Developers snub Vista in favor of XP
Summary
Topics
The survey, released by US research firm Evans Data Corp, found only 8 percent of the 390 developers who responded are currently writing applications for Vista, while over half have continued to target XP.
Vista may yet make strides against XP in the coming year, with 24 percent expressing their intentions to target the OS in 2009, and 29 percent expecting to continue with XP.
"We've seen a very big 'wait and see' approach with Vista, and with all the mistakes Microsoft has made in regards to it things aren't looking too good at the moment," said Joe Sweeney, advisor at analyst group IBRS.
Sweeney told ZDNet.com.au that other recent figures have shown only around 25 percent of businesses globally have plans to even trial Vista.
"The new operating system has had more than its share of problems and the desire to move from XP on the Windows platform is still lagging--that coupled with interest in alternative operating systems is suppressing development activity and that in turn will further erode Vista's acceptance," John Andrews, president and chief executive of Evans Data, said in a statement.
IBRS's Sweeney claimed one of the major problems developers have had to overcome when working to build applications for Vista is its new security model--otherwise known as user account control (UAC).
"UAC may go down as a massive step forward in security some day, but most developers consider it a nightmare at the moment," he said. "To get any application running seamlessly on Vista a developer has to have a solid understanding of UAC," he said. However, Sweeney said the survey may not bode as ill for Vista as it might first appear.
"Developers don't really target an operating system per se," he said. "They'll start with a version of .Net architecture or some other platform and then work over to the operating system... so by the time you get to Vista things can be two or three steps removed from the developer's initial layout," he said.
Talkback Most Recent of 37 Talkback(s)
-
Slight misinformation
Its very standard to target previous versions of OSs. In fact, 2000 was the last time I saw the majority of programmers target a recent OS, and that was just because 2k was so good.
cmdrrickhunter@...19th May 2008 -
2K Great-XP Good, Vista-average
I thought Windows 2000 was the best client-side product Microsoft has ever released. XP is good, but Vista is not terribly impressive by comparison...
DonRupertBitByte19th May 2008 -
disagree - vista better
win2k was good when it was first released, then along came xp and shot 2k like a lame horse. xp is so much more functional than 2k ever was.
now xp is getting its tail kicked by the new champ vista - functionality, speed and security. vista is the best os from ms to date. all hail vista in the ms world.
i say this because i build them, use them and fix them.
vi0l3t1975@...19th May 2008 -
Yeah.right!
Functionality,speed and security?
What OS are you running?
The last time I looked,most every 3rd party bench said Vista was at least 25% slower on the exact same hardware.
I am an M$ reseller and at a reseller meeting a few months ago at the M$ offices in San Fran,about 90% of the 250 there when surveyed,said they had NOT put Vista into production.
So we're talking 25 people using that rainbow bow WOW.
We are the people who influence and support the technology that a lot of people use,and Vista is still a pig in terms of performance.
What are you,another M$ shill?
pgm55420th May 2008 -
Vista is what I'm using
Don't know about benchmarks but I have Vista on the same hardware on which I previously had Win XP. Vista is faster, smoother, more responsive - and that is with Aero running.
One comment I have often seen is that benchmarks often are a poor assessment of real world performance.
Guess it isn't possible to have a good experience with Vista without being a Microsoft shill.
dprozzo20th May 2008 -
I call BS
on your entire story, starting with the "25% slower" stat you made up and ending with your ridiculous reseller story.
What are you, a paid troll?
rtk20th May 2008 -
no ms shill
i dont care if its windows, linux, mac or solaris (i use and repair them all).
but looking at only the ms world of operating systems then vista does better than any other previous windows os. i have not yet built a vista based computer that performed worse than or equal to xp. each one has performed better than xp.
i spend more time fixing issues caused by IT rejects like yourself than dumb users.vi0l3t1975@...20th May 2008 -
Dumb!
To believe that Vista won't be accepted by business because of present scenerios is like predicting an earthquake based on peoples opinions. Sure people aren't happen right now, same people who weren't happy with XP probably, but time will change that, it's inevitable. Unless the next Windows version is ready and better than Vista (not likely), Vista will be the eventual mainstream OS. For developers to not be getting ready for it is just plain "Dumb". It's like the hardware companies not building drivers for Vista yet, when did they think they should start? A huge part of the disatisfaction with Vista is the drivers (not really MS's fault). When XP is no longer available, what did Business think they were going to do? They will tell IT, buy Vista (and buy hardware that has good drivers), then buy apps that were developed for Vista. Then these fools will be scrambling to put something together, and when they have problems with it (didn't put the time in to do it right), then they will blame Vista. MS has broad shoulders and will be the whipping boy, but eventually it will become obvious, these people din't think ahead and plan accordingly. As I said "DUMB"
garry_k@...19th May 2008 -
Why waste time on Vista with Win 7 on the horizon
Seriously, unless MS starts telling developers what is in store with Win 7 then developers are not going to invest a second on anything beyond XP. Re-writting code for Vista only to rip it out and start over with Win 7 is foolish at best.
No_Ax_to_Grind19th May 2008 -
Windows 7 will not be the panacea many think...
...it will be. If a developer cannot understand UAC in Vista I doubt they'll get it in Windows 7. While we don't know much about Windows 7 I suspect the security model will be very similar to that of Vista.
ye19th May 2008 -
ye, is that "will" not, or "may" not be......
I think we are a bit light on what win 7 will be all about to start talking too definitively. UAC may be totally revamped. I would hope they have learned and will deal accordingly.
What's the latest on win7? Using minwin kernel? complete dependency isolation and mapping completed...ability to write microkernel apps?
xuniL_z19th May 2008 -
"may" would be more appropriate. Thanks for...
...pointing out my statement of "will" as being too definitive.
I would hope they have learned and will deal accordingly.
Can you expand upon this? I'm not sure what they can do to improve UAC without weakening security (such as caching elevations).ye20th May 2008 -
total revamp?
I'd argue that if you're complaining about the frequency of the UAC prompt during setup, there's no need for a total revamp. That's like throwing out your computer because your left shift key sticks.
I'd bet my house that win7 will be architecturally very similar to Vista, MS won't radically change anything in the next version.rtk20th May 2008 -
Not about the UAC
The fact is MS is being closed mouth about what Win 7 will or will not contain so most devs are in a holding pattern.
In fact most large (corporate) installs are doing the same thing.No_Ax_to_Grind20th May 2008 -
new programs
plenty of business for new apps. The market may be much smaller, but far less crowded too.
The city I live in just had 2 major employers move to Vista, for example.
Word is both companies are already looking outside the company for development work.xuniL_z19th May 2008
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
