“The last thing I wanted to do upon returning from Alaska was rip Windows Vista ‘Ultimate’ a new one. I also don’t want to go through my list of Vista UI nitpicks, as several of them still have not been addressed – and likely never will be. Even after installing RC1, I find myself feeling… disappointed and dejected,” Chris Pirillo blogs.
MacDailyNews Note: Chris Pirillo is the founder of Lockergnome. He spent two years hosting the TechTV (now known as G4) television program Call for Help before parting ways from the company. He also hosted the first annual Call-for-Help-a-Thon on TechTV.
Pirillo writes, “Sadly, the first release candidate for Windows Vista feels more like an alpha to me (or early beta, at best). I’m not talking about performance issues, which will most likely be improved upon before this OS goes gold. No, it’s all about a cohesive user experience / user interface for me. Vista fails on most UI fronts. It doesn’t look or behave similarly across any part of the operating system. Even more sad? That’s by design, folks.”
“Vista is schizophrenic, and that disorder has been further enabled by the range of vigilante software development teams who are providing code to the core without cross-checking with other teams for UI consistency,” Pirillo writes. “If OS X had a decent desktop PIM, I think Vista would push me to switch.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “AWidgetIHaveNot” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Chris, you’re not switching because of a PIM?! Two words: Stockholm Syndrome.
And, for Jobs sake, will someone please tell us which version of Microsoft Windows wasn’t “disappointing, schizophrenic, disordered, inconsistent, and sad?” Even Paul Thurrott, Windows fanboy extraordinaire, who’s lately been desperately looking for a way, any way, to get his “SuperSite for Windows” visitors excited about this lump of manure about to be excreted by Microsoft describes Windows Vista RC1 user interface examples as “stupid, stupid, stupid” and asks his patchers, “Does Microsoft want Apple to make it look silly again?”
Why the disappointment exactly? If you keep waiting for Microsoft to finally copy the Mac even remotely successfully, you’ll never, ever Get a Mac.
Macintosh. Because life’s too short.
Related articles:
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
The Age: Switch to Apple Mac; just say no to Microsoft Windows – August 15, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
PC World writer’s advice for Microsoft: ‘Stop making crap’ – July 27, 2006
Microsoft about to lose the software business just as IBM lost the PC business in ‘80s – July 26, 2006
Microsoft in decline – July 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Pirillo critiques Windows Vista with long lists of mistakes – May 30, 2006
What’s the difference between Mac OS X and Vista? Microsoft employees are excited about Mac OS X – March 22, 2006
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ultimate goal: ‘to take back the computer business from Microsoft’ – June 16, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Get your Outlook info off your PC and onto your Mac – March 05, 2003
BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots,
How is M$ failing? They have 95% market saturation, and that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. Regardless of what we may think or hope.
They own enterprise, and that’s not going to change very soon.
They own Government agencies, and if that changes it will be slow and probably go to Linux or some other Open Source as the point of changing would be to get out of the grips of a single source supplier. Not jump to an even more restricted hardware-software single source.
They own the consumer market. This space “could” go to Apple. But it will be a long slow haul of years. Most people in this space, techies not included, don’t know what operating system they’re using or even what one is. These are people that boot a computer every single day of their life. And they don’t know if an Apple or Windows logo comes on at start up.
They are clueless and are no more impacted by Vista and its delays than you or I am. But they sure as shit are looking for deals like the one I mentioned in my response to LordRobin above.
I sure wish my company was failing like that.
Lotus Notes?
Please God no. It is a POS! I had to endure it in my last job. Usability is god awful. To think that the guy that created it is now a top executive at Microsoft.
The thing about Outlook is the same as Windows. There are so many third party plug ins for it. Some are industry specific and for some people it is hard to work without it.
If you are going to the Mac and you want a native app go with Daylite. I have seen the demos and it is impressive
What is his “PIM”? If it’s really Outlook, the Mac version (Entourage) is much better. Microsoft Vista may suck, but Microsoft MacBU does good work.
And if it is some other PIM that only has a Windows version, he can use Parallels Desktop with Windows XP and run it under Mac OS X. Within a few short weeks, he’ll find a Mac alternative that works better. He just has to try…
Kinda interesting thread here started by an unhappy Vista tryer-outer. Cover your ears, children.
Despite how bad Vista is supposed to be, it will still dominate the marketplace. It has better marketing because Microsoft is smart enough to license it out to all those PC manufacturers. Apple’s been trying to catch up for over 20 years, and it only has 5% marketshare.
It’s not that MS has stupid techs, but the corporate culture sucks and striving for excellence is not emphasized or rewarded. I know, because my son — who graduated near the top of his class at MIT — resigned his position as a software engineer for them, with absolutely no regrets.
“Windows Vista RC1 disappointing, schizophrenic, disordered, inconsistent, and sad”
Just like Ballmer, just like Microsoft.
The product always reflects the creator.
Okay, okay, okay… I’m seriously thinking about it. Probably won’t do anything until Leopard, though. Might pick up a MacBook in the meantime. <a >Maybe, maybe</a>.
“There was once a time, say ’89 to ’92 when the customer was important to Microsoft.”
Well the customer doesn’t put themselves first, why should M$? As long as working in IT means having MCSE it won’t hurt them.
Honestly M$ could delay Vista another 2 years and it wouldn’t matter much. They have so many companies deeply invested in their products they are willing to put up with it rather than buy all new hardware and spend money on training.
At home, they’ll buy what they have at work. People are still a bit intimidated by computers. They see a computer for $300 and it has a familiar OS, that is all they need. When you try to convince them Mac is the way to go, you tell them how great it is and they say I don’t need all that. They don’t get that Mac wins in features BUT is also is going to be cheaper in the long run and you will be able to do more because it is so much more reliable. Then what is even more frustrating is after they look at the $300 loss leader they buy something for $700 they could have gotten a mini. I don’t think that Apple should lower prices, they need to stay right where they are. But people are so hung up on price and ignorant on everything else. But it gets tough too because people think ‘Oh here we go preaching the Mac religion again’ and they tune you out. They are absolutely convinced that computers in general are just frustrating because of their experience with Windows. The first switch campaign had a great quote “I used to think it was my my fault that Windows didn’t run properly.”
M$ survives on ignorance. If people really knew better, I mean really had a good understanding of OS X before they bought their next machine… I bet Apple’s market share would be well over 50%. Every person I have switched is now an evangelist. It is simple, they cannot believe they waited so long to switch and they say ‘Why are PC’s so dominant? I can’t figure out why so many people use Windows.’ M$ is quite amazing, how they survive on anything other than Excel and Exchange (I think their best products) is really amazing.
So, Chris is disappointed and dejected because he considers Vista “disjointed by design”, “schizophrenic”, “disordered”, “inconsistent”, “bloated”, and “inelegant”. And yet, our intrepid writer, will CONTINUE to patronize Microsoft.
After reading Chris’ denigration of Vista to be followed with his casual acknowledgment that he can think of no reasonable alternative for an OS, I have to conclude that Chris’ justification for choosing Vista as his only tenable OS is “disjointed by design”, “schizophrenic”, “disordered”, “inconsistent”, “bloated”, and “inelegant”.
Excellent choice, Chris, you and Vista are a perfect match! Why do I have the image of Chris submissively squirming on Ballmer’s lap being fed rancid doggie treats while Ballmer coos, “Are you my good boy? Yes, you’re my good boy. Yes you are.”?