Rick, with every bit of respect due. What you just typed sounds like a
hybrid of Rumsfield's last goofey speech this morning, Bush's delusional and
murderous denial, and the confused Iraq Study group that is recommending to
embed people we don't have while making sure their grandchildren don't go
anywhere near Iraq.
For the record, Windows OS RTMs have always been "perpetual Beta", and Vista
more son than any of them besides ME.
In fact there are licensing support channels and pages that encourage you to
call them for info. This has nothing to do with TBT, TAP, MVPs and all the
other alphabets that tested and did the monumental task of lol reporting one
bug to cop their freebie of a $399 Vista Ultimate complements of Paul
Donnelly.
Here's an example of one that has been available for some time. I posted
this on December 10, 2006:
Apparently MSFT is offering volume license sales now from this site:
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusin...tage/security-microsoft-software-upgrade.mspx
https://microsoft.order-5.com/upgradedesktop/addrform.asp?skipto=4
Microsoft Teams Up With CompUSA to Deliver Windows Vista Business and
Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 Early to Small Businesses Purchasing
Five or More Licenses
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/nov06/11-13CompUSAVLPR.mspx
Simply put, they are ***dragging their asses*** on getting straight sales
and licensing information out, and their licensing people are confused as
hell. RTM is frigging RTM. RTM not in retail doesn't preclude a 65,000
person company with more millionaireds bumping into each other than 150
Nicole Ritchie clones on the LA freeway.
I've worked pretty hard trying to get staight info on upgrade licensing and
pricing and have put together a good bit, but their licensing experts are
confused as of today on exactly what is available to upgrade from what.
A message like that one probably came from Convergys of Ohio, not Redmond
MSFTies. MSFT uses hundreds or orange badge surrogates and scores of
contractors. There would be nothing wrong with it, and many of them do a
great job, but often the information is simply not accurate much like the
support PSS that is simply horrendous. The [MSFT's] that occassionally post
here have no idea how terrible the PSS is if they even know what it is.
They'll never discuss it claiming that they never heard of it.
This is a "support channel" and it has nothing to do with any of the groups
you named, and it sure as hell is needed with 48 days and 36 minutes to go
until they put Vista on sale to the public. For a product with something
like a hundred million dollar ad campaing, they can get decent info out and
they do need to get it out now.
I know a lot of people who run small businesses who are confused about how
and what to buy, and they aren't plugged in like a lot of people who hit
this group all the time.
I can understand the delay until January 30 having the side effect of
perhaps creating some pent up demand as an unintended side effect, and
certainly it should have delayed 6 months more. There are a ton of bugs in
RTM, and I run into new ones every day I use it.
As to the upgrade advisor Ronnie Vernon advocated, the problem with it is
that much of the time it's dead wrong, recommending hardware updates that
aren't at all needed.
CH
