In what I can only describe as a surprising statement, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has actually admitted that Vista was less than a stellar operating system. In a recent statement Mr. Ballmer said:

The company’s reputation took a beating after the release of Vista, which caused machines to stall indefinitely while deleting, copying and moving files, among many other issues.

Mr Ballmer said: “We got some uneven reception when [Vista] first launched in large part because we made some design decisions to improve security at the expense of compatibility. I don’t think from a word-of-mouth perspective we ever recovered from that.”

In a tacit acceptance that Vista did not sell well, he says there is “pent up demand” for new equipment.

“I’d be hopeful that we see a bit more rapid pick-up – particularly people who are upgrading the software without touching the hardware – than maybe we have in years past.”

If this is the case one could conclude that Microsoft owes Vista users a discounted upgrade to Windows 7. At least this is how I personally feel. What about you? Share your opinion.

Comments welcome.

Source.