The "Save Windows XP" Campaign Rages On!: Page 2

As Director of IT at the time I thought this was the most ingenious piece of security to be added to an OS yet. I still believe this is the truth, but the reality is that most of us want security but without any inconvenience (you can turn UAC off, but I wouldn’t suggest you do that).

The second thing that hit me instantly was the new interface. The Windows desktop had undergone an extensive overhaul after basically looking the same since Windows 95 (Windows XP changed the interface a bit, but how many users are still using the classic look?).

The marginal change to XP (what my friend J. Peter Bruzzese likes to call the “cartoon look”) was easy for users to swallow, but we are creatures of habit. And Vista gave us a whole new desktop and Start Menu to deal with. Again, when I saw it I applauded (I really did), but I knew my users would hate it and they did. But the look of Vista is incredible, from the color schemes to the wallpapers to the sleek, serious, dare I say “mature” look.

In short CHANGE IS SCARY…Of course reports of slower speeds, resource hogging, unsupported drivers and software are all common complaints. But let’s remember something. How many of us upgraded from Windows 98 to 2000 and faced a similar problem?

I remember needing to wait until XP was released for 18 months before I could install it in my environment, because many of our software vendors could not run their software on XP. Hardware is always moving faster than software. The Quad core is here and 10 or more core systems are coming up quickly. RAM speed is increasing and hard drives using perpendicular recording will increase capacity and speeds exponentially.

So what does it all mean

Ultimately, no one is forcing users to leave XP. Come down off the barricade and put away your Anti- Vista t-shirts. The campaign to save XP ultimately will pass by, and by late 2009 users will be angry over Windows 7.

In the meantime you can stay put, face the future and embrace Vista, or alternatively you can do something a little in between. See my article on Dual Booting between Vista and XP.

Whatever your choice, don’t get swept up in the sensationalism of the Save XP campaign. You can’t blame Microsoft for creating a new product and seeking to make a profit. After all, how many businesses succeed by creating nothing new for 7 years and doing nothing to reinvent themselves. Vista is here and XP has served us well, but its time has come to be placed where it belongs in our fondest memories as we move on with our lives and forge ahead.