Are OEM's Hurting Vista?

Michael Gartenberg | October 23, 2007, 07:06 AM

The notion of the OEM eco system has been integral to the success of the Microsoft's OS strategies in the past but lately I'm wondering if some OEMs are hurting Microsoft's efforts rather than helping them. I recently received a system from an OEM for review that was  so loaded with junk, including ads in the sidebar that it took nearly four minutes to boot and more than 80% of the hard drive was filled. And I mean filled, including an install on SQL server on a consumer build (I'm sure there was a reason for it but it eludes me to this day), Other OEMs have audacity to CHARGE for not installing junk on their PCs, makes you wonder if Tony Soprano is in charge of marketing (pay us, or we'll make your PC unusable). Other vendors ship machines underpowered for a particular Vista SKU or have buggy drivers installed. I'm fortunate to use Vista on several machines that have all be designed to work with the OS, have drivers that work and come from vendors who ship proper SKUs for the proper machine and don't install a lot of junk. When you get that experience, Vista is great and a worthy upgrade to XP but that's not the experience a lot of folks seem to have.

It's not just me, I've heard this from numerous colleagues and journalists who review systems or take the case of my friend Jeremy Toeman who was so frustrated that his Sony experience he just wrote off the purchase and bought a Mac.

It's a tough problem to solve but it needs to be solved by Microsoft as this experience is clearly having a negative impact on the perception of Vista. Of course Microsoft cant' mandate what vendors ship on their PCs (that would invite a few phone calls from several attorneys general). Ultimately, the market will correct itself and vendors who don't listen to customers will find themselves without customers. In the short term Microsoft needs to take a close look at who is shipping what and what the customer experience are like and work to partner closer with those folks and distance themselves from the others.

What's your Vista experience been like? Are you moving or have moved to Vista?