Forgive the media for being skeptical, but after years of delays, Microsoft's Vista, corporate edition, is finally available, and no one seems to care. Adoption is likely to be modest at best, says
Business Week, while the
FT calls the new product "a dinosaur."
Not that Vista doesn't pack a useful, powerful punch, but Microsoft's struggle in readying this next
iteration of Windows has come to symbolize the software giant's struggle's to adapt to the faster-moving world of the Web.
We're now well over a year after Bill Gates announced that
Microsoft needed to undergo a monumental business shift in the direction of ad-supported, Web-based applications in order to compete with the Google. Yet Microsoft is still heavily reliant on software
applications, like Windows (now Vista) and Microsoft Office, which also comes out in a new version today.
The biggest challenge Microsoft faces with Vista doesn't come from Google or
Linux-based systems, but users themselves. Why should they upgrade? Many consumers and businesses won't--not until the time comes for a new PC--which is why sales of new versions of Windows don't
usually pick up for a few years.
Read the whole story at Financial Times »