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The case against Vista

Microsoft claims Vista was a success (or do they?).

True, millions of copies sold, but, most of these copies turn out to have been preinstalled on new PC’s.

So, the average consumer is quite clearly not really interested in Vista. In fact, many consumers still request Wicrosoft Windows XP, INSTEAD of Vista. Microsoft has reacted to this in predictable fashion: by announcing that XP will no longer be available via OEM channels by 2008

So, what’s really wrong with Vista, and how will it affect you?

Extreme hardware requirements..
Windows XP is a stable reliable OS, with modest requirements: 128MB ram and 1-2 GB hard disk space (As little as a 500MB install when tweaked). Vista needs nearly 10 times XP’s requirements, i.e. 1GB ram and 10GB hard disk space. If this trend continues, we can expect Vista’s successor to require 10GB ram and 100GB hard disk space. Does this seem absurd? So did 1GB of ram seem, just a few years ago.

…few benefits
Aside from it’s Aero interface, most of the benefits in Vista were already available in Windows XP SP2. 10X hardware requirements does not translate to 10X improved performance.

DRM
Vista includes various digital rights management features built in. Microsoft argues these features are necessary, for example, to legally play HD DVD’s.

DRM is bad for consumers because it requires an additional resource overhead in terms of wasted disk space, memory, and processing cycles. It also increases hardware cost, and represents a security threat to users: Vista’s DRM features have the ability to (in theory) disable certain hardware components (or put them into reduced functionaly mode)

Lastly, integrating DRM features into hardware would mean more expense for the manufacturer: A cost invaribly passed onto the consumer. when you buy a graphics card, you would end up paying for Hardware/Software DRM features and licencing. This cost would be incurred by you even if you do NOT intend to intend to use watch HD-DVD’s with Vista, or even use Vista at all.

The general philisophy behind Microsoft’s DRM is that “This software and hardware is ours. You merely licence it - if you do something that seems even slightly suspicious to us, we can shut down or disable parts of your PC”. As a consumer, I find this philosophy disturbing, to say the least.

The end of the traditional PC as we know it? Disturbing manufacturer tie ups:
More and more manufacturers are being convinced by Microsoft to make Vista only or Vista enhanced hardware. This could be as ‘harmless’ as ensuring that enhanced featurers only work with Vista, or as extreme as Pheonix recently releasing a Vista only Bios [edit: this may not be the case]

For the consumer, this is terrible news. Making hardware OS specific would effectively cripple other operating systems (and increase cost).

Vista’s biggest challenge:
As strange as it may seem, Vista’s biggest challenge is Windows XP itself. XP works on old and new hardware, it’s fast, reliable, and perfectly compatible with Windows software.

Microsoft is reacting to this unusual scenario by slowly and quietly killing off XP. First by stopping OEM sales, then by (eventually) stopping official support.

True, some may argue that this is what Microsoft usually does when it releases a new software package, but this might be the first time that the replacement OS is worse than the existing OS.

So, what could the future hold?

1. More Vista only hardware: more and more hardware will be Vista only, or function in a reduced/crippled mode with other OS’s. In time, manufacturers may split product lines, with one line for Vista only products. This will mean increased costs and a lack of choice for consumers

. Eventually, Microsoft’s goal appears to be to make the PC a closed architecture, like a MAC (and kill off all other operating systems).

2. Forced obsolescence: Whereas XP could comfortably be used on a PII400, Vista requires the latest hardware. This would be OK if people could still buy XP (and obtain support) but it appears that this may not be the case for long. When XP is removed off the market, people would have no choice but to use Vista, if they are looking for a supported Microsoft OS. This would mean purchasing new hardware, and disposing of old hardware.

18 comments April 19th, 2007