Summary: Vista 7 is plagued by serious bugs and new patches from Microsoft are said to be making things even worse; Microsoft is still unable to formulate a response to the new problems and Vista 7 sales continue to disappoint, so more vapourware and fake "leaks" are being used instead

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HE reality behind Vista 7 continues to move along the lines that we have expected. It is beginning to look more and more like Vista as the weeks go by. Hundreds of millions of dollars in brainwash budget are running out and with this depletion, so does Microsoft's ability to gag critics or overwhelm them with a bunch of fluff (distraction amid blunders using new announcements).

Today we will show that Microsoft faces new PR gaffes and at the same time it's pressing ahead, resorting to fantasy (new projects or versions that will supposedly fix everything).

As we pointed out some months ago, Acer saw disappointing sales of computers after the release of Vista 7. A week and a half ago we saw Microsoft's poor results that it faked with spin [1, 2, 3, 4]. It was all geared towards hyping up Vista 7, but according to the Wall Street Journal, "Windows 7 Fails to Boost Profits of PC Makers"

Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows 7 operating system has fattened the company's earnings and boosted personal-computer sales at retailers like Best Buy Co. But it hasn't increased the profits of PC giants Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and others.

PC makers -- unlike Microsoft -- did not use deferral tricks to deceive their shareholders. Let's face it. Vista 7 does not sell well and we keep seeing news reports about it. Microsoft has enough gullible journalists out there who are willing to corner and scare away the truth. That's a huge failure of the media. Over at Groklaw, Pamela Jones wrote: "If you look closer, you see that this is consumers buying new computers. Their first chance to escape Vista. Not much of a choice of operating systems at the Best Buys of the world. But business sales are down, ditto XBox and Zune. It's all in how you read and then spin the rest, I gather."

Take their fan Savitz for example. He is still pumping Microsoft [1, 2], which makes one wonder if what he's doing is legal. He and Barron's (whom he writes for) seem to serve a role as Microsoft's cheerleader, still. Goldman Sachs [1, 2] is also right there alongside Microsoft. That's just how the analysts (speculators) industry works. Dennis Kucinich did an excellent job exposing it.

Going back to the main issue, Vista 7 is overrated because of PR (Vista was roughly the same in its early days, in least in terms of perception). Now we know that Vista 7 is a "battery killer" [1, 2, 3] and Microsoft is unable to deny the problem. Even Mary Jo Foley is left speechless.

But wait. That's just the beginning of it. According to SoftPedia, Vista 7 suffers from "USB Data Transfer Issues on PCs with NVIDIA USB EHCI Chipsets":

Microsoft has made available for download two updates designed to resolve issues related to data transfer failures in computers running Windows 7. According to the Redmond company, machines with Windows Server 2008 R2 can also be impacted by problems involving failed transfers of information over USB. However, the company underlined that customers must have computers with a specific hardware configuration in order for such issues to occur. The software giant explained that machines equipped with an NVIDIA USB EHCI chipset and at least 4GB of RAM were prone to problems when end users moved data over USB.

Those who bought Vista 7 (or had it forced upon them with a new computer) are part of the experiment. Here is what happened next:

1. Windows 7 has stability issues

One of the stability updates, KB977074, has been found to be responsible for compromising the stability of the operating system. Oh, the irony.

The update was one of many issued by Microsoft for Windows 7 just two weeks ago and the stability concerns have been highlighted by some annoyed forum members in a thread on the Vole's Technet.

2. Windows 7 stability update makes PCs unstable, users report

Some Windows 7 users have reported that their PCs started to freeze or randomly display the infamous "Blue screen of death" after applying a January update Microsoft billed as a stability and reliability fix.

Microsoft today said it doesn't consider the problem a "major issue," but acknowledged it's investigating.

As first noticed by Ars Technica, a short thread on Microsoft's Windows 7 support forum discusses the update, which Microsoft issued two weeks ago, on Jan. 25.

Microsoft Emil (of Ars Technica) is speechless. He and Microsoft do not know how to defend themselves or spin themselves out of this hole. The response from a regular troll who defends Microsoft is that “it's not major”.

For Windows 7 customers don’t worry though, as some Microsoft advocates like to say “It will be better next time” So just hang on, then dig deep when Windows 8 is released.

What a mess!

Here is what another notable blogger had to say a week and a half ago. He said that "Windows 7 Is Frustrating":

I fired up a PC I haven’t used in a while, expecting to have to sit through the mind-numbing Windows Update parade. What I was confronted with was worse than that, as the computer refused to boot properly. I found myself staring at the window above, telling me that something was wrong and asking if I wanted Windows 7 to fix itself. I told it yes and the fun began.

It sat and did something, I don’t know what but the hard disk was thrashing, for a good while. Eventually it indicated it needed to restore the system to an earlier point, so I said yes. This fired off another seemingly endless process that eventually required a reboot.

Yes, join the experiment (Mojave, anyone?). Vista 7 is still messy, which is why almost no businesses actually adopt it. There is already a Windows exodus. In the words of Mary Jo Foley (who comments on Mike Nash quitting):

With Nash’s departure, all of the top Windows marketing leaders who were part of the Windows Business Group created under Veghte three years ago — Mike Sievert, Will Poole, Joe Peterson and Nash — are now gone from the company

And indeed, Microsoft has already begun talking about its Vista 8 vapourware. We are seeing more of the (probably fake) "leak" that we mentioned before [1, 2, 3]. Microsoft must have created some gossip about a "roadmap", labeling it a "leak". This leads to excitement for some, even though it's nothing but a name. "No Telling How Windows 8 Will Be Better than Windows 7," says SoftPedia.

These are probably all fake leaks. Groklaw said that the recent "leak" of Windows Mobile 6.5 SDK was probably also intentional. "This happens so regularly," she said,"that one has to ask: is it accidental?" There is one new "leak" for the mobile version of Windows too, not just the SDK [1, 2] (Windows Mobile 7 "concepts"). They try to hype up a dying platform, even though developers are clearly walking away (we showed this before).

Microsoft is charging Windows Mobile developers indefinitely more than Apple and Google

Can you believe that? Market share of Windows Mobile is sinking like Titanic, and competitors have tens of thousands of apps (compared to less than one thousand in Windows Mobile app store), plenty of which are not available at all (!) for Windows Mobile, and what is Microsoft doing?

Microsoft is charging Windows Mobile developers indefinitely more than Apple and Google as you can see in this comparison...

Some journalists have blamed Windows Mobile for HTC's poor performance (HTC is only gradually moving to Linux/Android). Microsoft Emil makes a suggestion identical to one which we saw 2 weeks ago, namely the use of anti-standards (Silverlight) to advance Microsoft's own mobile platform. what a preposterous and unethical idea.

Here is another fake "leak", this one involving Office 2010, which is said to have been "Released by Accident" (to generate a lot of buzz over this version). Joe Wilcox, formerly the editor of Microsoft Watch, says that "Microsoft Office is obsolete, or soon will be" (that's the headline he uses).

I'll ask upfront: Do you really need Microsoft Office on a daily basis? Is Office vital to your work day? Do you use it at home? If you use it at work, how often? If you use it at home or for college, how often? Please respond in comments.

My answers are easy. I don't use Office at all. The software isn't installed on my laptop.

This is the number one cash cow of Microsoft, whose numbers keep decreasing. No wonder Microsoft relies on obviously and embarrassingly fake "leaks" of Office.

Apple uses the same tactics of fake "leaks" and Microsoft's former AstroTurfer Don Dodge [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], is sidling with Macs now [1, 2]. It just comes to show how badly Windows is really doing.

For those who are still using the RC of Vista 7, be prepared for Microsoft's remote kill switches [1, 2] to kick in. Here is how Microsoft treats volunteer testers of its proprietary software:

● Windows 7 RC nears auto-shutdown deadline, Microsoft warns

● Running Windows 7 RC? Prepare for Shutdowns

● Windows 7 RC 'buy a copy' shut downs start next month

● Microsoft Windows 7 RC Goes Into Reduced Functionality Mode On 15th Of February

● Microsoft warns of Windows 7 RC cut off

Although the Windows 7 RC officially expires 1 June, users will be hit with bi-hourly shutdowns from 1 March, making it impractical for day-to-day use.

Considering all the major bugs in Vista 7 (RTM), there is still a lot of testing to be done. But Microsoft says that the next version of Windows will fix everything. It promises, as usual. ⬆

"[W]e're not going to have products that are much more successful than Vista has been."

--Steve Ballmer