Vista a Success? By What Measure?

Microsoft seems to be claiming victory with Vista -- which is a bunch of hogwash.

From Reuters today:

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Windows Vista is starting to see mass adoption from businesses nearly a year after it was released, the company said while predicting a strong first holiday season for the product. "We feel like we are starting to hit our stride not only in demand, but in deployment in business," Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platform and services group, said in an interview.

Everyone I have ever talked to about Vista dislikes it. I've never heard one person say, "Oh, it's so much better than XP. I'm so glad I got Vista." Vista has odd glitches. It sucks up computer resources. It is incompatible with much existing software. It is actually driving people to buy Macs.

So why is Vista "taking off" now? Because corporate IT folks don't have a choice. They may have been able to put off buying Vista machines for a year, but now they need to replace aging desktops and laptops. It's possible to buy new machines with XP, but not practical, since all new apps will be written to work with Vista. Possible but not likely that IT departments would migrate to Mac. But, basically, IT needs new machines, and Vista is the only real option. So of course Vista sales will get a pop. It certainly doesn't mean the world suddenly loves Vista.

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