I like Vista. I've said it before, and will say it again, Windows Vista works for me, and works well.
But, it's no secret that Microsoft has run into problems convincing the masses to really give Vista a try. And so Microsoft is trying something creative, a fun campaign named the Mojave Experiment. Microsoft assembled a group of users who'd not been exposed to Vista personally, but who seem to have all of those preconceived notions that prevent Vista adoption. Microsoft presented a new version of Windows codenamed "Mojave" to these individuals, and only later revealed that what they were demonstrating was in fact Windows Vista. The videos are fun (well, some of them), as are the participants' reactions. And while I highly doubt that this campaign will change all of those lingering doubts, I really would like Microsoft to succeed at this one. After all, I do like Vista.
But here's the interesting thing. Obviously, Microsoft wants the Mojave Experiment to be viewed as much as possible by as many users as possible on as many machines as possible, and it wants a high quality experience and consistency while ensuring that just about anyone connected to the Internet could immediately view the content. And I am guessing that's why the site is powered by Flash, and not by Silverlight.
But, I think techies like me will remain skeptical because what kind of hardware did they give these testers? My first experience was with a dual core 2.4 GHz machine with 2 gigs RAM and it was slower and unresponsive compared to an old lesser machine with XP on it, and yes, I blew away the crapware with a fresh install and gave it a month before I ended up frustrated and went back to XP. Searching articles and forums I always saw the Vista fans saying things like "Vista isn't slow.. you must be a linux fanboy MS basher... works great on my 3.0 GHz quad core machine with 4 gigs RAM". I did like some of the features in Vista, but I don't think it'll be user friendly for me until I can afford beefier hardware.
I only ask because I have been hesitant to give Vista a try because Dreamweaver CS3 is a core app for me and it is fairly resource intensive. I figured that if I was already getting average performance on XP Pro with a P4 and 2 Gigs of RAM then it would be much worse for me on Vista. Do you code on your Vista machine or is it just for general productivity stuff?
Andy, I use two machines. My primary machine is an older laptop with 2GB RAM, and yes, I do code on it, and more. And Vista runs fine for me (once all apps are loaded, this is an older laptop and the hard drive is not as fast as it should be). I also use Visa 64 on a dual CPU 64bit machine with 4GB RAM, and obviously it flies there.
--- Ben
Just to clarify and de-bunk the hysteria or propeganda about what we have done or haven't done, let me simply state It was outsourced to an agency that made the decision around which technology to make. I'm a little suprised at the level of hysteria and Adobe staffers pushing the agenda / notion that this was a pre-mediated strategic Flash vs Silverlight decision process.
Did anyone stop to ask us what the rationale behind this was? or is it just a better headline to assume?
Anywho, thank you for the kind words around Windows Vista ben, and hope folks get a different perspective on how great Windows Vista is :)
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Scott Barnes
Rich Platforms Product Manager
Microsoft.