Ignoring the age old adage "never kick a man (or company) when he is down" Forbes tears Microsoft a new one regarding yesterdays admission that Vista has fallen behind schedule yet again, and won't see the light of day until January 2007 at the earliest (at least as far as the consumer market is concerned, enterprises are scheduled to receive their copies before the year is out, maybe..).

From Daniel Lyons of Forbes.com;

"The new version of Microsoft Windows, called Vista, has slipped again. It was originally going to ship in 2003. Then 2005. Then 2006. Now in early 2007. I'm not surprised, having seen a demo of Microsoft's new programs at an "event" for tech buyers in New York last week.

"Worst of all, I can't believe Microsoft actually held this big nonevent "event" only a few days before announcing another screw-up in Vista. If Ballmer knew he was about to announce a delay and still had this event, he's crazy. If he didn't know Vista was about to slip again, then Microsoft is in worse shape than anyone realizes," Lyons writes. "Given Microsoft's delays I can't believe open-source stuff still hasn't caught on for desktop computers... Why not at least switch to an Apple Computer Mac? Apple's new operating system is stable, reliable and easy to use. The applications are simple, gorgeous and work well together. And they're here. Today. Steve Jobs must be waking up a happy man this morning."

The entire article is a good read for it's "raw" perspective on Microsoft's seemingly empty promise of a forthcoming operating system, and it's a great read if you are particularly delighted by Microsoft's continued futility in getting Longhorn, Vista, Vaporware, whatever you want to call it, out the door. There is no question this presents an amazing opportunity for Jobs & Co. to put a dent in Microsoft's dominance in the consumer desktop market. The question is does Apple recognize this announcement for what it is, an opening, and will they choose to act on it. If so, how?

A furious push to get OS X 10.5, Leopard, out the door well before the year is out, offering customers looking to pick up a new computer for the holidays a brand new, even more polished, alternative to MS? A renewed focus on advertising the benefits of Mac OS X to consumers? Hell, advertising anything other than iPod or iTunes would be an improvement! Perhaps the release of another consumer device, like the iPod, which would only serve to intensify the focus on everything Apple does, furthering the "Halo Effect" we hear so much about, which results in the sale of more Macs then ever before?

All I know is the view from Cupertino has to be extra sunny today, regardless of what Jobs' Weather Widget tells him it looks like outside.

- AH
StationA.net


Related Article: Microsoft employees speak, and what comes out sounds suspiciously like an implosion.

Source: MacDailyNews & MacDailyNews

[Via StationA.net]