That's the message from Brad Brooks, Corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Products, who in a Tuesday keynote speech at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston attempted to swat away the negative mojo around the OS that has built up since its launch.
"There are a lot of myths around Windows Vista. We know the story is very different than what our competitors would like us to think," Brooks told the audience.
In a clear dig at Apple and it's 'I'm a PC, I'm a Mac' advertisements, Brooks suggested that Microsoft is preparing to retaliate against "noisy competitors" with a major new multi-million dollar advertising campaign, something that many channel partners have been hoping the software giant would do for months.
"You thought the sleeping giant was still sleeping. We've woken up and it's time to take this message forward. This is the true story of Vista," Brooks said.
Security is one of the areas in which Vista simply hasn't received its due, Brooks said.
Vista has actually had a cleaner security track record in its first year since launch than any other open source or commercial OS in history, Brooks said. Vista also had 20 percent fewer security problems than XP in 2007, and users running Vista are 60 percent less likely to get malware than those running XP SP2, he added.
"This is the real Vista story, and it's only getting better," said Brooks.
Acknowledging that Vista was a major break from earlier versions of Windows, Brooks said the market is beginning to realize that Microsoft made these changes with their best interests in mind. "Yes, the changes did cause a lot of pain. But customers are starting to see benefits," Brooks said.
Brooks noted that the same architectural changes that caused hardships in Vista are carrying over to Windows 7, which means that users make the transition will already be up to speed when Microsoft launches the next version of Windows sometime in late 2009 or early 2010.
"Make the investment and#91;in Vistaand#93; now," Brooks exhorted channel partners. "Because when you make the investment in Windows Vista, you're not only making it in Vista, it's going to pay forward into the next generation of the operating system we call Windows 7."
Compatibility issues in Vista have also been exaggerated, and Microsoft's Windows Vista Compatibility Center, a database that shows the compatibility status of the most Windows popular devices and software products, is aimed at clearing the air on this front, according to Brooks.
Brooks also introduced the Vista Small Business Assurance program, under which Microsoft will offer free support and one-on-one coaching to small businesses.
"Windows Vista is a good product," Brooks told partners. "We need to make our voices heard."
related stories
Video
trending stories
sponsored resources

Cysurance
Cyber Insurance 360

EPOS
EPOS

Fujifilm
Fujifilm

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Storage Learning Center

Mimecast
Mimecast

Carbonite
Cloud Storage 360

Application Integration 360

Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Vantara

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Cloud Learning Center

Tenable
Cyber Risk 360

Webroot
Webroot Learning Center

NPD
Industry Trends 360

BlackBerry
BlackBerry Learning Center

Symantec
Symantec Business Security Learning Center

Sherweb
Sherweb

Acer
Remote Workforce 360

APC by Schneider Electric
Digital Services for Edge Learning Center

Channel Chief Showcase

StorageCraft
Disaster Recovery Learning Center

Vertiv
Edge Computing Learning Center

Wasabi
Wasabi

Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies Hybrid Cloud Learning Center

Cradlepoint
5g for Business 360

Comm100
Collaboration & Communications 360

Veeam
Veeam

Smart 3rd Party
3rd Party Maintenance 360

Sophos
Sophos Cybersecurity Learning Center

Trend Micro
Trend Micro Learning Center

VMware

HubStor
Cloud Backup 360

eSentire
Managed Detection and Response 360

Comcast Business
Comcast Business Learning Center
