Why Can't Microsoft Market Vista Properly?

Sitting through the study sessions of an 8-day MCSA "Boot Camp" I realized during our review of Vista features what's gone wrong with Microsoft's handling of Vista marketing.

They'are focusing entirely on the consumer aspects. Aero. Games. Calendar. Windows Mail. IE7 and RSS feeds. Blah blah blah.

Every single time I've either witnessed a geek discovering the "under-the-hood" features, or actually showed them to someone, they are completely amazed not only that they are indeed very cool features, but that nobody mentions them.

If you don't know what I'm talking about - and if you work in an IT field - and you have access to a Windows Vista computer, you should poke into these features (which are not only available on Windows Server 2008, but which I've recorded "Level 5 IT Guide" videos for BlogcastRepository):

• Event Viewer - look at the new filtering and grouping features. Task event links. Event forwarding, Data Collector Sets. You can build your own centralized event monitoring and alerting system for hundreds of servers without forking out $$ for SCOM 2007 or OpenView, etc.
• Task Scheduler - look at the new properties and actions. I'll pause while you pick your jaw back up off the floor.
• The Start Menu - the red-headed stepchild. Most dismiss it as eye candy. Think again. The search box is combined with the old "run" box. Check it out.
• Reliability Monitor - set a baseline and check on it after a month.
• MSConfig - nice

I don't think Microsoft should stop their current marketing efforts. I do think they should launch a parallel campaign focused on IT folks however. They need to sell it to the people that implement things. Because when CEO's see the ads, they turn to their IT staff to ask if it makes sense. That's where the sanity checks are very often made.