The Hidden Challenge to Windows Vista
Some people at Microsoft have admitted that one of their biggest challenges in continuing to expand the Windows business is the impression among some customers that older Windows versions are good enough. Windows 95, which is ten years old, is a good example of the loyalty factor — or should that be inertia?
On August 24, 1995, thousands of people queued to buy the first copies of Windows 95, Harry Potter-style. About 1% of the user base still has it installed, including many small businesses. Microsoft regards this as a challenge to Windows Vista when it goes public later this year. The company has even likened the Vista release to the launch of Windows 95.
Since 1995, Microsoft has released at least six new Windows versions, plus interim updates, such as Windows 95 OSR2. The versions include, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000 desktop, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Microsoft Watch quotes Mark D. Stotzer : “Who still runs these ‘old’ operating systems? Home or small business users that can’t or won’t upgrade. If all you require is email, the Internet and word processing, all you need is Win3.x or higher, MSIE [Microsoft Internet Explorer] with Outlook and Word 6 or higher.”
Many industry insiders consider XP, introduced in 2001, to be the best version of Windows to date. Tough call.
I sat down to write an entry in my blog the other day, thinking that Web 2.0 would reduce the necessity of updating operating systems every three years, which some see as Microsoft’s goal for all users. However, in organizing my thoughts, I realized that other than web connectivity, the two chief requirements of a good operating system for Web 2.0 compatibility would be security (protect local documents) and organizations (query and find data). These are the two strongest points of Windows Vista. So the “future battle” might not be all that much of a battle. But I certainly agree that Vista’s biggest challenge will be getting upgrades. I think it far more likely that users will just buy new machines, and use the new synchronization utility to move their data over.
By John Iacovelli on January 31st, 2006 at 9:28 pm
That’s just what I plan to do, John. You have a point.
By John on January 31st, 2006 at 9:32 pm