It's Windows Vista's fault that solid-state storage isn't performing as well as its proponents predicted. So said SanDisk CEO Eli Harari, but at least he didn't go as far as saying it's Microsoft's problem to fix. SSDs are viewed as the heir apparent to the hard disk, particularly for laptops and other mobile computers. SSDs are way more shock-resistant and consume less power. Theoretically, they should deliver better performance. SSD "performance in the Vista environment falls short of what the market really needs", admitted Harari at the company's earnings conference this week. Why not? According to Harari, it's because "Vista is not optimised for Flash memory solid-state disks". The problem surely stems from Windows' use of hard disk space for memory caching, something all modern and not-so-modern operating systems do. So it's not like the SSD manufacturers didn't have any warning this could be an issue. Small, Cheap Computer will continue to benefit from Flash storage, Harari said, because they have "relatively unsophisticated and demanding requirements" - they're either running very basic Linux apps or, when they come with Windows XP, have virtual memory disabled.