Microsoft has cut PC-to-PC synchronization from Vista. Vista Beta 2, which is slated to go to as many as two million testers, does not include the P2P synchronization technology. Microsoft officials said they cut the feature due to quality concerns, but the functionality is still “something we plan to deliver to our customers in the future,” according to a company spokeswoman.
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, Im gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
-Queen
Yup.
Vista. The OS that could have been.
Had to be said.
Something like unison? http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
Which I allready use for over 2 years on my linux desktops and recently introduced at work for backups of Document folders to a central server.
I’ve had problems with Unison just up and deciding that there are no differences between the local set and the set I store on my network (Music files). Do you have this problem ever?
As times goes by, it seem that Windows Vista will have every single features of Windows XP but nothing more. Okay there will be a couple of new features under the hood… But for the rest… It seem that we will have a great new OS that does exactly the same things as the old one…
I know Microsoft bashing is useless, but this is getting ridiculous. I’m not criticizing Microsoft for leaving out the technology, what’s really insane is the fact that they pump up the hype with features they can’t implement and then waste money, time, resources and credibility trying to fix the things up. Now I don’t really know wether I ever wanted that sync in the first place or not (well, maybe yes) but axing the feature was a bad move. Maybe they’ll still be able to publish an incredible OS (even if I doubt it) but since all the bad press is getting I really doubt it would ever succeed (well of course they’ll waste another tons of millions of cash in order to reverse that feeling. I bet they already do). Microsoft PR labs were so bad in outlining the new OS (ok maybe the problem was in the designing lab in the first place) that it’s much easier for me to tell what’s LEFT OUT of Vista rather than what’s actually in. Uh well, I know Aero will be included. yeah. ummh.
You don’t remove features from a “feature complete” Beta. It should be feature locked. The news today is just cutting more features to prevent yet another slip.
I’m not sure designing is the right word here, announcements like these give one the feeling they’re just flinging gobs of dung at the wall and shipping whatever sticks.
I wondered with the recent developments in Vista if it would make more sense just to do a new “barebones OS” like a barebones pc.
Roll out features as they become useable and give the user the choice to download or order a cd for a fee and insert as they choose.
Even open source one or two of the features to get the community involved.
Last “cutting” will be “Aero Glass” interface!
IMHO, “P2P pictures synchronization” was stupid feature from beginning. MS still unable to correctly understand/interpret P2P technology.
Also “P2P between 2 PCs”?
“Let’s share THIS picture! Between me and… me.”
Edited 2006-06-08 13:42
It doesn’t matter how many new features they cut.
People will buy Vista anyway.
People that doesn’t want to, will be forced to it in a manner or another.
People will find it in new laptops.
Old windows licenses that cannot be “moved” from older pc will need to be replaced by new windows licenses (and those will be Vistas)
And so on. The same old story.
Windows Vista doesn’t need to be a good OS. It will be a success anyway.
Edited 2006-06-08 13:57
Windows Vista doesn’t need to be a good OS. It will be a success anyway.
Vista doesn’t need to have every feature under the sun. It will be a good OS anyway.
Vista doesn’t need to have every feature under the sun. It will be a good OS anyway.
Nice statement, really.
On what is it based ?
Microsoft has failed on all the line with Vista.
It was wrong with the features Vista was going to have, it was wrong with the release date (several times), it was wrong with microsoft employees, and what else ?
So, how could you be so sure that vista will be a good OS, since we don’t even know what vista will be when it will be (eventually) released ?
He is assuming by default that Vista will be good, you are assuming the opposite and automatically think it will be bad. Looks like some classic pot – kettle.
“It doesn’t matter how many new features they cut.
People will buy Vista anyway. ”
Totally agreed.
Office, DX 10, Media formats… it’s all about vendor lock-in and letting people be “dragged” into using windows because otherwise simple things like opening a text document, viewing pictures from a friend’s cam, or even playing a recent game wont work anymore.
The only real “features” Vista needs to be a success are the ones that drag and lock people in, not other usefull things…
Anyway i hope a decent OS comes out of it, and i might even find myself using it as an alternative (to Linux) OS.
No people will not buy Vista. 2 dozen people world wide might upgrade to vista by choice as a package they seek and go out and buy.
People will upgrade computers, vista will be there.
The days of waiting in line on launch to get the OS, like win95 have long been over.
The average person isnt excited about upgrading their OS. It will just come with the new computer they EVENTUALLY buy
“The days of waiting in line on launch to get the OS, like win95 have long been over. ”
You obviously haven’t been to an Apple store when they release a new OSX version.
The average person isnt excited about upgrading their OS. It will just come with the new computer they EVENTUALLY buy
Insert Linux disk, repartition, install.
Job done
It’s clear that MS is struggling to complete Vista. But lets face it folks, the Internet has become not just a means of delivering bug fixes, but to provide incemental upgrades and feature additions to shipping products. Every major software provider is doing it. Think about it, when was the last time you downloaded a major update that didn’t have some extra features or cool capabilities thrown in.
This will remain the method MS uses to incrementally roll in features that were cut to make the core product solid and meet some semblance of a delivery schedule. It’s sad that we get all hyped by the new features and then have the rug pulle out from under us. But having a solid core from which this features can and will be incrementally added is a decidedly sounder approach.
And to all the naysayers that proclaimed the death of MS innovation, let’s not forget Office 2007. I am still impressed with how MS took what everyone thought was a piece of software that had matured to the point of stagnation and slapped us upside the head with what can only be described as an astounding leap in UI design and feature accessibility.
I’m not counting Vista out. As the features drop, the parasites that are dragging down the core OS development will allow developers to focus.
It’s clear that MS is struggling to complete Vista. But lets face it folks, the Internet has become not just a means of delivering bug fixes, but to provide incemental upgrades and feature additions to shipping products. Every major software provider is doing it. Think about it, when was the last time you downloaded a major update that didn’t have some extra features or cool capabilities thrown in
What does your first sentence has to do with all the rest you said ?
What does MS struggling to complete Vista have to do with the internet being used to push anything ?
This will remain the method MS uses to incrementally roll in features that were cut to make the core product solid and meet some semblance of a delivery schedule
Are you seriously saying that you’ll HAVE to have an internet connection to have everything you paid for when buying MS software ?
Well, never mind, I don’t blame anyone. But when I read you say MS still has a semblance of delivery schedule, I realise some people can take any kind of abuse and still worship MS (IMHO that’s more than “believing in” at this point).
It’s sad that we get all hyped by the new features and then have the rug pulle out from under us
How soon YOU forget that MS always did that before.
But having a solid core from which this features can and will be incrementally added is a decidedly sounder approach
You got to be kidding. If you were talking of Apple you would have credibility, but you’re talking of Vista here. I wonder what you call the “solid core” in Vista.
And to all the naysayers that proclaimed the death of MS innovation, let’s not forget Office 2007
MS hasn’t innovated anything for years IMHO. And Office 2007 is no innovation.
I am still impressed with how MS took what everyone thought was a piece of software that had matured to the point of stagnation and slapped us upside the head with what can only be described as an astounding leap in UI design and feature accessibility
You have a strange definition of a “cash cow”. BTW who are you counting in “everyone” ? Do you mean “the MS worshippers” ?
I’m not counting Vista out. As the features drop, the parasites that are dragging down the core OS development will allow developers to focus
Amazing spin. I think Windows community is the only one I know, where people try to push bad things as good. Others try to downplay the bad things, but no, for you, it’s good ! Makes me think of pyramid fraud. Except one day it has to collapse. Fortunately for you, Vista will not be the time of collapse for MS IMHO.
I don’t give a damn anyway as I probably won’t have Vista, but your spin I found amazing (in a bad way).
Ookaze,
I’m not defending MS’s decision to cut features. And I’m not spinning on their behalf. If you would stop drinking the Koolaid long enough to put your thinking cap back on, please consider this objectively:
* The Internet has become a delivery mechanism for software. MS has stated that features originally planned for Vista’s release may need to be provided as an update puruant its release. This enables MS to provide intended features at a later time.
* At the time Vista is released, you have the choice to decide whether or not the software has value to you. You can either disregard the “promises” of deferred features available later as service packs, or you can weigh that as a value-adder in your decision to purchase the software. My advice to you is to value the product at the time of purchase rather than look at it from the jaded view that you are paying for features in advance of release. That way, you will not be disappointed if MS later decides to provide zero added features and upgrades to Vista. But how likely is that? The question is rhetoical!
Everyone company hypes planned features. My experience has been that sales and marketing are out their in front of technical and engineering. That’s the way business works. Some companies abuse it, others deliver. Again, the choice is yours to decide who you can trust with your hard earned money.
If you don’t think the user interface for Office 2007 is innovative, then you are just being stubborn! In terms of Office maturity, the pundits on the sites and rags I read have generally espoused this point of view that the major office suites are mature and that there is little room for improvement. I don’t mean everyone in the literal sense, you are just trying to be difficult here. That’s OK. I feel your pain. You are mad at MS.
And its not good! I don’t like it. Last time I am going to say this. I think that the problem with MS sitting on its ass for the last five years is due mainly to the fact that it hasn’t had to innovate or produce. Shit has been cut and delayed because you know what, what the F are they going to do anyway? Linux and OS X aren’t viable alternatives to the MS core. So there you have it. Blame MS or work harder on contributing to alternates that will either force them to uproot their hairy asses and get things done or beat them and its a moot point.
God’s speed in your efforts.
the Internet has become not just a means of delivering bug fixes, but to provide incemental upgrades and feature additions to shipping products. Every major software provider is doing it
And it keeps the excitement level up as well, pushing more and more people to upgrade from XP.
Microsoft just keeps f–king up Vista at a management level. Here I was, hoping they were done with that.
As I’ve said before, I still think Vista will be good, because there is still a lot of cool things going in to it — despite the people that claim it’s just XP with new eye-candy, hahaha –, but it had so so much more potential and it’s a sad thing to see.
There is still the chance that all the skipped features results in more development time for other areas of the OS.
It might be less feature rich, but also more stable than it might be with all the features.
But from a marketing position it doesn’t look good that they have to skip features endlessly. Makes one wonder about what’s going on internally.
EDIT: Added on in last line. A little goof on my side
Edited 2006-06-08 15:40
I am very surprised that Microsoft is cutting features *this close* to release of a product they have been working on for (literally) years. Microsoft has some great software engineers and a huge army of them to boot. This screams of bad leadership and nothing else.
In Ubuntu 6.06, go to Applications –> Add Applications –> [X] Show Unsupported Applications.
Search for Unison and then OK, OK. That is all you have to do to install very good software for syncing PCs together. For the commandline only usage of Unison, check this out:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7712
As the release date slips and MS makes an excuse why and as more features get cut Vista if it really exist at all will be another ME.
Full of promises, but really full of air.
No, it will not be another ME. ME was built on a horrible horrible codebase in 9x. Vista is built on a solid codebase in 2003.
From a product management standpoint though, this is one of Microsofts biggest blunders yet. Sick.
Vista will be a good OS because
1. it will be a good OS
2. SteveB said that!
😀
This will make little difference to the average user, who will end up with Vista preinstalled on their new Dell or HP either way.
I’m quite apalled at the state of the OS this late into the development cycle. The interface is half-assed (still using icons from the NT days), almost none of my games work, and the features are still getting cut. The security features are a nightmare to say the least. We’ve had XP for just about 5 years now and this is the future of Windows for possibly the next 5? Screw Microsoft, I’m switching back to Mac OS X. It boots faster, looks much more polished, it’s easier to use, has a better security model, and I don’t have to worry about spyware or virii every moment I’m using it. Best of all it doesn’t phone home every day to Apple HQ to make sure I’m running “Genuine(TM) Mac OS X(R)”.
In this case I think some of the Microsoft bashing is justified. It seems most of the cutting edge technology MS was promising has been removed. The two major items still in Vista are the fancy user interface that most current computers won’t be able to use without a major system upgrade and the security features that they are scaling back because of the constant nag windows when trying to do everyday tasks. Of course, MS never gets a product right the first time. It usually takes three tries to get one of their products usable. Check in with Vista again when they offer service pack 2.
…the next thing to go will be application support.
…the next thing to go will be application support.
Heh? What? Come again? Application support? Where?
LOL. I meant as in “an application programming interface,” aka syscalls.
There is no use bashing MS. MS has several problems which are known to exist.
1. Partnering with a company and then cutting their throats by implementing and MS version and sending the company into bankruptcy, Norton, Adobe? Business ethics aside………….
2. Trying to support legacy software. This is eventually going to have to stop if MS wants to improve Windows. No new operating system can be created if MS still has to support old programs. This could possibly be done like MAC? Just my $.02.
penguin7009
No new operating system can be created if MS still has to support old programs. This could possibly be done like MAC?
OS X has no worthwhile backwards compatibility. As Microsoft lacks Steve Jobs’ RDF, a move like that on Microsoft’s part would be insane — no matter how robust/powerfuls/secure/clean an OS they create (Singularity), if it’s incompatible with all that Windows software, virtually no one will accept it.
Backwards compatibility is Microsoft’s ace in the hole.
That’s just why I am able to run older Mac programs without any problems, but some apps designed for XP appear to have problems on my XP box. I have also had numerous programs from the Win98 era fail to run on XP.
I fully agree. For quite some time the two most powerful features of Windows were 1) a huge, loyal army of ISVs, and 2) backwards compatibility to preserve the fruits of their labor.
For the masses of Windows users, these are two most imporatant features, and both are tracking for a significant regression in Vista. It seems like MS’s list of loyal ISVs is getting smaller everyday, and the remaining ones are staying put simply for lack of a better option.
The intersting part will be witnessing what affect waning ISV support will have on the big hardware vendors. Without ISVs, Microsoft can go at it alone and try to develop a strong portfolio of application software (they have the cash reserves). But if hardware vendor support starts to slide, MS is shit out of luck.
I’m not sure if this has been brought up already, but if MS is cutting out features, will they be cutting the price to reflect that. A while back I saw prices reported for the many flavours of Vista. They were expensive. However, if features are being cut out, the value (benefit:cost) will be reduced. Therefore, with every feature cut there should be a price cut. Or is it ridiculous that I would think this way?
“A while back I saw prices reported for the many flavours of Vista. They were expensive.”
Microsoft has never released any pricing as of yet. What you saw was just someones guess. How accurate they are remains to be seen.
On another note..isn;t this PC to PC synchronization the same thing as Briefcase, since that is what Briefcase did?
I’m not sure if this has been brought up already, but if MS is cutting out features, will they be cutting the price to reflect that. A while back I saw prices reported for the many flavours of Vista. They were expensive. However, if features are being cut out, the value (benefit:cost) will be reduced. Therefore, with every feature cut there should be a price cut. Or is it ridiculous that I would think this way?
Sadly, it is ridiculous that you would think that way for any number of business reasons, but I modded your comment up anyways because I enjoyed your innocent yet hopeless optimism. It’s very refreshing.
Naive. But refreshing.
A lot of good posts in this topic IMHO. Price is one big consideration. Thye need to make vista dirt cheap for people to adopt it. Also Vista R2 anyone? It is clear to me but I dont know if it is the same to other people that Microsoft is making Vista a huge platform and not just an OS. That platform will be also used by other companies to make lives of the Vista user supposedly richer with all the digital content and a new way to do shopping and blah blah blah that Microsoft was trying to demo in http://www.seewindowvista.com or something like that. I am honestly enjoying using XP right now. I will upgrade to the Pro edition and quite possibly the 64 bit edition because that will take care of all of my needs. There is no way I am going to get Vista because it seems very badly done, rushed, and is not going to have half of the features we were told it is going to have. That a huge company with endless resources like Microsoft could bungle up a software release is a case study for those dumbass management types who just think that anything can be achieved if you maybe dump a lot of money into the product or make the programmers and developers do insane amounts of work to get it delivered on time. It all depends on leadership and looks like Microsoft needs to be firing a few people and at the forefront is Steve Balmer who is literally getting paid to be useless. I wish I had his job for a month and with the amount of money I would have made, I would have been able to live the rest of my life in peace and happiness and quite possibly have opened up a trust fund to which to finance open source projects!! Anyway sorry for the rant…all I am saying is we need to look at the situation of Microsoft and learn how to avoid it! Plain and simple this should become included as part of MBA courses throughout the country on how not to pull a Microsoft! respect the programmers and developers I always say!
Considering that only only of my computers will end up running Vista, this isnt a huge concern for me right now… I guess it could be later on down the road however.
If Windows Vista turns out to be just another Windows XP type upgrade, thats really fine by me. To me, Microsoft doesnt have reinvent the wheel here. I think Windows XP is perfectly fine stability wise and I’d just like to see MS improve on the Windows XP goodness. I had Windows 2000 but found Windows XP to be a worthwhile upgrade for my daily computer. Of course, I didnt rush out and buy it the first day or anything and that will probably be the case with Vista.
For people that are discussing the synchronization of files on specific folders, for example My Documents, should take a look and try Office 2007 Groove beta 2 that is also available for download from MS.
Groove site is still http://www.groove.net for people that would like more historic information of the product.
MS Acquired Groove Networks, a company founded by Ray Ozzie (man behind Lotus Notes) – current Office CTO at MS.
Groove has its share of problems and an initial sync of a large folder can take hours and may also need a restart or 2.
But, Groove has a very interesting concept for sharing files, not only between your up to 5 machines, but also between you and others you invite.
It is a serious collaboration tool, and I recomend you all take a serious look at it.
Someday it will be the collaboration tool of choice, better than e-mail (or at least I can dream of that day).
I agree. Groove is a phenomenal collab tool. It takes a little while to get used to it, but I love it.
just get a macbook. That way, one can try out OS X, AND use Vista when it arrives. Best of both worlds on ONE laptop.
OSX allready combines the best of both worlds.Good looking fucntional desktop and the power of UNIX underneath (compiler,real scripting etc…).
Vista powered by Solaris,OpenBSD..?
A well maybe after the next period of 5+ years.
They’ve cut so much that, frankly, they would be better calling this XPv2. The only thing that is going to be left is eye candy – most real developers don’t consider eye candy an “OS release.”
Now I think you are overgeneralizing. At least from what I have read that there are a lot of under the hood changes. I think vista will really start making sense after a year when the R2 is supposed to be released and by that time I guess we will see Vista as a full fledged platform to do web based shopping etc etc as one of the touted features I guess. Time will tell. In the meanwhile, I am in no rush for an upgrade to Vista. XP does just fine for 99% of my needs as of right now. The only hard thing for me would be to watch the people who will upgrade to Vista playing DX 10 games….thats the only thing that makes me want to have Vista…nothing else.
By the time it finally gets released, Vista will be nothing more than a much more bloated version of XP with a nicer interface.
To MS: Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll stick with my crappy but usable Linux desktop, if you don’t mind. It takes up less space, is much less succeptible to virus and spyware infestation, and just runs.
(Currently running Slackware 10.2 with Xfce 4.4.2)
I am running VISTA beta 2 and it is beautiful! I really love the Aero Glass desktop! Unfortunately I have run into a lot of programs not running or installing on it. So far I have not been able to get any CD/DVD burning software to work. However it runs very fast on my Pentium 4 2.53ghz with 1gb of memory and a video card with 256mb of memory. This is off subject but I am also running Office 2007 beta and it too looks incredible!
Can someone please explain to me why I would want an OS that requires 1 – 2 GB of RAM to operate effectively? Has everyone forgotten that it is just the OS, not the apps you are using to get your job done? Maybe MS should have a TRUE minimal install and then let you selct which services you want to load. Software assurance is one I could do without.
Actually running the Aero Glass desktop and running Office 2007’s Word, Excel, and outlook all at the same time I am using less then 500mb of memory. I was really surprised.
I just downloaded and tried to upgrade XP with Vista.
After reboot got the welknown blue screen:P
Vista couldn’t find my two SATA hd’s during a fresh install instead of an upgrade.
They have still a lot to fix.Hard not to say crapware.
Am I the only person here thinking we have a MS employee posting comments? I don’t have a problem with it, but they should be honest about their objectives.
I think you underestimate the fanatical fan base that Microsoft has. Yes, I admit it’s hard to believe, but it most certainly exists, and this site is one of their favorite hangouts for some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the founder…