Windows 7apouware: is it out yet?

Vista 7, the mythical operating system that won't be out until 2010 at the earliest, is being marketed by a fleet of bribed bloggers, who are biased by selection and by design.

It's Very Slow and Heavy

There are finally some proper benchmarks of Vista 7 which, as expected, performs as though it's just another Vista.

But after the stage props came down, and after the projectors finally went cold, attendees were left with a pre-beta copy of something that looked less like a new OS than the repackaging of an old one. At least that was my impression after I started exploring the Windows 7 M3 (Milestone 3) bits that came on my shiny new 160GB Western Digital USB hard disk (one of the better tchotchkes I've received at a conference). As I reported on my Enterprise Desktop blog, the more I dug into Windows 7, the more I saw an OS that looked and felt like a slightly tweaked version of Windows Vista.

[...]

Just what was so new about Microsoft's next Windows, apart from a rejuggled UI? Windows 7 appeared to suck memory like Vista, to consume CPU like Vista, and to have the same consumer focus. How would this product be received by enterprise customers, the vast majority of whom had soundly rejected its predecessor? After all, if Vista wasn't good enough for big business, then surely a Vista-derived encore would meet with a similarly chilly reception.

[...]

Otherwise, Windows 7 operates much like Vista. There are subtle visual tweaks here and there, but nothing on the level of the dramatic XP-to-Vista transition. Ironically, Vista users may be more annoyed by the UI changes than users coming from XP. Because the Windows 7 and Vista Aero experiences are so similar, seasoned users of Vista will be more likely to look in the wrong places for common functions. By contrast, XP users won't be burdened with now-outdated Aero navigation skills.

This report/benchmark is already making the rounds.

InfoWorld claims early Windows 7 benchmarking show it to be virtually identical to Windows Vista in terms of bloat and to have several noticeable compatibility hang-ups.

It is important to shatter the myths created by Microsoft marketers because they elevate people's expectations, in hope of "freezing the market" (see quote at the bottom) based on wrong assumptions and disinformation.

It's a "Big Lie"

SJVN has just published a couple of mini articles about Vista 7, one called "The big Windows 7 lie" and another called "The Next Windows: 7Up or New Vista?"

From the latter:

All things considered, I'd rather stick with my Linux desktops and Mac OS X. Windows 7 looks to be better than Vista right now, but no one knows when it will actually arrive , and in the meantime, I have work to do. But the fact is, like New Coke back in its day, my first taste of Vista SE is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

It Got the MSBBC Under Fire

It was only 2 days ago that we wrote about the BBC's relationship with Microsoft. The BBC is funded by taxpayers, but it helps promote a convicted monopolist, which also seems to share senior staff. Many taxpayers are unhappy with the BBC. Its advertising of Microsoft technologies and even of Microsoft traps was a step too far, so a formal complaint has just been filed, specifically addressing the BBC's promotion of the non-existent Vista 7.

“The OSC has again had to remind the BBC News Unit that the 3-minute item appeared to be a sales presentation rather than the news review that the BBC claim it was, since the product [Windows 7] itself is not expected by its vendor to be fully defined and released for at least 2 years,” it said.

Kelly Fiveash claims the the OSC "got its facts wrong about when Windows 7 is supposed to land," but Kelly sure knows nothing about Microsoft's "freeze the market" tactics and repeated delays, as demonstrated by Vista (formerly Longhorn) that arrives over 3 years later than promised and delivered almost nothing that was promised. ⬆

"The purpose of announcing early like this is to freeze the market at the OEM and ISV level. In this respect it is JUST like the original Windows announcement...

"One might worry that this will help Sun because we will just have vaporware, that people will stop buying 486 machines, that we will have endorsed RISC but not delivered... So, Scott, do you really think you can fight that avalanche?"

--Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft