Microsoft at CES: Talking Windows 7 Service Pack, Licensing and XP Upgrades
|
At any other convention, Microsoft's area would be considered massive. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, though, it seemed normal-sized in the context of everyone else's incredibly huge displays. Having a giant footprint is apparently requisite for every company appearing here; you practically need a GPS device and a map to find your way through some of their exhibitions. Even if Microsoft's physical presence here is massive, though, the company itself has offered precious little information with regard to new products and services. For my part, I was expecting the company to at least announce an update about Windows Mobile 7, the mobile operating system that will likely either make or break Microsoft in the smartphone space; but it seems now as if any such announcements will have to wait until at least February and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (Some of its manufacturing partners have rolled out a couple of neat-o products at CES. Personal favorites: Lenovo's IdeaPad UI hybrid notebook, whose screen detaches to become a multitouch tablet running the company's Skylight Linux-based operating system; and the ultraslim Dell Adamo XPS, whose brushed-aluminum body measures a mere 9.9 millimeters thick.) Granted, Microsoft had a year of paradigm-shifting announcements and rollouts in 2009, including Bing and Windows 7; much of 2010, I feel, will be devoted to seeing how well those products perform in the marketplace. Office 2010 is due in June, and that productivity suite's rate of adoption among both consumers and the enterprise will also serve as a barometer of Microsoft's larger fortunes. On Jan. 7, I met with Windows spokesperson Chris Flores in Microsoft's CES space for a bit of a status update on Windows 7. Flores suggested that the operating system had experienced a strong holiday selling season, echoing what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during his Jan. 6 keynote address here. I brought up Microsoft executives' previous comments (notably on the company's Oct. 23 earnings call) about how Windows 7's longer-term sales will be largely determined by how much PC sales increase in 2010 and beyond. Acknowledging that "the economy is what it is," Flores quoted analyst studies showing that many businesses intend to migrate to Windows 7. I also raised the issue of certain consumers and businesses declining to upgrade for the time being from Windows XP, on the logic that the aging-but-stable operating system is "good enough." Flores suggested that those customers would eventually shift from XP when they realized the system was "insanely old," and that third-party developers creating new and improved applications for Windows 7 would provide an additional impetus for switching over. "It'll be harder and harder to say that XP is good enough," Flores said. I then asked about the Windows 7 Family Pack. That particular promotion, started in July, offered three Windows 7 Home Premium licenses for around $150, representing a substantial discount from purchasing those same licenses on an individual basis. Microsoft discontinued the promotion, which it claimed had always been for a limited time, in December; in the wake of that, a number of readers either posted comments or wrote to me to complain that Microsoft should introduce a more permanent group-licensing structure, similar to Apple's Family Pack. Flores said the interest in the Windows 7 Family Pack had exceeded expectations, but there were no plans to introduce a similar program on a more permanent basis. Lastly, I asked about the possibility of a Windows 7 Service Pack appearing any time soon. After joking, "Why do we need a service pack?" Flores declined to offer any dates or suggest that such a thing was in development. So I'm throwing to floor open to you, readers. What's your opinion on all these issues--licensing, service packs and giving up XP? |
Comments (17)
How long will the world put up with Microsoft stalling its next mobile operating system? It has gone beyond a joke.
The world has abandoned Windows Mobile phone. Enough is enough.
Posted by Leonard Tsui | January 8, 2010 8:17 PM
I for one would be willing to update my 3 personal computers if they offered the family pack again for $150. If they don't I won't as Vista is working ok for me. I think there pricing is out of line based on the economy and the fact that Vista had so many flaws to begin with. I think they would make more money in the long run if they made it more affordable to upgrade. Just one mans opinion.
Posted by Paul | January 8, 2010 10:12 PM
Service Pack? Hmmm...Actually Win7 kicks ass. It'll be interesting to watch the migrations to Win7 and Server2008. Once the market place fully understands the tools provided to IT professionals, the stampeed will be on.
Posted by TM | January 8, 2010 10:52 PM
Windows XP has served me very well and has been very stable on any machine where I've used it (post-SP2, of course). I love Windows 7, however, and even though I still run the beta (of Ultimate, which I can't afford to buy yet) it is solid. Had to reboot on my Toshiba laptop once in a few months, but that might just be that it's more than a year old and the device support for it isn't quite there in the beta.
Bring on the Service Pack, even if I won't get it in the beta.
Posted by Mark | January 9, 2010 12:57 AM
Forgot to chime in on the license pricing. I think Windows 7 is ridiculously expensive and there are way too many tiers of the OS. The family pricing plan sounded just great to me. MS can afford to roll that out -- after more new machines have sold with Windows 7, if not before.
Posted by Mark | January 9, 2010 12:58 AM
I agree with Paul. I finally saw Windows 7 on a friend's pc a couple of days ago. Love it!! But I have a few pc's in my house and will NOT upgrade for over $100 each. In this economy (and right after Christmas, nonetheless!), I simply don't have $300-$400 to spare. But if they offer the family pack again, I'll do it. $50 each is reasonable and definitely worth it to me.
Posted by Mark | January 9, 2010 7:33 AM
I was going to upgrade my three home computers to Windows 7 (2 from XP, 1 from Vista) using the Family License Pack. Now I'll continue to use XP until my existing hardware will no longer meet my needs. Then, I'll make the switch to Apple.
Posted by Gary | January 9, 2010 6:33 PM
I just got a laptop with win 7 and I'm really satisfied with the performance. I was able to get win7 pro at amazon for 80 bucks this summer during a pre order offer and plan to install it on my desktop which is aging but in need of a reformat. I only used vista a few times before on other computers and didn't have any problems with it. I just didn't feel the need to update xp since my computer was running fine.
Posted by Robbie | January 9, 2010 10:01 PM
Ooops. Actually my friend told me that it was running OS X. Meh, I won't buy Apple computers either.
Posted by Mark | January 10, 2010 8:32 AM
I agree with Gary who said he would wait it out with xp and vista, then switch to Apple. I have and iPhone and am waiting for the iSlate/iTablet to decide if/when to flip to Apple. Windows 7 Family pack offered a tempting opportunity to transition from xp, but with its demise I'm not willing to slide down the windows shute any more!!! Apple may win after all!
Posted by Scott | January 11, 2010 1:06 AM
I tend to agree with everyone's comments about pricing. Windows 7 is everything Vista was supposed to be. To release a new operating system that does little more than correct their previous mistake and then try to sell it at a price akin to a new page in Windows history is utterly ridiculous. I have to admit, the one-and-only reason I purchased a copy was due to the absolutely ridiculous pre-release discount I received for being a Microsoft retailer employee.
Pricing aside, I am extremely satisfied with the new OS. I always liked what they had attempted to do with Vista and I'm happy that they finally got it right. I doubt a service pack will be necessary for quite some time.
Posted by Ryan | January 11, 2010 2:40 AM
I purchased an HP laptop with Vista installed last year. It was unclear whether HP would certify my laptop as eligible for Windows 7 drivers, so I didn't immediately purchase an upgrade to Windows 7.
When I went to Fry's this past weekend to purchase a Family Pack, I discovered that it was no longer available. There's no way I will pay more than $300 to update my PC's with an incremental improvement, so I'll stick with Vista until I need to purchase new machines.
I see the elimination of the Family Pack as a pretty stupid move on Microsoft's part, but then again, they haven't been too "user-friendly" for a while...
Posted by Josh | January 11, 2010 2:10 PM
PLEASE bring back the family pricing! I want to upgrade my 3 PC's in the house but can NOT pay $400 when Ubuntu is free...
Posted by John | January 12, 2010 4:51 PM
Yeah I'm sure win7 is an improvement over XP. Enough of an improvement to warrant nuking from orbit and losing a ton of legacy apps--probably not but eventually 3rd party support will make the switch mandatory just as happened with 2K. It was never that XP was THAT much better than 2K you just couldn't get drivers that worked properly with 2K.
But 2K to XP was infinitely less painful for folks with tons of still useful legacy apps than the transition from XP to W7. Only MS in their PC Consumer market would even try to pull this stunt. And only PC users would tolerate an OS making these kinds of dictates.
The essential truth is that MS creates OS's like GM used to create new models of Pontiac and Chevrolet. The "need" is created through marketing what is essentially a consumer product and NOT an actual significantly advancing technology.
Posted by PaulNYC | January 12, 2010 6:53 PM
Forget family pricing... MS should have only charged $49.95 for a Vista to 7 upgrade... period. 7 is just an incremental upgrade; a lot of improvements and tweaks, but still extremely closely related to Vista. MS could ensure 7's dominance on home PC's by offering a reasonable upgrade pricing policy.
Posted by Bob Maine | January 13, 2010 1:56 PM
Personally I hate 7. I would have stayed with XP if it wasn't for the massive release of viruses attacking right around the release of 7 (irony). Most of the people I know who still have a pc with XP on it now all have the "this version of windows is not genuine"... again, these alerts happening shortly AFTER the release of 7. With that series of events, one could easily jump to conclusions... but one couldn't find any sources to back it up with except for showing pics of each annoying message.
As for windows joining the mobile market... quit beating a dead horse.
And about the comment on industry keeping xp... there are companies out there still working off of windows 95, 98, CE, and NT. They don't want to upgrade their machinery just to use 7 or the latest "windows embedded". Take manufacturing machines as an example. Then you have your general business offices. I can't imagine having to ghost hundreds to thousands of pc's, assuming they have the hardware ample of running 7 at a tolerable pace. Oh dear, think of the costs there, and people still wonder why we cling onto XP and older??? If it isn't broke, why fix it?
Posted by Kemo | January 18, 2010 2:55 PM
Windows Mobile to make a "mobile" phone call?
Who uses Windows XP / 7 to make a "wired" phone call?
I don't.
A "candy bar" with a phone and hang-up button will do just fine. And 10 figure buttons. Thank you.
Posted by Wim | January 19, 2010 10:12 AM