MS Average
I’m not a huge fan of the competition, but I do give respect where respect is due, and Google and Apple definitely deserve respect for what they’ve accomplished in the last few years. I think it’s been easy for people to jump on their bandwagons, and I don’t think their offerings are as strong as their numbers have suggested, but it’s important to be able to fool the masses with WOW, and both companies do have that going for them. It helps that Microsoft has performed so poorly as of late, and continue to play catch-up, and the Zune and Vista are two good examples.
The Zune is obviously not dominating the market, and has not made a dent in the iPod’s current dominance. The timing of the Zune is a huge factor in this, but some of the WOW they tried to introduce, the ability to share songs, has not been well received, and the system is, typically Microsoft, a little buggy. In this article, there are five recommendations for the Zune, and although I don’t completely agree with ’dropping the social,’ it’s a pretty good article with some good points. The most telling statement is from Jason Reindorp, marketing director for Zune: Zune’s first five months have gone about as expected.
For Vista, it hasn’t been as long a trip, but probably equally as uncompelling. An exerpt from this article:
Windows Vista is the most ambitious version of Windows since Windows 95, but it’s far less compelling than Windows 95 was. Vista isn’t a bad product; it’s just not a great one. After six years of waiting, it was time for something significantly better. We didn’t get it.
Personally, I think the biggest hurdle for Vista is integrating with existing setups. Companies have been slow to develop patches or updates that allow their programs to work easily on the new OS; it’s inevitable, but it has been difficult and trying for those looking to make the move to Vista early. I have no doubt that the next release will not only be more timely, but will also include an online or Internet-based component that mirrors Apple’s .Mac setup.