Summary: 'Ribbons' in Vista 7 and in an increasingly large number of other Microsoft applications already lead to backlash

IT WAS curious to find Mitchell Ashley, a longtime Microsoft blogger and reporter from IDG (creator of the Microsoft Bloggers Network), complaining quite loudly about Microsoft's 'Ribbon' menus.

Everyone wants to take their shot at what's wrong with Microsoft these days so here's mine. Ribbon menus. I've long detested Microsoft's ribbon menu user interface. The biggest issue is what you once knew how to do, you now have to find again (and again). The net gain being a big net loss in productivity. How many of us have spent 2, 3, 5 or even more minutes trying to find some menu item that seems hidden on one of the ribbon tabs. I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud about it, I generally like trying new ideas but ribbon menus and me just don't seem to get along. To add insult to injury, enter Outlook 2010 and Windows 7 Paint.

This is important for the simple reason that Vista 7 will contain more such 'Ribbons'. Those who find the UI in Office 2007 obnoxious will no doubt face the same challenges when Vista 7 makes its way to a more mainstream crowd (it's currently in the hands of Windows enthusiasts for the most part).

The unreliable Windows Vista continues to show that it is not ready for prime time. As Vista 7 is based on Vista and exhibits all the same problems, what does this from the news teach us?

Vista SP2 Fails to Install on Intel x64 Multiple CPUs/Multi-Core CPUs

Microsoft is letting users fend for themselves when Windows Vista Service Pack 2 fails to install on computers running multiple 64-bit Intel processors or a 64-bit Intel multi-core processor, at least for the time being. The Redmond company informed that attempting to deploy the second service pack for Vista or for Windows Server 2008 on top of computers featuring Intel x64 multiple CPUs or multi-Core CPUs results in the following stop error: Stop 0x0000003E. An update was available, designed to resolve the problem, but it was pulled down, because it too caused Vista SP2 to crash with a stop error. Microsoft failed to offer any details on the Intel processors affected.

Helios has chosen to call Windows users "The Charlie Browns of Computing" when promoting GNU/Linux -- a powerful platform which does not conform to the majority.

Every one of those computers have one thing in common...they don't run Microsoft Windows.

They run Linux.

An operating system born from the free spirit of tens of thousands of programmers and contributors all around the globe. Global Enterprises such as RedHat, Suse and Canonical also pay their developers to give us free software. Linux is created by the will of a global community. Many of them are unpaid, doing this work so you CAN have choice in how you operate your computer.

But it's not just John and Jane Computer User that can benefit from Linux.

As we have been stressing right from the start, Vista 7 will not live up to the hype/expectations which Microsoft has been acquiring using money. This will be another huge catalyst for GNU/Linux growth, the previous one being growth in sub-notebooks after Vista had been released. Vista was not suitable for such devices and Vista 7 still is not tolerant of the form factor. ⬆