Windows 7 unlikely to boost ailing PC market
Bill Veghte, Microsoft's top Windows business exec, has said that he doesn't expect Windows 7 to boost the PC market massively.
"History would tell us that generally as you ship a Windows release into the market... the bump is very modest," said Veghte. "You will see a little bit [of a bump], but it [will be] modest."
Microsoft announced last week that Windows 7 would ship on October 22nd and, according to a leaked Best Buy memo, the software giant will begin offering free or cheap Windows 7 upgrades to customers buying a new PC after 26th June via the Windows 7 Upgrade Program.
That doesn't quite line up with Apple's plans to offer a cheap upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard – if you've already got Leopard installed, it'll cost just $29 to upgrade to the new version of the OS, due out in September.
We're still hoping that Microsoft will see the light and offer a similar upgrade program for those who purchased Windows Vista, but we're yet to hear anything of any substance from the company. After all, when you've got big retailers such as Best Buy saying that Windows 7 is more than just "Vista that works", it's quite clear that Vista wasn't received well by more than just press and customers - Microsoft's partners didn't really like it either.
Discuss in the forums.
Previous Article
14 Comments
Discuss in the forums Replyhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/da879320-622f-42e0-8e24-50f994779d97
The keyword to look at in that thread is...
I'm on7201 and it works fine, did the steps exactly as described, but let's all jump to conclusions due to a bug in a non-final version of software
That's because Apple's revenue comes from the hardware, not the software.
I have Build 7127 and have worked it extensively. I have found no problems and I have used it for things most users would never do. It's an excellent OS and this is coming from a guy that does not like Microsoft and prefers Linux/ freeware. I was hoping to find faults so I could rant about it. :)
Well given that I have Vista Ultimate 64bit and there are still issues with it (like certain soundcard issues or random crashes) I would hope that they offer an upgrade plan. But knowing MS , they won't.
Um.. they do.. it's called the Windows <version> Upgrade package, and costs less :)
Look at Vista: if you stop the average person on the high street, they will not be able to explain the difference between xp and vista.
This is because most high street consumers do not really care.
If they need a computer at any point in time, then they will get one. They only hear about vista or the latest Windows 7 if a sales person sells the pros to them. But all the average consumer wants is something to surf the net and produce docs etc. If they are female, then they want to play sims.
At a previous work office where we had Vista and XP machines, most workers couldn't tell what operating system they were using unless you asked them and then they checked afterwards with a reply such as 'I think it's XP / Vista'. I found it incredible. All they knew is that it was a PC and they could check their emails and work on their documents etc.
Mac buyers are usually people who are attracted to the HARDWARE first. They couldn't really explain any software benefits of Mac software over Windows. The only people who understand software benefits are the relatively small community of enthusiasts, such as members of this forum.
Windows 7 will be the same as Vista, in terms of 'MOST' high street consumers not being aware of any selling points. If they decide to buy a new computer, they would have bought a new one regardless.
By preferring Linux/freeware I take it you mean 'spends less time using'. Give it a rest.
And how foolish of me to have used Microsofts official Windows 7 RC download. If they've sorted the problem in a more recent build then I'm happy to hear it.
I can believe that, some people here think they're running Vista because they have the new ribbon bar in office.
Really? LOL! That's awesome! :)
I hope karma burns em :)
Well, I know people (lots of them) that don't know what Windows is, it's all just a "computer" for them. Most people just prefer to be ignorants and are too lazy to get interested in things they use every day. "-What car do you have? -Blue" is not just a joke :)