Reading about Microsoft's new Vista operating system is like playing a game of Russian Roulette:  some folks love it… some hate it.  I can't claim to have read every review, opinion, and bit of commentary on Vista.  But since my new laptop was running the OS, I figured it'd be worth my time to do some research.

From what I can tell - and this is by no means scientific - the majority of the people having problems with Vista have been upgraders.  Those like me, who got the OS pre-installed on a new computer, have had fewer problems in general.  As always, there are exceptions to any generalization.

The whole big Vista mess got me thinking about the Windows user experience and what Microsoft could have done to make it less of a mess.  And that, of course, expanded my line of thinking to include all product/service upgrades.

One of the main reasons that any company releases a new version of an existing product is to lure new users.   Vista, in theory, is no different (although it's harder to lure new users when you already all but control a market).  Sometimes an upgrade can be just the thing to convince a non-user to switch or give our product a try.

But another reason why we upgrade products is to retain the customers we do have.  If a company is responsive to user feedback, upgrades and new products are built to address concerns, incorporate suggestions, and improve the experience of existing customers.

How many times have you upgraded to a new version of a product or service only to wish you could go back to the old version?

A lot of people are trying Vista… and down-grading to Windows XP.  Heck… I even considered it, even though I had a pre-installed version of the OS.  A lot of these people are experiencing compatibility issues, performance problems, or are just plain confused about the multitude of versions being shipped.

I came up with a short list of suggestions that any company should consider when upgrading an existing service with an existing customer base:

• Is the upgrade addressing specific issues with the previous version?  If you ignore issues and problems when you push out an upgrade it makes the new version a lot less compelling.
• Is the upgrade going to make life more difficult for users?  Upgrades should be painless.  They should improve productivity… not hinder it.
• Is the upgrade easy to understand?  Vista's multiple versions are new for the majority of Windows of users.  Most people just assume there's a single "Windows".  The versions are not explained well in store documentation and finding information isn't as simple as it should be.
• Has the upgrade been throughly tested, documented, and quality assured?  Nothing irritates a customer more than getting a new product that's broken.

Microsoft probably tried to address these concerns when they were working on Vista.  But the reaction from consumers has shown that they were not addressed as completely as they could have been.

We can all learn something from the Vista situation.  Our customers are the most prized possessions our companies have.  New technologies… competition… the bottom line… ultimately those things come second to customer satisfaction.  Without customers we cease to serve a purpose.  A happy customer base spends more money than an unhappy one.

So the next time you plan an upgrade or a new product/service, ask yourself some of the questions above.  If you've seen Office Space you'll recognize where this next question comes from (although I've changed it just a bit):

Is this good for the customer?