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Vista on the horizon December 5, 2006

Microsoft’s latest version of its ubiquitous operating system, the much delayed Windows Vista, finally became available to businesses last week.

Domestic consumers will have to wait until the end of January before getting a chance to experience it, but by all accounts there are few people wringing their hands in anticipation.

Of course, once January is here, just about any computer sold that isn’t an Apple Mac will have a copy of Vista pre-installed (and paid for by you when you buy it) and that’s the way Microsoft manages to maintain its dominance of the PC desktop market. Nice work if you can get it.

Much of the reason for Vista’s numerous delays can be put down to the company’s sudden focus on security a few years ago. Finally realising that its poor computer safety reputation had the potential to seriously harm sales, Microsoft went back to the drawing board and started again.

Staggeringly, Vista has taken a total of 50,000 man years to develop and the majority of computer users have probably never even heard of it.

To quote one technology analyst, “One of the world’s most powerful monopolies puts 10,000 people to work for five years to create one new product and nobody is really sure if anyone wants it. How’s that for a gamble?”

Microsoft’s business model for Windows is unique. It doesn’t have to physically market the product (a tiny percentage of sales will be from actual disc sales), it just has to keep it modern and maintain its business relationships with PC wholesalers.

I’ve used the pre-release version of Vista for some time and it is undoubtedly great software.

It looks pretty, has greater security and numerous tweaks that make day-to-day computer management an almost enjoyable experience.

Will I be upgrading? Yes, if I can persuade my boss of a business need for it but I certainly won’t be shelling out upwards of £200 myself. By the time I’m ready to buy my next computer, who knows what I will opt for?

In a world that plays host to the elegance of Apple’s Mac OS X and ever more user-friendly flavours of Linux, not to mention the numerous lightweight, web-based applications that I wrote of last week, could Vista be the last we will see of such costly, complex and lengthy software projects?