Have you ever noticed that newer versions of COTS packages are chock full of “features” that the average user will never use in a million years. This doesn’t count the “undocumented features” (bugs) that you have to work through until a patch or service pack comes out. 99% of users these days would not even use all the features of Office 4 (remember the one that came on 25 3.5″ disks), let alone the newest Vista version. Why do companies insist on producing newer versions of packages rather than fix the things that are broken. That way they could have one package that ACTUALLY works as it should, rather than 5 or 6 that are basically as useful as screen doors on a submarine.
I know, by coming out with newer versions, and stopping their support of older versions, they increase their corporate bottom line, but is it at the cost of alienating their user base.
How many IT shops have left the M$ fold because of the product upgrade path being followed and the way the support side has gone?