WebProNews

Vista is crap, according to a number of users; Google gives over 20,000 results for that exact phrase.  And thanks to Vista, two Gartner analysts have gone so far as to say that Windows is collapsing.

 Neil MacDonald

"For Microsoft, its ecosystem and its customers, the situation is untenable," stated Michael A. Silver and Neil MacDonald at a recent conference.  "Windows as we know it must be replaced."  The next version of Windows is already being discussed, of course, but its release is probably two or more years away.

In the meantime, Microsoft's stuck.  Adoption of Vista has, from any sane point of view, lingered somewhere between "embarrassing" and "terrible."  Numerous pushes to keep XP alive haven't made the situation any better. 

Gregg Keizer reports that the Gartner analysts explained, "Most users do not understand the benefits of Windows Vista or do not see Vista as being better enough than Windows XP to make incurring the cost and pain of migration worthwhile."

For any company with at least a partial alternative to Vista, the analysts' report is great news.  For Microsoft, it should be a serious sign that budgets, teams, and even ways of thinking need to be changed.