Vista, Split from vista antivirus Options

[Seeker]

windows vista is the equivalent of windows ME

a big bloated useless piece of shitty broken software rushed out the door

since i work for mcafee, i say get mcafee virus scanner (not free though)

[Hartmann]

I have not used Vista past some of the original Longhorn previews so I can't discuss the issues but I think that we are seeing a huge move by consumers to drive the market, not vice-versa.

most businesses don't upgrade, no matter how good the new upgrade is. business is all about cost, and "if it aint broke, don't fix it" is the tune that 99% of businesses out there operate on. it has nothing to do with vista itself.

I agree that this is true for OS and system upgrades but for other software I think that it depends on what it is.

Options are great, this is where OS X, Linux, etc. are handy, if people don't want to use Windows, they don't have to. Microsoft is profitable but I think they are still struggling to figure out what their core business is going to be in 10-15 years. Sure the OS, but is that where they've made their money in the last few years? Not really.

Bill Gates is set, but I think that Microsoft, with one big failure, could end up not existing, no matter how much money they have. It takes a lot to support their operations and their stock is a good indicator of how people feel about them.

[impala454]

Options are great, this is where OS X, Linux, etc. are handy, if people don't want to use Windows, they don't have to.

in the consumer market perhaps, but even then you wont find the average consumer switching to OSX or linux. they wont take the time to learn it, or wont spend the money to buy a new mac. businesses definitely wont switch very often, for the reasons i stated above. "if it aint broke dont fix it". people wont invest the time and money required to teach all of their employees new systems. sure its easy for people like us to learn, but for people in non-technical jobs, its like trying to teach calculus to a monkey.

Microsoft is profitable but I think they are still struggling to figure out what their core business is going to be in 10-15 years. Sure the OS, but is that where they've made their money in the last few years? Not really.

yeah they make a lot of their money off office, which will take a lot to pry out of the business market. i'd imagine it would be difficult to make money off of any OS anyhow... as it's not something people run out and buy every day. their OS sales are a much higher percentage of OEM rather than off the shelf.

Bill Gates is set, but I think that Microsoft, with one big failure, could end up not existing, no matter how much money they have. It takes a lot to support their operations and their stock is a good indicator of how people feel about them.

I think it would take a lot more than one big failure to make the company "not exist". There are too many key products and customer loyalty for that to happen. And their stock... hasn't been higher in the past five years than it is right now.

[Hartmann]

in the consumer market perhaps, but even then you wont find the average consumer switching to OSX or linux. they wont take the time to learn it, or wont spend the money to buy a new mac. businesses definitely wont switch very often, for the reasons i stated above. "if it aint broke dont fix it". people wont invest the time and money required to teach all of their employees new systems. sure its easy for people like us to learn, but for people in non-technical jobs, its like trying to teach calculus to a monkey.

I think the strides that Linux and OS X have taken in the last few years makes changing very, very easy. My girlfriend, who is somewhat computer-savvy figured out OS X in about 3 days. She figured out my Linux box in a week. Sure, she doesn't know every little thing, but she knows how to get around in the OS. My mom was able to use my Macbook Pro the first day I showed it to her, and she knows next to nothing about computers..

yeah they make a lot of their money off office, which will take a lot to pry out of the business market. i'd imagine it would be difficult to make money off of any OS anyhow... as it's not something people run out and buy every day. their OS sales are a much higher percentage of OEM rather than off the shelf.

I think that Office is a key staple for MS and some of the enterprise stuff for it is amazing, however, most companies don't upgrade for the reason you stated, so those features are never seen. If MS changed some of their licensing schemes I think that we'd see their continued sales increase. They seem to be thinking of Google as serious competition, which in reality, I don't think they are. The problem is that MS doesn't have a core business to protect, so they are trying to protect all fronts from a potential loss to Google. They need to focus and blow Google out of the water.

I think it would take a lot more than one big failure to make the company "not exist". There are too many key products and customer loyalty for that to happen. And their stock... hasn't been higher in the past five years than it is right now.

Well, I should have put small failures leading to a large failure. I know that their stock hasn't been higher and that's my point, people are pleased with them right now, but what happens if Vista doesn't take off in the next year? What if the adoption of Office 2007 isn't as widespread as predicted?

I am not disagreeing with you really at all, I just think that MS needs to refocus, they seem spread thin and it's wearing on them. Google is in the same boat IMO.


About what Lance just said, a few of my friends use OS X now, but what I think is interesting is the fact that UT has been slowly switching a lot of their labs to OS X with only a few PCs in them. Not really sure why they are doing it, just an observation my girlfriend made.