Vista Install Problems? – Shred The Disc
Check out Anthony from the Opie & Anthony Show as he reacts to his experience with upgrading to Windows Vista.
Apple would like to thank Microsoft, Anthony, and half the Internet for this new market share. Not to sound like a fanboy, but I predict that Apple will have 35% market share and one major corporation will very publically and very angrily switch their entire desktop IT infrastructure over to Macs by the end of the year.
My XP box will hold me just fine for the time being, although my next computer is in question. However, Microsoft is managing this disaster of a release the wrong way. When XP came out, the Internet was big, but it wasn’t ubiquatous; Microsoft was able to manage the message much better through the mainstream media.
But with Vista’s release, the Internet is everywhere. Hell, you can get online from your kitchen. Every misstep, every botched install, every stupid bug is being detailed for the entire world to see on YouTube, hear about on podcasts, or virtually experience via any number of blogs. I’m not saying the program had to be perfect; it’s software, that’s not realistic. But, seriously, respond. Don’t run around telling people that Windows Vista isn’t exploitable. After 5 years, Microsoft should have planned seriously and purposefully for the PR nightmare that was going to ensue when problems started surfacing; coddle some celebrities, toss a few free concillatory licenses to B- or C-level bloggers, something.
The deployment of a piece of software that, by one paper’s calculations cost upwards of $10 billion to develop, should have been far more appealing and better managed. Yes, you have launch parties. Yes, you do the stump speeches and talk shows. But you also prep your market for what is likely to be a bumpy upgrade. You tell people, “hey, this is a very new way of using Windows, you’re going to have some problems. By the way, here’s a workaround for your issue.” You prevent middle-tier celebrities from shredding your product on YouTube.
As the Seattle Times said, this could be the last of its kind.