ALKHOBAR, 4 March 2008 — It’s fair to say that the Windows Vista experience hasn’t been the one Microsoft would have wished. The lawsuits concerning the product have already begun. In February, The Associated Press reported that a US District judge in Seattle ruled that consumers can move ahead with a class-action suit against Microsoft over how it advertised computers with Windows XP as capable of running Vista.
The suit claims that the labeling of computers as “Windows Vista Capable” misled consumers because many of the machines weren’t powerful enough to run all of Vista’s features, such as the Aero user interface. The scope of the lawsuit has been narrowed however, to determining whether the “Vista Capable” labels artificially created demand for PCs in late 2006 during the holiday-shopping season. Vista had been delayed and wasn’t released until early 2007. The truth was that most consumer level computers labeled “Vista Capable” could run only the stripped-down “Home Basic” version of Vista.
Windows Vista has been on the market for a little more than a year now and disdain for the operating system persists. Downgrades to Windows XP are common on new computers as consumers and businesses struggle to find drivers and software that are Vista Compatible. This is especially common in the Saudi market where software piracy remains high. Pirated software doesn’t come with upgrades or support for Windows Vista.
Figuring out what’s needed in terms of hardware when it comes to running Vista can be complicated as well. Microsoft’s requirements are that all Windows Vista ready PCs have:
* A processor with a minimum speed of 1GHz (x86 or x64)
* 1GB of RAM
* A GPU (graphics processing unit) that supports DirectX 9 and the following:
- WDDM (Windows Vista Display Driver Model) Driver
- 128MB of video RAM
- Hardware support for Pixel Shader 2.0
- 32 bits per pixel
* 40GB hard drive
* A DVD-ROM drive
If a PC with the Microsoft recommended specs is purchased, it will run only the core experiences of Windows Vista — slowly. Such machines are being sold in the Saudi market and it causes enormous grief because the PC’s performance is disappointing. Even if a decision is made to upgrade PC hardware after purchase, it’s not straightforward. For example, installing additional RAM often requires that the system memory that came with the machine is discarded due to compatibility issues. If it’s found that the GPU is inadequate for the Vista experience, there is no way to upgrade, and replacement isn’t cheap.
Numerous online tech experts concur that the realistic hardware specs to run Windows Vista are:
* A processor with a minimum speed of 2.0GHz (dual-core recommended)
* 2GB of RAM for x86 (32-bit) systems, 4GB for x64 (64-bit).
* A GPU that supports DirectX 9 and the following:
- WDDM (Windows Vista Display Driver Model) Driver
- 256MB of video RAM
- Hardware support for Pixel Shader 2.0
- 32 bits per pixel
* 100GB SATA hard drive, 50GB free
* CD/DVD burner
* USB 2.0 flash drive
For PCs that don’t have the more powerful specs, Windows XP delivers better performance than Windows Vista, and therein lies the problem for Microsoft. How can they convince people to consider the Vista experience? They believe that one way is to reduce the price of the Vista operating system and that is exactly what Microsoft did last week. The price reduction is only for stand-alone Windows Vista packs and the price reduction will differ depending on which version of the operating system is purchased. The price has not been cut for PC manufacturers who install Vista on their new machines.
“We announced a variety of price reductions for copies of Windows Vista sold on retail shelves. In developed markets, the price changes will most notably impact upgrade retail versions of the new editions we introduced in 2007 — Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions,” said Brad Brooks, Corporate Vice President, Windows Consumer Product Marketing. “In emerging markets, we are combining full and upgrade Home Basic and Home Premium versions into full versions of these editions and instituting price changes to meet the demand we see among first-time Windows customers who want more functionality than is available in current Windows XP editions. In addition, we are also adjusting pricing on Windows Vista Ultimate in emerging markets to be comparable to price changes developed market customers will see.”
According to Ahmed Alafaliq, desktop product manager at Microsoft in Saudi Arabia, “The new price list was made available to distributors March 1 and boxed Windows Vista products with the new prices should become available on retail shelves in mid-April. Home editions of Windows Vista will see the greatest price reductions, with Windows Vista Home Basic reduced by 45 percent. There will not be a price reduction for Windows Vista Business.”
Alafaliq asserted that reducing the price of the Vista operating system is also another way to try to fight software piracy by giving consumers the opportunity to purchase a genuine version of the operating system at a reasonable price.
Windows Vista Home Basic is the version of the operating system that will work on the greatest number of computers. Whether it’s wise to install it on a given PC really depends on the hardware specifications of that machine. Consult the specification list above. If the PC barely meets the minimum Microsoft specs, then Vista will run, but don’t expect ideal performance. There’s also that old adage to consider, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
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