Windows Vista wasn"t the biggest commercial success; many companies refused to use it initially, and are sticking with XP for now. It"s strange, however, that the state of Texas has only just now declared it unfit for government use, despite a service pack having been released and many initial issues fixed.
The news comes from Computer World, and states that it is now not allowed for government agencies to upgrade to Windows Vista, because "of the many reports of problems with Vista." They say that they are not picking on Microsoft, but that they just don"t trust the most recent Windows operating system, and that Windows XP does everything they need to.
Now, government agencies are actually still allowed to install Windows Vista, but if they wish to do so they have to obtain a written approval of the Legislative Budget Board before they can purchase Vista licenses, or even computers with Vista installed via OEM. According to TUAW, a Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail, "We"re surprised that the Texas Senate Finance Committee adopted a rider which, in effect, singles out a specific corporation and product for unequal treatment. We hope as the budget continues to go through the process, this language will be removed."
Texas has so far spent $6.1 million USD to upgrade 44 state agencies, so it"s strange that only now they"ve decided it"s unfit for use. What does Neowin think about this? Is it unfair to upapprove of government agencies upgrading to Windows Vista, or should they be able to spend money where they see fit?