Ballmer blames pirates for poor Vista sales

[mips]

This guy is an egit. Maybe people are just not interested in Vista. Please do turn on the WGA screws, I would love it.


http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37721

Ballmer blames pirates for poor Vista sales

Will crank up the WGA

By Nick Farrell (javascript:__doPostBack('article_body$lnkEmailFor m','')): Monday 19 February 2007, 15:50

THE SHY and retiring, softly-spoken CEO of Microsoft, Steve "Sounds of Silence" Ballmer is blaming software pirates for Vista's poor sales. Ballmer admitted to financial analysts that the predictions for Vista had proved 'overly optimistic' and he blamed the pirates in China, India, Brazil, Russia and other emerging markets.
He said his final solution would be to increase the intensity Windows Genuine Advantage as part of an effort to squeeze more revenue from developing nations.
Ballmer believes that one way Microsoft can bump up Windows sales is to tighten the screws on pirates. "Piracy reduction can be a source of Windows revenue growth, and I think we'll make some piracy improvements this year."
He said that there was software within Windows Genuine Advantage which could be dialled up by the Vole to make it even more tougher for the pirates to take out.
He promised that the Vole would "really ferret through how far we can dial it up, and what that means for customer experience and customer satisfaction".
Of course he is ignoring the fact that a lot of people are not buying Vista because it does not offer much more than XP and Windows Genuine Advantage makes their lives a misery. Cranking up WGA might backfire.
More here (http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;7680622;fp;16;fpid;1). µ

[halfvolle melk]

I the ninjas are to blame really.
Please do turn on the WGA screws, I would love it.
That would be interesting. :popcorn:

[doobit]

I the ninjas are to blame really.

That would be interesting. :popcorn:

Piracy reduction can certainly be a cause for FOSS growth!

[drumour]

I was also amused at the report on the inquirer earlier today (www.inquirer.net) Seems their reports are increasingly supportive of linux in general - because , as with this story, in my opinion Microsoft is becoming a copyright enforcement agency. Previous proof of this was supplied by a story they ran regarding Microsofts patent application for software that checks that a consumer actually reads rather than clicks through advertising copy! Oops should be www.theinquirer.net (I always use my bookmark :) 0

[sloggerkhan]

As much as I think what MS is doing in terms of 'IP Protection' is a crime, part of me hopes they keep making it worse and worse so that people come to use alternatives.

[insane_alien]

do they not realise that if they turned WGA on the sales would plummet from their already low position?

[FuturePilot]

I doubt it's pirates that are the reason. I think that more and more people are starting to get tired of Windows so they move onto something else. I wonder if the number of Linux users has gone up since Vista was released.

[K.Mandla]

I the ninjas are to blame really.
Ninjas are cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

[BigBabyDaddy1968]

As much as I think what MS is doing in terms of 'IP Protection' is a crime, part of me hopes they keep making it worse and worse so that people come to use alternatives.
Exactly why I started looking for an alternative. BTW, I have a voucher from Dell for Vista Home Premium that I will absolutely not be using, even though I can get the OS for free. MS should know customers don't like products that...well...suck. :grin:

BBD

[kegie]

I'm starting to think that maybe, maybe, that Novell deal was a lot better than we've previously realised: It seems Microsoft is now actively working to dissuade people from using their operating system!

Seriously, nothing except the eyecandy seems positive, to me, about Vista. Even the touted security is, most likely, a lot worse than the security we have in Ubuntu already. It really peeves me when reviews bring up the "great security" as a plus for vista. Nobody knows if Vista actually is more secure yet, you can't write new code and claim it's more secure before it has been tested in the wild. Basically all security breeches are due to coding mistakes and bugs, and that is exactly what new code brings you. If anything, vista is probably less secure than XP!

[Sunflower1970]

I doubt it's pirates that are the reason. I think that more and more people are starting to get tired of Windows so they move onto something else. I wonder if the number of Linux users has gone up since Vista was released.

Give it a year or two. People just aren't upgrading, yet because they either feel XP suits their needs right now, and/or are waiting for the first (or second) SP to be released before they dig in to Vista.

[lyceum]

1. Steve "Sounds of Silence" Ballmer ??? Paul Simon should sue him for stealing his song title. I am sure it is an infrengment of some kind. I also think "Darth Ballmer" fits better. After all, the Sith are also soft spoken. But then Lucas might sue, it is the Balmer way... (threating law suits that don't really happen just to scare people)

2. Pirates?!? I thought Vista was fool proof? (Fool proof meaning proofed by fools?) If you can't hack it and you can't stealing what are the pirates doing? I would have to agree that this soulds like the work of ninga. Steve needs to use the bat signal if he wants stop these theves!

3. At $600 for an OS that "just works" as well as XP, but looks more like a Mac that has been worked over by MTV's very own Metalica, it looks like the ninga/pirates doing the damage MUST be the same ones that are helping the Wii beat the PS3 in sales. After all, EVERYONE wants to shell out $600 when their PC works just.... fine? Well, good enough not to shell out another $600 for a poo OS.

:popcorn:

[MikeDX]

Well, he has to blame somebody I guess.

People really are starting to switch. every day it is becoming easier and easier to do your day to day work without windows... I can do everything on my Linux machines that I can do in XP. My fiancee too uses Linux and is very happy using it for her day to day web and office needs.

Also the money that I'm not spending on a vista "upgrade" (if you can call it that) will be going on better hardware.. not that I need it, since my pc already feels like a new computer just by changing OS.

The times are changing, a 30/30/30 split between the major os's would not be a bad thing for any of us, especially those of us who work in the IT sector.

[meng]

Wait a minute ... assuming this IS due to piracy, hasn't piracy been a problem prior to Windows Vista? Hasn't it been present during the lifetime of 98, ME, XP, and every release of Office? If the failure to meet sales predictions is due to piracy, then it's not piracy at fault but the idiots who made predictions on the assumption that piracy would suddenly disappear for no apparent reason.

[doobit]

I'm starting to think that maybe, maybe, that Novell deal was a lot better than we've previously realised: It seems Microsoft is now actively working to dissuade people from using their operating system!

Seriously, nothing except the eyecandy seems positive, to me, about Vista. Even the touted security is, most likely, a lot worse than the security we have in Ubuntu already. It really peeves me when reviews bring up the "great security" as a plus for vista. Nobody knows if Vista actually is more secure yet, you can't write new code and claim it's more secure before it has been tested in the wild. Basically all security breeches are due to coding mistakes and bugs, and that is exactly what new code brings you. If anything, vista is probably less secure than XP!

Microsoft has followed Apple's lead since the early days, so maybe they will be announcing a new OS with a Linux core soon, like Apple did with OSX!

[Mr Wrath]

Microsoft has followed Apple's lead since the early days, so maybe they will be announcing a new OS with a Linux core soon, like Apple did with OSX!

After which they will try to sue everyone else that is using linux...that's the Microsoft way.

[OrangeCrate]

I've had the opportunity to play with Vista, and it's actually pretty cool. If it was a brand spanking new OS, with no ties to the past, in my opinion, there would probably be a lot of interest in buying it (just like people can't wait to get the newer version of their favorite car, and they're willing to pay mucho dollars to get it).

Personally, the biggest fault I find with Vista, and in my opinion, it's a major flaw, is that it's really really bloated due to backward compatability issues with earlier versions of Windows. The same with the new version of Office 2007.

My guess is, that many "educated" users, unless they get a new box, will stay with XP as long as they can. I know I will.

As far as pirating is concerned, that's not going to stop. It's like any thing else, where there's a will, there's an angle. "Free", whether it's legal or not, draws some like miller moths to a light bulb.

[Vivix729]

Hmm....maybe, just MAYBE, if you want to improve your software sales you should create QUALITY software that's worth the money?

[BarfBag]

People in third world and middle eastern countries pirate software for one of two reasons. They can't afford to buy it, or they simply don't feel like paying for it. Vista has pretty beefy hardware requirements. I mean, come on! Two gigabytes of RAM for smooth performance? Do you really think that people who can't afford software could afford a system upgrade like that?

[PrinceArithon]

Hey MikeDX I agree with you about the 30/30/30 split. It would be better for production and general advancement


As for Vista not doing well. Of course it isn't Not be cause it sucks, not because Microsoft is evil. From what I understand last year was a big year for a lot of people to buy new computers. No one is going to get new computers for a few years. So Vista is going to sit there and get dusty for a bit before people start getting new computers, then when they get new computers they will get them with Vista on them.

I swear Steve Ballmer is an idiot. Where can I find his house so I can bring pain into his life. I will beat him within an inch of his life...I SWEAR he angers me so much.

He is talking about piracy....No one that I know of in China is even trying to find Vista. It's too hard to find right now and it's too unstable. They are going to wait for a while when someone out there kinda, recodes Vista and makes it better. I seen a version of XP out in China that was much sturdier than the one that came from MS...also it fit the needs of your average Chinese person better too.

Still, Ballmer is an idiot.

[-Phi-]

But this news story doesn't say that at all (http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=262). Ballmer told analysts that Microsoft is expecting priacy reduction to contribute to the growth of its Windows business, but that's "not a huge thing in this scale of the business."
In fact, every other article I've read has had Ballmer or Gates talking about low expectations on Vista sales since most people won't buy a box version, instead getting Vista with new computers. So I'm confused.

- Phi

[PrinceArithon]

Don't forget these guys talk out of every opening in their body. Especially the one that is on the lower backside of their bodies.

They are just stirring up what they can to bring attention to Vista so they can get more sales....at least it's a possibility. Who knows what their real reason for making their statements are.

[meng]

Other things that could be blamed for poor Vista sales:
war in Iraq
global terrorism
Democratic-controlled US Congress
global warming
aging population
gays and lesbians
Iran
socialism/communism in South America
George W. Bush
Britney Spears

[macogw]

Other things that could be blamed for poor Vista sales:
war in Iraq
global terrorism
Democratic-controlled US Congress
global warming
aging population
gays and lesbians
Iran
socialism/communism in South America
George W. Bush
Britney Spears
Apple
Linux
viruses

[MetalMusicAddict]

I the ninjas are to blame really.

Ninjas are cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

Whatever, the both of you. Stevie already said its Pirates! Arggg....

http://www.webfish.at/skipper/Images/Cliparts/pirate.gif

[AusIV4]

Most people I know tolerate Windows. They don't like it, but they don't think they have many alternatives. However I do have one classmate who as an absolute Microsoft cronie. He likes Windows about as much as I like Ubuntu (which is to say, a lot). He got Vista the day it came out, and he's now back to XP. He said Vista asked him to permit practically every process that it started, every program that wanted to connect to the internet, etc.

I was in Office Depot the other day and saw a sign that said "Windows Vista - The Most Secure Windows(tm) Yet." My first thought was "Yeah, almost secure as a brick." You can't hack into a brick, you can't put viruses on a brick, you can't add a brick to a botnet... about the only thing bricks are good for is being heavy and solid.

I have yet to read a review of Vista that is in a very positive light. I've heard a few reviewers say using Vista made an OSX user out of them. Even the best reviews spend some time focusing on shortcomings.

There may be pirates stealing Vista, but my guess is the low sales stem from:
a) a hard to use operating system
b) no real reason to upgrade
c) treating your customers like thieves

I'm not saying Microsoft is doomed, I'm not even saying I'll never use Windows again, but they need to seriously rethink their business strategy and OS design if they want to regain the faith of their former user base.

[macogw]

You guys are making me think of AFI sooo much....
Adam Carson is a pirate drummer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/macoafi/afi/adam/c39d1382.jpg
And Jade Puget (on the left) is a ninja guitarist:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/macoafi/afi/multiple/Hunter_and_Jade2.jpg

[Choad]

This guy is an egit. Maybe people are just not interested in Vista. Please do turn on the WGA screws, I would love it.


http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37721
best news ever!

the idiot doesnt realise that they arent going to pay for it no matter what. if they do actually write a protection mechanism that isnt easily cracked this will be the biggest help linux has had in forever

[reyfer]

Ballmer is right, it's the pirates: the Microsoft pirates stealing money for a bloated, buggy piece of s**t. Why are sales low in emerging economies? Lets see.... in my country, Venezuela, minimun salary is 600000 bolivars (that's about 280 US $ ) a month. Do you think a person that's struggling to live with that when basics (food, rent, services) for a three people family is around 950000 bolivars a month (442 US $ ), can spare 300 US $ for Vista? Specially when he/she can get Ubuntu, or any other Linux distro, free?

[kaleman]

Seriously, nothing except the eyecandy seems positive, to me, about Vista.

You mean, the amount of eye candy compared to XP? Linux with beryl (http://www.beryl-project.org/) or compiz (http://www.go-compiz.org) looks much more impressive to me than Vista. And it's free. And it still works on a three year old computer. Things you can't say from Vista.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if people started to get fed up with paying another few hundred dollars for another windows version. Go Ballmer!

[slimdog360]

I think that anyone who uses windows religously and goes out to buy it at launch isnt a nerd, as nerds use linux and they are the only ones who get an operating system at launch. Hence there are no nerds out there to buy windows and tada MS get poor sales. I could have told them that.

The 'hip' crowds buy Macs nowadays so there goes that market as well.

[Choad]

I think that anyone who uses windows religously and goes out to buy it at launch isnt a nerd, as nerds use linux and they are the only ones who get an operating system at launch. Hence there are no nerds out there to buy windows and tada MS get poor sales. I could have told them that.

The 'hip' crowds buy Macs nowadays so there goes that market as well.
its the "wanabe hardcore" that you've missed out. the ones that want to be tech gods but still havent realised windows' shortcomings. they are the demographic that buy vista

[timcredible]

Well, he has to blame somebody I guess.
The times are changing, a 30/30/30 split between the major os's would not be a bad thing for any of us, especially those of us who work in the IT sector.

i think the way you're thinking (competition is good for the customer), but what's the 3rd major OS? mac/os x (or should i say mac bsd), or solaris, or unix? i personally know about 15 people running linux as their primary machine, i only know 1 person using a mac, and that's only because he's got a photography business and he says windows can't handle real digital photography (and he's a windows server admin for a job).

[Tedd]

He's pretty much blaming people like me for Vista not making any money? Touche, Mr. Chairman! My rebuttal?

Tedd Finds Ballmer In Favor of Pedophilia

By Tedd : Monday 19 February 2007, 15:50

THE SHY and retiring, softly-spoken CEO of Microsoft, Steve "Sounds of Silence" Ballmer is, in essence, in favor of pedophilia. He often takes money out of his elderly grandmother's pension, and also contributes money to a heretofore unmentioned "Drink-'n-Drive-athon". Also, he said you guys are dorks!


I think we handled that in the most mature way possible.

[frup]

Good old Steve Blamer.

Lets hope Dell does support Linux soon. Or just empty boxes. I don't know anyone running vista. Infact lots of people are running 2000 and everyone plans to stick with 2000 or XP.

[Daveski]

Wait a minute ... assuming this IS due to piracy, hasn't piracy been a problem prior to Windows Vista? Hasn't it been present during the lifetime of 98, ME, XP, and every release of Office? If the failure to meet sales predictions is due to piracy, then it's not piracy at fault but the idiots who made predictions on the assumption that piracy would suddenly disappear for no apparent reason.

Ha! Brilliant.

[Stew2]

Seriously, if XP and Windows 2000 are still working well for the Windows crowd on their current machines, why would they rush out and spend a bunch of money on an unnecessary OS upgrade such as Vista? I'm sure most people these days can think of a lot of better things to spend their hard earned money on. I know I can :D .


Regards,
Stew2

[lyceum]

I found the pirates! Arrrr...

http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/personaltech/stories/172033.html

http://apcstart.com/5363/in_soviet_russia_software_pirates_you

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/8X9xQtM3AnF3y7/Russian-Court-Tosses-Out-Microsoft-Piracy-Case.xhtml

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=234

It is my understanding that MS lets people use their products for "free" until they are hooked, then start the law suits. I could be wrong though...

[meng]

My suggestion for piracy detection:
Vista refuses to work unless you have a webcam attached to the computer. WGA is replaced by image detection software that determines if the user has an eyepatch, peg-leg or a parrot on his/her shoulder. If so, Vista explodes.

[ice60]

Shiver me timbers http://gprime.net/board/images/smilies/pirate2.gif http://i3.tinypic.com/ziwz14.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Piratey,_vector_version.svg/180px-Piratey,_vector_version.svg.png

[SunnyRabbiera]

Actually I blame XP, as XP well... works... sure XP is bugged up to wazoo but I know a lot of people will use it for as long as possible.

[Quillz]

Vista has still only just been recently released. In fact, today, I saw just one billboard advertising Vista. Like when XP came out, I don't think a lot of people realize that Vista is now available, or that's it's a major upgrade over XP.

Give it time and a service pack, and sales will pick up, just like they did with XP and other older versions of Windows.

[steven8]

People had 5 years to get their xp systems up running, tweaked and broken in to where they work the way they want it to, and Steve Ballmer wonders why they aren't rushing out to drop all that money time and effort onto a new system. Yep, it must be pirates.

[Redlance]

we can actually break it down to fundementals of marketing mishaps.
1) DRM fears. Radioligist spoke of grave concern if he was streaming a realtime radiograph to be read from a remote local would drm make his view hazy or cloudy?
WOOT FUD hits microsoft!
2) Program breakage (yes this also happened with XP)
3) 20-50% performance hit in FPS if they can even run at all. (not a great idea to make the enthuesiasts skittish they usually are the greater spokesperson to buy new stuff and encourage others to buy new stuff)
4) making vista's DirectX 10 only on vista has seriously annoyed alot of people . Strong arm tactics to force upgrades always backfires.
5) Not a real NEED to upgrade to vista. No must have features. Aero interface? A security osytem with alot of overhead that has already been circumvented?
6) gates leaving. (face it he saw it was a start of the death throes of a dying beast)
7) millions poured into developement and most notable features that were promising were axed. (File system, Optimized api's) (just like the movie waterworld almost 200 million in the making with big names in hollywood behind it but weak plot with lots of glitz doesnt make a good selling movie)
8) Directx 10 at enthusiests prices?
9) 500 megs in base memory just to run the core of the system. (Bloat bloat bloat)
10) Major computer reviewers give lukewarm reception (comments like Mac has had this kind of interface for 2 years already on CNN money)

[Sarteck]

I dunno... It could be pirates... Or ninjas... Or pirate-ninja hybrids (more likely in this day and age).

Seriously, if it's pirates, that might not be a good thing, if you think about it. It means that more people still want Windows. XD I hope that it's just because it sucks, not because of pirates.

[beercz]

I think the reasons why vista isn't selling as expected (in no particular order):

1. it's expensive, not just for the OS, but office, anti-virus software, anti-spyware software etc
2. people don't have the hardware to run it
3. people aren't buying new machines (with OEM vista pre-installed - this is how most people buy their Windows/Office)
4. reports of installation and hardware compatibility issues
5. it's incomplete (as a number of features have been left out by MS) and therefore not worth the money
6. people are waiting for service packs and monitoring reports about its performance and any security failures, crash reports etc
7. Windows has a history of being unreliable and insecure - this puts people off
8. People like what they are used to and wish to continue using it
9. Most don't know how to/don't want the hassle of reinstalling a new OS and then have to reinstall all their software, tweak all their settings and copy all their data from backup (if they have one)
10. There are free alternatives
11. WGA and DRM issues

I am sure there are other reasons that I haven't thought of.

[prizrak]

Ballmer is absolutely right. All the people who were interested in Vista have pirated it, saw it was a complete and utter piece of **** or it killed their system or the quad core xeons couldn't handle the demands and they went back to XP or switched to Ubuntu.

[saulgoode]

Vista comes with the option of trying it for 30-days before deciding whether you wish to register. How can a product with a free 30-day trial be pirated when it has only been out for two weeks?

[EdThaSlayer]

effort to squeeze more revenue from developing nations.
Its not like a lot of them can actually afford the $200-400 Windows Vista. :)
Some of the people living in those developing nations still get only a dollar a day.

[Eddie Wilson]

Wait a minute ... assuming this IS due to piracy, hasn't piracy been a problem prior to Windows Vista? Hasn't it been present during the lifetime of 98, ME, XP, and every release of Office? If the failure to meet sales predictions is due to piracy, then it's not piracy at fault but the idiots who made predictions on the assumption that piracy would suddenly disappear for no apparent reason.

Not all the time a problem. The pirates gave back ME.:lol:

Eddie

[Stricker]

I wouldn't even consider installing Vista on my computer, and I doubt my friends would either. The pros? It's all about transparent windows and bigger icons. The cons? It's an infinitive list.

[haley1]

I started using ubuntu because of MS heavy handed crap and their support of more and more drm. If they continue on their present path it will only drive more people away to other alternatives. Which can be good. I just bought a new computer to put Ubuntu on, I looked around and couldn't find one with xp so ended up buying one with vista. It's not very impressive in my opinion, not much different than xp that I can see. It's no wonder people aren't rushing out to buy it. I think their biggest buyer will be the government, just like all the rest of their releases.

[equal]

As Linux users, we know that most people don't even know what an OS is. The vast majority of people are not going to just run out and drop $250+ on software that, as far as they are concerned, does exactly what their current software does. Not to mention they don't know how to do it anyway.

Microsoft's big gaffe here is that the average person replaces their computer every 4-5 years (not power users, average users). There was just a huge surge in new PC sales a couple of years ago, and now everyone's going to be complaisant for the next 2-3 years. I think Microsoft has made their first big public mistake, and this is the opportunity for Apple and GNU/Linux to take a huge chunk. If the systems can improve enough to provide a clear advantage that anyone can see before the next big computer push, we may see a huge marketshare drop for MS.

[AlexC_]

Vista comes with the option of trying it for 30-days before deciding whether you wish to register. How can a product with a free 30-day trial be pirated when it has only been out for two weeks?

hahah yes you're right! :) :lolflag:

[PrinceArithon]

Microsoft's big gaffe here is that the average person replaces their computer every 4-5 years (not power users, average users). There was just a huge surge in new PC sales a couple of years ago, and now everyone's going to be complaisant for the next 2-3 years.

This was exactly my point. Maybe in about 2 or 3 years people will start getting Vista, that is when they buy new computers. Other than that, it's not worth it for the majority.

[igknighted]

People had 5 years to get their xp systems up running, tweaked and broken in to where they work the way they want it to, and Steve Ballmer wonders why they aren't rushing out to drop all that money time and effort onto a new system. Yep, it must be pirates.

Thats a really silly argument from someone in the linux world. Look at us, we upgrade perfectly good OS's every 6 months! In fact, XP is nearing the end of its usability. Today's modern web environment is too much for XP to handle, the newest hardware doesn't work natively with XP (or even as good as it should after the drivers) and Vista is the next logical step. No, theres nothing that blows you away, but aside from the price and the DRM fiasco (which I personally blame on the RIAA for creating this environment more than MS) it's a solid OS, and a badly needed step away from the old Windows codebase. I don't use Vista, and I don't plan too, but I tip my hat to them because its the first MS OS that has impressed me at all.

[dca]

Thats a really silly argument from someone in the linux world. Look at us, we upgrade perfectly good OS's every 6 months! In fact, XP is nearing the end of its usability. Today's modern web environment is too much for XP to handle, the newest hardware doesn't work natively with XP (or even as good as it should after the drivers) and Vista is the next logical step. No, theres nothing that blows you away, but aside from the price and the DRM fiasco (which I personally blame on the RIAA for creating this environment more than MS) it's a solid OS, and a badly needed step away from the old Windows codebase. I don't use Vista, and I don't plan too, but I tip my hat to them because its the first MS OS that has impressed me at all.

That's not entirely accurate. You upgrade OS(s) because you run Fedora Core or openSuSE... That's their purpose. You use them, you upgrade them because nobody except enterprises will pay for the full/tested RHEL or SLES versions...

That was one of the niceties of Ubuntu. The same vers for all, use the LTS and you won't have to upgrade for three years...

[aysiu]

Moved to the Windows subforum.

[mips]

Why was this thread moved here ? It not a technical discussion about vista. It's more a discussion about piracy, DRM and bad marketing on MS' part.

[aysiu]

Why was this thread moved here ? It not a technical discussion about vista. It's more a discussion about piracy, DRM and bad marketing on MS' part.
This is the description of the subforum: Windows Discussions:
Discuss the Windows operating system here. Please do not use this as a bashing area. It is not intended to be a Windows support forum, even though Windows support threads would probably be put in here as well. If you have an issue, please use the Resolution Center.

[mips]

If you have an issue, please use the Resolution Center.

Nah, would be a waste of energy. It's not that important.

[Daveski]

In fact, XP is nearing the end of its usability. Today's modern web environment is too much for XP to handle, the newest hardware doesn't work natively with XP (or even as good as it should after the drivers) and Vista is the next logical step.

I don't see why XP cannot handle modern web environments, nor why XP is near the end of its usability. XP has IE7, and if MS releases an SP3 and continued to develop DirectX for XP then I cannot see any reason why it could not continue for at least another few years. Yes XP IS getting to the end of its life BECAUSE MS want everyone to upgrade to Vista.

[steven8]

Thats a really silly argument from someone in the linux world. Look at us, we upgrade perfectly good OS's every 6 months! In fact, XP is nearing the end of its usability. Today's modern web environment is too much for XP to handle, the newest hardware doesn't work natively with XP (or even as good as it should after the drivers) and Vista is the next logical step. No, theres nothing that blows you away, but aside from the price and the DRM fiasco (which I personally blame on the RIAA for creating this environment more than MS) it's a solid OS, and a badly needed step away from the old Windows codebase. I don't use Vista, and I don't plan too, but I tip my hat to them because its the first MS OS that has impressed me at all.

I wasn't speaking as someone 'from the linux world', I was just speaking as someone from 'the world'. IT people and even home users have had five years to get their systems just the way they want them. Service packs, hotfixes, program compatibility, etc. Not silly at all. A lot of hard work. My Ubuntu updates cost me nothing but time. Say you have a business with 300 people who took the plunge and got XP way back when. It was a nightmare at first, but with dedication and a lot of man hours, you finally got it to hum and everything works great. Now you have to do it again and the price is even steeper. Maybe you want to think about it. Have a few meetings first. Ballmer just needs to relax a bit. That's all.

[JoeFontana]

Vista comes with the option of trying it for 30-days before deciding whether you wish to register. How can a product with a free 30-day trial be pirated when it has only been out for two weeks?
The RTM (final version) of Vista was released November 8th last year. A short time later, it was leaked onto the net (the infamous "BillGates" release). It can now be registered on Chinese KMS servers to appear fully activated, among other methods of bypass.

Seriously, this was incredibly big news when the leak occured. How could you guys not have known? Do you not read news sites?

:confused:

[tgalati4]

I'll need to find the picture of Steve holding his hands in the form of a big "O"--The Ballmer Reality Distortion Field.

The Ubuntu forums should welcome windows users and help them out. After all the real reason to move to Linux is to solve problems and improve the computing experience on a global scale. If windows users came to the forums to find answers (I know that they do) then perhaps they would be open to trying Ubuntu. We only need to convert one person at a time.

While Microsoft is paying vendors e.g. "Everex recommends Windows Vista Home Premium", the Ubuntu forums will continue to provide support for users that want to experience something different, something better.

[chipsburner]

I'm not saying Microsoft is doomed, I'm not even saying I'll never use Windows again, but they need to seriously rethink their business strategy and OS design if they want to regain the faith of their former user base.

Really? Are you not sure its a little too late for M$ to ever regain anyone's trust? What makes you think they care about any consumer? Or windows user for that matter. All the actions of this corporation has been about profit. Not honor. At least IBM at one time said and did, that it would honor promises that it made to its custermers. Not all corporations are like M$.

M$ is doomed. And its silly not to bash them, although I prefer to stay with the facts only. This point about bashing M$ I disagree with this forum on. Its why 99% of us have started using linux, because of the hoops that M$ is making us jump through. The constant expense of another upgrade cycle, vista with office 2007 for now, vienna 2009 with office what then. We are here because we reject M$, even thought we might still have to use it to some extent. Perhaps this forum can show us the way to ween us off M$ with the knowledge here. I don't want to be the slave of M$, and want the freedom of GNU/Linux Ubuntu.

After all, Windows is not really a linux distro after all is it? You think they (M$) would not go out of their way to kill Ubuntu if they has any chance of doing so? Why protect it from a little harmless bashing, which it justly deserves? Who do you think reads these posts anyway, Steve Ballmer? And if he did, it might do him some good to learn that users are not liking M$ so much these days.

Its a rite of passage from windows to linux, to bash what is evil. You be wrong to censor another freedom the same way as M$ does. It is the evil empire. It does hate ubuntu and would do all it could to kill ubuntu if it could.

[jclmusic]

lol @ blaming a crap product on pirates. steve ballmer is delusional.

[nick.inspiron6400]

He can't admit that Vista sucks. Vista is a over-priced, Microsoft software only, An illusion of Monopoly, and insecure.

Vista's Areo and interface don't come close to what Beryl has to offer.

Nick.

[cunawarit]

Microsoft has followed Apple's lead since the early days, so maybe they will be announcing a new OS with a Linux core soon, like Apple did with OSX!

Linux core? OSX is based on BSD!!!!!! BSD is absolutely, and categorically NOT Linux!!!!

Anyway, I generally have respect for Ballmer, but he is barking up the wrong tree on this one.

The reason there have been poor sales in Brazil, China, and other developing countries is that Vista is an expensive as hell proposition.

There are several issues here; one Vista Home Premium and Vista Business are very expensive. Vista Home Basic and Vista Starter are cheaper (and sucky), but they still need quite hefty and expensive hardware to run them. Vista simply isn’t an economical OS to run right now, admittedly neither was XP when it was new, but XP is now.

Has the number of Linux users increased because of Vista? I seriously doubt it, most Windows users are staying with what they know. I really don’t see the average Joe migrating Linux on their own accord, they will upgrade to Vista when they buy their next new Dell.

[Somenoob]

Ballmer should blame customers for little interest.

[Ryzzen]

Yes, hackers can't wait to get their hands on the latest operating system that doesn't support their graphics card. I'm sure customers are going to love all of the wonderful new features that a beefed up WGA will have to offer. :biggrin:

[gollog]

Does this twit Ballmer actually know that M$ are charging around £330 (inc VAT) [that's ~ $650 USD] for a full version of Vista Ultimate in the UK.

Maybe the muppet should consider that if they weren't trying to rip people off so badly, more people might buy the fricken thing! But no, it’s gotta be the pirates!

Boycott it at all costs at the prices they're trying to extort people with, and just keep using FREE Linux!

Gollog

[jhenager]

Exactly why I started looking for an alternative. BTW, MS should know customers don't like products that...well...suck. :grin:

BBD

I used Vista (RC2) for one reason only, and that was to file my taxes. I found it slow as a pig, annoying, and they moved everything around for no reason.
Microsoft has no idea what productivity means. All they seem to comprehend anymore is dollars and spying on those dumb enough to pay them. It's about time they started flailing about.

[jhenager]

He can't admit that Vista sucks. Vista is a over-priced, Microsoft software only, An illusion of Monopoly, and insecure.

Vista's Areo and interface don't come close to what Beryl has to offer.

Nick.

You got that right, bud. Beryl smokes Aero. My desktop right now, today is nicer than the next OS those money grubbing pigs release five years from now.

[MikeDX]

So far of 3 people that I could have persuaded to upgraded to vista I have told to keep XP. These are the people who wouldnt really be happy with linux so I couldnt persuade them to upgrade to linux but I certainly wouldnt support them on a vista machine as it's just too much grief.

[linux_kid]

I HATE VISTA,
Even M$ isn't backing it... bundled support for XP ENDS January 19, 2008! That's not a long time from now.

For a Corporation to have to literally force consumers to their product is simply evil and immoral.

[-(

EDIT: I have just decided to slice my XP partition in half !!

[jgcamp99]

While I think the eye candy is dandy for any of them. Upgrading hardware to be able to use it and not notice a difference in speed of doing the necessary is not worth it. Even a couple years down the road, unless my employment situation demands Vista and Office 2007, I see no reason that I should be using it @ home. Perhaps at this stage, MS & Windows has become the corporate standard product, but Linux, and there are several distros that fit the bill is fine for my needs @ home. What would push me back towards MS, is if the alternatives started to charge or those that have already started charging, moved closer to MS prices. If free Linux were not available, OS X would get more serious consideration.

I think Apple would be better served to keep pricing lower and offer their OS on non-Apple systems. I really would think Apple software sales would improve for it, probably to the order that they would gain market share like AMD did on Intel. If I wasn't using Linux @ home, OS X would happen before Vista if it was as easy as popping a dvd into the computer to install it.

[PhilJ]

After which they will try to sue everyone else that is using linux...that's the Microsoft way.

Now come on be fair we all know Linus broke into Bill's office and copied his homework

[the.dark.lord]

"THE SHY and retiring, softly-spoken CEO of Microsoft, Steve...."

Yeah, right. Summarizing it to a 'madman' would have been far far better.

[the.dark.lord]

I HATE VISTA,


EDIT: I have just decided to slice my XP partition in half !!

[-X [-X
Don't, there's already too much e-waste, Greenpeace will be after you. ;)

[openix]

Damn Steve, dont you realise there are not many pirates on the sea's these days. Oh well theres always the Royal Navy...

[Kateikyoushi]

I don't think buying new OS was ever really popular especially with the upgrades you have to make to run vista if your machine is few years old. They rather get a new PC sometime with the new OS.

[cantormath]

Ballmer.....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/cantomath/KidFlippingThebird.bmp

Like we would pirate that crap........!

[marx2k]

"We have new technologies built into Windows Vista, something we call Windows Genuine Advantage [that] we've really dialed up in capabilities with the Vista release," he said. "I do think that will bring some revenue growth. We will have strong growth in the Windows business in emerging markets: China, India, Brazil, Russia and many others. Those markets are very high piracy."

Wasnt this part of XP?

[Kateikyoushi]

It came after XP and I think works to some extent, which is the purpose.
Not to make piracy impossible because those would use another OS, just make it a pain and complicated, loose updates etc.

[Daveski]

As with most anti-piracy (or DRM) measures, this won't make the real hardcore pirates stop. It just slows 'casual' pirating, and REALLY annoys more than a few paid-up genuine customers.

[nenyalorien]

ugh. i'm sorry. i will be mean here. i hate it when i read M$ execs claiming that Linux is not less attacked by virii because it's obscure. i hate it when they blame their losses on piracy. the truth it, people pirate their products because:


the license fees are exhorbitant
M$ is a "necessary" evil
people are given bad press about Linux


the rest of the story is that people just don't want to buy vista because M$ keeps upping the ante and requires you to buy more expensive hardware! it is clearly apparent that they are just out to siphon the end-user of ca$h and nothing else. philanthropy be damned. just be ethical, Bull Gates. :p