Vistaster is play on the words disaster and Vista, in reference to Windows Vista, a windows-based operating system released by Microsoft. The term can refer to a collosal disaster or used as a disparaging substitute for the proper name of the Vista operating system . Use of the term was popularized by its use on The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs , a technology and pop culture comedic blog where author Daniel Lyons writes in the persona of Apple Inc. founder, Steve Jobs. This initial use is in reference to failure of the Vista operating system to meet sales and customer satisfaction expectations. Recollection of the once leading, but now obscure, search engine, AltaVista, may serve as an additional reference to the rise and fall of software marketshare leadership, enhancing the applicability of the term.
Because the word vista, has its own meaning, "distant view or prospect" , the term vistaster, inherently connotes the idea of a disastrous fall from either a lofty place or position of great potential. Because the term may evoke this meaning independent of the software references that inspired it, the term has the potential to outlive the popular memory of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs or the Microsoft operating system.
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