Summary: More signs of miserable existence for Windows and Xbox in a highly competitive market

THIS is the latest post among many which help uncover the reality behind Vista 7. We begin with news we alluded to last week, claiming that Microsoft had pulled "Windows 7 Family Pack" and thus made Vista 7 a lot more expensive to people in the United States.

This news is now confirmed [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], which means that Microsoft is making Vista 7 more expensive just before Christmas. The name "Family Pack" has always made it seem like Microsoft is the KFC of cuisine.

Microsoft pulls multi-license discount offer as holiday shopping kicks into gear.

Microsoft already uses the excuse that it "sold out". Well, it doesn't actually need to be manufactured at all, it's just digital licensing. The notion of "sold out" is rather comical in this context.

But anyway, there is even worse stuff when it comes to Vista 7. A few days ago we wrote about compatibility problems, adding a new example to many more that include:

• Signs That Vista 7 -- Like Vista -- Will Pose Compatibility Issues
• Vista 7 Starter Edition Called “Too Wimpy” by IDG, Compatibility Problems Foreseen
• Vista 7 Roundup: Microsoft Admits Upgrade Errors, People Wait for SP1, Compatibility Issues Identified
• Vista 7 -- Just Like Vista -- Incompatible with Vital Services
• Vista 7 Incompatibility Issues, Crashes, and More NPD Lies
• Jerry Seinfeld Dumps Vista, Some Users Prefer Vista Over Vista 7 Because of Incompatibility
• Vista 7 Crashes on Certain Hardware, Stifles Samba Compatibility
• Vista 7 Crashes on Certain Hardware, Stifles Samba Compatibility
• Windows, Cisco Do Not Support Vista 7

Check out this article from CNN. Titled "Windows 7 complaints begin," the article shares some revealing statistics:

A whopping 31% of clients have reported problems with upgrading to Windows 7, according to a recent survey of more than 100,000 customers conducted by consumer helpdesk firm iYogi.

"Windows 7 Complaints Trickling In," argues one blogger in relation to the above.

A recent article from CNNMoney stated that as many as 31% of Windows users have reported problems upgrading to Windows 7. Most of the problems are with the installation and migration of data.

Here is another blogger, expressing his opinion from the eyes of a new GNU/Linux user: "Hands on with Windows 7 - An Ubuntu User's Perspective"

The main draw back/time consumer in setting up Windows verses Ubuntu has not changed any with the release of Windows 7. Drivers are still a must for pretty much any hardware you want to use and to make the operating system useful in the slightlest you need to install additional applications. Resource consumption wise 7 is still a hog by comparison at any given point I seem to be using around 1.3gigs of RAM at the very least and the base install plus my applications (not counting games) took up just over eighteen gigs of space (where is Ubuntu with the same applications runs around two and a half gigs)

Just like Windows Vista, Vista 7 is still riddled with all the same antifeatures, including built-in spyware:

30+ Windows 7 Features Phone Home to Microsoft

Windows 7, just as the vast majority of software products, and certainly Cloud-based applications and services, harvests information from each end user and shares it with the mother company. This is, of course, not new to the latest iteration of Windows, as previous releases of the OS, including Windows Vista and Windows XP were also designed to contact Microsoft servers in order to provide with data gathered from user machines. The Redmond-based company is making no secret of the Windows 7 features that phone home, and, in fact, offers a full, although not exhaustive, disclosure on the Windows 7 Privacy Statement webpage.

Unless people move to GNU/Linux, their privacy will sooner or later be compromised and maybe lost entirely. In China, dissidents are already sent to prison after snoops.

Microsoft has begun another forced upgrade push, pressuring users to move from Windows 2000/XP to Vista 7 (many migrants to Vista 7 are said to be disgruntled Vista users) and not telling them about hidden costs like upgrades of Office and other software that ceases to work. By contrast, with GNU/Linux the upgrades are typically free and quite backward compatible.

Q: Could you tell me if Office 2000 will work with the new Windows 7 operating system?

A: Keeping in mind that Office 2000 is 9 years old and is three versions out of date, you should not be surprised to learn that it is not fully compatible with Windows 7.

Not a problem. Go buy another version of the same software. That's the plan anyhow.

"Microsoft To Kill Windows XP SP2 Support," says this article and IDG reveals that "rather than patch, Microsoft blocks buggy code"

In a rare move, declines to fix multiple flaws in Windows 2000, XP

Microsoft has already refused to patch a Windows XP flaw. It's not an isolated case [1, 2, 3] and Microsoft might be breaking the law (EULA) by refusing to patch Windows 2000.

A couple of years ago we saw Microsoft blocking old Office files rather than resolving the bugs and thus pushing for an unnecessary upgrade. This may as well be a violation of customers' rights. More information can be found here.

"Microsoft Blocks Flaw Rather Than Fix It

Buried within Microsoft's latest batch of bug patches this week was a Security Advisory regarding vulnerabilities in an old Intel video codec (coder/decoder). To be sure, the holes are serious, but Microsoft's way of addressing problems with this particular codec is out of the ordinary.

Rather than patching the 17-year-old software, known as the Indeo codec, Microsoft is instead telling affected users to disable it with either an update or with workarounds.

On a related note, Microsoft is currently suffering from an Xbox flaw and it is banning customers rather than resolve the issue.

Microsoft fixes flaw by punishing users

Software giant Microsoft has come up with a clever solution to a software flaw on its Xbox Live online service. Rather than fixing the mistake in the software of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Redmond has decided that it is better to punish the users who exploit it.

Microsoft should tread carefully because Xbox bans have already led to lawsuits [1, 2, 3]. It turns out that this latest class of bans is temporary.

Microsoft has begun issuing temporary bans to players taking advantage of an exploit in Modern Warfare 2, while Infinity Ward works on a patch to fix the issue. While the servers may be kept slightly cleaner for the efforts, the amount of control Microsoft holds over owners of their consoles, and the arbitrary way they are able to wield it, is troubling.

Microsoft has already lost "this generation's console war" and the losses are staggering. Given the rise of the PlayStation 3 and the new motion controller called “gem”, it is hard to see Microsoft making a splash.

Nowadays, Microsoft is showing more hardware features (that are rarely delivered at all), not software features, even when attempting to sell Vista 7. Nobody among the Microsoft enthusiasts is able to give a compelling reason to adopt Vista 7. It has no significant features that are new, just a lot of hype. ⬆

"Well the initial impression is how much it [Windows 7] looks like Vista. Which I think is…uh…the thing I’m not supposed to say."

--Microsoft Jack Schofield

"My initial evaluation of Windows 7 shows that it's really just Vista with a fresh coat of paint."

--Randall Kennedy, 2008