Michael Gartenberg explains the real Vista problem: it's just dull, and there's no compelling reason to upgrade:

So, why is Vista like sushi? No, I don't equate it with cold, dead, raw fish. But I'm not someone who craves sushi. I'll eat it if it's well prepared, fresh and the only thing around. My overall attitude: It's not bad.

It's the same with Vista. If it's on a machine that has proper driver support, isn't loaded with junk applications and has a fast enough processor and graphics card, Vista's not bad. I'd choose something else if I could, and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to use it.

The problem is in how MS played Vista - as the next big thing. Had it been touted as an incremental improvement, then the negativity would be low. Instead, they have seven versions, and they started with a really dumb "Wow" campaign. The marketing push and reality simply didn't line up. XP was a huge improvement over NT and ME; Vista, not so much.

Instead of creating buzz over "Windows 7", they might be well advised to call it a Vista update and keep expectations low.

Technorati Tags: microsoft, leopard