Microsoft took a bunch of XP users on a supposed test of the Next Version of Windows.

The punch line is they were actually testing Windows Vista and Microsoft duped them.

If some of the early reporting is correct Windows Vista got a high approval rating.

This does raise an interesting point that the negative PR that vista gets has tarnished it’s brand name.

Take “Vista” out of Windows and people have a different point of view.

There is one glaring problem with this experiment. They chose one hardware candidate the HP Pavilion DV 2000.

More than 99% of Windows Vista Users use something other than a HP Pavilion DV 2000.

It would have made for a much better experiment if they got those 120 users to bring their own machines in for the test. Then the approval rating would be more realistic.

I suspect this campaign may backfire. Lets wait and see.

I have learned something new….if you want a Windows Vista laptop get the HP Pavilion DV 2000.

Link: http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/

Sometimes I get paranoid that my own experiences with Windows Vista may be jaundiced.

I have installed it about 25-30 times and cant get passed a week without a severe crash even on SP1 on brand new hardware.

But it would appear Intel is giving Windows Vista a wide berth.

From the article

Intel, the giant chip maker and longtime partner of Microsoft, has decided against upgrading the computers of its own 80,000 employees to Microsoft’s Vista operating system, a person with direct knowledge of the company’s plans said.

This is significant for the following reasons

1) Intel make the CPU’s that run Vista.

2) Intel make the motherboards and chipset’s that run Vista.

3) Intel make the network cards both wired and wireless that keep vista connected.

Even with so many hooks into how a system will operate even they wont use it.

They quote

“This isn’t a matter of dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista,” the person said.

Pretty damming really.

Link: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/et-tu-intel/index.html?ref=technology

This update released yesterday addresses a number of areas.

From the support documentation:

This update improves the performance, responsiveness, and reliability of Windows Vista in various scenarios. This update includes the following improvements on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer:

•This update improves the stability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by addressing some crashes that may occur when you try to check e-mail by using a POP3 e-mail client such as Windows Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. The crashes may occur on a Windows Vista SP1-based computer in the following scenario:

•Incoming POP3 and outgoing SMTP traffic monitoring is enabled.

•Both a third-party antivirus application and an antispyware application are installed, such as the following applications:

•ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

•SpySweeper by Webroot Software, Inc.

•This update improves the reliability of the Windows Vista SP1 based-computers by addressing some problems that occur when you delete user accounts by using the User Accounts item in Control Panel. When this problem occurs, the system may stop responding (hang).

•This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers that experience issues in which large applications cannot run after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time. For example, when you try to start Excel 2007 after the computer is turned on for extended periods of time, a user may receive an error message that resembles the following:

EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32 application

•This update improves the reliability of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing the number of crashes that may be caused by the Apple QuickTime thumbnail preview in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

•This update improves the performance of Windows Vista SP1-based computers by reducing audio and video (AV) stuttering. Such AV stuttering may occur when the audio or video component is streaming high definition content from a Windows Vista SP1-based computer that has a NVIDIA network adapter nForce driver version 67.5.4.0 that is installed to a Windows Media Center Extender device.

Link: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=952709

I have Windows Vista in a clean SP1 install running on 3 machines (2 laptops and 1 desktop).

This is so I can simulate real world issues. All the equipment is Vista Compatible.

Windows Vista has a nice feature that lets you easily see the serious errors encountered (see pic above).

My main work machine is a Dell XPS M1210 laptop I reformatted it on the 27th of April with Windows Vista Business SP1 and applied all the patches. I use this laptop 8 to 10 hours a day.

The good news

The install was a breeze, the performance has improved and overall a much better experience than Windows Vista RTM.

What about stability?

OK I have 20 days usage data, So lets look at each one

Converter.exe: (this is the open source PDF ghostwriter, this installed successfully but Windows Vista came up with a prompt saying it wasn’t sure if it did) It had, so this is not a real problem.

Driver Software Installation: This is to be expected on a new build and does not indicate any real problem that isn’t solved by installing some drivers.

Internet Explorer: IE7 has crashed on me 3 times in everyday use. Now he have multiple tabs in IE this is even more of an annoyance.

Windows: Blue screened once, coming out of sleep mode.

Windows Explorer: Stop responding.

Summary for the Dell XPS M1210 used over 20 days

So basically Windows Vista SP1 has caused a problem that effected the user 5 times in 20 days. (3 x IE, 1 x Windows and 1 x Windows Explorer). The most serious of these being the blue screen.

Next machine: Dell Latitude D630

This machine shipped with Windows Vista Business, I then downgraded to XP and reasons too complicated to explain decided to re-install Windows Vista SP1 in a clean install for testing.

This machine has only blue screened once (one is too many), A couple of days after the build I turned it on, it blue screened and rebooted. The problem hasn’t reoccurred but the machine is out on loan  at the moment so I don’t have access to the Problems and Solutions Log.

Next Machine: Dell Optiplex GX 755 

This machine gets used about an hour a day and has been running Windows Vista Business for about 40 days (so the usability is 40 hours). Firefox is its main Internet browser. To date this machine hasn’t encountered  a single problem.

Overall Summary - Are we there yet?

No.

Windows Vista SP1 is way, way better but based on my own usage testing Vista is still not ready for prime time. 

Obviously my results might be skewed by the choice of hardware (all Dell) and the limited number of machines and time I have to test.

The truth is I am testing for myself as I am the one providing Director level support. I just don’t want the phone call “Hey I just plugged into a projector and it blue screened on me” or “I just lost an afternoons work due to a crash”.

What next?

Try this experiment again in 3 months there should be a bunch of post SP1 drivers around and SP1 factory installed hardware.

Basically when I change from a DHCP assigned IP addresses to Manual IP addresses I have to re-enter in the Default Gateway twice to get it to stick and remember it.

Stage1: This is what it looks like when DHCP is turned on, the Default Gateway should be blank (it isn’t) The address is correct for my site so it works.

Stage 2: Then  I enter my Manual IP addresses settings and click ok.

Stage 3: Now I cant route traffic to my router/default gateway, so I check the settings again and find the previous Default Gateway setting has been lost.

Stage 4: I have to manually enter in the Default Gateway again, this time the setting is retained.

This happens consistently every time. The connection is wireless.

This is more of an annoyance than a real problem but if this happens to someone with little network experience this would likely trip them up.