I just had my first look at the proposed new version of Windows: Vista.

Microsoft has been developing this new version of Windows under the name of Longhorn (although, most of us have called it LongWait). Happily, I can sum up my impression of it with just one word:

YAWN

This took 4-years to develop (let's not forget that it is not being released till late 2006)?

It is Windows XP with a Mac interface and a few new security features added (which will probably be hacked within a week of release). Oh, and 32-bit technology. Interestingly, I tried installing Dreamweaver MX 2004 on it and it crashed quickly. In all fairness, many installation programs need to identify the operating system. But I saw no mention of the backward compatibility that XP has.

The All Programs option of the Start Menu is arranged a little more clearly and searching for a document is a little easier.

YAWN

There has not been a significant upgrade of MS Office in years (unless you want to consider the minor cosmetic changes in 2003), Vista seems forever stuck at the gate and, with the exception of pockets of usage, .NET really has not taken a significant percentage of the developer's market. Is Microsoft resting on its pile of money and feels it does not need to do much more? Or does it need an infusion of new blood?

After a close association with Macromedia's very creative and cutting edge technologies, Microsoft is really looking tired. While Macromedia is continually setting new standards, while Flash is becoming the tool of choice for an increasing number of designers and developers, while Flex is only beginning to show its potential, Microsoft is becoming the increasingly irrelevant (let's not even get started on how programs like FireFox and OpenOffice are increasingly taking traditionally Microsoft markets).

Whenever I do a Flash seminar, I hear a lot of excitement. When was the last time you heard someone get excited about Microsoft?

Can Linux be ready to finally take the market?