Information Week had a lively discussion of what CIOs think about Windows 7. They went through the standard fare of the new interface features, enhanced speed, overall polish and the interoperability requirements for some of the VPN replacement options.
They went through the cyclic need by Microsoft for a regular cash infusion from their customers whether they need a new product line or not — and the fact that they do indeed make a more compelling case for upgrading to Windows 7 — but in light of the Vista debacle, “they need to”.
Being a CIO myself and a proponent of not being forced to jump through a bunch of hoops when I’d prefer to concentrate my performance on local area issues and connectivity; I have tested Windows 7 and do agree that the product is better than Vista.
My issues revolve around the fact that Microsoft has a proven track record for foolish licensing rituals and a demonstrated propensity for invading the machines upon which their products reside.
This has given some of their acolytes the ridiculous notion that they can follow suit with impunity and simply “rent” their software to you though you must purchase it shrink wrapped off a rack like everything else.
Luckily, there are alternatives for those of us who tend to respectfully dissent with the tactics Redmond would impose on the world.
I don’t need Microsoft. Their control structures are exquisitely exploitable by hackers and viral payloads. Their enterprise products don’t work as well as their Unix based counterparts. There is a never ending saga of app compatibility with which to contend.
In particular, their Active Directory policy and mail server quota implementations are obtuse and unintuitive. The speed of their servers cannot come close to a text based Unix implementation for general throughput. I can do without all the drama Windows forces the user to endure.
This being the case, I will continue to rely on my Unix / Linux / CentOS back ends; concentrate on the KDE desktop implementation — and defer giving that business to Microsoft until such time I feel they are much more trustworthy and MUCH less money grubbing, invasive, and drama queen inspiring.
