Windows Vista still fails to sing to the tune of Apple's iTunes. Or is it that iTunes are failing to sing to Windows Vista's melody? Microsoft and Apple simple fail to play well with one another. Still, Apple does show signs of improvement and has stepped up its game in respect to Windows Vista. In this regard, the Cupertino-based company has released a new version of iTunes that delivers Vista compatibility, but not quite.

The bottom line is that iTunes and Windows Vista are not quite there as integration and compatibility are concerned. But some functionality is better than none, right? It is certainly a big step forward from the beginning of February 2007, when Apple was advising its customers to postpone upgrading to Windows Vista until they would have resolved compatibility issues for their products.

Yesterday you were able to read a piece about the Microsoft's strategy in relation to Mac Office 97. The Redmond Company considered canceling Mac Office 97 in order to hurt Apple. In this context, compatibility is a leverage that weighs heavy in the balance of forces. And while Apple dominates the digital player market with iPod and iTunes, it can hurt Microsoft by failing to deliver compatibility in due time.

Since its commercial availability, Windows Vista has been hurt by support issues. Apple simply plays to the general tune of Windows Vista incompatibility. With the introduction of iTunes 7.1, the Cupertino-based company did resolve a few of the compatibility issues, but till full functionality there's still a long way to go.