Designing a top notch operating system is not as easy as it seems. Microsoft learned with Windows 7 that the journey from conception to implementation is not always as smooth as it would seem. When Windows released XP several years ago the consumer market was at a loss for words. Never had Microsoft done something so bold and so ambitious as what they were doing with XP. For the first time in the history of the company they had changed their audience.
For years Microsoft Windows was a business based operating system. There was nothing about Windows that was flashy. It was a practical application for the business world. With XP everything changed. Windows had decided to increase the graphics and the user friendliness of the system. It was an attempt to understand and relate to their core base of customers: the home computer user. It had come to their attention that home users were occupying most of their market.
XP was a hit to say the least and the customers were dying for the next thing from Microsoft. Microsoft, rather than take their time to work on the best new version they could, saw the profit to be made from it and moved out Windows Vista.
Windows Vista was a disaster. One of the main reasons had to do with Microsoft only allowing their media to play copyrighted music. It’s part of the reason that so many people uninstalled Vista from their computers and went back to XP.
Sales tanked for Vista and Microsoft had to go back to the drawing board. They began listening to their consumers and designing a OS that is made right for the users. The feedback and response to Windows 7 has been amazing. Users are so happy with the changes that have been made that they are buying Windows 7 in record numbers. It’s what happens when Microsoft started listening to their customers.