Windows 7 Could Shine Vista's Tarnished Image

Microsoft thinks that the positive vibes from Windows 7 will spread to Vista.

With Windows 7 in the can and soon to be released to the world, Microsoft must be relieved that it can finally wash away all the negative feedback that it had to endure because of Windows Vista.

Despite all the important and positive infrastructure changes introduced with Windows Vista, users found the OS to be bulky, slow and not worth upgrading from Windows XP.

Windows 7 aims to fix all the wrongs of Vista and to start with a fresh, positive image of Microsoft's operating system. So far, all the early impressions from users of the beta and RC versions of Windows 7 have been positive. Interestingly enough, Microsoft believes that all the warm, fuzzy feelings surrounding Windows 7 will actually boost the image and reputation of Windows Vista.

"I think people will look back on Vista after the Windows 7 release and realize that there were actually a bunch of good things there [in Windows Vista]," said Steve Guggenheimer, vice president of the OEM division at Microsoft, in a ChannelWeb story. "So it'll actually be interesting to see in two years what the perception is of Vista."

Windows 7 is built off from the same code foundation as Windows Vista, leading some to call the upcoming OS as just a "second edition." But many of the changes and improvement in Windows 7 are crucial to a better user experience, which is in the end what determines popular opinion.

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Top Comments

22

FlayerSlayer , July 25, 2009 12:06 AM

3.1 good, 95 mediocre, 98 great, ME lousy, XP great, Vista mediocre, 7 great again? It had better be good and be worth keeping for another 8 years like XP was, because the next one will blow again.
15

bigpappaj , July 25, 2009 12:03 AM

Most the people who say Vista sucked... never used it on the hardware it was designed to be run on. Its 2009 and people trying to run Vista with 512MB of RAM on a Pentium pro need to upgrade. Vista was a huge step forward from XP and on appropriate hardware ran great.
11

hunter315 , July 25, 2009 12:06 AM

I can see windows 7 improving microsoft's image, but vista just consumes to many resources, and with window 7's xp mode there wont be any compatibility issues but one good OS cant make up for one that lacking in performance. Hopefully MS will restrict the amount of junk oems can add to 7 to keep it from performing like vista.

Other Comments

10

ColMirage , July 24, 2009 11:47 PM

Well, one thing is for sure, they didn't base that off the ME and XP relationship...
5

jhansonxi , July 24, 2009 11:52 PM

Unlikely.
-21

computabug , July 24, 2009 11:55 PM

Fourth! Vista stinks and forever will stink. Never coming back to full time Windows again... Compiz and Kubuntu won me over after I realized how bad Windows was.
-3

omnimodis78 , July 24, 2009 11:57 PM

After using Vista (both 32 and 64 versions) on friends' computers, I decided early on not to upgrade to it myself, and stick it out with XP. To this day, when I am forced to use Vista on somebody's machine, something always comes up that reminds me why I made that decision a while back. Vista is not good. Period. Yes, it may have done some good things, indirectly, but as an OS it fails multilaterally. Who warmed up to Windows ME after XP came out? Nobody, because ME was that bad. Vista, is equally that bad, and the sooner we can forget about it the better.
15

bigpappaj , July 25, 2009 12:03 AM

Most the people who say Vista sucked... never used it on the hardware it was designed to be run on. Its 2009 and people trying to run Vista with 512MB of RAM on a Pentium pro need to upgrade. Vista was a huge step forward from XP and on appropriate hardware ran great.
22

FlayerSlayer , July 25, 2009 12:06 AM

3.1 good, 95 mediocre, 98 great, ME lousy, XP great, Vista mediocre, 7 great again? It had better be good and be worth keeping for another 8 years like XP was, because the next one will blow again.
11

hunter315 , July 25, 2009 12:06 AM

I can see windows 7 improving microsoft's image, but vista just consumes to many resources, and with window 7's xp mode there wont be any compatibility issues but one good OS cant make up for one that lacking in performance. Hopefully MS will restrict the amount of junk oems can add to 7 to keep it from performing like vista.
8

TidalWaveOne , July 25, 2009 12:07 AM

I like Vista... but think I'll like Windows 7 even more!
6

captaincharisma , July 25, 2009 12:08 AM

yea vista failed because it was the newest version of windows in like what? 5 years maybe more. and people with 5 year old PCs who they had since 2001 expected vista to run smoothly on them. the bitching of vista was pathetic and showed the low intelligence of people putting it down
6

scook9 , July 25, 2009 12:08 AM

It is funny how all the people that bash vista even admit that they only use it once or twice. Perfect examples of IGNORANCE. I have had vista for2 years now, on 3 computers. It works well and after SP1 never gave me any trouble (just like XP wasn't that great until SP2). I just so happens, that I have grown to like Vista so much that I now consider using XP when I have to a burden.

It really amuses me how it has become "cool" to get on the bashing Vista bandwagon - especially those who have barely used it, if at all. Grow up guys.
0

kiniku , July 25, 2009 12:11 AM

Windows 7 will be the OS to have. Anyone that justifies Linux because of Vista sets low expectations for themselves while the strolling the aisles at Best Buy shaking their fingers wearing their tin foil penguin hats.

Apple, Linux and all the other "smug" alternatives do less. Have fun.
7

Aoster87 , July 25, 2009 12:12 AM

As with any revolutionary operating system, most folks need to upgrade their hardware in order to run the OS better. The same concept applies to Vista. The bad reputation Vista received was in part due to knucklehead computer companies. So often I saw when Vista was released that companies like HP would sell a Vista notebook with 1 gig of ram when it is well known that Vista needs 2 gigs to run well. Oh and throw the bloatware in there too, more performance issues.

Vista is a resource hog, but primarily so because it was more intelligent than previous versions of Windows. I blame PC companies for underpowering their systems and selling them to the public. THAT is, in my opinion, why Vista was victim of such harsh criticism.
-3

anonymous@guest , July 25, 2009 12:14 AM

bigpappaj, it still sucks. Anything that consumes that much memory sucks.
-1

Glorian , July 25, 2009 12:16 AM

I remember when XP first came out there were all the people who said XP sucked and they were going to stick to 98SE. It is just an ongoing thing, some people just don't like change.

If I could afford it I would run Vista ultimate 64 on my desktop but I just have to settle for home premium on my laptop. Will probably buy the family pack and split the difference with my family, upgrade my laptop, desktop, parents pc, brother's pc woth windows 7.
8

anonymous@guest , July 25, 2009 12:16 AM

Microsoft can keep dreamin'. I have to use Vista every day at work, and it's akin to very slowly poisoning myself. Unfortunately the company has a policy of not upgrading to the latest OS until it's been out for a while, which normally makes sense. However in this case I don't think they have anything to worry about
5

rodney_ws , July 25, 2009 12:16 AM

My laptop shipped with Vista Home Premium SP1 (64 bit) and I have never seen a blue screen / black screen... that's 1 solid year of heavy usage and nothing major to report. I believe a majority of the Vista bashing results from inadequate hardware, piss-poor drivers and shady application support out the gate. Microsoft goes to great lengths to help all involved parties stay on the same page when a new OS comes out... and all of those other smaller companies really did MS no favors with Vista.

That said... I'm still looking forward to Windows 7... if only because I like new things (even when "new" just means "refreshed")
6

JimmiG , July 25, 2009 12:19 AM

Windows XP was based off Win 2000 which was based off NT4. Win ME was a completely different branch, being based off Win9x. That branch was cut off when Microsoft brought their consumer OS's over to the same NT kernel that they used for servers and workstations.

Win7 on the other hand is a tweaked version of Vista, no matter how you look at it. IF Vista was broken, so is Win7, because not that much has changed.

Having used Vista for about a year before I installed the Win7 RC, I still don't see what's wrong with Vista. Win7 feels *slightly* snappier but that's about it. Remember when Vista came out, drivers were a huge problem. They were slow, unstable or non-existent. Since Win7 can use Vista drivers, this won't be repeated, leaving people with a much better initial impression of the OS. Something about having to throw away $500 worth of old hardware because there are no drivers tends to leave people with a bad taste... The handful of pretty major bugs that plagued Vista prior to SP1 didn't exactly help.
-2

Aoster87 , July 25, 2009 12:20 AM

@ rodney

Thumbs up.
-3

shening , July 25, 2009 12:24 AM

I agree with bigpappaj completly. I'm using Vista 64 on a Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.6 Ghz and it runs PERFECTLY. Win7 is faster but Vista 64 is fast also on the right hardware and without the tons of bloatware runing in the background.

PEOPLE learn to optimise you computers and stop blaming the OS for everything.
1

anonymous@guest , July 25, 2009 12:25 AM

Vista has been good to me. I thought I'd never be one who switched but have been surprised time after time. It took a little time learning the quirks, but it works for me. Yes, I've had my problems with it, but I had problems with XP (although maybe not as many). Everyone here who says Vista sucks never gives a concrete reason. I's just "Vista sucks". Probably never tried it for more than a few minutes. Most of the problems I've experienced have been from bad drivers that were supposedly made for Vista by the manufacturers. I think it looks great, installs with ease, updates well and is very easy to set up initially. I've been using it for a year now and have both 32 and 64 bit Home Premium and 64 Ultimate. N0 problems, although I recommend Home Premium if you don't need all the fluff and extras of Ultimate. I'll stick with Microsoft just to make the drivers and software more accessible. Gonna try Windows 7 when released. Just my 5 cents.

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