Comments

1. meh

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 9:54AM  

   Oh, By the way.  You need to fix the clock in the top right counting down to Vista.  At least use the UTC time for it as right now it shows the count down to Jan 30 at midnight, in the time zone you are in, and I am assuming that the release is not being done 5 times, once in each time zone of the US.  If it is though, please ignore this comment.
2. ParrotHead

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 11:32AM  

   I applauded the honesty of the e-mail. There's nothing wrong with a company admitting that its competitors do some things better. I'd be more worried about a company that *didn't* do this, because it would indicate that management is delusional.

   To continue to thrive, Microsoft needs to look at the competition, identify places where other companies are doing better than them, and make the changes necessary to eliminate the gap.
3. peterkirn

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 11:43AM  

   Yes, here, here, I say more power to you.

   While it may not be a competitor in the enterprise, the Mac and Linux are absolutely competing desktop operating systems, even as dominant as Windows is. The fact is that you can go, plunk down $600 and have a Mac mini up and running. Likewise, a Mac user could easily go pick up a cheap PC and, after January 30, be looking at Vista's desktop in minutes. My hope would be, if Vista's a success, that it'll tempt a Mac user; if it doesn't (emotional platform loyalty aside), I think you should wonder why. For me, that reason is often *not* noticing the OS -- just being able to run everything that platform has to offer without having to even think about the OS. XP isn't quite there, I think everyone can agree, and I hope Vista is closer.

   As a journalist, I feel obligated to keep up with all the different OSes. So when I hear about Microsoft "dogfooding", great -- but it's important to keep that perspective about the whole market, too.

   And, meh, Vista release is like New Year's. You have to break a bottle of champagne across the bow of your new PC--- erm, actually, maybe I'll use an old, non-working PCjr for that.
4. iambennu

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 11:49AM  

   Dear Jim,

   Your comment was not taken out of context, it is just being taken in the context that people would like to see it.  I for one, thank you for the comet, as it shows how serious you were at the time and that you needed to be.  I have been frustrated with the windows operating system for quite some time now, and was getting ready to get 'em at.  Because you made the comment, you voice that feelings of a lot of frustrated windows users, which has now culminated in the creation of vista.

   I have been working with the Vista beta for about three or four months, and I must finally say that Microsoft has given me an operating system when I did not have one before.  It has post my performance and my ability to get things done more than I could have imagined.

   So in conclusion, I would like to  thank you for being so serious about having a working operating system and therefore making that comment, because it has changed my computing world.

   You was truly,

   Iam bennu
5. JoeDuck

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 1:49PM  

   Nice post Jim - sincerity can be Microsoft's salvation as an internet powerhouse.  More discussion like you fostered there and here is needed, not less.
6. Hash

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 2:15PM  

   "Windows Vista has turned into a phenomenal product, better than any other OS we've ever built and far, far better than any other software available today.."

   Yeah ... just like Windows XP was the "Most secure OS ever" a couple of years back.  How did that work out?  

   "Let me set the record straight:"

   Care to set the record straight when you testified in the DOJ trial that revealing source code (APIs) could damage National Security and threaten the War effort in Afghanistan?  And then when Linux became popular, suddenly Microsoft found the "Shared source code" religion and it was OK to share code with Russia and China?  No National Security implications there.  Or was that taken out of context too?  After all you were only under OATH in a federal court!

   If the DOJ had any balls (or wasn't paid off by political contributions) someone should be in prison for either Perjury or Treason.  Take your pick.

   Then again, lying at the drop of a hat seems to be a prerequisite of Microsoft managment.  

   "We had nothing to do with funding SCO" - and Richard Emerson, Ken Lustig and Tivanka Ellawala mysteriosly spoke to Baystar on their own.  Ballmer's and Gates played the "plausible deniability" card.  I wonder if Jim Allchin knew about the SCO deal?  Want to set the record straight on that?

   And Ballmer's latest "undiclosed liability balance sheet" or whatever comments regarding Linux.  

   Disgusting, despicable morally and ethically bankrupt monopoly.  Which also makes buggy, malware infested bloatware.  

   Maybe others should take your advice and buy that Mac.

   Hash
7. Graphic

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 3:45PM  

   Wow Hash... you should come under the alias of conspiracy theory king!!

   In my many years of existance (and a lot of them have been MS associated) I have never heard such imaginative MS slandering.

   Well done on making yourself look like the biggest tool on the internet.

   (Be sure to keep an eye on idiot.com There will be a full story on Hash shortly)
8. mikebell

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 3:45PM  

   Jim,

   Think of it this way... come Feb 1st, you'll be free to finally use your Mac. The wait must be killing you, I know, but you know it will be worth it. I felt the same way when I left MS.

   Mike

   PS: All the best in your new ventures... hope you end up at Apple. You were wrongly singled out for Vista mess.
9. Hash

   
   Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 4:03PM  

   Heh ... Graphic,

   I might be on idiot.com, but care to refute any of the stated facts in my post ?  You can slam my opinions by name calling but the facts speak for themselves.

   Hint:  The DOJ trial is a matter of public record, and so is the SCO lawsuit.  Learn to READ and not just be spoon fed by the Microsoft PR machine.  Maybe all those years of MS associated existance have hindered that ability.  ;-)

   Hash
10. tbcpp

    
    Posted on: December 12, 2006 at 4:38PM  

    I've been using Windows since the 3.1 days. However, in my opinion windows 2000 was the height of the Windows OS line. It was fast, light and worked well, based off of NT, etc.

    I work with Windows machines on a daily basis. I've worked with OS X and Linux. The two things that tick me off about Windows are as follows: 1) Bloat. No matter how you dice it, Vista is full of bloat. As stated above a 3Ghz feels no faster than my old 40Mhz simply because of all the bloat. Why is it that Linux and OS X have their fancy guis running on GeForce3 and 800Mhz. When vista requires a GeForceFX or higher! Don't feed me any of this junk about how Vista looks better. I've seen it. I know how Areo works (I've done graphics GPU programming). And you souldn't need pixel shaders for a GUI!

    2) I don't like the way Microsft treats me like a criminal. I'm constantly having to type in product codes and register by phone, and then there's the whole Windows Genuine (Dis)advantage. MacOSX? They require one product key, and it's activated. And we all know Linux is free.

    So Micro$oft, start caring about your customers , and I might start caring about Vista.