[BadVista Advocate] BadVista: We hardly we knew ye

[John Sullivan]

On December 15, 2006, the FSF launched its BadVista.org campaign to advocate
for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista
and promoting free -- as in freedom -- software alternatives. Two years later,
the campaign has 7,000 registered activists, the name Vista is
synonymous in the public eye with failure, and today we are declaring victory.

It is obvious that Vista has missed its window for widespread adoption.
Individuals, governments, corporations, universities and organizations have
largely taken a pass or even abandoned Microsoft entirely. The fact that
Microsoft has repeatedly extended XP cutoff deadlines and is
releasing a public beta of Windows 7 tomorrow is proof of Vista's
failure.

Vista was Microsoft's largest ever product marketing launch. Estimated at a cost of $300M, those marketing dollars were spent in an effort to fool the media and user community about the goals of Vista. Thanks to all of you, we got the real message out and those dollars failed to win the day. Congratulations! 

We are retiring the <http://BadVista.org> web site and ending the campaign in order to devote more effort
and resources to new campaigns on the road toward a world in which all users can safely choose free
software. Buoyed by this success, we will need all of you to continue lending
your energy and creativity to this new work.

Today, there are three simple ways you can take action:

  * Make a donation to join the Free Software Foundation as an associate member at <http://fsf.org/jf>. If we can make our goal of 750 members (we have 332 already!) by the end of this month, we'll be in excellent shape to further our campaigns in 2009.
  * Help get the word out that Windows 7 is no different from Vista in the ways that matter -- digg this article at <http://digg.com/tech_news/BadVista_We_hardly_knew_ye>
  * Subscribe to the Free Software Supporter at <http://fsf.org/free-software-supporter>, and stay informed about our work against Windows 7 and in favor of superior free software alternatives.

Thank You,  
Peter, John, Matt and the BadVista.org team