Vista targets hearts and minds

As Microsoft heads down the final stretch to the release of the next major version of its Windows operating system, the company is finally admitting there were things in past versions that were not done well and that for the coming Vista version a complete redesign was necessary.

Not only has Microsoft thrown a lot of resources at developing Vista, but there has also been a fundamental shift in approach. This shift is likely to stand Microsoft in good stead because it is a sign of maturity that should appeal to a significant portion of the market.

For a start, Microsoft seems to be leaving a lot less to chance this time around. This was clear in the recent announcement of the start of the beta 2 testing programme that around two million testers will be involved, including several companies from SA.

The fact that this will be the biggest ever beta programme for Windows appears to signal a much more cautious approach by Microsoft, indicating an awareness that it can`t really afford to get it wrong this time.

So what`s Microsoft done to make sure Vista has the best chance of success?

As part of the decision to leave as little as possible to chance, Microsoft is testing everything to the limit by involving an unprecedented number of people outside the company in the development and testing of Vista.

Unlike its predecessors, Windows Vista is firmly grounded in reality.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor

In the EMEA region alone, 197 companies have been involved in the Technology Adoption Programme for Vista, once again including companies in SA.

At present, Microsoft is collecting and analysing information from almost two million sessions a day about how people use Windows in the real world. It is upon this real world usage data that Vista has been based.

Unlike its predecessors, Windows Vista is firmly grounded in reality. It is also strongly focused on managing complexity, a theme that was emphasised by Java inventor James Gosling on his recent visit to SA.

Most significantly, Microsoft has finally recognised the importance of the user in the whole product development process. User input is no longer confined to the final stages of testing, but has become the point of origin.

Clearly, Microsoft has understood Vista provides an opportunity to start with a clean slate and attempt to make up for past failings.

As a result, Vista is about fitting features to how people actually work and not the other way around. This more people-centric approach includes independent software developers, users and system administrators.

Development of the new version of the operating system has been built around the user and not just technology with usability studies conducted at the end and superficial modifications made as an afterthought.

At the same time, new technology is important in Vista. However, this time the focus is on giving users access to new technology, particularly with regard to mobility, but not on the technology itself.

Vista is also about addressing specific pain points experienced by users of earlier versions of Windows. Consequently, security, productivity, collaboration, system management and integration to ensure a lower cost of ownership are major areas of innovation for Vista, but those kind of things are primarily aimed at winning support from enterprise decision-makers.

At the user level, Microsoft is hoping to win hearts and minds by empowering users to do things more easily, to work from anywhere and to be less dependent on IT support structures by making it easier to find solutions to problems and resolving application compatibility issues in advance.

According to Microsoft, it is testing almost a thousand applications with each new build of Vista to ensure the elimination of as many compatibility issues ahead of the final release.

Restoring and building user confidence in Windows through innovation in Vista has been a recurrent theme at the Microsoft Reviewers` Forum for the European, Middle East and Africa region taking place this week in London. User confidence is obviously a key element in Microsoft`s strategy.

Another area of innovation in Vista that has received a lot of attention at the London event is the powerful new search capability that has been built in throughout the operating system.

Microsoft appears to be doing everything in its power to ensure that with Vista, Windows users will never again have the need for Google Desktop Search or any similar application. In Vista, context-sensitive search is available just about everywhere, and it appears to be pretty fast.

In a move that is long overdue, the new version of Windows provides an unprecedented level of information visibility in keeping with the "Vista" name. New ways of finding and storing information are key goals.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), inefficient data searches could be costing big US companies up to $14 000 a year.

Vista is aimed at making it easier to search for information throughout a network, meaning users no longer have to remember anything about the physical location of the data. A new tagging or metadata system enables users to store, locate, sort and group files in a variety of ways.

Along with a more user-centric approach to Vista, Microsoft also appears to be learning things from its competitors. Much of the functionality like basic photo editing within the operating system and desktop gadgets in the new Windows sidebar is reminiscent of features that have long been part of Linux and Mac OS.

It`s still some months before Vista hits the streets, but Microsoft is making the most of the time ahead of the revised consumer market release of January 2007 to make sure the market is well prepared.

Although still working out some of the details, Microsoft is hard at work to ensure Windows Vista gets the best possible reception and creates the best possible impression.

Whatever the market thinks of Vista, there`s no denying that Microsoft has gone all out to win the hearts and minds of users. Only time will tell whether it has done enough, soon enough and well enough to succeed.