Microsoft's marketing isn't that great.

[AndrewAPrice]

This is from the top 100 reasons to upgrade to Windows Vista..

9. Unchain your mobile PC

Network and Sharing Center lets you set up a wireless networkN at home so you can experience the freedom of working from your living room, backyard, or anywhere in your home.

You can set up a wireless network in my modern OSs.

26. Because you're a multitasker

Like to follow cross-links and jump from website to website? Quick Tabs in Windows Internet Explorer 7 allows you to view thumbnail images of all of your open web pages at a glance.

There's a plug in with firefox.

29. Take the handwritten approach

Windows Vista offers digital ink input and handwriting so you can be more productive on the run. Tablet and Touch TechnologyA, allows you to handwrite notes, make sketches, and quickly navigate through files or websites with a flick of a digital pen on an ultra-light Tablet PC.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition has this feature.

30. Restore your PC in an instant

Windows Complete PC Backup and RestoreB takes a perfect "picture" of your PC's hard disks, allowing you to create a complete backup of your entire PC—including personal files, system files, programs, and settings—which can be used if the system ever has to be completely restored.

Ghost and DriveImage?

50. Get more out of the web

Tabbed Browsing in Windows Internet Explorer 7 enables you to simultaneously browse multiple pages on the Internet in one window.

Most modern web browsers have supported this far before IE 7.

69. Because you want the quality of your printouts to match the quality of your work

Windows Vista brings next-generation printing technology to your compatible printer, helping it to deliver richer color for more lifelike photos, high-fidelity printouts, less waste from misprints, and improved performance that may reduce your printing time.

That sounds more like marketing speech.

70. Your PC is ready when you are

Windows Vista has a new Sleep power state that enables you to use your computer whenever you want, without having to wait for the computer to boot up. Put your PC to sleep to save documents, applications, and data to both the hard drive and memory, then restore your previous work session within seconds.

So I see they've renamed Standby.

92. Showing is more powerful than telling

With a Tablet PC and a digital penA, you can easily capture a snip or screenshot of any object on your screen—whether it's part of a website, document, or program. Paste your snippet into e-mails, documents, IM, or other digital conversations to illustrate your point exactly.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.

93. Work your own way

Tablet and Touch TechnologyA gives you new options for interacting with your PC—if touch input is available on your computer, you can use your finger to do many of the things you do with a mouse or a tablet pen.

Same as 29.

96. Access your desktop wherever you go

Remote DesktopD helps make it easier to more securely access documents and programs on your computer remotely from across your home network or across the Internet from another computer, enabling you to get work done wherever you have an Internet connection.N,I

Remote Desktop has been around since NT. And there's also VNC.

Anyway, a lot of the dot points where mostly about their Instant Search feature and basically repeated the same thing, just reworded. And there were other things that were like "You don't need to watch your home videos on your PC anymore with Windows DVD Maker" - there's DVD burning software for most OSs.

I think Microsoft's marketing team is loosing its edge.

This is a complaint at their maketing team. I personally don't have a problem with Windows Vista (I love some features like ReadyBoost).

[piranha]

What about in a magazine:

In Windows Vista, if you want to search for a file, no longer do you have to wait around for it to show up, but now Vista indexes your hard drive, so when you search for something it shows up within seconds.

Every OS I know thats established can do that, and has been doing that for years.

And the fact that this was the first and only point that made in the article suggested to me that Microsoft has run out of ideas for Vista...

Lol this is a GOOD thread.

-JL

[AndrewAPrice]

It's their marketing that has ran out of ideas. Wikipedia has several articles that list the improvements in Vista. Granted, most can be achieved in Windows XP and most ther operating systems, but some are origional.

[Solar]

The biggest improvement for Windows that I could think of would be a market share below, say, 65%.

[Smilediver]

I don't see how their marketing is failing. Most of the marketing is targeted at clueless general public, so take this into account. Just check any other marketing material from other companies, and you'll see that they are no different to these.

I know this very well, because I'm working in a game company, and I wrote materials for marketing too. What you want to do is to get a customer interested in your product, and basically it doesn't matter what you write, as long as it has some credibility and gets a copy sold.

[AJ]

Agree with Trinka's sentiments. Remember who the target audience is. I'm sure there are more technical documents/reviews about for anyone who wants to seek them out.

Why would they advertise target the osdev community when they can target Joe Public and make millions from it?

[disclaimer]I haven't used Vista and I'm not defending it as a product - I just think their marketing department knows what it's doing...[/disclaimer]

Cheers,
Adam

[B.E]

Got a new laptop (first one) a couple of days ago with vista installed. It took me 2 hours to realize it was a pease (only got to use it after 1:50 hours because it was finishing installing and recovery disks).

[Solar]

Pease?

[JamesM]

Maybe he meant it as in 'easy-peasy'? Thats what I interpret it as...

[B.E]

Pease?

Pease of ****.

[JamesM]

Oh. 'Piece of pi*s'.

[Zacariaz]

As i see it windows vista is the greatest mistake since windows 95 or maybe ME, arent sure.
Even "regular" people will realize, sooner or later, that vista arent that great efter all. They will want to stay with xp or explore other alternatives.
However, due to microsoft huge markedshare, new software, games and stuff, will only be developed for vista and will not be supported by xp, so people will be forced to run vista or change to linux, which will be allmost as inconvinient.
Never the less, regular people, not just the geeks, will be very unhappy with microsoft, and the can only be a good thing.

[JamesM]

My only gripe with vista is that the new paging scheme means that some games (noteably battlefield2 and company of heroes) take an ice age to load, as the 500,000MB vista kernel gets shifted into and out of swapspace... :S

[Smilediver]

I've used Vista for half year, and I loved it. The only bad thing is that it's slooow. That's why I gave up and moved back to XP.

[Zacariaz]

The only bad thing is that it's slooow.

I would think that was enough...

I've used Vista for half year, and I loved it.

you cant possible mean that?
i havent used vista alot, but i have had a few encourters with it and everytime it has resultet in a computer allmost getting trashes.
fx. i had to edit a file that had to do with some configuration of a program, nothing important and certainly wouldnt have an effect on windows it self. It was hilarious, first i couldnt get into the folder where the file was, it was a program folder and thus i had nothing to do there. But i got in, got to open the file allmost imiteatly! and made the changes... BUT when saving the file i had to click on like a million warning, confirmation and so on.
Anyway, what nomaly would have taken 30 seconds to do, took me half an hour.