How does does Microsoft counter the widespread perception that Vista is a failure, despite its strong sales numbers? First you release a white paper explaining why Vista is better than XP, and then you release a white paper explaining why there is no reason to wait for Windows 7. With companies still considering "bypassing Vista," Microsoft has done just that. The most recent Windows white paper to make it out of Redmond is 20 pages long and is entitled "The Business Value of Windows Vista: Five reasons to deploy now."

Microsoft's argument focuses on the fact that Windows 7 will be much closer to Vista than Vista is to XP, and therefore it makes sense for businesses to ease up the transition process for themselves by moving to Vista first:

There is no need to wait for Windows 7. It is a goal of the Windows 7 release to minimize application compatibility for customers who have deployed Windows Vista since there was considerable kernel and device level innovation in Windows Vista. The Windows 7 release is expected to have only minor changes in these areas. Customers who are still using Windows XP when Windows 7 releases will have a similar application compatibility experience moving to Windows 7 as exists moving to Windows Vista from Windows XP.

The rest of the report centers on Vista features and how they are such a great improvement over XP. Those parts are very similar to another report released by Microsoft that focused on convincing businesses that it is not worth waiting for SP1 before moving to Vista: "The Business Case for Windows Vista: Five reasons to deploy now."

Whatever your opinion on Vista, there's no getting around the fact that businesses haven't been adopting it as quickly as Microsoft would want. White papers like this one are often an interesting read (as long as you remember what the source is), but I can't help but wonder what else Microsoft can do to fight the media's frequent criticism of Vista.

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