In a word: Yes.
eWeek suggests Microsoft consider taking a page out of Apple’s playbook with the Vista launch.
To explain: When Mac OS X came out many years ago, Apple put both OS X and OS 9 on all of its computers, and OS 9 was the default operating system.
Apple did this for two reasons: OS X was far from done and riddled with missing features and bugs; and OS X broke compatibility with a ton of applications.
It took until 2003 for Apple to ship only OS X on its systems, feeling confident enough in its operating system to force users to run it.
Now, if Vista had compatibility problems, or was riddled with bugs, this might be a consideration for Microsoft, but it doesn’t.
Microsoft has never taken the risky (and stupid) move of breaking compatibility with legacy applications, although some have fallen by the wayside over time.
Vista may be different in many ways, but to say that there needs to be some sort of “adjustment period” is overstating things. If a company needs time to figure things out, they can just take a few months before installing the damn thing.
However, Microsoft should take one of Apple’s great ideas: Releasing an updated operating system often. Give up on releasing Windows 7.0 (Vista is the new 6.0) for a long, long time, and replace Vista with something else in the summer of 2008. Call it Vista 08, or Windows 6.1, or Vista Cruiser, or whatever, and give us a new look at Windows every 18 months.
Supposedly, Vista is more modular than previous versions of Windows, so it should be possible to replace components in a nice, downloadable update.
Plus, Microsoft can charge for the updates, just like Apple does. Sure, they make most of their money off new PCs, but they must love the extra sales they get when a new version comes out.
But if a new one only comes out every 4-5 years, wouldn’t they make even more money if they released a cheaper update three times in that period?
(via Mary Jo Foley)
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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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