Gartner analysis flames Windows Vista

Source: http://www.computerworld.com

You don't need to be an expert to know that Windows Vista has failed to convince the world's PC users to upgrade, even now, over a year after its release. Many PC manufacturers continue to offer XP in its place, especially in the professional world, where users are more cautious to change.
Two Gartner analysts have pilloried Microsoft in a recently-published scathing analysis. According to them, Microsoft has fallen short of expectations in the market and that such a cumbersome management of software compatibility has not been seen in twenty years. They are not there by a long-shot and Gartner advises professionals to migrate neither on a case-by-case basis as the renewal of machinery nor en masse.
The situation is all the more uncomfortable for Microsoft that the PC industry, Intel in the lead with its ATOM processor, moving toward machines at very low prices at the expense of performance. They are not tailored to run Vista although Intel expects to sell hundreds of millions of these products in the coming years. That is certainly the reason that prompted Microsoft to extend its support for XP, which was originally expected to end soon.
Microsoft is in an awkward position that will beg it to be questioned: Apple has made two transitions from old technology (from Mac OS 9 to OS X then PPC to x86), which is no doubt difficult to implement. Perhaps this is the route Microsoft must traverse in order to drop the weight of their bloated and resource-starved Windows Vista. Admittedly, such a transition would be very painful given the huge boat they have to bear.