Vista Named Tech World's Worst 'Fiasco'
By Vladilyich1
@Vladilyich1 (1454)
Canada
March 3, 2009 12:46pm CST
Microsoft's Vista Named Tech World's Worst 'Fiasco'
It's now official: Windows Vista, Microsoft's over-hyped, underachieving operating system took top honors, winning the first-ever Fiasco Award announced in Barcelona, Spain.
The Fiasco Awards consists of a group of people linked to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, which wants to reward the best non-successful projects in the area. (Source: itwire.com)
Out of 6,043 votes, 5,222 were garnered by Windows Vista, beating out other contenders including Google's Lively virtual world, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer, and many others. (Source: sciam.com)
In 2005, Microsoft announced Windows Vista. In January 2007, after a mega public relations blitz, it hit the market. The need for many customers to upgrade their PCs was made less clear upon Window Vista's release.
Compatibility Problems And Difficult Navigation
The Fiasco Awards web site notes that Windows Vista was a) complicated to navigate and b) had significant compatibility problems. Collectively, this led many people to stick with Windows XP. Furthermore, many PC makers recommended that consumers avoid Vista altogether because it was such a failure. (Source: fiascoawards.com)
According to the awards organizers, Microsoft's recent introduction of Windows 7, Vista's successor, indicates that even Microsoft was disappointed with Windows Vista.
The lesson, according to the Fiasco Award web site, is that more testing should be done to check reliability and performance before rolling out major product-marketing campaigns.
Promoting Critical Spirit And a Positive Attitude Towards Failure
The purpose of the Fiasco awards is to "promote critical spirit and a positive attitude towards failure, which is a necessary stage in the road to success," say the awards organizers. (Source: fiascoawards.com)
Steven Sinofsky, senior vice-president for Microsoft Windows and Windows Live engineering group has reportedly admitted that Windows 7 has more than 2,000 bugs. Hopefully Microsoft won't make the cut when the 2010 Fiasco Awards are held. (Source: itwire.com)
2 people like this
4 responses
@zweeb82 (5653)
• Malaysia
10 Mar 09
All my operating systems are Windows XP & I actually discourage my customers / clients to use Vista unless it's a pre-installed thingy that I have not much to say because reinstalling another OS would cost them more money. 2000 bugs & yet they are bragging so much already
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
4 Mar 09
I haven't had that much of a problem using Vista, but then again, I don't do a lot of the stuff that you did when you worked in the office. For my own at home personal use I am doing great with Vista. However, if I was doing something heavier than just at home work, then I'd want to stick with an older program too.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
6 Mar 09
I'm going to have to disagree with their judgment. The OLPC $100 laptop was clearly the biggest fiasco. They lied, claiming they sold millions to developing countries when in fact they've only sold 300,000. They also claimed it would cost $100 to purchase when it actually cost $180 just to BUILD and sold for $400. There was some innovative technology, but now there are far better and more efficient laptops for under $300 so I rate that as the biggest fiasco because they lost money and never even came close to their intended goal.
Vista was a big disappointment, but thanks to Microsoft's policy of forcing it on their users it DID actually make a profit. I also completely disagree with their claim that the soon to be released Windows 7 "proves" Microsoft is giving up on Vista. 2-3 years has generally been their standard period for new releases. Think about it, 95, 97, 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003 (XP x64, that one REALLY flopped), 2005 (XP Media Center), 2007 (Vista).
