Bonum Certa Men Certa

Vista 7: The Illusion Finally Breaks

Vista 7



Summary: Bad news for Vista 7 and more new stories that resemble what happened to Windows Vista

THIS IS A SUBJECT THAT Techrights has dedicated nearly 100 posts to. The reality behind Vista 7 was never the same as perceived reality that PR had generated and spread. It was important for this Web site to present the facts rather than the advertisements/guerrilla marketing and also expose the machinations responsible for alteration of public perception.



Vista 7 was named "a year old" a small number of weeks ago. How has it done so far? It depends on who you ask. Microsoft is determined to push its latest version of anything, so to Microsoft it is extremely important that people follow the herd under the assumption that this herd is happy with the latest change. For the first time in many years Windows was advertised heavily on television and the phrase "I'm a PC" was a common one in use.

Based on this report, the Vista 7 "I'm a PC" man has quit Microsoft. Here are the details:

Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” bloke is reportedly leaving the software maker.

According to an email, seen by SeattlePI.com, Sean Siler has quit the company for personal reasons, after five years of service.


This was also covered by Microsoft blogs [1, 2] which contain departure messages. It's quite a loss to no longer have somewhat of a mascot amid these Microsoft ads which pretend there are only two sides (Apple and Microsoft) and there's plenty of humour about those ads, too.

What we are seeing here resembles what happened with Vista, which initially sold better than Vista 7 by the way. It took about a year for Vista's top people -- including key marketing people (the public figures who defended Vista) -- to call it a day and run away from Microsoft. We covered these at the time.

“Sales of Vista 7 have been far from spectacular, but Microsoft keeps boasting some fake numbers...”What's the deal with Vista anyway? Well, in our daily links last night we cited an example of people who got 'burned' by Vista and therefore are moving to GNU/Linux, rather than pay Microsoft again for a fix of Vista. The operating system known as Vista is a key factor in migrations to Vista 7. Many Vista users are migrating to Vista 7, whereas XP refuses to die because Vista 7 hardly has anything superior that's of practical value. Ask any Microsoft booster what new features will be made available for Vista 7 and struggle to get a good answer. Not much has changed. As for Vista, we've looked at heaps of Microsoft news going back to October and amongst about 7,000 headlines from the past 2.5 months only one contained substring "Vista" and it's about "enVista". In other words, Vista is no longer in the news. It's gone, it's finished. But some people bought it at the time, foolishly thinking it would stay relevant and supported.

Sales of Vista 7 have been far from spectacular, but Microsoft keeps boasting some fake numbers (fake for reasons we explained before, including fake numbers at the SEC) and this one analyst says that GNU/Linux in the form of Chrome OS "will bury Windows", to use the headline from The Inquirer which says: "He predicts that the free Chrome OS will displace the Vole's Windows OS on netbooks. This implies that Microsoft will be forced to give away its flagship desktop operating system for free in order to support sales of its other products, like Office."

Microsoft is reportedly engaging in patent racketeering [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] against Chrome OS. It uses threats of litigation against Taiwanese companies that plan to sell it. Hail the 'free' market, eh? The "invisible hand" is invisible because it does not exist. Here is one report about it -- one that we have not referenced before:

Microsoft is apparently planning on using royalty fees on smartphone technologies in an attempt to persuade Acer, ASUS and other netbook manufacturers to stick with Windows and bypass Android and Google Chrome OS on netbooks and tablets, according to sources in Taipei. DigiTimes claims that Microsoft is threatening to charge manufacturers for using its patented tech – including email and multimedia systems – as with their agreement with HTC, with fees amounting to around $10-15 per handset.


"Microsoft accused of doing evil in Taiwan" says the headline from a British news site:

The first target for the Imperium is Acer and Asustek and the big idea is to stop them from adopting Android and Chrome OS for their netbook and tablet PCs, Digitimes claims.

So far only HTC has signed for licensed use of Microsoft patents, leaving Acer and Asustek the targets for the royalty charge.


In Korea itself (a neighbour of Taiwan, but much further south) it's a mess for anybody who does not use Windows because of Microsoft ActiveX lock-in which we covered here before. "Microsoft monoculture hurts tablet users" says this headline from the Korea Times. The Inquirer alleges that Microsoft will charge royalty fees in Taiwan while trying to legitimise software patents in Korea, destabilising the region's independence (Samsung and LG, which are based in Korea, already pay Microsoft for Linux, since 2007 in fact. In Japan, software patents are legal). The reports are being denied by ASUS, but there is no word from Acer.

Rumors continue to swirl about behind-the-scenes royalty agreements in the netbook and tablet PC industries that could have adverse effects on future product lineups. The latest: a new DigiTimes article says that Microsoft is planning to charge Taiwan-based vendors Acer and AsusTek royalty fees for devices that don't run a Microsoft-based operating system. So far, AsusTek has already denied the charges.

The DigiTimes report says Microsoft is claiming the fees are for using its various e-mail and multimedia-related patents, but that the effective result would Acer and AsusTek shying away from adopting Google's Android or Chrome OS on netbook and tablet PCs.


This is all relevant to Vista 7 because it's notoriously 'fat' (resources-wise) and this is hurting it a lot in new form factors such as ultralight tablets. The Bangkok Post calls Microsoft "an unfamiliar underdog" in tablets, for example.

We both wanted to like the Windows 7 tablet, to cheer on the underdog and the little guy, even if he is from Redmond. I came away wondering. It was a case where the whole just did not add up to the sum of the parts.


Even CNN mocks/belittles Microsoft's chances in this area. Don't be fooled by CES hype.

Further on this subject, Microsoft's notorious booster Rob Enderle (who is paid by Microsoft) already smears Chrome OS again, in order to advance Microsoft's agenda. In his blog he keeps using the patent FUD, just as he used the SCO FUD for many years. And it turns out that ECT now accepts not just Enderle as a writer but also SCO booster Laura DiDio from the Yankee Group. She writes about Vista 7's first birthday at times when Microsoft is preparing a fix for it (because it's broken, of course).

“And it turns out that ECT now accepts not just Enderle as a writer but also SCO booster Laura DiDio from the Yankee Group.”Going back to the issue of poor Vista 7 adoption, IDG says that enterprises promise to run Windows XP even after its retirement. Yes, poor adoption of Vista 7 in business and in general is a subject that we covered here before and IE6 is part of the problem. "Companies Enslaved to IE6 in No Hurry to Upgrade to Windows 7" says the headline of that latter article and "Microsoft's 'China problem' means IE6 lives on" is the headline from IDG, which adds: "A Microsoft executive's self-described job of driving Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) into extinction will be difficult unless he can move Chinese users off the aged browser."

The other day we wrote about the "dipping" lawsuit which may questionably enter "class action" status. It's a lawsuit against Vista 7, which has formally entered the courthouse and is now covered by some corporate media sites and tabloids like The Register.

A California woman whose lawsuit against Microsoft was dismissed earlier this year has again sued the company over "downgrade" rights to the nine-year-old Windows XP, according to federal court documents.

The complaint filed by Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado last week accused Microsoft of breaking California's unfair business practice and restraint of trade laws by requiring customers to purchase a copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7 if they want to downgrade to the older Windows XP.


Mr. Pogson had this to say about the lawsuit:

Emma Alvarado sued M$ in 2009 over the silly and costly XP “downgrades” for people buying PCs that came with Vista. The court disallowed class action and eventually ruled that M$ had not been shown to profit from the practice. Perhaps the dog ate the money but M$ and its partners never do anything without raking in huge amounts of cash.

She is tenacious and is suing again on more limited grounds, California law, which may better protect the consumer.


Finally, let us not be deceived by advertising in the form of press releases. Windows in general is collapsing based on different criteria and another trick for having one sale of Vista 7 count as several reached its end of life about 4 days ago [1, 2, 3], which ought to make it harder for Microsoft to manipulate future figures (expect Microsoft not to say much about it anymore).

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
 
Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025
Techrights Has Dealt With More Potent SLAPPs Than Violent Microsofters Begging to Hide What They Did to Women
I became accustomed to SLAPPs
Links 04/04/2025: Fury in South Korea, Flight MH370 Remains Mystery
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Anger and Raspberry Pi CM4
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2025: LLM Slop Bubble Bursting and Korea Music Copyright Association Bans Slop 'Music'
Links for the day
Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses
Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding)
verified press reports from the past 24 hours
A Note on SimilarWeb
Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low
GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags
A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control)
Links for the day
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day