Microsoft has made its Windows 7 “Release Candidate” version available to download. While this should be good news for the company, it already started generating negative feedback all over the web, a place where news like this spreads pretty quickly.

What’s the issue this time? When you upgrade to Windows 7 and you select the “express install”, it will change your default browser to… guess? Yes, Internet Explorer. Of course you have the option to select “custom install” and you are asked to select your default browser. Most users will select the express route.

The expected reaction has already occurred, other browsers like Mozilla’s Firefox are fighting against it and the public is taking sides on the matter generating some bad comments on the web.

But what’s funny to me is thinking about who makes these kind of decisions over at Microsoft, obviously they don’t understand the game as it needs to be played today. We were playing a different game five years ago, the world changed and these people are not aware of it.

Today, the user controls your brand. People value honesty, transparency, truth and fairness over your multi-billion ad campaign. How is it that having the power and the resources Microsoft has, they are not capable of reinventing, to change their message and re-brand, try to be more likable. How stupid it is to continue with these strategies that brought so much heat to the company ten years ago. Today, somebody at corporate decided it was ok to bring back the “browser controversy” to the table, or simply ignored it. Either way…

On top of that, they are clueless about timing. Right when Firefox is gaining so much market over IE, with a culture behind it, a user developed platform and an underdog story. Can you predict that this strategy will slow down Firefox‘s momentum? I don’t think so. I know there are users that will not even notice their browser has been changed, but the user that took the time to download FF will get it back in place.

This is not just about the technical aspects, this is corporate ego and not knowing what’s up out there. Microsoft needs to start listening to the user.

In the meantime, if you use IE, I strongly recommend you go to Firefox and give it a test drive. “Once you go Firefox, you never go back”… or something like that.

Share your thoughts with us…

Vine, the latest social networking site has begun its beta testing in Seattle, WA. Vine is the new attempt Microsoft launches to fight Facebook and Twitter for a piece of the social pie and try to generate revenues out of status updates.

Anything new? You bet. Vine will focus on becoming the main communication channel for emergencies, mixing the so popular Status Updates with local news and message alerts. It also integrates a map on a desktop app where you can see other users.
Sounds exciting, but in my opinion it will not fulfill the giant’s expectations and here are my 5 reason why:

1.    Too Late – Microsoft seems to always be late in the game. It will always be behind Google and Yahoo! on search and it will always be behind Sony’s Playstation on gaming. They’re doing it again, with the momentum Facebook and Twitter are already enjoying, the piece of the pie will never be enough.

2.    Wrong Image – I personally thing Microsoft should try to get away from that Vista look they try to apply to everything they do. Vista was not the happiest experience for many of their users.

3.    The Bush Syndrome – Microsoft suffers from a very low level of popularity, and I’m not talking about Mac users that couldn’t care less about it. Everybody loves the underdog story, and in this case, anybody that goes against the giant automatically gets the market’s approval. If you don’t believe me, ask Firefox (I love it…).

4.    It’s a Poser – It’s like the guys that dresses like a skater, talks like a skater and even owns the most expensive board in the store, but doesn’t skate. I think that when the public knows you are in it just for the money, they won’t give you their loyalty. You just can’t fake it.

5.    Inconvenience – If there is an emergency and I only have my computer or my mobile phone at hand, I will probably tweet it, besides, if we have to wait until it reaches 50 million users… or nobody will know there is an emergency.

To me Microsoft is a rich kid that wants to have all the toys. If I was Microsoft I would be looking into 2 options, either pull out my wallet and offer a sick amount of money to purchase Twitter or take care of my cheese, which is Office, before it’s gone too…

We’ll wait for Vine to come out officially and hear what the 10,000 Seattle beta testers have to say about it. In the meantime we’ll get our news on real-time via Twitter…