Where is Microsoft going with Windows?

It’s starting to sound like a broken record: Microsoft has a few problems with Vista and its current Operating Systems strategy. The question everyone is asking now is “What is Microsoft going to do about it?”

A number of articles have commented on Microsoft and Vista recently…

Don Reisinger wrote this rather scathing review - Leopard will open the Mac OS X floodgates (and embarrass Microsoft) recently:

As many of you are aware, I think Windows Vista is a blunder. And with its annoying UAC system and horrifically slow operation, it won’t take long before the majority of home users agree with me. If the recent figures showing Mac OS X is already gaining market share is any indication of the future, look for Leopard to outsell Vista by a staggering margin.

But my belief that Vista will soon bow to Leopard goes far beyond the operating system itself. In fact, the major reason Vista will succumb to Mac OS X has little to do with Apple, but quite a bit to do with Microsoft’s current focus. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, one thing is abundantly clear: Microsoft fears Google and is doing everything it can to become the Google slayer instead of competing in its core business–software.

John C. Dvorak is wondering if Microsoft is even ‘in’ the software business anymore - The end of Microsoft as we know it?:

Here’s my thesis: Microsoft is on the verge of becoming a holding company in the mold of Berkshire Hathaway. Imagine Microsoft not as a big software company but as KKR or any of the private equity holding companies. Everyone has noticed that Microsoft is most successful at copying other people’s ideas. This transformation into a holding company is a tribute to Warren Buffett.

By changing its entire model and way of doing business and adopting the Berkshire Hathaway approach, it can get back on a sustainable, less-flaky growth track. And over the years Gates, using a team of investment experts, has done quite well for himself as an investor already.

And BECTA (the UK Government’s advisory body on IT in education), has instructed UK schools to shun Microsoft’s latest operating system - Becta: Why schools should avoid Vista:

“There are no must-have features in the product,” Becta argued. “The technical, financial and organisational challenges associated with early deployment currently make this a high-risk strategy. Early deployment is strongly recommended against.”

Becta also voiced concerns over the processing power needed to run Vista. Becta said fewer than 6 percent of PCs currently in schools — and possibly none at all — could run Vista’s graphical interface, Aero. It also estimated that only around 55 percent of PCs could run Vista with Aero turned off.

However you look at it, Microsoft has a few challenges ahead in the Operating Systems space and they won’t be easy to solve. For that reason alone, if you are still using Windows, maybe now is the time to start thinking seriously about the alternatives…

Update (21 Nov 2007): Check-out John C. Dvorak’s similar Vista Death Watch Column.