Microsoft finds Vista talk incompatible with action
With so many Microsoft campaigns to promote Vista underway in the wake of XPiry Day, it was perhaps inevitable one would backfire. That’s what’s happened with the ‘launch’ of a new database of hardware and software which is compatible with Vista.
The firm announced the launch of the new site yesterday at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference. The Windows Vista Compatibility Center should contain around 9,000 products, a third of them software and the rest hardware.
Unfortunately the site wasn’t actually viewable when the firm made the announcement. Throughout yesterday it simply offered the message “The Windows Vista Compatibility Center is currently unavailable. Thank you for your interest, but this site is not available yet. Please check back soon”.
At the time of writing today, that had switched to “The Windows Vista Compatibility Center will be launching soon, please check back!”
One of the stranger statistics about the database is that only half the listed products are actually approved under the Windows Vista Certified program. (Microsoft had previously listed these products, but only on a quality management section of its site.)
Those firms who’ve paid to go through the testing process likely won’t be happy to see Microsoft making a big deal in confirming so many other products also work fine.
Microsoft’s Michael Keigley told CNET that the new site was about tackling perception as much as reality: "At the launch of Vista, there’s no denying we had incompatibilities in the system. A big part of introducing the tool now, though, is clearly in hopes that customers will find that their hardware and software actually is Vista-ready.”
As with many of its recent Vista-related activities, this scheme is something of a publicity gamble. Microsoft clearly hopes prospective upgraders will check the site and find there are no compatibility issues to worry about. But the danger is it will simply bring more attention to Vista’s reputation for incompatibilities.
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