Why was the upgrade needed from Windows XP to Windows VIsta?

Answer 1

There are numerous reasons why Microsoft released Windows Vista instead of continuing with Windows XP 'forever.' The reasons are primarily technical, with, of course, some financial / political motivations as well.

Technical reasons for Windows Vista

• Windows XP by default sets up user accounts to run as Administrators. This has turned out to be a major security flaw, as any piece of software running on an Administrator account can modify the entire system, even without your knowledge. Microsoft could recommend that you run under a limited account in XP, but users would be unlikely to do this unless it was forced upon them. And many poorly written programs may not work correctly this way. Windows Vista serves as an "excuse" to break compatibility with these older programs.
• It may come as a shock to anyone who has never built their own computer, but Windows XP does not support SATA drives. A retail copy of Windows XP cannot see or access any SATA drives in a system. To use them, either the BIOS must be set to emulate IDE drives (which impairs performance), or a vendor-specific driver must be slipstreamed onto the installation CD. This is probably beyond the capabilities of most users, and makes it more difficult for even advanced users to install Windows.
• Users have expressed interest in desktops with more "eye candy" and graphical effects. Linux and Mac OS X have had these for years, and users have been forced to download third-party software to try to emulate these effects. Why should users have to risk downloading malware to gain features that other operating systems come with?
• When a faulty graphics card driver fails in XP, you get a BSOD. In Windows Vista, using WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) drivers, the display simply resets and comes back within seconds. To implement this functionality in XP would require the entire kernel to be rewritten (as it was in Vista) and would probably break many existing drivers.
• Windows XP integrates support for devices most people didn't use anymore even when XP was new. Do you really want to carry around drivers for old ISA network cards from 1995 on your brand new shiny system? Probably not. Windows Vista ditches support for older technologies that no one uses, and instead works on supporting most current devices out of the box. Of course the drivers bundled with Vista will one day be outmoded as well, but that's one reason Microsoft used to release a new version of Windows every three years.

Financial / political reasons for Windows Vista

• Microsoft earns money by selling a product. No company involved in selling a product (rather than a service) wants the product to last forever. Do you think light bulbs are supposed to burn out? Most of the ones constructed by Thomas Edison over 100 years ago are still working, but new ones die at least every two or three years. This is known as "planned obsolescense." In other words, the product is supposed to break, so you'll buy a new one.Microsoft never intended for XP to be around this long, and it's being held together by figurative Duct Tape.
• Windows XP lacks support for more advanced methods of DRM. Movie studios are pressing Microsoft to implement newer technologies in their system (such as encrypted video outputs and memory access restrictions). This can't be done without rewriting most of XP anyway, and no one would want to buy a more restricted operating system unless it offered other features as well.