Jeremy Allison: Why the Vista launch will be a disaster

Samba developer Jeremy Allison, who recently quit Novell over its Linux deal with Microsoft, predicts that the Vista launch Jan. 29 will be a train wreck.

In a new monthly column on ZDNet, Allison, an open source guru who now works at Google, eyeballs the Microsoft marketing machine revving up and scoffs.

"Microsoft's most important product launch ever" blare the headlines in the trade press. Yet the silence from businesses and customers is deafening. No one cares. Contrast this with what most people would consider Microsoft's most successful Windows launch ever: Windows 95. People actually queued outside stores to be the first to buy this exciting new product, the launch itself was covered as news; real news, actually covered by the mainstream press as a real media event; not just in the computer trade press.

No matter how much spin is put on this launch, it's a disaster. There's simply no excitement about it."

From there Allison notes that Vista's features are nothing new and pans the hardware requirements. Does Allison have a bone to pick with Microsoft? Perhaps. But his point of view is worth a look. 

He even urges folks that buy PC's loaded with Vista get a refund.

"My only advice to the home user is to do what my good friend Dave Mitchell in Sheffield, U.K. did and get yourself a refund for Windows from the vendor; Dell in Dave's case. It's hard work. Getting a refund is so rare that he's still coping with his 15 minutes of fame as media such as the BBC call him up for interviews."