table in comparison with Vista RTM and XP SP2, the Redmond company simply needs to kick it up a notch with Windows 7. At this point in time, Windows 7 is making its way toward the Milestone 2 stage, and the focus for Microsoft needs to be a platform that is much more than just "an improvement over their previous operating system (Windows Vista)."

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