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It's time for Microsoft to kill Vista Home Basic
14 comments- TAGS:lawsuit, offiice depot, Wal-Mart, Windows Vista, Windows Vista Home Basic
- IT TOPICS:Operating Systems, Software, Windows & Microsoft
It's been well over a year since Microsoft launched Vista, and it's time for Microsoft to finally pull the plug on Vista Home Basic. Retailers hate it, users are annoyed and frustrated with it, and it's outgrown any initial purpose it may have had.
It's a bit unclear why Microsoft created Vista Home Basic in the first place. It doesn't include Aero, Windows Media Center, or Windows DVD Maker. You can easily make the argument that is isn't Windows Vista at all. At least some Microsoft execs seem to agree. In an August 10, 2005 email Microsoft Director Rajesh Srinivasan refers to Vista Home Basic as "Windows 2006," a clear indication that he didn't consider it Vista.
It appears that Microsoft create Vista Home Basic so that people buying less powerful PCs could still run Vista. But retailers, who you would expect to be happy about the plan to create Vista Basic because it could help them sell more PCs, were unanimous in wishing Vista Home Basic had never been created. In a February 2006 email, here's what Microsoft exec Robin Leonard had to say about Wal-Mart's unhappiness with Vista Home Basic:
They are extremely disappointed in the fact that standards were lowered and feel like customer confusion will ensure...They also went so far as to say that they wished Windows Vista Home Basic was not even in the sku line up.
Wal-Mart wasn't alone. Office Depot felt just as strongly. Following are excerpts from a February 1, 2006 email from Microsoft exec Troy Nelson about a meeting he had with Office Depot:
- We created confusion with the Home vs Pro with XP launch. Channel was looking forward to the next major OS release to make it better. Concerned that we made it more confusing not less. They pointed out that Apple has 1 OS, not multiple.
- Home Basic will not possess the major feature sets that MS is focusing on, such as Aero & Flip. Concerned that we advertise "Vista" with these features, but there will be cust dissatisfation & returns when they buy Home Basic & don't get those features.
- They would have preferred that MS not have a Home Basic. They see this Vista variant as selling down. But since we are releasing it & they know their competitors will carry it, they will be forced to assort to maintain competitive offering.
Consumers, as we know, are unhappy with Vista Home Basic, and that unhappiness is at the core of the the lawsuit against Microsoft for a marketing scheme in which people claim that Microsoft misled consumers into buying the Windows Vista Capable PCs, even though the PCs couldn't run the most important features of Vista.
Given all that, it's time to finally pull the plug. Fewer and fewer PCs sold today can handle Aero, and they're at the very bottom of any PC maker's lineup. If a PC can't handle real Vista, Microsoft should allow it to be shipped with XP. Over time, there will be fewer of those PCs sold anyway.
Even back during Vista's launch, when there were far more computers that couldn't handle true Vista, Home Basic was on a minority of PCs sold. According to the Current Analysis Web site, for example, for the week ending February 3, 2007, only 33% of desktops and 16% of laptops came with Vista Home Basic. You can be sure that the numbers are far lower today.
Microsoft is most likely hoping that Vista Home Basic will die a slow death. But as long as it's being sold, it will annoy and mislead consumers, so it's time to go.
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