Vista RTMs - Finally!

Okay, its development isn't quite as old as the folks pictured above, but close enough. FIVE years - a lifetime in the computer industry. And please spare me talk of all the other OS releases that occured during that time (MCE, Server 2003, XP SP2, Tablet, etc.). While that helps clarify that MSFT wasn't sitting around doing nothing, it doesn't negate the fact that Longhorn/Vista was a total fuckup that has had a massive adverse impact on MSFT, its partners, its shareholders, and external perceptions of the company and the ability/effectiveness of its leadership. It also provided a huge opportunity for direct competitors like Linux and OSX to catch up and, in many cases, surpass Windows in functionality, while opening the door of industry/customer/investor interest to other companies and business models who were delivering - many of those being web-services based. All that aside, let's be grateful that this abysmal and unacceptable chapter in MSFT's history is finally over, and thank the team for what must have been a hugely stressful past 2 years trying to get this thing back on track. Let's hope the final result is something that all can be proud of, that it gives MSFT a leg up on dealing with its myriad of other competitive/execution problems, and that future projects are never allowed to go so far off the rails.