Microsoft Calls Forrester's Windows Vista Report 'Schizophrenic'

Invoking a common misnomer for multiple personality disorder, a Microsoft blogger called IT research group Forrester "schizophrenic" for publishing a report on Windows Vista that Microsoft claims contradicts previous Forrester reports on the beleaguered operating system.

The report, issued last week by Forrester analyst Thomas Mendel, says that large businesses have "rejected" Vista and advises IT managers to hold off on deploying the OS. Microsoft corporate blogger Christopher Flores, in a post Friday titled "Forrester Gets Schizophrenic On Windows Vista," said the conclusion runs counter to previous Forrester research on Vista.

"Heck, even Forrester doesn't agree with Forrester!" wrote Flores.

Flores cited a recent report from Forrester analyst Ben Gray, called "Building The Business Case For Windows Vista." "This report outlines the five main reasons why enterprises should start their company's migration to Windows Vista now," wrote Flores. "Mendel's report also goes against other industry analyst reports that show Windows Vista adoption is progressing faster, or at the very least, just as fast, as Windows XP adoption did when it first launched."

Vista has received scathing criticism from IT pundits since it launched in January 2007. Common complaints include gripes about the OS's hardware requirements, intrusive security features, and lack of compatibility with older applications. As a result, few large enterprises have upgraded their corporate PCs from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

But Microsoft is fighting back.

In addition to blog posts challenging Vista's critics, the company recently hired an ad agency to create a series of new commercials touting the OS -- partly in an effort to counter Apple spots that depict Vista as slow and stodgy.

Microsoft also recently conducted a blind experiment, called "Project Mojave," under which PC buyers were asked to evaluate what they were told was Microsoft's "next operating system." Not revealed was the fact that they were actually viewing a running copy of Vista. Microsoft claims the results were overwhelmingly positive and pledged to publish subjects' responses Tuesday.

Still, Vista is facing an uphill battle in the corporate world. The majority of large businesses and government agencies are still running Windows XP. Surveys and anecdotal evidence show that many such organizations will never move to Vista, and instead will upgrade only after Microsoft releases Windows 7 in 2010.

The catch: Microsoft has said that applications that are incompatible with Vista also will not work with Windows 7, since both operating systems are built from the same core.