What's gone wrong with Vista?

Posted on 19 Sep 2007 at 16:42

Even in the face of Apple's offensive, Microsoft's shown unusual reticence in its marketing. While the Mac maker has been carpet-bombing billboards, TV and the internet with Mitchell and Webb ads, Microsoft has largely left PC makers to extol the virtues of Vista. Analysts say Microsoft has to step up its marketing effort. "I think that's what it's going to take to drive things," says Shiffler. "From the PC demand side, it will have to push up the marketing." Freeform Dynamics' Vile agrees: "Consumer marketing will drive small businesses to move across."

Turning point ahead

As always with a new Windows launch, there have been plenty of naysayers advising users - and businesses, in particular - to hold out for SP1 before ploughing ahead with Vista upgrades. So can Microsoft expect a sudden influx of upgraders when SP1 arrives?

Industry experts believe it will help. "With anything like this, you wait for some of the bugs to be ironed out," says Shiffler. Vile agrees, claiming that businesses instinctively wait for the safety net of the service pack. "IT departments that haven't got their act together will certainly wait for SP1," he says. "It's almost a knee-jerk reaction based on past experience [with Windows] than any sound knowledge [of Vista]. Most of the early adopters are pretty happy with Vista as it is at the moment," he claims.

And the ball will really start rolling once big businesses enter the upgrade cycle. "We'll see larger organisations move towards Vista - that will accelerate the adoption cycle. Companies will then want to clean up the lower-end machines," Vile claims.

It's been a disappointing start for Vista, but there's hope for the world's most expensively assembled piece of software yet. The problem is, its competition is getting tougher...

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