Microsoft’s internal Vista docs released by law

A friend of mine sent me this link last week, having seen how annoyed I've been
about Windows Vista.  It's a link to internal memos from Microsoft
SVP's and other senior staff in Q1 2007, airing the same issues I had
with Vista.  It's slow.  Graphics and software and peripherals aren't
working, etc, etc.

I didn't write it up as I thought it might
look like a personal vendetta against Microsoft, who I still quite like
as a firm just to be clear.  The XBox is great.

Anyway, the New York Times summarised the story well, so follow the link to their site, and here's the rub:

Jon
"upgrades two XP machines to Vista. Then he discovers that his printer,
regular scanner and film scanner lack Vista drivers ... Steven, hears
about Jon’s woes, he says drivers are missing in every category ...
then there’s Mike, who buys a laptop that has a reassuring 'Windows
Vista Capable' logo affixed. He thinks that he will be able to run
Vista in all of its glory, as well as favorite Microsoft programs like
Movie Maker. His report: 'I personally got burned.' His new laptop —
logo or no logo — lacks the necessary graphics chip and can run neither
his favorite video-editing software nor anything but a hobbled version
of Vista. 'I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine,' he says (I know the feeling).

"It
turns out that Mike is clearly not a naïf. He’s Mike Nash, a Microsoft
vice president who oversees Windows product management. And Jon, who is
dismayed to learn that the drivers he needs don’t exist? That’s Jon A.
Shirley, a Microsoft board member and former president and chief
operating officer. And Steven, who reports that missing drivers are
anything but exceptional, is in a good position to know: he’s Steven
Sinofsky, the company’s senior vice president responsible for Windows."

Ah well.  Nice to know that even those in the know got burned.

Ballmer's reaction?

"Righto".

What a ferengi.