So, I agree with this. But you can’t fight perception. And in the eyes of much of the world, Vista is as tainted as Windows Me or Microsoft Bob. And that’s a shame. Because anyone getting excited over Windows 7 needs to understand that that OS is, in fact, Windows Vista 1.1. Which is fine. But it will always be amazing to me how people can respond to the same basic thing differently when you simply rename it (Mojave) or rejigger it in fairly minor ways (Windows 7). Anyhoo…
Microsoft's lousy Q2 is due to economic turmoil and flagging PC sales
Here's why I'm telling you this: Some analysts and even a news story here at Infoworld.com are blaming Vista for Microsoft's crummy second quarter and subsequent layoffs.
As much as I wish the folks in Redmond had done a better job building that dog of an OS -- and let us keep XP -- Vista is not to blame. As Bill Clinton used to say, it's the economy, stupid.
Sales aren't off because buyers don't like Vista. Although I usually stay away from generalizing much from my personal experiences in the technology market, in this case, I'd say that my decision not to buy a new PC is probably right in line with that of many other non-buyers. Money is tight these days, and the flavor of the OS has nothing to do with it. Indeed, Mac sales are off as well, and we don't hear lots of complaints about OS X.
Having said that, I believe that if Vista had been a more successful product, PC sales would have been stronger soon after the OS debuted a few years ago. But had that sales surge come about, it would have flattened out by now.
The overall math is simple. Sales in the client division, which includes Windows, were off 8.1 percent while sales in the business division, which includes Office, were up just a bit: 1.3 percent. And since Windows and Office are the company cash cows, the quarter stank.
See the numbers for yourself.
There’s more, about netbooks mostly, and it’s all pretty obvious, but worth reading. Check it out.