Journal Whuffo's Journal: Microsoft Won't Learn From History - Doomed To Repeat Mistakes
As I was reading through the latest "you must upgrade from XP NOW!" story - I was reminded of a time in the past when a similar situation came along. Windows was still trying to become useful; most folks used DOS applications and IBM wanted us to upgrade to their wonderful new OS/2 operating system. "It's a better DOS than DOS and it's a better Windows than Windows" they shouted - and it'd run OS/2 applications too. They bought advertisements just about everywhere and wondered why their sales were never more than pitiful.
What really happened is that their potential customers said "I've already got DOS and Windows and I don't have any OS/2 applications. Why should I spend money to buy a product that offers no functional advantage over what I already own?" And so the sales of OS/2 were a tiny fraction of what IBM thought they would be. OS/2 was a pretty nice piece of software and was a quantum leap over DOS and the Windows of that time - but real people don't buy buzzwords, they buy things that provide value to them and this is where IBM failed to deliver.
Microsoft didn't do too well with Vista; if it wasn't for the preinstalls on new machines they could have counted the copies they sold on their fingers and toes. Was this because Vista had issues with speed, memory use, compatibility? That's the common wisdom and now they've polished that turd and call it Windows 7 - which somehow people seem to think is wonderful. That's odd, because underneath the fancy revision to the latest desktop metaphor beats the sleazy heart of Vista. Windows 7 is to Vista what XP SP2 is to XP. Sales other than preinstalls are up - but those preinstalls are down because of the economic uncertainties. And how about those new features? Does that window "snap" thing excite anyone? It doesn't do anything for me (please don't resize my windows) and considering the amount of advertising featuring that one new feature it makes me wonder just exactly what new functionality one might gain from upgrading to the latest and greatest.
So what could I do if this computer was running Windows 7 that I can not do right now running XP? There's no valid answer to that question; XP is running all of my applications just fine so 7 offers nothing to me except the opportunity to purchase more new software that does the same things but only works under 7. No thanks; I know Microsoft loves my money but I don't want to spend it unless I get some real benefit.
There's another important thing that I have to consider: how about all the peripherals connected to my system? Do the manufacturers of those products have Windows 7 drivers available? Are those manufacturers still in business? Do they care? Well, no. So the "upgrade" to Windows 7 would reduce the functionality of my system and I'd have to spend even more money on new peripherals that would work with it. So we're back to that same old thing; I've already got all this functionality so why should I pay more just to have the same thing or less? The answer to that question didn't do OS/2 any good and it's not going to do Windows 7 any better. It's a bad deal and I'll offer a hearty "no thanks".
Those who say that Microsoft is going to stop supporting XP - I think that the use of the words "Microsoft" and "support" in the same sentence are a bit humorous.
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Microsoft Won't Learn From History - Doomed To Repeat Mistakes
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