At a January 29 media event in New York City, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates emphasized that “everything is becoming digital, and the platform that allows people to be creative and build new applications and show off new hardware advances, that’s a central element that allows it all to thrive.” Just as Windows 95 was the key to its era, he said, “Windows Vista is the key to the era we have today.”
A similar launch in London the following day featured Gates and British Library Chief Executive Lynne Brindley showcasing the library’s digital book application Turning the Pages 2.0, developed to run on Vista. The presentation featured digitized versions of two notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci—one owned by Gates, the other owned by the British Library—their pages turned by two Vista-based computers. The Associated Press noted January 31 that it was the first time the two notebooks have been displayed together, albeit virtually, since they were separated 500 years ago.
While the world wowed over the unveiling, pundits posited that most people would switch to Vista only when they buy a new computer. Karen Schneider, associate director for technology and research at Florida State University libraries, told American Libraries that the launch of Vista “just means that we will have to buy computers more powerful than our actual need,” otherwise “when Microsoft comes out with the killer application in two years, we’ll have to upgrade.”
Jenny Levine, internet development specialist for the American Library Association, said, “In the public and school library worlds, I do think Vista will have a big impact over the next year, and I don’t think it will be pretty.” The problem as Levine sees it is that no one especially wants or needs the new operating system, but “as libraries buy new equipment, it’s going to come with Vista by default, which means mixed operating system environments.”
A spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told AL, “Since the beginnings of the U.S. Libraries initiative, libraries receiving grants from the foundation have never been required to use Microsoft products. In the new set of hardware grants, libraries again will be free to choose their computer type, configuration, and operating systems.”
The FSU Office of Technology Integration issued “User Services Recommendation on Upgrades to Microsoft Vista Operating System” by David Gaitros and Alex Cruz January 12. “Organizations within Florida State University may want to be cautious about upgrading their office PCs to Microsoft Vista at the first available opportunity,” they warned. “Your IT managers should carefully weigh the pros and cons of the technical upgrade before committing to the transition.”
Gaitros and Cruz recommend that organizations first “have a reason to upgrade” and “weigh the time and effort involved in the upgrade, migration, and training that would be needed in transitioning to Windows Vista versus improvements in capability and productivity. Eventually, all offices will need to upgrade to the new Operating System (OS) but you may want to wait when doing so would be less disruptive.” Windows XP will be around for a while, they conclude.
Posted February 2, 2007.