Even I’m tired of the anti-Vista news

I don’t use Vista because I prefer the Mac. I prefer Windows to the Linux desktop, though, so if Steve Jobs were to die tomorrow and take OS X with him, I’d be back on Windows. I’m just not smart enough to use a Linux desktop. I’ve tried. I gave up after wireless gave out on me for the 20th time and I had to do intricate surgery to the file system to get an application installed (Firefox, one of those ‘out there’ sort of apps. 🙂

But I’m a little tired of the anti-Vista smears that crop up daily. I have it installed on my Mac, and it works fine. I don’t prefer it to OS X, so I only use it to watch soccer games from sites that don’t support other operating systems/browsers than Windows/IE. But come on – it’s actually a big improvement over XP, and isn’t bad at all.

Walt Mossberg rips into Vista, arguing that it has two – make that three – primary problems:

[Vista has] two main problems. One is the plethora of teaser software and advertisements for products that must be cleared and uninstalled to make way for your own stuff. The second is the confusing welter of security programs you have to master and update, even on a virgin machine.

I’m also referring to how slowly a new Windows Vista machine starts and restarts, even if you haven’t yet loaded or launched any of your own software.

I guess I didn’t get that version of Vista. (I’m using Vista Ultimate.) Not a single piece of teaser software that I can see – it’s possible that those come with the lesser versions of Vista designed for the consumer.

Yes, Mossberg is not so much deriding Vista as he is Sony’s and Microsoft’s toleration and embracing of third-party software manufacturers that want to put every program and its sister on your desktop.

The problem is a lack of respect for the consumer. The manufacturers don’t act as if the computer belongs to you. They act as if it is a billboard for restricted trial versions of software and ads for Web sites and services that they can sell to third-party companies who want you to buy these products.

Fair enough. But Mossberg needs to be careful about this kind of critique, because it tends to brush broadly in people’s minds: Mossberg was critical of Vista is pretty much all that anyone will remember. That’s not fair to Microsoft, whatever its complicity in getting the third-party software on the system. This is Sony’s doing, not Microsoft’s. But people will remember “Vista bad” more than anything else from the article, is my bet.

As to Vista itself and the alleged flaws Mossberg points out in its security mechanisms, I don’t really understand, and can’t agree. Despite all that I’d heard about how annoying the security features are, I’ve yet to have a single problem with it. I rarely see the “Are you sure?” type dialog pop-ups that Apple parodies. I think I’ve seen it once.

And performance? Come on. I have 1.5 GB allocated to Vista on my Mac, and it works great. Pretty snappy, in fact.

The Fake Steve Jobs may disagree, but I think it’s important to call a spade a spade. Vista is a good piece of software. It’s a little too complex for my tastes, but that may just be that I’ve been using a Mac for the past five years, and have forgotten how to work with Windows. I remember finding the Mac confusing at first, too. (Yes, I have a very little brain.)

This isn’t about Vista. It’s about Sony (and its competitors) trying to make money by adding in third-party programs, with Microsoft’s toleration and perhaps willing assistance. But I worry that Microsoft will get tarred by this kind of review, not Sony.

Let’s move on. Vista will continue to conquer the desktop, much as I’m trying to turn that tide by pushing friends and family to the Mac. The real battle is in the cloud. That’s where the most interesting software is being written, anyway, and it (mostly) doesn’t care what desktop OS you’re running.