More Ammo for the Lonely Vista Lover
Make no bones about it, I think I'm slowly declaring my own personal battle to convince the world of Vista's value in the business network. So many public outlets for IT news spend too much time prognosticating on Vista's inadequacies, that someone needs to champion its benefits.
Following on from my earlier MCPmag.com quickTIP column Standing Tall on My Vista Soapbox, I pen a second column attempting to talk directly to the Vista hater's most common misconceptions. With a lot of Vista haters out there, this group I still find is working with incorrect information.
So, this week's quickTIP is Breaking Three Vista Myths. In this piece, I attempt to knock down three of the biggest arguments against Vista.
Click past the fold for a look at those three myths and my counter-arguments...
XP is Better Because XP is FasterEvery Microsoft operating system released to date has, in many ways, underperformed the OS it replaces. Windows XP was slower than Windows 98. Windows 2003 was slower than Windows 2000. Vista is most definitely slower than Windows XP.
But all of these comparisons are done using today's hardware. OSs are designed to be long-lasting software entities in a hardware world bound by Moore's Law. Some of today's desktop computers have a hard time swallowing Vista's hardware requirements, while at the same time they run Windows XP with great performance. But Windows XP was released in 2001, then designed to push the envelope for the hardware of 2001. Moore's Law has struck five times since then, doubling computing power every time. We'll see the same story with this release as well.
Heck, if XP is better than Vista because it's faster, then the argument holds that Windows ME is even better still!
Vista Causes Application Conflicts
In a way, this argument is partially true, but for all the right reasons. Prior to Vista and unlike virtually every other modern day OS, Windows was unique in that drivers and applications enjoyed direct kernel access (also referred to as "Ring 0"). This direct access brought about great levels of application compatibility, but at the cost of system security and stability. Vista removes that direct access and, as a result, many applications and virtually every driver broke and required redevelopment.It is because of this change that Vista's initial release found many application conflicts. Some remain today. But where end users see broken applications, Vista's kernel sees improved security, a lessened need for patches over time, and improved reliability as poorly written applications are less likely to take down the entire system.
Vista Provides No Compelling Features to Drive an Upgrade
While Vista's outward benefits may be hard to locate for the end user, its improvements to manageability and security make it a compelling upgrade.Vista adds enhanced firewall capabilities that make firewall use both on and off the domain operationally feasible. Advanced firewalling implementations such as Domain and Server Isolation and Network Access Protection are also now within the realm of possibility. Vista increases by over 40 percent the number of elements manageable through Group Policy. It adds more layers of protection for Internet Explorer through Windows Integrity Control. Above all, it aids your vision during troubleshooting through its enhancements to the Event Log, Memory Diagnostic Tools and Reliability & Performance Monitor, all the while speeding your ability to repair faults through its WinPE-based installation.
Read the full article and share your comments at: http://mcpmag.com/columns/columnist.asp?ColumnistsID=43
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Comments
Technology is great, when it's necessary, but simply asked, "What was wrong with Windows XP Pro in the business world?". Not, "What is right or wrong with Vista?". Microsoft should just put out fluffy versions for the home/gamer/geek(like me) user, that has to have the "Latest and Greatest". The business world should not HAVE TO upgrade untill it's absolutely necessary for them!
Posted by: Brett Pierce | May 23, 2008 2:31 PM
I agree on so many levels, and think that Microsoft could have put less effort into making the experience "pretty". However, Vista does have some compelling business justifications that make it a worthwile upgrade. Not the least of which is its improved security posture, which directly impacts uptime (and thus worker productivity). Unfortunately, that security story isn't being heard over the uproar over its other elements. I'm in the process now of developing a better argument that's linked to the business justification. Watch this space for more as I hone my side of the story.
Posted by: Greg Shields | May 23, 2008 3:10 PM