Vista suffered from allot of issues and was labelled as Microsoft’s worst OS yet. The general feeling though, is that Vista was rushed. Windows 7 is what Vista should have been.

Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, made a few comments when speaking at Microsoft’s WPC in Washington D.C., that compared the iPhone 4?s reception disaster to the doomed Vista.

"It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I’m okay with that,? He went on to say,  ?One of the things I want to make sure you know today is that you’re going to be able to use a Windows Phone 7 and not have to worry about how you’re holding it to make a phone call."

Apple has still not admitted to an issue with the iPhone 4s hardware. There have been unconfirmed reports that slight adjustments to fix the device have been made on newer units. Apple are still insisting it?s a software issue, and iOS 4.1 beta was released to developer today. But early reports do not look good. Reception is still dropped when the device is held covering the left.

If I were Microsoft, I don?t think I could help but feel a little smug.

Vista wasn?t as bad as it?s current reputation implies, but the delays in it?s making created an expectation with consumers that it would have the stability of XP. It received allot of bad press straight after it?s launch. Vista was just never able to recover, and it was detrimental to it?s long term success. Apple also stuck the knife in with it?s ?Mac VS PC? advertising campaign, which pointed out all of Vista?s flaws to the public. And there was the disastrous Intel/Microsoft ?Vista Capable? campaign, which promised consumers that certain PC models were compatible with the new OS. Unfortunately they weren’t, which was more down to Intel than it was Microsoft. All this put the nails in Vista?s coffin before it really had a chance.

But it?s not all doom and gloom, Microsoft?s Windows 7 has been a huge success and has been widely adopted. Ballmer’s recognition of the wasted time incurred by Vista is a rarity coming from the CEO.

The Vista service pack free OS will no longer be support by MS as of the 13Th of April 2010. which means a hackers delight for those that will get kicks from exploiting it’s code. All versions of Windows 2000 and XP SP2 are due for lights out on the 13Th of July.

Microsoft is also moving Windows?Server 2003 into its extended phase of support. Only the security updates will be free, any other support will have to be paid for.

So, consumers and ?businesses be prepared to cough up! The end is drawing near and upgrading is on the horizon.

Security Essentials is a product that is from the Microsoft Malware Protection Centre. This is the core area of research from Microsoft that is dedicated to providing anti malware research and response capabilities for all aspects of Microsoft’s security products.

What does it look like? – Not too bad. It has a very subtle interface that fits in well with Windows Vista and Windows 7 and looks as if it was just meant to be there.

Microsoft Security Essentials Front Screen