Courtesy of OSWeekly.com

Continued...

My favorite part of Microsoft's excuse for this is that the startup sound is a spiritual part of their branding experience, and therefore, it should be heard by one and all. It's amusing to me that a single sound has been a part of their core Vista plan for so many months, and you know, when you think about it, that explains a lot. I can just visualize a room full of Microsoft executives obsessing over what the startup sound should sound like while ignoring more pertinent issues such as, well, the actual design of the OS. An attention to detail is important, but when it obscures the big picture, then there's a problem.

It gets better: Microsoft even hired a famous guitarist (Robert Fripp) to create the sound for them. Quite frankly, I don't care if the sound was recorded by the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra or P. Diddy because it's just something that comes before the thing that I really want, which is the OS itself.

As crazy as it may seem, I can kind of see why Microsoft is making a push to include a non-customizable sound in Vista. Branding is a part of their product plan, and any common thing that they can drill into your mind visually or audibly will instill that product into your mind. As we learned with XP, they constantly try to create an eXPerience for their users when they release a new OS, and while this may make sense from a marketing and legal standpoint, the approach that they're taking with this particular matter is completely uncalled for.

Before you dismiss this as being a trivial issue, just think back on certain occasions when you wish that you could have turned your computer on quietly. Perhaps you were in an important meeting, or maybe you woke up early in the morning and wanted to use your computer without waking your family up. Have you ever watched a news conference on TV and heard a reporter's laptop suddenly make the classic Windows startup sound, thereby interfering with the discussion? Awkward. Some people don't even leave the sound turned on when they use their computers, and their silent preference should be respected instead of ignored.

Maybe Microsoft should actually begin to go against the classic saying and start to sweat the small stuff.