Even Microsoft’s top execs ‘burned’ by Vista problems

Friday, February 29, 2008 5:04 pm57 Comments

“Private Microsoft emails unearthed during a US court case have revealed that even the software giant’s own executives struggled to get Windows Vista running smoothly,” Asher Moses reports or The Age.

“Early adopters of the operating system, which launched last year, battled with widespread hardware and software compatibility issues. Many PCs initially sold as ‘Vista Capable’ were unable to run some of Vista’s core features, sparking a class action lawsuit against Microsoft,” Moses reports.

“One executive, Mike Nash, complained he was ‘burned’ so badly by compatibility issues he was left with ‘a $2100 email machine,'” Moses reports.

“Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive in charge of Windows, struggled to even get his home printer working with Vista. In an email to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in February last year, Sinofsky outlined reasons why Vista struggled at launch,” Moses reports. “He said hardware and software vendors never ‘really believed we would ever ship [Vista] so they didn’t start the work [on updated drivers] until very late in 2006.'”

“‘People who rely on using all the features of their hardware (like Jon’s Nikon scanner) will not see availability for some time, if ever, depending on the [manufacturer],” Sinofsky wrote,” Moses reports. “Ballmer responded with a terse “Righto.'”

Full article here.

Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld, “Last-minute changes to Windows Vista broke drivers, forcing key hardware vendors to ‘limp out with issues’ when the operating system launched last year, according to a presentation by Dell Inc. that was made public this week. ‘Late OS code changes broke drivers and applications, forcing key commodities to miss launch or limp out with issues,’ said one slide in a Dell presentation dated March 25, 2007, about two months after Vista’s launch at retail and availability on new PCs.”

“In August 2005, Gretchen Miller, Dell’s director of mobile marketing — responsible for the Texas company’s laptop marketing — gave feedback to Microsoft on its Vista programs,” Keizer reports. “‘[The dual logo] adds another level of complexity to an already complex story, which in turn will create confusion for our customers, both corporate and consumer,’ said Miller in an e-mail. Although Dell advised Microsoft to scale back the logos, the software developer eventually went ahead with its plans for two stickers, one that announced a PC was ‘Vista Capable,’ the other advertising that the system was ‘Vista Premium Ready.'”

Full article here.

Tom Krazit reports for CNET, “As far back as 2005, Microsoft executives knew that confusing hardware requirements for the Windows Vista Capable program might get them in trouble. But they did it anyway–over the objection of PC makers–at the behest of Intel, according to e-mails released as part of a class-action lawsuit pending against Microsoft.”

Krazit reports, “A treasure trove of e-mails has been released as part of that case, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Todd Bishop has spotlighted a number of e-mails that call into question whether Microsoft was acting, at least in part, on Intel’s behalf when it set the requirements for the Vista Capable marketing program.”

Full article, with links, here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Big Pete” and “Erik” for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: The fact that Apple’s Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger runs on an old indigo iMac G3/400Mhz/192MB RAM circa 2000 with nearly all of the meaningful Aqua graphics intact (we do have to forgo the ripple when dropping Widgets on the Dashboard) while Vista can’t run its derivative, less productive, and obviously massively inefficient Aero graphics even on new PCs neatly highlights Apple’s insurmountable lead.

Of course, all tech leads are insurmountable when those distantly trailing only know how to copy the leader poorly, not innovate on their own.

People sometimes notice that old indigo iMac in the corner of our office and ask why we don’t get rid of it. Why should we? It only gets faster with each successive Mac OS X release.

[UPDATE: 5:35pm EST: Added excerpts from and link to CNET article. Fixed Take to reflect that Tiger is running on that old iMac, not Leopard. The point we are making remains exactly the same as Tiger’s UI easily exceeds that of Windows.]

[UPDATE: 9:12am EST: Removed reference to possible future install of Leopard on the old iMac as Leopard does not support G3 processors.]

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57 Comments

Cubert

Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 6:15 pm

I’ve got Leopard on my Cube I bought in Sept. 2000. It runs faster than it did with Tiger despite it not being supported. My friends freak out everytime they use it. They’re amazed at how quick and responsive the GUI is.

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Cubert

Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 6:20 pm

Once again I am King of First Posts on the second page!!!

Yes, I rule!

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MDN and it's sheep...

Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 10:57 pm

@Mac lover

I am a mac user since system 7 on an Apple Performa 5200 in the early nineties. Your assumptions as otherwise are wrong, and baseless to begin with. Stay with the facts in things you know, do not fantasise on cheap emotions, it gets you nowhere.

And I understood the point that MDN wanted to take very well, as would anybody who can read.

My point was to put a mirror to MDN, referring to many articles where even writers who wrote very pro and positive about the wonderfull world of Apple were blasted vitriosly by MDN. Completely needles, very counterproductive to the cause, and seeming only to wanting to ignite renewed aroussal on the more triggerhappy, less thoughtfull part of its audience.

And yes, I loathe MDN for performing these kind of ‘operations’ on real and known persons – who aren’t afraid to be personally accountable – from a position of obscure anonimity themselves, very afraid to be held personally accountable. A cowards way.

I am glad that MDN corrected their take, and hope that – from my point of view – they will leave their blind and vitriolic apologism behind and return to factual healthy fanboyism. And be less concerned with ad-hits. But above all that they will reveal themselves to the world, so that some basic respectibility and personal accountability comes to the fore. It is the right and brave thing to do, and we will all be the better for it.

Thank you mac lover, who ever you are.

Ton Palmans

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reading skills plus history = better comments and

Sunday, March 2, 2008 at 6:27 am

A couple points on two comments here:

@BigPete: The ridiculous PC World comparison has the MacBook Air price at 2999 when its actually $1999 and they have the disk drive at $150 when its $99.
Mistake ridden – if they had done it with facts, the Aor would have won.
Incredibly biased and DECEITFUL piece of crappy journalism.

@Arthur – OSX wasnt so great at first, but if you remember it was a FREE beta – Vista should come free with a $20 bill to buy a case of beer to ease the pain.

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Road Warrior

Sunday, March 2, 2008 at 9:53 pm

Zune Thang says: “The startup sound, spinning donut cursor, and glorious transparency that probably puts the MAC to shame (I wouldn’t know for sure, I don’t touch overpriced toy computers that can’t play games)”

So ya don’t touch Macs but you sure seem to make a lot of comments about them. You don’t know the startup sound of a Mac, nor the spinning beach ball, nor have any idea of how the transparency works, since you have not seen them at all.

You are a hypocrite and a liar Zune Thang. That is going to be tough on your kharma. If you think that the drivel you post is inconsequential, you better take another long hard look at what you are doing.

And you say that macs have a glossy screen. How do you know for sure? You say you haven’t looked at the machines, so how do you know? Do you get your information by listening to as you say it Mac sheep/lemmings then repeat the stuff that you heard? Wow, Hitler would have loved someone like you, you swallow propaganda like candy.

Well I will leave you to your toys and games, which of course is what MS excels at.

Enjoy your kharma.

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dunebuggy

Monday, March 3, 2008 at 3:08 pm

“Chanting the countdown to Vista launch while waiting with the IT guys I work with is a memory I’ll cherish forever. A special shout out goes to Merv in IT who came to my house and finally got my joystick to work with Bioshock Donkey Kong Edition. Now I just have to get it setup so I can play online. Vista RULES!”

You mean you needed help to install a JOYSTICK???

“Maybe you smug MAC dorks are jealous of the camaraderie in the Microsoft Windows community. It’s taking hold in Zune circles too.”

Nice of those Zune people to get together and have circle-squirts.

Your product. You pervert!

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Jim R.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 2:00 am

@ alansky
“How much RAM you got in that there powerbook, Jim? Every new version of OS X wants more RAM for optimum performance, and RAM is so dirt-cheap these days that there’s really no excuse for not adding more RAM to your Mac, old or new. No other upgrade gives as much bang for the buck.”

The revision A 867MHz 12″ Powerbook G4 only supports a maximum of 640 MB of RAM (which mine does have) and a 32 MB VRAM for the nVidia GeForce Go. This was the first 12″ Powerbook introduced in early 2002. I would have already upgraded to at least 1 GB, if that was possible.

I understand Leopard obviously demands more from the Powerbook than it is clearly is capable of even though it is Apple supported. There are other limiting factors attributed to a laptop such as a slower hard disk, RAM and bus speed. So obviously anyone using Leopard on a desktop machine may see better results even if that machine is older and not officially supported by Apple. I can assure you the Powerbook performance compared to 10.4 is definitely worse.

But when Apple says Leopard can run on my minimum 867MHz Powerbook with only 512 MB and it can’t in the all same manners that 10.4 does, then they really should have done more testing, or rather just honestly raised the minimum requirement for installing Leopard on its laptops, because the 12″ 867MHz clearly cannot. I own Intel-based Macs and Leopard is great, but I’d hate to get burned if my only machine was the 12″ Powerbook. It’s really the same argument users are making about what PCs are Windows “Vista Capable” when they actually aren’t, particularly laptops with lackluster performance.

Apple is really no better a judge than Microsoft when it comes to minimum specs because it wants to sell the OS. Besides, these days Apple is being less and less detailed on its updates, about what it actually fixes or addresses anyway.

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