More than a year after their initial launch, Windows Vista - despite Microsoft's efforts to convince us otherwise - are yet another failure OS. Such a claim might sound propostruous, but let's talk some numbers here, shall we? I use Google Analytics on three sites of my sites. JoomlaPack.net (targetting techies and web developers) shows that 85% of the visitors use Windows, with the XP to Vista ratio being 3:1. The Association for Adult Education (with a wide target group, mostly on the lower end of tech-savviness) shows a whopping 96% of visitors using Windows, with the XP to Vista ratio being 4:1! Finally, this site displays the same ratios as JoomlaPack.net.

With a vastly different blend of target groups (and a very big sample of thousands upon thousands of visitors), it is quite clear that the XP installations outnumber the Vista installations by a disproportionate amount. But, then again, why is that?

With a vastly different blend of target groups (and a very big sample of thousands upon thousands of visitors), it is quite clear that the XP installations outnumber the Vista installations by a disproportionate amount. But, then again, why is that?

If you're still wondering, you probably haven't used (better said, attempted to use) Vista yet. For the lucky ones who didn't jump on the Vista bandwagon, here's what awaits you as soon as you install them on a new or old PC:

• Boot up time increases. A lot.
• Responsiveness drops to unbelievable low levels. Doing as much as moving your mouse eats up 20% of your CPU time! How about that?
• No matter how much memory you have, Vista seems to be constantly thrashing your hard disk, even when the PC sits there, disconencted from the Internet (so it's not installing updates), doing nothing at all.
• No matter how much memory you have, it's not enough. Really.
• The UAE window pops up all the time. At some point you lose the point of security by ignoring it and clicking on it without reading what is asking your permission to run as Administrator.
• If you had pre-Vista applications you loved and used, prepare to pay for that! Old apps no longer run on Vista, so you'll have to upgrade them. If these apps were bundled with your PC, doing so requires a substancial amount of money because most probably there will be no "upgrade" path, rather than a "buy a new copy" option.
• Same goes for hardware. Anything older than 2-3 years will be bricked.

Thank God Microsoft decided to overprice this detestable pile of garbage, deterring anyone from upgrading. Actually, buying Vista Home Premium costs about half as much as buying a new PC with it preinstalled. If you ask me, that's ridiculously overpriced!

Given this fact and the overall "feel" you get from Vista, it's little wonder people are actually downgrading their brand new PC's and Laptops to Windows XP. Let's hope Windows 7 will deliver what Vista was supposed to, but ultimately failed to.