Users blast Microsoft over Vista SP1 schedule

[OhioChick]

Company acknowledges discontent, but hasn't changed mind on March availability

February 7, 2008 (Computerworld) Users upset over Microsoft Corp.'s decision to postpone delivery of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) for six weeks have flooded a company blog with comments voicing their displeasure and frustration. Many of the users have identified themselves as developers, IT administrators and partners of the software vendor.

Microsoft has left the door open, if only a crack, to a change in how it gets SP1 to users.

Early Monday morning, Mike Nash, vice president of Windows product management, announced that Vista SP1 had reached RTM, or release to manufacturing, but he then added that the update would not be available to users via Windows Update, Microsoft's online Download Center, MSDN or TechNet until mid-March. Nash said the delay was due to an unspecified -- and unnamed -- number of device drivers that could stymie the update or give users problems.

Nash said that Microsoft will take the intervening weeks to identify as many of those drivers as possible prior to blocking SP1 updates from reaching PCs with any of those drivers installed.

Within minutes of Nash posting to the Vista team's blog, users began labeling the move as "stupid," "unbelievable" and "one of the all-time worst moves."

" must be the stupidest announcement I have ever read," said a user identified as "Fredik70." " years to get Windows Vista ready, almost 1 1/4 years to get Service Pack 1 ready ... your pace at getting out new products must be the slowest in the industry. And now you are artificially making it even slower by just waiting, doing nothing, for six weeks. Unbelievable."

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9061539&intsrc=hm_list

[Deja Q]

1. It does sound silly, I'll agree. Is there a precedent for this?

After all, the 5 people who still use Vista all this time should get at least a gold star to stick onto their PC...

[madeline_con]

2. Yep, I've heard nothing but bad things about Vista. n/t

[madrchsod]

3. it`s crap

by the time they get it working right they will have a new system to sell...

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Have you actually checked MSFT's quarterly reports?

“Revenue of over $16 billion this quarter exceeds our previous record by $2 billion,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “We are extremely pleased by the broad based strength of our business performance and field execution. Throughout the first half of our fiscal year, all of our businesses met or beat our expectations.”

Since Windows Vista became generally available one year ago, Microsoft’s Client business has grown over 20% on average and sales of Windows Vista have surpassed 100 million licenses.

http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/FY08/earn_rel_q2_08.mspx

4B in client OS sales last quarter. It might be a crappy product but you are kidding yourself if you think they aren't selling boatloads of Vista.

[ixion]

5. all that proves is that a sucker is born every minute

because Vista sucks.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. which is a fine opinion but irrelevant

to the assertion that the installed base is '5'.

[DCKit]

6. How many warehouses did Bill and Melinda have to buy to store all that software? n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Like I said - vista might be crappy

but if you think they aren't selling billions of dollars of this crappy os release, you are very poorly informed.