Windows 7: What Vista really should have been

Having looked at what is coming out of PDC 2008 regarding Windows 7, I cannot help but think this is what Vista should have been like.

To me, Vista always has seemed ‘betaish,’ never quite right. It has always lacked that certain polish. That fact that Windows 98 like icons still are present in Vista is bad. Every time I use Vista, I just cannot help but think that Microsoft haven’t really bothered to get the OS right before releasing it. However now, looking at Windows 7, I do believe they are heading in the right direction. I’m not going to go into detail here but I can already tell that it is going to tonnes better that what we can see today in Vista.

Looking at Vista, I think that it has done Microsoft more harm than good. The reputation of Windows has I think being put into jeopardy; all thanks to Vista. Apple has played on the weakness of the reputation of Vista among consumers and business users to get people thinking about OS X and its viability as an alternative to troubled Vista.

I know many of you in the tech community will disagree with me, in my opinion that Vista has been a failure but I think that it would have been better if Microsoft had just kept XP going and worked on getting its successor absolutely right before shipping it. If they had done this, they would not have faced the embarrassment that Vista has caused them. People, even today are still wanting XP over Vista. I really think Microsoft should allow people to have a choice between the two operating systems as XP is most defiantly the lesser of the two ‘evils’ (in Microsoft’s eyes) or alternatives to Vista, with the other one being Mac OS X.

Me personally, have switched to Mac OS X recently and I can honestly say I am loving every second of it. As a Windows user since 1999 (and previously used Vista full time), OS X is like a breath of fresh air. I am a living example I guess of the iPod halo effect as it was my first iPod in 2005 which introduced me to Apple and the rest of its products.

Having said that, I am looking forward to what Windows 7 has to offer upon its release. I’m sure Microsoft will get it right this time as they cannot afford another Vista. I know it’s early days yet… we’ll just have to see what happens.