Windows Vista: Nine different ways to turn it off

Another entry in the "Just because it's done by committee doesn't mean it's good" file. This one's from BusinessWeek.com: Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system will have NINE different ways to shut down.

How many ways should you be able to shut off a laptop? How about nine? Microsoft's long-awaited Vista operating system, launched for business customers on Nov. 30, includes that many options, according to programmers familiar with the software. That's two shortcut icons and a shut-down menu with a full seven options.

The number of choices has some techies chortling at what they see as the sheer absurdity of it all—and others astounded that the software giant could come out with something so unwieldy after years of development. Critics say that Vista, for all its capabilities, could end up being too complex for the average consumer. After all, how many features do you need for the computer equivalent of a light switch? "I'm sure there's a whole team of [user interface] designers, programmers, and testers who worked very hard on the OFF button in Windows Vista," writes Joel Spolsky, a New York software developer, on his blog, "but seriously, is this the best you could come up with?"

It definitely didn't stem from this, but awhile back I decided that I won't be upgrading to Windows Vista for quite some time: Possibly not for a year or even more. Windows XP has been working just fine for me for almost five years now, with the fewest problems I've ever encountered from a Windows operating system. I don't see how my current productivity is going to be increased or improved upon by adopting Vista. And I would even go so far as to ask others to seriously consider whether it's worth the time and effort to change over to Vista from something already known to be pretty reliable.