Re: Windows Vista Flunks At MIT

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: February 12, 2007 11:01:38 AM EST
To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: RE: [IP] Windows Vista Flunks At MIT

The headline is misleading -- the complaint wasn't about Vista but about
applications tied to instances of the OS. In this case the reason may
actually be the opposite -- the attempts to make Vista safer and thus
requiring that programs adapt to a more restricted environment. The
headline should be that Vista is ready but the apps are not.

(Sounds like the old phrase -- the spirit is willing but the flesh is  
not
or the classic translation - vodka is strong but the meat is rotten).

Unfortunately this reminds me of the "good old days" of mainframe  
computing
when all forward movement was hobbled as one had to wait for IT to  
rev all
applications for the new distribution. This compatibility/driver  
problem is
a real issue for an OS.

I tried using Vista when the production version it first became  
available
to developers but a number of companies didn't release the drivers until
the full consumer release of Vista -- sort of like not defrosting the
turkey till the guests had arrived. It's an apt metaphor because Vista
became available during Thanksgiving and the response I got from one
supplier was that they would start thinking about driver availability  
when
the program officially shipped.

To a large extent "user-friendly" is a villain here. Some companies  
adopt a
PLH (Pretty Little Head as in don't bother your) attitude and ship
wizard-trapped drivers rather than saying that the standard driver was
built atop standard transports such as LPR. Such information would  
enable
those with a minimal understanding to solve problems far more simply  
than
having to fetch the right one or search the net for tricks and hacks.

Unfortunately everyone seems to be trying to make their systems "as  
easy as
a Mac" forgetting that that once you're past OOBE (Out Of the Box
Experience) you run out of easy and then may have to be able to think  
(or
accept ones fate).


-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 10:11
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: [IP] Windows Vista Flunks At MIT



Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: February 10, 2007 10:46:11 PM EST
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: Windows Vista Flunks At MIT


Windows Vista Flunks At MIT

The reason? The software isn't yet ready for 'productive and
safe computing.'

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek

Feb 8, 2007 03:00 PM

Tech staffers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are
warning professors and administrators at the school -- host to one of
the country's most prestigious computer science departments -- not to
upgrade desktops or laptops to Microsoft's new Windows Vista
operating system because the software isn't yet ready for "productive
and safe computing," according to an internal statement posted on
MIT's Web site.

Specifically, MIT's department of information services and technology
is warning computer users at the school away from the Enterprise
Edition of Windows Vista. The reason, according to the Web posting,
is that many critical security and productivity applications aren't
yet compatible with the OS.

...

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197004575


-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com




-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com