For the last few weeks, prior to and after the launch of Microsoft’s Vista Operating System, a lot of friends have been asking me about it. Here are some things I know which I would like to share.
First, is that Vista will be successful, notwithstanding some of the bad coverage that people say. I have been to a number of forums, and many of those who have been giving bad reviews are actually people who have not used the system, but merely reiterating the fears because of something they read or heard about. For February, Microsoft officially reported that over 20 million copies of Vista has been sold. Many of these are of course pent up demand from people who have been waiting for a long time, and many of them are actually tech guarantee promo upgrades – many got the Vista as a free upgrade after they bought windows XP. It was reported that the figure dipped somewhat in March, but that notwithstanding, it is easily predictable that Vista will be in over 100 million computers come end of this year.
A lot of Vista’s criticism centers on compatibility. The compatibility stems from various softwares that are rumored not to run properly. While indeed, there are some, Vista was developed and regularly tested to run in over 2,000 applications, so most of the applications should be without problem. I myself have been working on Vista for some months, and so far, almost all of my applications seems to be running fine. You can check out the applications that are Vista certified in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305. Also, there has been a lot of work done on making more and more applications to run properly, and the latest March 2007 Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update have been released and available as a free download which when installed will fix compatibility issues with dozens of applications that are found to have issues. You can check for the application and updates here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932246
If you are still hesitant, you can of course, still continue to buy windows XP. However, more and more people will slowly migrate to Vista, and it is always good to be prepared. I think this time is similar to the time when Windows 95 was released. That was a major upgrade, and during that time, there were a lot of applications that have issues. Many even rumored to go back to DOS and windows 3.1 in frustration. But as more and more applications were built that was compatible with Windows 95, and people started to see the benefits of it, they did see Windows ‘95 much superior and stable. Now it is the same. Although Vista has many compelling features, it will be a few months when we actually see applications that leverage Vista’s advanced video and embedded application interface when we can finally see the advantage of running Vista.
For now, let me share with you two tips that can maximize your decision. Right now, you can buy either Windows XP, or Vista. But there is a way for you to do it to get your cake and eat it too – many stores still have stock of the old Windows XP with the Vista Guarantee – that means you can buy this Windows XP ( with voucher), and if you buy it before March 31, you can use this voucher to get Vista for free ( you may need to pay approximately around 18 dollars in shipping cost). However, this will allow you to benefit both ways – you can get XP right now, and when you are ready, you can install the Vista without additional cost.
Please note that this is only upto March 31,and after that, you will have to decide since there is no more promo. After that date, you either have to buy XP, or buy Vista.
The other thing you may want to note is that Microsoft launched in March 28 a legalization kit. I will inform you why this is a great offer. Before, when you buy Windows XP professional for instance, the cheapest way to get it ( about 8,000 pesos) is to buy it together with the computer. This is an OEM license, and while it is cheaper, the license is not transferable to another machine, and the only way to get it is when you buy a new computer. If you happen to already have a computer without Windows, the proper way for you to get the license, if you want it legalized was to get Windows XP Pro Full Package which retails around 19,000 pesos.
So many people with illegal copies are stuck. Now, Microsoft has recently launched a promo called Pinoy Genuine Kit, which purpose is to help people with existing software to legalize. What you do is you go to a website (
http://www.microsoft.com/philippines/genuine/) and from the website, you can have it tested whether your copy is genuine or not. If not, you can buy a copy of windows XP Pro for only P7,599 pesos). If you don’t want to go to the hassle of the website, you can also buy that copy from participating Microsoft resellers. However, please note that you are buying windows XP Pro and this has no upgrade to windows Vista, but it is really low price.
Both promos are temporary, and are good ways to get the maximum benefits in licensing and keeping upto date in your software.
Wilson Ng keeps a log of his articles in www.ngkhai.net/bizdrivenlife