Who gets hit by the latest Vista setback?

Vista has been delayed yet again. The question is, how big a blow is this for Microsoft and the PC manufacturers? And how big an opportunity for Apple?

Microsoft’s new operating system, originally planned for release last year, will now only be available for consumers in January 2007. Microsoft is doing its best to put a positive spin on the set-back, but it seems the security glitches the latest incarnation is designed to tackle have proven more stubborn than bargained for.

Since the development schedule has now been pushed back to clash with the run-up to Christmas, Microsoft has said it wants to avoid confusion among retailers by holding fire until the new year. That sounds sensible enough - even altruistic. Hewlett Packard for one has come out publicly to back Microsoft’s decision - the developer, after all, has got plenty of stick in the past for neglecting security issues.

But in truth, the PC manufacturers, who were relying on demand for Vista to spur sales over the crucial holiday period, are likely to be spitting blood behind the scenes. According to the analysts, without a revamped operating system, there is little to commend PCs to cautious consumers.

Apple’s champions, as you would expect, are grinning broadly from the sidelines, suggesting even that now Apple’s alternative to Windows - Leopard - will be released months before Vista, Microsoft's market share could take a serious hit. “The new Intel Macs with Leopard will simply blow them all away!” says one typically optimistic post on the Applematters site.

We will see.

Comments

[Jon]

This just shows you that the 90 per cent have more time to pick Mac OS X because it is a better operating system then Vista will ever be.

[Rich]

Apple = winner

Microsoft Corp, processor companies = losers

[Brad Tate]

One word: Apple!

Already, Macs with Intel chips can run Windows XP by user choice. As well as being lightning fast now with Intel dual-core chips, in the fall Macs will be powered by the new Intel chips that will, in the Christmas shopping season, make Macs the best personal computer in the world, and at least double the market share of Apple Computer!

[Scoot]

I, for one, am glad to see Microsoft not rushing another crappy OS out just to be there in time for Christmas. For way too long they've seemed to rush products out just to make their coin. Don't get me wrong, though, they should have been done with Vista last year.

[Max]

While it may seem like this is a serious issue for consumers, it actually affects them very little negatively. There is now at least a small chance that we will see a better OS from the very beginning. And while Microsoft stands to miss the holiday season, in the long term total sales will not be affected. Windows XP is a good system that does all that one needs it to do. After all, all we need a system to do is run programs and not crash.

[Terry G]

If only Microsoft would allow "the industry" to help them by opening up its source and trusting this same industry, which just happens to know a little bit about security. The other side of this nonsense is that the more Google and Firefox push, the more demanding the public gets in what it expects and suddenly your "new" release is outdated as it ships...

How would automobile companies do if they waited five years between releases?

Why hasn't Microsoft hired the industry best in security to assist them?

Why does the largest software company in the world not have the largest development group in the world? And if they do, are they not allowed to create?

This is not hard, this creating software and OSs. There are standards to go by and there is a world of brilliant people who, knowing the Vista/Windows code, could be doing tons of legwork and creating unbelievable results. But the closed doors of the "world's largest software maker" is keeping the world at bay and shut out...

I feel like a lemming...

[Craig Harding]

Apple will get a boost!

[Peter L.]

This perceived disappointment over Vista's delay is far from detrimental for consumers. The fact of the matter is that people are seeking ground-breaking innovations that promote creativity and of ease of computing. From Microsoft's track record it has little to offer in innovation other than it's famous "embrace & extend" strategy.

Vista promises more revenue-generating marketing hype for vendors with much less to offer for ill-informed consumers. I suppose some people will buy anything as long as you beat the drums loud enough.

[Terry G]

Wait... That's right, there is a choice... Apple!

Time to see if Stevie J made a wise choice with his pact with the other devil in Intel...

Axis of power and money = Intel, Dell, Microsoft

Intelligent choice = Apple

Marketing that works = Priceless (get it Apple?)

Google: sitting back and laughing at how easy it really is... hahahaha, an algorithm, hahahahaha, a simple algorithm hahahaha

I am glad Billy is a better philanthropist than OS creator.

[Roly]

Compare and contrast Apple and Microsoft.

Apple announces something, then delivers it soon after. In the case of Intel iMacs, they delivered them within six months instead of the 12 months they allowed themselves.

Microsoft promises everything, but consistently fails to deliver. Vista, aka Longhorn, was supposed to be released in 2005, then it was scaled back in scope and was supposed to be released in the first half of 2006, then by the end of 2006 and now we won't see it before 2007.

Apple's surprises can be maddening if you're trying to plan a few months ahead, but Microsoft's consistent failure to deliver on promises is now beyond a joke. Apple keeps on delivering and what they deliver is to a remarkably high standard.

It will be fascinating to see if Microsoft can finally deliver the secure and stable OS that they always promise they will.

[Terry G]

Peter and Roly: well said and brilliant insight.

Apple must find a break point in cost, though. You can have the best there is but if the entire mass cannot afford it, are the elite the only people who will enjoy it?

Will you ever see a business model like the eMachine take on the Apple now using Intel?

I will be honest, I would love to use an Apple or anything other than Microsoft/Intel/Dell, but even after 18 years as a technology consultant, I would not know where to start in purchasing an Apple! That is frustrating... And I mean in OS, hardware, and differences between versions... and so on and so on...

So, can Apple sell a £500 model and win? And market it to the masses? And support it?

You can buy a monster eMachine at £500 running MS Media XP. As much as I hate to say it, it is a value to the "normal", mass-market user...

Can Apple ever match it?

VastOne

[britton.johnston]

Microsoft can limit the damage by defining Vista-ready: 512Kb memory, dual 64-bit processor, HD-DVD, whatever...

The first generation PCs often aren't a great fit. For example, I'd like to see machines with a fast flash-RAM start-up, or ones that limit infrastructure tasks to one processor, which would be good for sound and wait-reduction. But I'm not expecting that in the first Vista machines.

Finally, a delay might help the set-up of interchangable OSs if Vista-compatible API standards could be defined.

[Terry G]

Britton:

You argue three good points, and I really like the compatible API standards but Microsoft seems bent on remaining proprietary...

Microsoft has little to do with hardware, except to demand that the Dell and Wintel build to the spec of the OS and not vice versa as you would think it should be...

Finally, your Flash RAM argument is too logical! If only Microsoft would try to understand a logical approach...

Also, is it just me or is any one else worried about how much press about Microsoft is about Xbox and gaming rather than OS, biz apps and so on?

[Peter G]

Who cares about MS? I feel so sorry for you poor suckers worrying about the next load of MS rubbish. Why? I was there myself two years ago. Seriously, who wants MS? Take some sound advice and learn to operate Linux.

I have had Linux for two years now and have never had a single virus or crash. And no, I don't have any Norton's firewall/antivirus or McAfee to upgrade every day etc etc, and no, I don't have to pay to upgrade my OS all the time and no I didn't have to pay anything to get Linux, because it is free from Linux servers.

And no, I am not a techie, but if you ask around and make contact with the right people you can learn an amazing amount. I can also afford it because I don't have to pay hundreds of pounds for all the MS and MS related ****.

My 2Mb pics open in a lightning flash. No more waiting and waiting while strips of the pic appear, or don't appear, while the MS OS crashes again.

Isn't it great there is a choice?

[Roy Evans]

I can say this for a lot of "normal people":

1. I don't care what OS is in my system as long as i can use it easily to do what i need.

2. I still don't care which OS is in my system as long as i can afford it.

3. Who out of all of us home users cares as long as it works and does so most of the time, which is why Microsoft Windows is in 90 per cent of the world's PCs and the rest is in the remaining 10 per cent. I think the choice between AMD and Intel seems to be what's on most people's minds, not Apple or Microsoft. I asked loads of people what PC they wanted and most said, "Er, I'll have a AMD because I'm doing some gaming," or, "What graphics does it have in it?" Nearly all said, "I can't afford an Apple and besides i can't use one because I'm too used to Windows".

The public will buy PCs with Vista in if they are affordable to them, which is going to be difficult straight after Christmas because most are spent up and have no cash. I swear that you so-called highbrow thinkers lose touch seriously with the public mind. What we want is PCs that boot up fast with loads of memory and play games or do office work efficiently at an affordable price, and which are worth more than a tenth of their price the moment you get them through the retailer's door.

[Sue Burnett]

Who will be the winners? All the former Windows users who realise they've been using inferior products all these years and make the switch to Apple.

High-quality machines fully integrated with the fantastic suite of 'free' Apple programs all built into the price - almost non-existent virus threat (I've never seen one in 20 years of using Apple) - virtually no downtime/maintenance costs...

The only drawback is that they don't ever die so there's no excuse to buy the latest model each year!