Windows Vista
From Invertopedia, the encyclopedia of how things fail
Windows Vista reached consumers on January 30, 2007, in what Microsoft called the most significant product launch in its history[1]. By 2008, a survey of 372 IT professionals found that the share planning to upgrade within two years had fallen from just under 31 percent to 8.1 percent, with hardware costs, driver problems and application incompatibilities cited[2]. A columnist citing Forrester put Vista's business penetration at 9 percent and called it a failure in business[3]. Separately, a court case over "Vista Capable" PCs exposed internal emails and had estimated exposure up to $8.5 billion[4].
The kill shot
Vista asked more of the hardware than XP did, broke applications and drivers that businesses relied on, and arrived with a sticker that promised more than cheap PCs delivered.
Plaintiffs in the Vista Capable case said PCs marked capable could not run Vista's Aero interface; emails released by the court showed Microsoft relaxed the label's requirements to accommodate Intel[4]. The judge later narrowed the case to six named plaintiffs[4].
The inversion
A launch is judged by whether your biggest customers move. Ask them what breaks before you ship, and do not let a marketing label outrun the hardware.
References
- ^ “Microsoft Launches Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 to Consumers Worldwide”. Microsoft, January 29, 2007. The launch date and Microsoft's own description.
- ^ “Businesses saying a stronger no to Vista”. InfoWorld, 2008. Bernstein survey of 372 IT professionals.
- ^ “Completely skip Vista and move to Windows 7”. Computerworld. Forrester's 9 percent business penetration, in a columnist's words.
- ^ “Judge postpones Vista Capable trial, cites 'novel' arguments”. Network World, 2009. The Vista Capable case, $8.5 billion exposure, emails, narrowing to six plaintiffs.