Microsoft is in denial on the bloat caused by Vista. Information Week covered the new programs that help estimate a computers capability for running Vista along with the new published guidelines. What was most interesting was the commentary from the Directions on Microsoft analysts who are generally sympathetic to Redmonds offerings:
Microsoft also released a beta version of a new tool called “Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor” that when run on a Windows XP system scans the PC, cranks out a report on its current components and how they stack up against Vistas needs, and recommends which Vista you should buy. Michael Cherry, an analyst with Kirkland, Wash.-based Directions on Microsoft, ran the tool on several systems and was disappointed in the results. “Im no more comfortable today after running it than before that these machines will run the versions of Vista that I want to run,” said Cherry.
On the same IT-trend-changing day that Dell finally broke from being an Intel-chips-only shop, Microsoft Directions took a very skeptical look at Microsofts assesments of Vista requirements – essentially confirming Gartners earlier caution on Vistas high hardware resource requirements. Heretofore, Microsoft has walked the line between new hardware requirements and declining hardware costs very well- but presenting almost 2/3 of users with working systems with expensive upgrades – I am not sure bloat will float. Maybe this is the reason why Information Week is featuring a series – Kicking the Microsoft Habit.
(c)JBSurveyer 2006