Happy Birthday Vista: One year old today

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Today marks the one year anniversary since the launch of Vista, the latest generation of Microsoft's Windows operating system (OS) family.

Although the business launch of the product occurred in November 2006, many still regarded the consumer launch in January 2007 as the official birth of the new OS.

While Vista's arrival was much-anticipated and long-delayed, it was the software giant's first major OS foray since Windows 95 and was heralded by the company as being as important a release as Windows XP was back in 2001.

"The fact that we've passed the 100 million mark in licences says something about people's response, but even more important has been people's increasing enthusiasm for using Windows Vista," said Neil Charney, general manager of Microsoft's Windows client group.

"With any new operating system, there's a natural reluctance to upgrade because people have concerns about compatibility, they're uneasy about learning something new or unsure about what the move to a new operating system will bring. But those who are using Windows Vista have generally been very pleased. We commissioned independent studies from IPSos and NPD to explore the attitudes of users about the operating system not only in the US, but also in China, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. According to NDP, 70 per cent of these users say it's an improvement over their previous operating system."

Today, the new OS supports double the number of hardware products (43,000) than it did at launch, according to Charney.

Although Microsoft is clearly enthused by the impact it feels Vista has made, businesses remain divided in opinion and analysts are also mixed in their views as to the OS' greatness.

Earlier this month, Microsoft made the beta version of the OS' SP1 available to the public, but what does the future hold for Vista and, more importantly, Vista users?

"Taking a moment to reflect, what always fascinates me is what people do with that technology once it becomes the platform. For instance, Windows XP had a lot of features that people didn't really understand, care about or felt they needed. We'd say, 'It has wireless support built into it,' and people would think, 'What is this wireless? I don't need wireless support.' But within a couple of years, people were taking their laptops to work in coffee shops and accessing the internet there," Charney said.

"So a year later, this is where my excitement really begins to build in earnest. With an established ecosystem, creative ideas are bubbling up and people are really starting to discover what the technologies in Windows Vista can do for them."

He concluded: "In general, we excited about where we are at today with Windows Vista. Working with our partners we are confident the Windows computing experience will get even better over the next 365 days. We look forward to providing more exciting experiences for Windows Vista users in the coming year."

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