Vista vs XP

Are vista sales really going as well as Microsoft reports say? I was curious so did a bit of research and found some useful polls and articles that blow their figures out of the water. It appears they are trying to convince themselves that they made the right move, or else they think the consumer is to stupid to know the difference.
Several vendors initiated a Vista to Xp crossgrade. Basically, if a customer ordered a computer and it came with Vista installed, the customer could get an Xp license instead.Microsoft does not count the crossgrade as a sale for Xp. Rather, they count it as a sale for Vista. Now, combine that data with public statements from vendors that Xp is outselling Vista on an average of 3 to 1. Now go take a look at Microsoft's sales statements for Vista and for Xp, and you'll note a startling difference. Microsoft's finance numbers do not add up if one accepts the numbers Microsoft has floated for sales. Care to guess how the numbers appear to be adding up? If you are thinking that Vista is selling worse than Windows ME, you'd probably be close to what appears to be reality. Now, Microsoft reported back in July,of 2007, that 60 million copies of Vista had been sold. Now start subtracting the crossgrades to Xp that are not counted as sales. Microsoft needs to take a hard look at the market and the feedback they’ve received and be honest with themselves. After a ton of time developing Vista, I can imagine that the last thing Microsoft wants to do is publicly admit that it’s not the product it was supposed to be and their sales figures seem to back them up. It’s important to note, though, that new PCs that are shipped with Vista and then downgraded to Windows XP, are counted as Vista sales. Westminster College, last year, purchased around 90 computers with Windows Vista. Every single one was upgraded to XP. Now, I know that 90 computers is a miniscule fraction of PC sales, but they are far from the only organization with a similar policy that purchased computers with Vista.
Change, for change's sake, is never a good idea. And while you can understand Microsoft's desire to refresh the Windows UI (all those Mac OS X screen shots look so much prettier than XP), Vista's designers seem to have cut off their nose to spite their face. Regardless, the usability "improvements" in Vista are unlikely to make IT's list of compelling reasons to move away from XP anytime soon. After all is said and done, I believe the number of people, and businesses running vista are far below the number of licenses sold. I think it accounts for a lot of MAC's moving up the ladder and the Linux uptake has to account for a few cases. I personally know of several individuals, and companies that switched and most went back to XP, some gave Linux a shot. The reasons I heard most often was, “our software won't run correctly on vista.” With windows seven due in 2009, or 2010, it appears Microsoft is starting to get a little concerned about vista. A lot of this information came from InfoWorld, Tech Republic, and various forums, and windows techies.