Steve Ballmer has sized up the Vista market – less than a month after it was launched - and decided sales have already been affected by the Johnnie Depp factor (aka software pirates). You see, what’s happening is Vista is rocking in places such as China, India, Brazil and Russian to the point where demand is outpacing supply. So, the only way to satisfy the needs of consumers is selling them pirated copies of Vista. Okay, maybe that theory is probably inaccurate/fictional but Vista’s disappointing showing out of the gate does suggest the following: 1. a vast majority of PC users see no reason to upgrade; 2. more people are exploring the idea of moving to Mac (a trend that anecdotally seems to have some merit) or Linux; or 3. Vista is an upgrade so consumers are happy to wait until they buy a new PC before embracing it.

It is fascinating to see the Microsoft PR machine start spinning so soon after the launch of Vista. It’s quickly becoming apparent that it’s a good product that has little traction with consumers – at least in the short term. The trick for Microsoft is doing what it can to manage the situation with analysts, investors and consumers. The last thing Microsoft wants to see is Vista start to look like a dog even if it is better than XP in many ways. After all, perception is everything and Vista’s initial buzz ain’t that hot.