Reception
Businesses’ intended purchase rates and satisfaction ratings for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Mac OS X Leopard, based on information from ChangeWave collected in February 2008[95]
Initially it was thought that the adoption of Vista has been generally low, due to largely poor reviews and harsh criticism, but a later Gartner research report predicted that Vista business adoption in 2008 will actually beat that of XP during the same time frame (21.3% vs. 16.9%)[96] while IDC had indicated that the launch of Windows Server 2008 served as a catalyst for the stronger adoption rates.[97][98] As of January 2009, Forrester Research had indicated that almost one third of North American and European corporations have started deploying Vista.[99] Earlier, PC World rated it as the biggest tech disappointment of 2007,[100] and it was rated by InfoWorld as #2 of Tech’s all-time 25 flops.[101] The internet-usage market share for Windows Vista, taking the latest statistic, was 22.48% as of January 2009.[102] This figure combined with World Internet Users and Population Stats yields a user base of roughly 350 million[12] which exceeded Microsoft’s two-year post launch expectations by 150 million.[10]
Within its first month, 20 million copies of Vista were sold, double the amount of Windows XP sales within its first month in October 2001, five years earlier.[103] In China, only 244 genuine retail copies were sold within the first two weeks, leading authorities to believe that software piracy left many copies unaccounted for.[104][105] However, PC World indicated that the visitor base of Windows Vista was increasing at a much slower rate compared to that of Windows XP. Within the first year of its release, the percentage of Windows XP users visiting PC World’s website reached 36%; in the same time frame, however, Windows Vista visitors reached only 14%, with 71% of users still running XP.[106] In November 2006, PC World had expected the overall first-year adoption rate to be 15% (vs. 12-14% for XP).[107] Due to Vista’s relatively low adoption rates and continued demand for Windows XP, Microsoft continued to sell Windows XP until June 30, 2008 instead of the previously planned date of January 31, 2008.[108] There were reports of Vista users downgrading their operating systems, as well as reports of businesses planning to skip Vista.[109][110] A study conducted by ChangeWave in March 2008 showed that the percentage of corporate users who are “very satisfied” with Vista was dramatically lower than other operating systems, with Vista at 8%, compared to the 40% who said they were “very satisfied” with Windows XP.[9]
Although business adoption of Vista has been far higher than Apple or Linux platforms, it has been slower than expected; while businesses do tend to delay upgrading their operating systems, there have been reports that Vista is installed on considerably fewer enterprise PCs than previously projected.[111] According to InformationWeek, in December 2006, 6% of business enterprises were expected to employ Vista within the first year, yet as of October 2007, only about 1% of enterprise PCs were actually using Vista.[112] While a large number of businesses had bought early-adopter licenses to run Windows Vista, many of these companies delayed deployment.[113]
There have been a number of organizations who have denounced Vista due to its problems. For example, in October 2007, The Dutch Consumers’ Association called for a boycott of Windows Vista after Microsoft refused to offer free copies of Windows XP to users who had problems with Vista.[114]
Amid the negative reviews and reception, there have also been significant positive reviews of Vista, most notable among PC gamers and the advantages brought about with DirectX 10, which allows for better gaming performance and more realistic graphics, as well as support for many new capabilities brought about in new video cards and GPUs.[115] However, many DirectX 9 games showed a drop in frame rate compared to that experienced in Windows XP.[116][117][118] These results were largely the consequence of Vista’s immature graphics processing units drivers, and higher system requirements for Vista itself.[119][120] Recent benchmarks suggest that, as of mid-2008, Vista SP1 is now on par with Windows XP in terms of game performance.[121] A February 2009 survey by Valve Corporation indicated that 36.01% of gamers are running Windows Vista (26.49% 32-bit, 9.52% 64-bit).[122]
On February 29, 2008, Microsoft announced that it will lower the price of the Vista operating system sold at retail outlets in order to aid in its adoption.[123] These price cuts only apply to the retail versions sold in shops, which account for less than 10% of total Vista sales. Vista Ultimate, for example, will see a 20% drop in its price, from US$399 to $319.[124]
On July 17, 2008, Microsoft announced that it had sold 180 million licenses,[125] which would amount to between 36 and 57 billion dollars in gross retail sale price using February 29, 2008 price tags of the various versions. Initial development of the software was claimed to be 6 billion dollars. However, according to HP, Microsoft’s sales figures include business systems that ship with Vista licences but are “downgraded” and preloaded with XP.[126][127]
On July 30, 2008, Microsoft indicated that Vista appears to be causing a shift in the PC industry from 32-bit to 64-bit. The installed base of 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, had more than tripled in the United States in the previous three months, while worldwide adoption had more than doubled during the same period. Another view showed that 20% of new Windows Vista PCs in the United States connecting to Windows Update in June were 64-bit PCs, up from 3% in March. Microsoft stated that the falling price of RAM and increased use of multitasking are benefits from SuperFetch, which accelerates performance with the installation of more RAM allowed 64-bit editions of Windows Vista.[128] This has also been confirmed by Brad Brooks in an interview on October 13, 2008.[129]
[edit] Competition with Windows XP
In July 2008, according to a marketing manager working for HP Australia, Windows XP was still being chosen over Windows Vista for the majority of business computer sales. As all customers of OEM versions of Vista Business and Ultimate are eligible for a free downgrade to Windows XP Professional,[130] these Windows XP licenses are sold as Vista Business licenses, thus increasing Vista’s sales figures.[131] Some computer manufacturers have chosen to ship Windows XP restore disks along with new computers with Vista Business and Ultimate editions pre-installed,[132] as well as new computers with XP instead of Vista.
By February, 2009, more than two years after Vista’s release, its uptake among corporations was below 10%.[133]
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