Gates calls Vista sales "amazing"
Published Wed, May 16 2007 12:04 PM
Technorati Tags: Software Development, Annoyances
That's the headline on the article from the Seattle Times:
LOS ANGELES — Bill Gates said Microsoft was "amazed" at the response to Windows Vista, the company's flagship product, which has sold nearly 40 million copies since its release Jan. 30.
I'm amazed at the response too. I'm amazed that people are buying it. The Aero interface is slick, but very resource intensive. It get's annoying when you run older software and have to wait while Aero turns itself off and reminds you that your older software just isn't "with it".
"I mean, we knew that Vista would become the standard version of Windows," Gates said. "... But what's happened in the last 100 days has been beyond our expectations. As of last week, we've had nearly 40 million copies sold and so that's twice as fast as the adoption of Windows XP, the last major release that we had."
When you're the only vendor that makes Windows, and when you can drop support for previous versions pretty much "at will", of course your latest version will become the "standard version". It's a shame that the "standard version" is such a steaming pile of excrement, but there it stands.
As for selling twice as fast as XP did, well... it's quite a few years later isn't it. There are more people buying and using computers than there were when XP came out. That still doesn't change the fact that Dell has actually gone back to selling some of its computer lines with XP installed due to consumer demand.
Gates went on to take a jab at smaller competitors in the operating-system business — notably Apple, which has fielded a series of biting commercials attacking Vista and the PC platform and seen sales of its Mac computers surge. But Apple and open-source operating systems such as Linux still hold a tiny share of the market.
"In our first five weeks, we've matched the entire installed base of any other provider of similar software," Gates said.
Maybe so, but their market share isn't going away. Microsoft's lack of support for developers with regards to existing developer tools, for which Microsoft doesn't yet have a replacement isn't going to win a lot of hearts and minds either.
In an on-stage demonstration, Steven Leonard, senior product manager, showed how a parent could disable access to a child's music as a punishment for leaving a firewall security feature disabled.
Allowing your children to manage your firewall is asking for trouble in the first place don't you think? I suppose being able to disable access to a child's music might work as a punishment for leaving the firewall disabled, assuming you still have control of the system after that little lapse.
Maybe the real reason Microsoft is "amazed" at Vista sales is because they know how badly they've screwed the consumer this time. They're probably just amazed that P.T. Barnum was right.
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David responded with:
 | "Maybe the real reason Microsoft is "amazed" at Vista sales is because they know how badly they've screwed the consumer this time."
*heh*
And you heard the "news" that Me$$y$oft is claiming 235 (down about 50 from last Fall, already) of their patents are infringed by Linux and FOSS? *heh* Those with strong backgrounds in FOSS are champing at the bit, just hopingf Me$$y$oft will pursue the so-called patent infringments. I noticed one particularly telling lil detail: in spite of multiple invitations to say WHAT those so-called patent infringements actually are (you know, make actual claims instead of simply sowing FUD), Me$$y$oft has ducked all chances to actually state WHAT they assert has been infringed.
Probably for good reason. It's been on a steady rool the last few years LOSING patent infringment cases--including more than a few brought against Me$$y$oft for infringing on the patents of others.
AND in signing the deal with Novell not long ago (a deal Me$$y$oft has been regularly and continually mischaracterizing, according to Novell) to DISTRIBUTE Linux products, Me$$y$oft has placed itself under the GPL2, effectively shielding ALL Linux developers from any claims of patent infringement.
Me$$y$oft's lawyers seem to be screwing the pooch again, just as hard as Me$$y$oft's software engineers and marketing are screwing consumers. |
Perri Nelson responded with:
 | I wouldn't say that the software engineers are screwing consumers. I'd say that the marketers and product managers are the ones doing that.
Personally, I find the notion that software can be "patented" to still be iffy at best. Still the courts have interpreted patent law as applying to software so that one's a tough one to argue against.
I'm curious though. Do you really think that it bolsters your arguments to call Microsoft "Me$$y$oft"? |
Stanford Matthews responded with:
 | And his [Gates] foundation cries the debates did not address the education issue and the sad state of students unprepared for college. Yet he urged Congress for more visas to import employees to compliment his oursourcing. Some of those same visa holders were educated in our universities where many claim it is too expensive for Americans
I must be a little slow at math. |
Perri Nelson responded with:
| One of the big reasons students are unprepared for college is "reform" math and similar drek being promoted as the way to teach mathematics. Washington state rates 46th in the U.S. for the math abilities of its students. The "reform" method of teaching math is endorsed by the WEA and by the state, and is in the official curriculum.
Bruce Ramsay of the Seattle Times has a great article discussing this issue. This sort of "90s" style education is what's killing our ability to compete with people from India and other places in the technology arena. I think that The Gates Foundation ought to address this when they complain about how poorly equipped for college our kids are these days.
I don't think we'll see it from them though. The Gates Foundation takes a very left-oriented view toward most things, and "reform" math is a darling of the left.
As a corporation though, Microsoft has to deal with reality, just like any other business that wants to grow, or even remain stable. If they can't find qualified people here, then they have to get them somewhere. The visa program
that lets them bring in engineers from Canada, China and India seems to work for them.
The logic makes sense to me, in a twisted sort of way. |
Perri Nelson responded with:
| Someone named anonymous with a bogus e-mail address just commented on this post. I do not allow anonymous commenting, so the comment has been deleted.
In case it's not clear, my comment policy has been in place since I first allowed comments on the blog. The next anonymous commenter gets their I.P. address banned. |
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