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Vista is a Work in Progress, Says Ballmer

Techtree News Staff, Apr 21, 2008 1643 hrs IST

Ballmer's statement is bound to draw a mixed response; it may soothe some frayed nerves only on account of being upfront yet it is unlikely to erase the general dissatisfaction with Vista.

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Possibly the hottest topic for a couple of days to come... That Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer famously called the much-hyped Microsoft Windows Vista a "Work in Progress" at Microsoft's Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) conference in Seattle last week.

As Ballmer said during the conference, "there's still work to be done on Vista: a very important piece of work, and I think we did a lot of things right, and I think we have a lot of things we need to learn from," promptly adding, "Vista is bigger than XP. It's going to stay bigger than XP." As if he needed to convince himself...

Just about a month back, Microsoft released Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to fix a number of issues said to plague the one-year old operating system. Ballmer's statement is bound to draw a mixed response; it may soothe some frayed nerves only on account of being upfront yet it is unlikely to erase the general dissatisfaction with Vista.

As Ballmer said at the conference, "Microsoft has been working on some essential steps for Windows Vista, nevertheless, the most important thing will still remain customer feedback: Top of mind for me, for Ray [Ozzie], for the senior team here, is making sure that we continue to drive forward and take the good work that we did in Vista, take the chance for improvement and progress, and drive forward."

Although it's strange for one of the world's biggest companies to release one of its biggest products and then call it a "Work in Progress" a year down the line; strange -- yes, but not surprising.

The Seattle conference had about 1,800 Microsoft MVPs from across the globe; MVPs is a name given by Microsoft to technology experts who provide feedback to the company about its products.

"There are still a lot of customers using Windows XP, and at the same time, there are a lot of customers who opted for Windows Vista. As long as those are both important options, we will be sensitive and we will listen and we will hear that," said Ballmer at the conference -- about the so-called trade-off between two of the company's most iconic products.

USER COMMENTS

I teach XP and VISTA and I love VISTA. Snipping Tool, Start Search, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery are my favorites. When I have to go back to my XP machine, I really don't like it.

by Joe Isaac, Lexington, Ky 40505, on Apr 26, 2008 09:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

Microsoft's strategy to not listen to people's basic demand of a light OS will backfire on them in the end. Already, their laxity in this dept has made Linux, Firefox, email clients' etc. so popular. They are just one company. The only reason anyone's still talking about them and the reason why they did not die in the nineties like so many bright companies gone bad is that they have the incumbency advantage. Same reason why AMD is struggling against Intel. But the difference is, while Intel is managin g to improve with each processor release, MS is digging a bigger hole for itself with untested and bloated software. Ultimately, some company like google will pull the rug from under their feet. They won't be able to compete without addressing the basic flaws within their OS. And about Ballmer, well he can spew all the BS he wants. That don't sell copies of Vista. What I can say about the man is that he is nothing but a shyt bag with a leak and if his opinions are given any credence then God help Microsoft.

by dookie, Bangalore, on Apr 23, 2008 10:42 AM, Report abuse Reply

Microsoft can get away with this because they don't care about you. They have you locked in an endless cycle, expecting improvements. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Wake up.

by Left Windoze lo, Columbia, on Apr 23, 2008 03:26 AM, Report abuse Reply

would you buy a car that is only half made and you can get the fixes as they come out?

by D Datta, Calcutta, on Apr 21, 2008 11:22 PM, Report abuse Reply

The idea that the individual consumer has a "choice" between Vista and any other os is absurd. You get whatever the OEM has loaded on the machine and if you want something else you have to pay extra for it. The idea the MS will listen to the opinions of the individual consumer is even more absurd.

by Jim, Fairfax, on Apr 21, 2008 06:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Sure they have a choice. Have you not heard of Linux or BSD? I dumped MS 5 years ago, I don't have any worries about Vista.

by Alan, Nashville, on Apr 21, 2008 07:51 PM, Report abuse

Thats comforting. Almost like reading that the 747 is a work in progress as you are riding in one over the ocean. Vista is about as big and getting bigger than a 747.

by Jim Milam, Austin, Texas, on Apr 21, 2008 06:41 PM, Report abuse Reply

Why do I think MS will "listen" but not "hear"? Why do I think the next release of vista will be at least 50% larger and riddled with bugs that were reported but not fixed? Quality at MS died way back when Bill started pushing releases out over the objections of the understaffed field test people.

by Gary, Seattle, on Apr 21, 2008 06:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

LOL In short: MS is a Corporation.

by WingedYoshi, Toronto, on Apr 21, 2008 06:37 PM, Report abuse