Windows 7: Does It Really Matter How Good It Is?

      by Wyatt Walter

There’s been a lot of talk about how critical the release of Windows 7 will be for Microsoft. The company’s reputation took a beating in the early days of Vista. It was a rough release to say the least. There were driver issues, stability issues, software compatibility issues, and of course the controversies over whether a PC was “capable” of running Vista or not. Microsoft also took a hit with the Apple ads as well as a fair amount of bashing from the blogosphere. Some Most of the bashing was deserved. Microsoft has come a long way, however, in restoring its customers faith. I still much prefer Mac OS or Linux over Windows, but they fixed a lot of their image problems by releasing a service pack for the OS and a few advertising campaigns. Given that history, does it really matter that Microsoft really nails it with Windows 7?

Let’s take a look back in history: the user attitude around the Windows XP launch. I remember hearing people long after the release, but I found a forum thread circa 2001 (the year of the XP launch) from PCMag.com that pretty much sums up people’s attitude back then. The thread contains only a few posts, but I think all the bases are covered. The question was was asked, “Will you upgrade to XP?”. The thread received all the responses we hear today. You have your standard “absolutely!”, your cautiously optimistic “yes, but only for testing”, your “well I used the RC’s and am not sure”, your “not yet, I’ll wait for a service pack”, and of course the “I’m switcing to Linux/Mac/BSD” types. Everyone had the same responses then as they did for Vista. Now XP is seen as the fall-back when an upgrade to Vista fails. We remember Windows XP now the way users remembered Windows 2000 in the early days of XP.

The game hasn’t changed. And guess what: it won’t change. It’s all about perception and marketing. It’s pure and simple. In a few years people will forget about the early days of Vista and only remember how it was to use Vista SP 3 and completely forget about the previous two. There are a select few who can see through the marketing cloud and media buzz and look at the software for what it is, but the masses don’t know what the computer is capable of so they will settle for what is placed in front of them as long as it’s the same or similar to what everyone around them is given. It’s a sad fact, but it’s true. (Brace yourself because I’m not in any way a Windows fan.) I’ve used one of the early release betas of Windows 7 and was very impressed with the performance gains. As far as I could tell the interface was pretty much the same as Vista, but it was in early beta and I’ve seen other screenshots indiciating that’s not the case. As long as Windows 7 is more stable, looks different, and is faster than Vista users won’t complain. There will be driver issues and compatibility issues and of course users will complain because their icons got moved around again. Then a service pack will be released and hating on Windows won’t be cool anymore again. History repeats itself and will again very soon.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (3) : Jan 7th, 2009

  • http://www.google.com The One and Only

    Everyone likes to bash the man at the top. Windows is the best operating system out there. Why? Because it works with everything. Other operating systems (like Mac O’s) have come a long way in compatibility but because Windows had an early stranglehold on hardware and software they remain dominate today. A Windows machine doesn’t fulfill a specific purpose. A Windows box is an all purpose tank it does anything you need it to do and of course to contain all of that “firepower” you’re going to end up with a bloated piece of equipment. Find me a Mac that can boot up Red Alert 3 right out of the box and then we’ll talk.

  • http://whatan00b.com/apple-asks-third-party-developers-to-test-os-x-106 Apple Asks Third Party Developers to Test OS X 10.6 | What a n00b!

    [...] whose image took a beating with the release of Vista and is pushing the release of its Windows 7. Snow Leopard is a more or less a cleanup release after making a lot of changes when going to [...]

  • Jim

    Why would I need to run Red Alert 3? This is typical of “School Boy Mentality” – “If I can’t play all the coolest games on it, it’s a piece of crap. – GROW-UP!!