Microsoft gives state of Vista address
Microsoft has written an open letter to customers updating them on the transition from XP to Vista, and the eventual introduction of Windows 7. The company’s key claims are that Vista is more secure than XP, Service Pack 1 has made file management much quicker, and compatibility problems are fading away.
The letter is from Bill Veghte (pictured), a Microsoft senior vice president who is in overall charge of selling both Windows and Microsoft’s online services. It seems likely he wrote the letter to clear up some confusion in the last week of XP’s mainstream shelf-life, but he also revealed some new statistics about Vista.
Veghte says Vista was specifically designed to be more secure than XP, and he claims that’s paid off. He reports that during last year, Vista had half the number of major security issues (‘critical vulnerabilities’ in Microsoft-speak) as XP Service Pack 2 (the latest edition available throughout 2007).
He also says Vista is 60% less likely to get a malware infection than XP and that Internet Explorer 7 is blocking around a million phishing attempts each week.
In a statement which few will find shocking, Veghte admits that the major systemic changes introduced in Vista caused compatibility issues on its launch. He says the company has been dealing with these and Vista now works with 77,000 types of hardware, more than double the original figure.
When it comes to software, Veghte reports 98% compatibility among leading products; though he makes a point of listing specific categories, it does seem these represent most business and home user applications rather than being a selection chosen to make the numbers look better.
However, with games he simply says Microsoft has issued patches to make 125 games work with Vista. The absence of overall figures suggests this may still be a significant problem area, possibly because games are often more demanding on system resources and graphics in particular.
Veghte then discusses the way Microsoft automatically collects anonymous data to find problems with the way Vista works and develop appropriate solutions. He describes Vista’s Service Pack 1 as “hundreds of small improvements that combine to deliver a significantly better overall experience.” To back this up, he points to a 50% reduction in the time it now takes Vista to copy files, and cites work Microsoft has done with hardware manufacturers to cut boot times and extend battery life on laptops.
There aren’t any major revelations in Veghte’s open letter, but with the withdrawal of XP focusing attention on Vista’s reputation, he’s made a smart public relations move by acknowledging problems and explaining Microsoft’s response without too much hyperbole.
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June 26th, 2008
“He also says Vista is 60% less likely to get a malware infection than XP and that Internet Explorer 7 is blocking around a million phishing attempts each week.”
Ubuntu is 100% is less likely to get malware infection than XP or Vista. So why do I need Windows?
June 27th, 2008
My Vista machine truly is 60% less likely to be infected.
Thats because Im busy rebooting after a BSOD from using a 3rd party product that MS does not like.
If Im not online, I wont be infected right?
June 27th, 2008
After updating to SP1 I lost all sound. I spent several hours trying to correct this, then a microsoft technician spent about 5 hours via remote access attempting to correct it. I then went to my external hard drive that does not stay connected to the computer to restore from it. Unfortunately there were still driver issues as it would not remove them from the chipset. That was a total of 12 hours that day wasted. The next day another technician spent several more hours via remote access to no avail. The third day a “senior technician” spent several hours and failed. A couple of days later Microsoft Research gave it their best effort and finally I had sound on one of my front ports and they informed me they would list the case as resolved. During all of this I even purchased another sound card and software attempting to correct the problem.
As of now I am sourrounded by high dollar speakers that are no good to me, my headphones no longer work, and I am stuck with two tinny desktop speakers that came with the computer.
Since Acer refused to give me any assistance I am trying to decide between the possible solutions. I can purchase XP and reformat with it and reinstall everything but since I’ve just spent most of 4 days of a 9 day vacation with this problem, I don’t want to spend several more off days doing it. I can try to use Acer’s program to reformat from it’s own program per their instructions and hope Murphy’s law doesn’t stay in effect. The option I am most likely to take at this point is go MAC, and give this comp to the kids and let them deal with it.
June 27th, 2008
By the Way, after this experience, anytime MS says they have solved or resolved a problem I’m gonna remember what their criteria for claiming that is.
June 28th, 2008
I think simple responses are definitely what Microsoft users are now looking for, since there has been a lot of complex talk in both directions since Vista’s release (and the many problems that ensued). Hopefully the dialogue can continue as we gear up for the release of the next Microsoft product, and some of the criticisms can die down in favor of just trying to use what is available.
July 6th, 2008
That’s an intriguing quote from ‘Computer Consulting Kit Blog’: “I think simple responses are definitely what Microsoft users are now looking for”. What I would have thought that Microsoft users are now looking for is AN OPERATING SYSTEM THAT WORKS – this would certainly explain why so many of them are switching to Mac and Linux.
As for “gearing up for the next release”, I assume that CCKB knows that Vista was initially meant to be a re-rewrite, but ended up being a rehash of the Windows 2003 code base – so if MS were unable to write Vista from scratch, what has changed to enable them to write Windows 7 from scratch? If writing an OS from scratch is beyond MS, it is reasonable to expect that Windows 7 will be yet another re-hash, perhaps with a flash GUI and even more DRM. What do you think the price of this “new” release will be?