Microsoft's latest operating system Windows Vista was launched to business on November 30, 2006 and to the general public on January 30, 2007. After the operating system hit the shelves, the first reactions pointed out shortcomings in application, device and hardware compatibility. The end of July is synonymous with six months of availability for Windows Vista, and Microsoft acknowledged that the operating system was not ready for the world back in January. However, the Redmond company twisted the confirmation so that Vista wouldn't be at fault.

"Compatibility is now at critical mass with Windows Vista. You know, when we introduced this product on January 30, like all platform introductions, we had introduced it to a world that wasn't quite 100 percent ready for it. There were compatibility issues that remained, there were driver issues that remained. And I can tell you that five and a half months in, that situation has changed, and changed materially," stated Mike Sievert, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Marketing during the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007.