Who was Vista Designed For?

How Easy is it to Learn

By the time you read this article, Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP will already be on the shelf ready to purchase or in the new computer you are about to buy. People are going to be skeptical to want to buy it because of all the growing pains it took to learn Windows XP. In fact, people still don't know how to use XP without a book or a geek by their side showing them what to do.

Let's break down first what I believe to be the computer knowledge percentage theory, and then I will let you know how Windows XP and Vista fit into that theory. Lets say 100% knowledge represents everything there is to know about computers (computer genius). These people probably work for a computer company already or hacking into another one. Now lets go in the other direction...

33 percenter (Computer illiterate) - This person only knows how to turn on the computer (sometimes), run a few applications they use most often, go to a website, and maybe push the start button. They are not capable of most things beyond the basics, modifying their PC environment, troubleshoot simple problems, or get into safe mode if needed. In fact a way to tell a 33 percenter is to ask them where the desktop is. They may even say the computer is sitting on it. These people are more likely to swallow their pride and have a pc tech come and do all the maintenance and repairs on the PC.

66 percenter (Computer Saavy) - This person is a little bit better. They can do light troubleshooting, install or uninstall applications, modify their settings themselves, and go into safe mode to diagnose a startup issue. They sometimes do their own maintenance but some of the more sophisticated problems are over their heads. Some of this group can actually get into the control panel, but only understand about 5 of the 20 icons that are on the screen. Don't trust these people with advanced topics, like network troubleshooting or the event viewer. They are more then happy to call a tech for that!