With every new release of the Windows operating system by Microsoft you can be assured of one thing - some folks will bitch about it. They could probably release the world’s perfect OS and still there would be complaints flying all over the place. Over the years I have seen it happen with just about every release whether it be the disaster that was MS-DOS 4 right through to today’s latest behemoth Vista.

Sometimes the complaints were justified; as with WinME, and in other cases it was just a case of upgrade jitters. With Vista though Microsoft is for the first time facing some serious OS competition from Apple’s OS X platform as sales of Apple’s laptops have gained momentum over the last few years. More and more people are giving the Mac serious consideration as they tire of the ever increasing bloat of Windows itself and the programs that run on it.

While Microsoft may be able to withstand some losses in the consumer market it becomes a different matter when their regular cash cow - the corporations - begin to look at either switching to Mac or side stepping a newly released Microsoft OS.

In an article today Business Week writes about about some Fortune 500 corporations that are doing just that - side stepping Vista and waiting until the next version of Windows ships. As Aaron Ricadela of BW writes:

General Motors may take a detour around Vista, the latest computer operating system from Microsoft. The automaker has encountered so many speed bumps getting Vista to work on its machines that it may just wait for the next version of Windows, due in 2010 or 2011. “We’re considering bypassing Vista and going straight to Windows 7,” says GM’s Chief Systems & Technology Officer Fred Killeen.

You know that when you have companies the size of GM who are willing to pass over a supposedly major OS upgrade in favor of what might be down the road you know you have a problem.

One could assume that with Bill Gate’s recent talking up about Windows 7 that the top brass regardless of the PR spin they put on Vista realize that they have to make some major changes. After all when only 65% of your Windows sales are Vista and even OEMs are clamoring for more of a life extension for XP you have to know something has gone of the rails somewhere.

As I have written before here on WinExtra it is my belief that given the information available and with a little bit of tea leaf reading we will see Windows 7 hit the market before the 2010 date that Microsoft is publicly stating will be the ship date. The reality is that Microsoft is going to have to do some major shifting with its OS development and shipping because I think that if they blow it this next time Apple will make even bigger and deeper inroads to Microsoft core corporate market.

In the end though I think it will be a safe bet that Vista will end up on the shelf sitting right next to Microsoft Bob and WinME.