Thursday, October 26, 2006

On the Crest of the Vista Wave

I was brought up on the New Jersey shore - some of my earliest memories are of the beach. As kids we surfed a lot (mat, board and body). In surfing, there's the moment where the wave picks you up and you begin the journey after what can be a long wait. I feel a bit like that now with the Vista wave of products. I should call it EVO (Exchange, Vista and Office). EVO represents the three big ones, which have yet to RTM. But some of the other pieces in this puzzle have!

We've seen the release of both IE7 and Desktop search. IE7 is Vista's default browser, while Desktop Search is or particular importance to Outlook (and pretty cool). We've also seen Defender reach RTM. And we're seeing the start of Vista training. Microsoft has some early First Looks, while my firm, Global Knowledge, is running those, along full week classes on Vista across EMEA. And today, I saw the first advert for a "buy a new PC now and get Vista later" offer.

The Vista wave, and the Vista hype (aka marketing) machine are now cresting. After 5 years of incubation, the Vista wave ride is now beginning. It should prove to be an interesting time!

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