Bad Windows

Microsoft has killed off "PlaysForSure" and renamed it "Certified for Windows Vista" which is supposed to do something for someone, but we have no idea what or for whom.

Basically, "PlaysForSure" is dead, but Microsoft, fearing even more bad publicity, we guess, didn't want to just pull the plug, so, in their finite wisdom, they've just made it "Certified for Windows Vista" which is the same thing, we think, as for their also-ran Zune devices, which are also Vista certified, except that Zunes and the Zune Marketplace are both incompatible with the other former "PlaysForSure," not "Certified for Windows Vista" devices and with the online outfits selling "PlaysForSure" content that nobody bought either. Is that clear?

Read more at MacDailyNews 

"In case you haven't heard, Microsoft is giving away copies of Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit or 64-bit DVD), Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, Microsoft Money Plus Premium, Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008, or Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 — you can choose any one. The caveat is that you have to let them monitor your use of the program."

Read more at Slashdot 

Adoption of Windows Vista is lagging and will continue to do so as 2008 begins, channel and IT executives said Wednesday at the Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference in New York.

"That's been a disappointment. Our customer surveys tell us [customers] are adopting at a slower rate than we — or anyone else — thought. Even those that have licenses and can move quickly are not," said John Edwardson, chairman and CEO ofCDW (NSDQ: CDWC ), Vernon Hills, Ill.

Customers still do not see the benefits of upgrading to Vista from XP, Edwardson added.

"Our CIO has been using Vista now for a long time. His comment is that it would take three or four hours for every user to learn Vista. He thinks it will be a big investment," Edwardson said. "For [end user] customers, the investment is not just in teaching Vista, but in new hardware to go along with it. It will continue to be adopted, but it's a slower base than anyone thought it would be a couple years ago."

Read more at CRN.com

After installing Vista SP1, I've encountered network woes that not even Microsoft can seem to fix. If you can solve the problem for me, I'll send you two of my latest books: The Big Book of Windows Hacks, and Windows Vista in a Nutshell.

As I wrote about in my review of Vista SP1, after installing SP1, I can't properly browse my network from the SP1 PC.

First, the basic specs of my home network: I have a Linksys WRT54GX4 router, with several Vista and XP PCs connected to it. I've enabled file and folder sharing on them all, so that I can browse from one PC to another, open and save files to each other's folders, and perform similar network-related tasks.

Read more at ComputerWorld 

Pardon me while I momentarily channel MacDailyNews, but I read a column that appeared in The Times of Johannesburg that begs to be mentioned to Microsoft-loathing Mac lovers.

The writer, Toby Shapshak is an award-winning technology journalist and editor. He writes that has dutifully used Windows for years “in part because I didn’t want to be one of those journalists who didn’t muck it out with the masses, and in part because Office is the default work tool of my industry and XP had matured to crashing only every second day.”

Shapshak declares Vista a major disaster for Microsoft and backs it up with plenty of merciless barbs. I offer here a few choice excerpts:

“I haven’t met a single person, outside of those who work for Microsoft, who have a good thing to say about Vista, while the blogosphere has torn the world’s largest software maker to shreds.”

Read more at baltimoresun.com 

Microsoft has asked the designers of a low-cost Linux laptop intended for children in developing nations to redesign the system so it can accommodate its Windows XP operating system.

In a move sure to provoke controversy, Microsoft wants the designers of the XO laptop, available through a non-profit initiative called One Laptop Per Child, to add a port through which the storage capacity required by Windows XP can be added to the system.

The XO currently runs on a Red Hat Linux operating system. Making the laptop compatible with XP would give students in poor countries access to "tens of thousands of existing educational applications written for Windows," said James Utzschneider, a Microsoft general manager, in a blog post Wednesday.

Utzschneider says a shrunken version of Windows XP could potentially run on 2 Gbytes of flash memory. The XO, however, can only hold 1 Gbyte. As a result, Microsoft wants the XO's designers to add a slot through which more memory can be added via a secure digital (SD) card, Utzschneider said.

Read more at InformationWeek 

We've noted the lack of fanfare around Vista's unhappy first birthday, but here's a sign of just how bad things are – online stores pay you to take it.

Look at Lenovo laptops on Dabs.com (but don't buy there – see below). An R61i with Vista Home Premium costs £400. R61is with XP Pro cost £567 or £575.

Over at eBuyer, an R61 costs with Vista Home Premium costs £401.61, while R61is with XP Pro start at £586.87 (prices include VAT).

I'm not sure if the detailed specifications are exactly comparable, but it looks like the Vista machines are about £170 to £180 cheaper. In other words, online stores are effectively paying you money to take Vista.

Read more at ZDNet 

My recent post, "Top 5 Things Microsoft Must Fix In Windows Vista In 2008" prompted a slew of comments, consistent with the zeitgeist that the almost-year-old operating system continues to gain adherents on the consumer side, even if it's still spottily deployed in the corporate arena. Still, I have to say I was surprised by how many readers agreed with my main point, which is that Vista's performance ain't yet what it oughta be.

I like Vista's glitzy Aero interface and its eye-candy look and feel — yes, I know I'm shallow — so most of my gripes center on the lukewarm performance issues. I'm talking about things like achingly slow search and the frequent downshifts experienced by Internet Explorer 7. Readers seem to agree.

To that list, readers added complaints about Vista's hoggish memory requirements, Windows Update glitches, inelegant networking, and unavailable drivers.

A user who identified himself as "Dataland" (probably because he runs the Dataland blog) put it this way:

Read more at InformationWeek 

Growing concerns over migrating to Vista may push companies to adopt alternative operating systems. A study released in late November revealed that 90 percent of the Windows users polled reported concerns about migrating to Microsoft's newest operating system. Forty-four percent of those polled said they would consider deployment of alternative operating systems, such as Apple's OS X and Linux, in order to avoid migrating to Vista. The research, consisting of an online survey with 961 respondents, was commissioned by systems appliance management firm Kace.

Read more at LinuxInsider