“In one of the new ‘Get a Mac’ ads on television, PC appears wearing a hospital gown, prompting Apple to ask if he’s going in for a check-up. ‘Well,’ PC says, ‘I’m upgrading to Vista today, which is great, but I get a little nervous when they mess around with my insides,'” Roulla Yiacoumi reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Apple fans may have a bit of a chuckle but early adopters who rushed out and bought Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista, as well as more system and graphics memory, have failed to see the funny side,” Yiacoumi reports.
Yiacoumi reports, “Since Vista was launched on January 30, its creator has been racking up negative commentary. ‘Utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of tune,’ was the verdict at Forbes.com… ‘Not yet ready for prime time,’ USA Today wrote… Paul Randle, Microsoft Australia’s consumer audience marketing manager, says Vista has been received ‘phenomenally well’ since its launch a month ago. ‘We completely refute the product wasn’t ready. Negative feedback has been in the minority.'”
MacDailyNews Note: We interrupt this article for a reality break. Related articles pertaining to Microsoft’s Windows Vista “phenomenal” reception:
Network World: Need a new PC for Vista? Switching to Mac may cost less and give you more – March 16, 2007
BusinessWeek: Microsoft’s Windows Vista is ‘slow and dangerous’ – March 15, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista is very good for Apple Mac – March 13, 2007
Windows sufferer spends six hours trying to ‘upgrade’ to Vista, says: ‘I should’ve bought a Mac’ – February 07, 2007
Windows Vista woes push BBC News editor to regret never having ‘defected’ to Apple Mac – February 06, 2007
Digit: Don’t buy Vista; Microsoft may be driving millions to stick with XP or move to Apple Mac – February 05, 2007
TIME Magazine: Microsoft’s Windows Vista ‘an embarassment to the good name of American innovation’ – February 02, 2007
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007
Digit: ‘Microsoft’s Windows Vista may be the best reason yet to buy an Apple Mac’ – January 29, 2007
Pioneer Press: Windows Vista shows ‘Apple is an innovation engine; Microsoft, not so much’ – January 29, 2007
Windows Vista disappoints, so get a Mac – January 29, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista could be an opportunity for Apple – January 26, 2007
CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007
Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007
Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: ‘Looks, Locks, Lacks’ – December 14, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista is basically Microsoft’s version of Mac OS 9.3 – October 11, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Yiacoumi continues, “Gartner is predicting that by 2010, 72 per cent of machines sold to consumers will come with Vista. And the rest? ‘Seven to 10 per cent will have Mac, less than 3 per cent will have Linux and the rest [15 per cent] will be people downgrading Vista to XP,’ Martin Gilliland, research director at Gartner, says. Sounds like a cue for another Mac ad.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X, finds software plentiful – March 12, 2007
InfoWorld: 9,000 people switch to Apple Mac every day (plus testing ‘Embrace and Extinguish’) – February 28, 2007
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen switches to Apple Mac – February 28, 2007
Computerworld: Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – February 08, 2007
Embrace and Extinguish in action: TechIQ’s ‘The VAR Guy’ dumps Windows, switches to Mac OS X – September 25, 2006
Bill Gates unhinged with Apple envy; Microsoft on path to become high profile casualty – February 06, 2007
Apple takes dead aim at Microsoft’s Windows Vista in latest ‘Get a Mac’ ad (with video) – February 06, 2007
Bill Gates has lost his mind: calls Apple liars, copiers; slams Mac OS X security vs. Windows – February 02, 2007
Those unfamiliar with Apple’s Mac OS X may be impressed with Windows Vista – January 29, 2007
Microsoft emails reveal serious Mac OS X Tiger envy – January 26, 2007
A Windows expert opts for a Mac life, finds the experience ‘superb’ – December 07, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
A Windows expert opts for a Mac life – November 06, 2006
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Apple does it again: New Macbook Pros much cheaper than Dell – October 25, 2006
Embrace and Extinguish in action: TechIQ’s ‘The VAR Guy’ dumps Windows, switches to Mac OS X – September 25, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Thurrott pits Apple Mac Pro vs. similarly configured Dell, figures out the Mac is less expensive – August 18, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Apple Macintosh simply does more and costs less than Windows PCs – February 14, 2006
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Hey Reality Check,
Most purchasers are downgrading to XP. Believe it. Actually, isn’t XP Pro SP2 an upgrade from Vista 1.0 beta?
@Reality Check / Machopeless – whatever name you are using today…
Most corporate PCs have the OS removed and the SOE installed – which will of course be XP.
Lucky for them! Most home users have to put up with Vista. The horror stories continue unabated… I am in IT and I hear the stories from other techos. I haven’t heard one good report yet. Not one!
I have been playing with Vista a bit and my impression is that Microsoft has studied user interaction metrics and has, in some areas, applied some good cleanup as far as reducing clutter and/or the number of clicks required to do something.
Unfortunately, other parts of the system have gone backwards in efficiency and usability. Windows Explorer is just a mess, with menu commands and toolbar buttons jumbled all together (on an ugly gradient, at least in the non-Aero-glass appearance), a bunch of clickable stuff crammed into the path bar, and sidebar that tries to split space between the traditional hierarchical view and the new filter-based views.
The control panel has also gone backwards, in my opinion. Instead of taking a hard look at the whole thing and how it could be re-factored and reorganized, they just slapped another layer of gunk on top of the existing control panels to try and narrate the user to the right location. As a result it’s like reading one of those “choose your adventure” novels every time you want to change a setting. “If you decide to change your display resolution, turn to Control Panel 17”
“The sad thing is that Microsoft won’t care if people downgrade to XP from Vista since it means they will still have sold a copy of Vista in the first place.”
The answer is if you have to downgrade you return your copy of Vista to the shop where you bought it.
In the UK we have a consumer law called The Sale of Goods Act. This says you can return goods & demand a refund if an item meets at least one of the following criteria:-
1. The goods are faulty.
2. The goods are not as advertised.
3. The goods are not of merchantable quality.
4. The goods are not fit for purpose.
It does not take a genius to find at least one reason to be able to get a refund! Their,surely, must be a similar law in the US!
‘Microsoft’s Windows Vista racks up negative reviews’
Well, this is the first I’ve heard of it-
Robinson Crusoe
In the UK we have a consumer law called The Sale of Goods Act. This says you can return goods & demand a refund if an item meets at least one of the following criteria:-
1. The goods are faulty.
2. The goods are not as advertised.
3. The goods are not of merchantable quality.
4. The goods are not fit for purpose.
There has to be a prize for a certain product that aces all four…
They’re going to make it better with time.
Wasn’t a main objective of Longhorn/Vista to fix all the problems time wasn’t resolving in XP?
MS had better get straight with the fact time isn’t on their side. They scrambled to ship a dud, now they’ll have to scramble even harder to fix it & control the PR damage.
All this while Apple markets stuff that works…