Poor Vista. Cleverly mocked by rival Mac in its famous PC vs. Mac ads and maligned by PC users, Vista looked good on paper but hasn’t been embraced by the PC public. Even InventHelp’s Invention Girl is holding on to XP for dear life.

Part of the problem, Microsoft admits, is that the changes Vista brought looked good to developers but were not tested by everyday users. “We had all the best intentions of helping to secure the PC platform even more, particularly for novice PC users who needed to be protected,” Steven Sinofsky, a senior vice president in Microsoft’s Windows group, told MSNBC.

The problem is that most users view this “protection” as “nagging.” Windows 7, the forthcoming operating system, will let users choose to receive fewer alerts and pop-ups that warn of potential security dangers. Hoping to avoid a repeat mistake, Microsoft is committed to having real PC users test this system.

Other new features include the removal of redundant buttons, reintroducing XP user favorites that Vista had eliminated, and revamping the task bar to make jumping between documents and files easier.

Plus, they’re developing technology to allow their popular Office Suite to be used in a web browser. This change was spurred because Google and other competitors have released free web-based word processing programs that are cutting into Microsoft’s profits.

Microsoft will begin testing on PC users as early as next year. Once it arrives, InventHelp and Invention Girl will be here to put Windows 7 to the test!

Related InventHelp posts:

1. InventHelp Warns: Conficker Worm is No Joke