No one would ever forsee the great problems that Microsoft have created for themselves with the release of the long-delayed Windows Vista only a few years back. The hardware companies were preparing for massive sales, Microsoft was claimed victory yet again beforehand and everyone listened to the weekly spin from Microsoft on the great upcoming Vista. When the product finally was released, however, the story became quite a different one…

It quickly became apparent that despite of a much longer implementation period than usual the quality of Vista was very untested and it was found to be quite a limited product in many ways not expected, like for example simple file copying which can still cause memory problems – something never experienced before in a Windows system. The system was also a giant memory hog, crawing a large machine and hardware needs that was largely unexpected. Combined with extremely poor driver support from hardware vendors this has had the effect that the Vista is very unpopular in the business market. Among the professionals in the industry the support for Vista is clear: 90% doesn’t want Vista! The enterprise has acted harshly against Microsoft and persists on getting downgrades instead of buying Vista. Even when it comes to Microsoft’s own bosses and managers it is obvious that they doesn’t like or want their own product and its hazzle and performance issues as well… Peculiar isn’t it? When so many bosses agree that the product is not ready why didn’t they react and give the developers and hardware vendors more time? It is already been considered among many in the enterprise to skip Vista completely and wait out for the next version of Windows that is scheduled for 2009/2010, which would give Microsoft a seriously long period of financial income trouble!

Microsoft has already reacted in many ways to the poor acceptance of Vista. They have lowered the prices for a relatively new product quite fast, which was obvious since Vista is priced far too high for its value and still is. They have also allowed for a downgrade program among retailers so that people can still get Windows XP – a five year old version they prefer over Vista. Meanwhile the performance problems of Vista is displayed to the public when Windows XP already run circles around it currently and are about to get a significant boost with the upcoming Service Pack 3. So much for closing the performance gap… And that’s not even Windows XP’s best feature compared to Vista – Compability is, however! Vista is simply a nightmare in terms of program and driver compability at the frustration of its users.

To put it frankly Vista is the worst public image nightmare Microsoft has ever spawned – The biggest blunder Microsoft ever made! Customers are mad and feels deceited and are even suggesting that they should be offered Windows XP free (which might in a way actually be a clever strategy for Microsoft since they would feel good value and be tempted to try Vista every time they become annoyed in XP). Microsoft’s PR nightmare can be seen around the world, where for example C|Net has put on the top ten of worst technologies ever released, or hear the many reactions to Vista, which say beyond any doubt that this is a major issue for Microsoft. It hasn’t made things easier for Microsoft that they also fails with DRM and screw their customers in the middle of this uproar. What is even more ridiculous is that Microsoft with Vista has tried to keep the pirates out even more drastically, meaning more trouble for the few people who actually buy Vista, like for example a simple driver update can cause a reduced mode and require re-activation in Vista. For the paying customers it is simple: WGA needs to go!

It is a publicity nightmare that just keeps on expanding, the lost image is getting harder to recover for each day in this facade. Steve Ballmer has to feel the pressure at the moment and should seriously consider resigning. His first major release as head of Microsoft shows a company in dire straits, with no sense of quality or timing or pricing and ends up loosing an enormous part of the enterprise and core business market. Microsoft needs to remember that Vista is not just Vista. With this great failure the entire eco system around Windows is troubled – meaning trouble for important business partners, hardware-vendors and especially Microsoft’s other products, while playing perfectly into the hands of their competitors. Microsoft simply lost sight of value for money and quality. A clear example of the new low at Microsoft is that they have even lost their regression tests, which led to a human-error messing up Windows Update completely for all customers – how can that happen with a professional company like Microsoft with their experience?

There are many suggestions to what Microsoft can do to get out of their Vista problems. Personally I think Steve Ballmer expects everything to pick up nicely when Service Pack 1 is released, but he is about to get disappointed. When the first companies that tries to adapt Vista after SP1 is ready and they fail because Vista is still too far from production quality and those stories hit the net it will be down-graded business as usual for Vista and Microsoft. The many broken promises of Vista has let focus slip onto the alternatives for a while. Mac OS X is getting massive publicity – combined with the popularity of iTunes and especially the iPhone. Linux is also getting focus again as it can suddenly provide a great value for money on current hardware and are in many ways better for business than Vista. The wolves are gathering and they are chipping away at Microsoft’s business model on more than one front. Microsoft’s profitable Office is also getting attacked. While Microsoft is left with a quality assurance problem, a marketing nightmare, a strengthened set of competitors Linux on the other hand is still doing what Microsoft was famous for many years ago, which is innovating…

What can Microsoft do? Well, first of they need Steve “Throwing Chairs” Ballmer to pack his chairs and leave. Then they need to get their quality assurance back in place. Then they should start innovating again. Cut away the overweight slow performer that is Vista and make a proper operating system. Get back into the leading seat and embrace change and standards and show the world and your competitors that you can compete on equal terms – not just because of your de facto monopoly. Set the customers in focus for once. Lower the price much further for Vista – and perhaps offer a driver garantie so that people don’t get frustrated with their first time with Vista. Get the drivers to market and ensure their quality. Get the application support back in focus. Add some real value to Vista, like for example WinFS, better integration, innovation… And for gods sake make more efficient code – enough bloat has gone into this thing already… Cut away the bloat, optimize it and you might even end up adding real value for your customers.