Digital Trends
Microsoft has an awful lot riding on Windows 7 after the debacle that was Vista. But, good as it might be, not everyone is going to want it. They might well want XP or even (say it softly) miss Vista. For them, the company is extending the period of time in which they can downgrade the new OS from six to 18 months for those who buy it already installed on a machine. That’s from when Windows 7 ships in October, not from when the computer is purchased.
Microsoft has been consistently saying it plans to release the next version of its flagship desktop operating system, Windows 7, before the end of 2009—and computer maker Acer spilled some beans a month ago by saying it expected to launch Windows 7-equipped PCs in October—but now the word as finally come down: Windows 7 will go on sale to consumers on October 22, 2009.
Microsoft might be getting ready to push Windows 7 out to the world soon, but the company is also keeping its current mainstream operating system up-to-date with Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2). Vista SP2 will initially be offered as an optional update users can choose to install via Windows Update or direct download; eventually, SP2 will become and automatic update, although users will have to accept a EULA prior to installation. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Service Pack 2 are available for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
In a webcast devoted to Windows 7 and its abilities, Microsoft has dropped a massive hint that the new OS will be on sale before Christmas.
“The goal for Windows 7 RTM (released to manufacturers) is to be three years after Windows Vista RTM date,” the company said. Vista was released in October 2006.
Discussing Windows 7 features, Mark Manasse, principle researcher at Microsoft Research, admitted that “performance was a huge problem with Vista,” but on Windows 7 said:
“But I am pleased, and quite surprised to say, that I was pleasantly surprised at performance. I’ve run it on bespoke and virtual systems and am very impressed by the way it runs.”
When Windows 7 finally hits the market, much anticipated after the disappointment that was Windows Vista, it will be available in six different versions, although only two of them will generate mass market interest.
According to Windows general manager Mike Ybarra, most interest will be in the Home Premium edition, aimed at consumers, and the Professional edition, geared for businesses.
In part, that’s a response to all the confusion surrounding the multiple editions of Vista.
"The first change in Windows 7 was to make sure that editions of Windows 7 are a superset of one another," said Ybarra.
Back in December Yahoo released a public preview version of its instant messenger program designed purely for Windows Vista, and a beta arrived in March. But now the company has announced it’s discontinued development of the program.
Yahoo’s Terrell Karlsten told CNET:
Yahoo has made the strategic decision to discontinue external releases of the stand-alone Yahoo Messenger for Vista client and focus on delivering one Windows experience that is optimized for Windows users today."
Those who’ve already downloaded the program will still be able to use it. For everyone else, Karlsten said:
New data collected from the exo.performance.network suggests that over a third of PCs that ship with Microsoft Windows Vista are being downgraded to Windows XP—a percentage that, if generalizable to the wider world of Windows users—paints a far grimmer picture of Vista adoption than a large Redmond-based software company would have the world believe.
The data come from a tool called Windows Sentinel published by Devil Mountain Software, which analyzes data in the community-based exo.performance.network dataset of more than 3,000 PCs worldwide. Devil Mountain Software is run by InfoWorld contributing editor Randall Kennedy. Entering a PC in to the exo.performance.network is voluntary—so there’s no way to say whether the PCs in the sample set are in any way representative of the Windows-using world as a whole—but the data decidedly re-enforce the sense that Vista isn’t enjoying an enthusiastic embrace.
Microsoft officially stopped sales of its Windows XP system at the end of last month. But that doesn’t mean sales of computers with XP have ended. In fact, according to an HP executive, XP is on the majority of computers the company sells – and they sell them with a Vista license.
Jane Bradburn, market development manager of commercial notebooks for HP Australia told APC Magazine:
"From the 30th of June, we have no longer been able to ship a PC with a XP license. However, what we have been able to do with Microsoft is ship PCs with a Vista Business license but with XP pre-loaded. That is still the majority of business computers we are selling today."
Microsoft knows that Vista has image problem. Having attempted to remedy it at its source with Service Pack 1 but failing to silence naysayers, the company has moved on to Plan B, a PR campaign.
The latest ad to surface on Microsoft’s home page depicts an old sea-faring ship beside the words, “At one point, everyone thought the Earth was flat.” The bottom compels the reader to “Get the facts about Windows Vista.” Microsoft’s message is clear: Try it before you knock it.
Speaking at Microsoft’s yearly Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft’s VP of Vista Consumer marketing Brad Brooks did what, a year ago, might have been unthinkable: acknowledged users have had some hesitations about Microsoft’s latest-and-greatest operating system.
"We broke a lot of things," Brooks acknowledged. "We know that, and we know it caused you a lot of pain. It got customers thinking, hey, is Windows Vista a generation we want to get invested in?"
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