Vista sets 2007 land-speed record for copying and deleting
It's been almost nine months since we first reported on Windows Vista's inability to copy, delete and move files without stalling indefinitely, and yet the problem continues. — Screenshots relayed this week by two Reg readers say it better than we ever could.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Register first flagged Vista's stalling file copy, delete and move operations early in 2007, and the complaint has run all year: readers were still griping at the six-month mark, after reviews catalogued the broader rough edges in May's hands-on coverage and CNET's September performance numbers put hard figures on the slowness.
What is new this week is not a fix but evidence of persistence — reader-submitted screenshots showing the stalls still occurring nearly nine months after launch, with no syndicated pickup elsewhere, keeping this a Reg-led story about an unresolved defect rather than fresh news.
First-order effects
- Vista users copying, deleting or moving large file sets continue to hit indefinite stalls, turning routine file operations into a support burden for Microsoft and helpdesks nine months into the product's life.
Second-order effects
- Each documented, lingering defect feeds the case for enterprises and consumers to stay on Windows XP, pressuring Microsoft to bundle fixes into a service pack rather than ship them piecemeal, and giving OEMs a reason to soften Vista-only messaging.
Third-order effects
- If core-file-operation defects persist this long post-launch, the pattern points toward release cadences where early adopters effectively function as testers, and where a mature service pack — not day-one code — becomes the real product enterprises standardize on.
The trend: Windows Vista's first year is shaping up as a case study in reputation lag, where documented performance and reliability defects accumulate faster than patches retire them.