Was Vista well reviewed before release?

[OZFive]

I am curious, with all the hype about Windows 7 flying around and the expectation that 7 will be the hope for Windows OS after what has widely been acknowledged as a huge loss in Vista.

I for one am hoping it will be good. Not that I am going to use it, but I think that competition is a great motivating factor for improvement and advancement.

So the question. Was Windows Vista this well reviewed or excited by the general communities before it was officially released?

[swoll1980]

All I heard was horrible things about it, even before it's release. If you think this hype about Windows 7 is phony, you should try it out. It's pretty impressive.

[samjh]

Vista had HUGE hype at least two years prior to release. Windows 7 has been very stealthy by comparison.

Keep in mind that Vista was the first brand-new OS release by Microsoft since XP in 2001/2002. Microsoft promised a whole bunch of new stuff for Vista: improved security, new look-and-feel, rararar... Then it failed to deliver what was promised. Beta and RC reviews were mixed.

Windows 7 is purported to be an improvement upon Vista. Let's see.

[I-75]

I am curious, with all the hype about Windows 7 flying around and the expectation that 7 will be the hope for Windows OS after what has widely been acknowledged as a huge loss in Vista.

I for one am hoping it will be good. Not that I am going to use it, but I think that competition is a great motivating factor for improvement and advancement.

So the question. Was Windows Vista this well reviewed or excited by the general communities before it was officially released?

There were many sites that panned Vista, one of them was BadVista. The reviews included complaints of long boot times, some complained of many minutes from pressing the start button to actual desktop. There were numerous posts about hardware incompatibility, the DRM issues, sluggishness.

Windows 7 for the most part has been getting good to excellent reviews. Some have said anything has to be a improvement over Vista. Still the issues remain in the corporate world where some companies cannot afford more ram other upgrades to run 7 properly. Some companies no longer have the budgets for new computers in this economy. Some companies will continue to use XP for another year or two regardless of what MSFT releases.

But for the average computer user, they should be satisfied with 7 from all the reviews and posts that I have read. I wish MSFT nothing but good luck with 7.....they need it.

[CharmyBee]

Vista was basically ME version 2. Though it's a bit unfair to call it that since ME never got better over time. ME still remains as bad as it is in its latest updates.

[monsterstack]

I found a few reviews of the RC, Beta and final releases from around that time. Here is what I found!

Gary Krackow from MSNBC hated it (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12932382/). [msnbc.msn.com]
These chaps don't like it much either (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9000829). [computerworld.com]
The sheer enormity of the thing prompted this guy to run a detailed analysis of it (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-vista,1261.html). [tomshardware.com]
This guy was positive about the actual release (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista.asp) and the beta too. (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_rc1.asp) [winsupersite.com]
So was this guy, in a rather lengthy review. (http://www.osnews.com/story/16620) [osnews.com]


From the rather less generally tech-related press, however, the outlook was a bit more positive:

The BBC thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6160327.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They really thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6198121.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They really really thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6199396.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They're the Vista fanclub (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6158719.stm)! [bbc.co.uk]

The Guardian reports look rather silly things about Vista when looked at three years on (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/nov/30/guardianweeklytechnologysection1). Although some of their columnists grumbled about liberty issues (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1934022,.html). [guardian.co.uk]

This chap from the New York Times has a rather balanced view of the new Vista. Likes the prettiness, doesn't like the driver hell (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/technology/14pogue.html?ex=1323752400&en=1cde0d24860d1fac&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss). [nytimes.com]

As for Ubuntuers, I'll (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-264455.html) just (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=253885&page=81) leave (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-248301.html) these (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=205852) here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=296188).

[Giant Speck]

Vista didn't have hype; Longhorn did. It wasn't until Microsoft scrapped Longhorn and began developing Vista that the positive reviews began to retreat.

[myusername]

i personally tried the early longhorn builds and they were amazing. but then they dropped it completely and in came vista.
Longhorn was tested for 5 years and was becoming stable
Vista was tested 1 year.
I miss longhorn...

[LightB]

I would say that it's a strange dynamic because the hype is basically the same, but this time around it's fueled by desperate disappointment so Windows 7 looks like a savior to some, although it's rather tame and late to the party.

[LightB]

i personally tried the early longhorn builds and they were amazing. but then they dropped it completely and in came vista.
Longhorn was tested for 5 years and was becoming stable
Vista was tested 1 year.
I miss longhorn...

This is nuts... Vista is Longhorn with failed features cut. They will probably also change the name of Windows 7. Maybe Windows 7.1.

[MikeTheC]

Vista was originally hyped to be the Second Coming of Christ.

By the time it was released, all that was left was the mound of dirt and the hole where the crosses were supposed to go. And one of those was only half-dug.

Seriously, it was supposed to be the answer to every possible thing PC users were "missing" with XP, and an answer to all the bragging that Apple was doing with their OS. One can judge, but I'd say Vista never even came close, other than if you count further restricting users as an improvement in security.

[myusername]

no. for the most part vista is completely different. longhorn may have been vistas codename but from an OS point of view it was completely different. go and take a look at the 3xxx builds versus vista today

[LightB]

no. for the most part vista is completely different. longhorn may have been vistas codename but from an OS point of view it was completely different. go and take a look at the 3xxx builds versus vista today

Those builds were sketches. They were a stone throw away from plain mockups. Nothing really usable there, esp. towards the intended promises.

[gn2]

From the rather less generally tech-related press, however, the outlook was a bit more positive:

The BBC thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6160327.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They really thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6198121.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They really really thought so (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6199396.stm). [bbc.co.uk]
They're the Vista fanclub (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6158719.stm)! [bbc.co.uk]

Those link to impartial reports of announcements.
Totally different picture emerges once BBC staff had "hands on" experience.
Again, unbiased and impartial factual reporting:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2007/02/an_open_letter_to_bill_gates.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6407419.stm

[Orlsend]

I remembered only bad things about, even before released. although the people just ignored because they were craving for something new.

[OZFive]

All I heard was horrible things about it, even before it's release. If you think this hype about Windows 7 is phony, you should try it out. It's pretty impressive.

I did not mean it as in hype = bad things I just meant it in a term to convey the excitement and enthusiasm people are having for the product. As in Windows 7 could or could not live up to the hype being generated about it. I have seen a lot of positive things, it is just why I am curious.

Now I am also wondering, based upon the responses here from when Longhorn became Vista and a lot of options were stripped out.... Is there a possibility that Microsoft might do this again? I know it is a RC and that is usually the point where the dev slows down to tweaking out the issues that pop up....

But what do you think the possibilities that MS might do this again with "7" and strip out some of the options or change things that the public wants but MS has a reason for doing so they think is beneficial?

[Giant Speck]

Now I am also wondering, based upon the responses here from when Longhorn became Vista and a lot of options were stripped out.... Is there a possibility that Microsoft might do this again? I know it is a RC and that is usually the point where the dev slows down to tweaking out the issues that pop up....

The Longhorn that people were raving so much about died right around the time when Microsoft renamed the project Vista in early 2005, before the release of Vista Beta 1. This was also around the same time when the Aero interface was introduced.

The development of Windows 7 hasn't seen such a drastic change in development, and it is already in release candidate stage.