Since its initial release, a war has raged between Microsoft Windows Vista (Vista) and its predecessor Microsoft Windows XP (XP).  This war has been brought about by the only two universal constants, change and the market’s resistance to that change. Looking back several years, the resistance to Vista is taking many of the same forms as the last battle between two Microsoft products.

Back when XP was first released, I remember countless calls from users wanting me to assist them in switching things back to the “familiar” classic interface. I also remember complaints that nothing worked with XP, and that the platform was quite unstable. Fast forward to today and we find the same song, second verse.

Recently Microsoft announced that it intends to remain firm on the decision to stop production and licensing of new XP programs, a decision which was originally pushed back by consumer demand. Many still hold out hope that Microsoft will once again push back the discontinuation of XP, but should they? The internet is littered with “expert” articles comparing XP and Vista.

Groups and reviewers who have run countless benchmarking programs are trying to prove “once and for all” that XP is better than Vista, and declare that Vista has no place in the market.  However, in almost every case of these reviews, the deck has been stacked against Vista as they once were against XP when it was first released to the market.

In the end, the revolutionary features for which Vista allows and the options it makes available for use will be realized as more and more software is developed with Vista’s capabilities in mind; and as history proves, people will become familiar with the change and get used to Vista…  That is until it is time for it to be replaced, and once again the cycle of change and resistance to that change repeats itself.

As an end user it is one of the most frustrating things you deal with, but as a Technician, Consultant, or IT Manager it is, we hate to admit, one of the greatest feelings in the world.  Some end users may be thinking “There is something wrong with my computer” and the IT folks may be thinking “I fixed it”.   That’s right, I am referring to the times when as an end user you call the IT for help and say, “Can you fix my computer?  It’s not working right.”  And when the IT comes in, the computer is miraculously working fine.  There is neither a user nor an IT guy in the world that hasn’t experienced it. How does this happen? I don’t know, but as an IT guy I simply tell my clients “That computer knows better than to act up when I am here.”  To my boss I say, “Another happy client”.

Let me just give you a couple of scenarios: A client called me and told me that he could not access his “share” drive.  I did a remote session with him, and lo and behold – miraculously, the share drive was there and working fine.  He couldn’t understand how it seemed that all he needed to do was call me and I would be his hero and “show that computer a thing or two!”  He called a few days later, and sure as I am typing this blog, he says “it is doing it again”.  He asked me to walk him through the steps as a “sanity check” to make sure he wasn’t going crazy.  It turned out he was trying to access the share drive prior to the computer completing it’s communication with the network.  His machine was on the older side, and I let him know that his options were either upgrading to a newer computer or exercising patience.  Overall, it was a great day because we found a solution to his problem and he got a working computer and I got a satisfied client.

Here’s another example.  I was visiting a client’s office and as I passed one of the Principles’ offices I heard a string of expletives that could make a sailor blush with shame.  So of course, being a former sailor, it made my ears perk up.  I stuck my head in the door and asked him what was wrong.  His answer was (using more of his colorful words) “…this stupid computer isn’t working and I don’t have time for this…”  Naturally, I stepped into his office and as so often happens, his computer worked beautifully.  I could only assume that in his frustration he had missed a step in the process that he was trying to complete.  However, he had not!  He had only just clicked the “OK” button right as I was walking into the room.  It just happened that I was in his office as soon as it began to work.  He simply stated that if it wouldn’t be so expensive he would have me sitting in his office day and night to make sure his computer never stopped working.

Again, I felt like “The Man”!!!! Let me hear your stories!!!  Thanks, and until next time have a Blessed day!!!