windowsvista posts
FeedPosted May 31st 2007 1:45PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Dell (DELL), Wal-Mart (WMT)
Is
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:
DELL) falling out of love with
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT)'s Windows Vista? First off, the company decided to
bring back Windows XP as an option for an installed computer-operating system on its PCs. Then, in response to popular demand, the computer maker begins
selling Ubuntu Linux as an installable option instead of Windows at all.
Then, in the midst of Microsoft shelling out half a billion to market and promote Windows Vista, the computer maker patches together what appears to be a slapstick promotional gadget to "entice" new Dell customers to see how Windows Vista is a superior operating system. After
watching the video linked from here, I was left amazed -- this is the best a leading computer manufacturer can do to promote the product that comes installed on virtually all of its new PCs? What does Microsoft think about this half-hearted attempt at promotion of its flagship operating system?
Does Dell just not like Windows Vista or something? One could certainly get that impression, although I believe it is far from the truth. All the signals here have lined up to form a somewhat inconsistent angle from Dell's end on just what it wants to be. The company needs to be everything to every customer perhaps, which can be a recipe for disaster or can allow it to survive in short-term fashion (just not long-term). Entering
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:
WMT)just muddies the issue further and seems like a quick-fix experiment for now, but at least Dell's stance on operating systems offered is still a tad confusing.
Posted May 18th 2007 5:30PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:
MSFT)'s Windows Vista operating system has now sold over 40 million copies since its launch at the end of January, according to company co-founder Bill Gates. That's all well and good, but then I've heard of many people stating that an upgrade to the new operating system
ended in extreme frustration, with this writer included. My attempt to upgrade to the new operating system was met by one largely frustrating two-hour process. Result? I went back to Windows XP and returned to using an older Mac system that performs flawlessly.
One of the complaints that comes out of the Vista-bashing camp quite regularly is device compatibility. Hardware like printers, webcams and video cards may not work with the new Vista operating system yet, which causes computer owners with newer (but not that compatible) systems to curse to no end. After all, some folks would love to pay Microsoft for its new bright and shiny software, but not when it won't work with every piece of hardware they own and like.
But, a new operating system should not be expected to work with everything
immediately after release, right? Consumers don't understand this in most cases -- to them, it's install Windows Vista and everything should work like it did with the older Windows XP.To that end, Microsoft has said that Windows Vista
now supports 1.9 million devices. That's a gain from 300,000 since Vista was launched just in January. This proves to me that Windows Vista was launched not complete (but stable), which was a business decision I am sure Microsoft made with all data at hand. Can I fault Microsoft for it? No -- since almost every other company releases software not at 100%. If companies did, most software would never get shipped at all, right?
Posted May 17th 2007 12:40PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT)
As Doug
wrote about a few days ago,
Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:
MSFT) Bill Gates proclaimed this week that the software maker had sold 40 million copies of Windows Vista so far. This is above estimates and apparently impressed the audience at the WinHEC conference, a hardware developer's meeting where Gates was speaking. Is this an impressive number? It's above estimated, after all. But considering the number of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) PCs that have shipped from Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo and others, this number is not all that surprising.
Like most new Microsoft operating system introductions, most of the sales will come from shipments on new PCs, not retail sales. As long as consumers and businesses
continue buying PCs and laptops, Windows Vista sales will continue to rise. It's true as Gates said that the number of shipped Windows Vista licenses is more than the total install base of Windows' largest competitors, but then again, Microsoft has some high-level agreements with almost every computer manufacturer in the world. No other software manufacturer even comes close.
Want some more numbers around the Microsoft operating ecosystem? Gates referenced a study during his speech that concluded with the fact that for every dollar Microsoft makes off Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (coming this fall), other technology companies will take in an additional $18. The IDC study Gates was riffing on also said that a bucket of $120 billion in revenue was up for the companies that support Microsoft's products with products of their own.
Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 5-17-07.
Posted May 7th 2007 2:55PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Microsoft (MSFT), Best Buy (BBY)
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) spent over five years and invested billions of dollars in the new Windows Vista operating system -- and the thing still
crashed during a demonstration inside a
Best Buy (NYSE:
BBY) store recently.
After chuckling a bit, I came to a conclusion that's based on my own personal experience: Vista is not worth the effort or money at this point in time, no matter how good it looks on paper or to the eyes with that "Aero" interface.
Here's my dilemma: recently, I used a copy of Vista Premium to install onto a main working HP laptop system I use regularly. The laptop was about five months old and was sold with the "Windows Vista Capable" logo on it.
The system has more than enough memory, processing power and even the graphics used inside are more than capable for a full Windows Vista experience. This is why I chose it -- so that it could be upgraded later. Windows XP worked perfectly on this laptop, so it was not an unrealistic expectation to think Windows Vista would work well, even though many Windows errors are not due to Microsoft's operating system itself (although that's the general impression customers get).
Continue reading Windows Vista demo crashes at Best Buy -- and at home
Posted Apr 9th 2007 4:45PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Rants and Raves, Microsoft (MSFT)
Although I think Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg sometimes misses the mark, he's right on the money when he complains about the software gunk that comes preloaded on almost every new Windows PC.
This is stuff the consumer never asked for that ends up slowing a new PC down while littering the menus and other areas with so much garbage that the average consumer ends up pulling their virtual hair out.
Why does so much software come pre-installed on that new, shiny PC? Well, part of the cost of that PC is likely being subsidized by those software makers that pay to have their products installed on the machine. The hope is that a new PC owner will buy the "full version" of that software.
This makes the cost of the PC go down a bit, but as Walt says, it also makes the informed computer buyer become a "digital maintenance man wading through annoying and confusing chores" in order to get all that stuff uninstalled or out of the way. You know, so you can actually enjoy using that new computer without a plethora of roadblocks.
The first thing I do when purchasing a new Windows PC is start uninstalling all of the preloaded software. Not only does this free up valuable hard drive space, it gets the "muck" out of the way and allows the machine -- which I paid for -- to be the way I want it. Ideally, I'd love to buy a Windows PC and have nothing installed but the Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) software.
That is virtually impossible these days, so I'll spend about an hour getting rid of all the trial software (virus scanners, online services, photo programs, etc.) to get my machine to as close to bare as possible. Then, I make it all mine (they way I want it). Have similar experiences? Tell me about them.
[Via techdirt]
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 5:45PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Launches, Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) is goosing the licensing requirements for its Windows Vista operating system by allowing the operating system to be installed on
personal computers without hard drives. This sounds a little mundane, but with almost every PC these days coming with an internal hard drive (where Windows Vista is usually installed), times have changed and some PCs are actually more like display terminals for data exchange than fully-functional computers with all those advanced technical innards.
As such, Microsoft wants to ensure Windows Vista can be used on "virtual PCs" that may be physically located in some server room instead of on a corporate desktop. All that computer storage (in the form of a hard drive) may just be sitting in your company's server center which feeds all the information to and from that PC on your desk. With that task comes a non-installation of Windows Vista on that PC, since you
no longer have a hard drive inside it. Microsoft, not one to fret, is now saying that most corporate customers can license Windows Vista and use it legally, even if it is not installed on a hard drive inside their PC.
Microsoft at least is recognizing that diskless and "virtual" PCs may be used in increasing (but not staggering) numbers soon and does not want to lose that Windows Vista license in the process. Until just yesterday, though, there was no legal way to license a copy of Windows Vista for a "virtual" PC. Now there is.
[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 4-2-07] Posted Mar 27th 2007 11:55AM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Microsoft (MSFT), Marketing and Advertising
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:
MSFT) announced yesterday that the company has
shipped right at 20 million licenses of the newer Windows Vista operating system since it launched at the end of January. Microsoft was quick to point out that the previous operating system (Windows XP) only sold 17 million copies during the same timeframe when it was launched over five years ago.
To really make that statement worth anything, a comparison of shipping and sold PCs from all major manufacturers from the time Windows XP shipped and when Windows Vista shipped would be needed. While Many critics have dogged Windows Vista recently (myself included, as I went back to Windows XP), Windows Vista will be successful no matter what as Microsoft gets all major manufacturers shipping at least Vista Basic on every PC sold, whether desktop or laptop.
In fact, Windows Vista could not sell a single copy in a retail box and still be wildly successful since it will have some version of Windows Vista shipping with almost every new consumer and business PC. No new news there.
In
typical marketing fashion, Microsoft VP Bill Veghte said that "We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate ... while it's very early in the product lifecycle, we are setting a foundation for Windows Vista to become the fastest-adopted version of Windows ever." That is very true -- but it won't be based on some technical or graphical superiority of Windows Vista, but on the shipments of PC vendors worldwide who end up doing all the heavy lifting.
[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 3-27-07]Posted Feb 13th 2007 10:12AM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT)
Will the software of the future
come in a retail box or will it instead be delivered as an internet download only? As only Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) can probably answer, it seems that thus far, the "software in a box" model has worked and worked well. Whether it be on a retailer's shelf or already installed into an HP or Dell computer system, Microsoft's retail products (and OEM for the most part) are pieces of physical media or enterprise-wide "images" that are are installed as a package. Yet, Microsoft allowed full downloads of some recent software for testing before wrapping it up and sending the final version out.
Is that the model for the future insofar as software distribution? Why not? Physical media these days is not all that costly really, but a pure internet distribution medium would free up even more margin. But do customers need an "out of the box" experience? Some will argue yes, but I'll argue that it's not really needed for software. How about more and more popular open-source software and even ad-supported software distribution models?
Yes, this has all been talked about before -- Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Gmail product is an example of an ad-supported (and free) consumer-level email product that even works as a smaller-enterprise email service (Gmail for your domain).
OpenOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office that includes all the functionality most consumers (and even businesses) would need without a single bit of cost. Is Microsoft concerned? Probably, and Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach says Microsoft is right to be concerned. "Ten years from now, Microsoft must be weaned from ... license revenue. But it's a long process, because they justifiably don't want to cannibalize a revenue stream that remains phenomenally lucrative."
[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 2-13-07]
Posted Feb 5th 2007 5:15PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, Rumors, Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT)
Will Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Vista end up being the curtain call for current Microsoft Chief Software Architect Bill Gates? Most likely, yes. Although former Windows head Jim Allchin has now retired as of last week and wunderkind Ray Ozzie is trying to transform Microsoft from a late-shipping software company to a company geared for the web and web distribution of its products, Windows Vista will be the trumpet that signals the retirement of Bill Gates. After he steps down from the company next year, he plans to focus on his philanthropic efforts.
But before then, what does Gates plan to do at the company he co-founded? Gates recently said that there is "No shortage of important work," and in an interview with CNET after Gates returned from the
Davos World Economic Summit in Switzerland, he of course gave his worldly sales pitch for Windows Vista along with other significant Microsoft milestones -- like the all-new Microsoft Office suite. What does he have in plan for his "lame duck" period at Microsoft, if it can be called that?
Read on.
[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 2-5-07]Posted Feb 1st 2007 2:12PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Microsoft (MSFT), Best Buy (BBY)
Are customers chomping at the bit to buy a retail version of the just-released Windows Vista computer operating system at major retailers like CompUSA, Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE:CC), and Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)? Hard to say at this point, since the launch only happened a few days ago. But, I don't see huge sales happening at retail (as usual). The biggest sales will be Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) OEM licenses to larger computer manufacturers.
Already at the websites of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) , the only operating system (from a straightforward purchase) offered on a new PC is now Windows Vista -- Windows XP is gone.
A trickle of early adopters -- as always -- were surely lining up at Best Buy's doors Tuesday morning to purchase copies of the newer Windows Vista product, but this launch obviously
did not have the manic fervor that, say, a Sony PlayStation 3 has. Even though many establishments opened at midnight Tuesday, there was no mad dash for Windows Vista from all accounts. Surprised? Shouldn't be.
Posted Jan 30th 2007 4:40PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT)
Looks like the good ole' European Union might be again on the offensive against Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:
MSFT), as rivals of the software giant
claim that the newly released Windows Vista operating system is infringing on certain practices that the EU found illegal nearly three years ago.
With concerns
over the tight lock the new Windows Vista operating system will have on certain digital content, the EU might be questioning once again whether Microsoft is, with Windows Vista, trying to "force out" the competition from alternative software like RealPlayer and other content-based software as the coalition of rivals complaint charged Friday.
And then we get the bombshell quote of Simon Awde, the chairman of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), who said that "Microsoft has clearly chosen to ignore the fundamental principles of the Commission's March 2004 decision." The ECIS statement added that "Vista is the first step of Microsoft's strategy to extend its market dominance to the Internet."
Is the absence of consumer and publishing choice hurtful to the computer industry as a whole? There are many very strong opinions that state an overwhelming
yes to that question. So, the EU will again have a good time as it picks apart the details of the brand-spankin' new Windows Vista operating system.
Posted Jan 26th 2007 2:11PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Microsoft (MSFT)
After reading through this rather technical breakdown on the subject of "digital rights management" that is part of (read: ingrained into) Microsoft Corporation's new Windows Vista operating system (NASDAQ:MSFT), one has to wonder if consumers are just totally losing control over the content they consume. There seems to be none of this "I buy it, therefore I do with it what I want" attitude when it comes to audio and video content producers -- they want (and need for some reason) to have absolute control over when, how and where consumers "consume" their content.
It's hard for me to believe that there is so much rampant content piracy among the minority that the content producers have to "lock down" just about everything to a single device or format. This erases just about any choice consumers should have about how they should be able to control the content. Yes, there may be differences in "owning" or "renting" content, but the mass majority of consumers have no clue about all this mess -- all they know is that they want to enjoy content on their devices and TVs and computers. Is the mass majority a threat to content producers? Not at all.
So, what is the deal here? Perhaps it's just protectionism by the content producers as they wield incredible influence over the hardware and software makers. And maybe, the hardware makers also don't want commoditization of their products at all (which is inevitable in many industries over time). Reading this, though, is not for the faint of heart.
[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 1-26-07]
Posted Jan 19th 2007 12:35PM by Brandon Barker (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Microsoft (MSFT), Novell Inc (NOVL)
The sharing of videos on YouTube and images on Flickr is an indication --
says the Economist -- of bad news for Microsoft Corp.'s(NASDAQ:
MSFT) upcoming Windows Vista release. The widespread use of e-mail, spreadsheets and Internet-based software is a sign that "more PCs now talk to one another using open standards rather than proprietary ones," making operating systems less relevant.
Microsoft is hoping to offset this trend by working with open-software firms like Novell (NASDAQ:
NOVL), and with initiatives like Office Live, which helps small businesses create websites; and Windows Live, a search engine/e-mail service extraordinaire.
Vista, the latest version of Microsoft's operating system, will be released on January 30th. And while customers will be able to purchase and download the software online, it is expected that most will buy the shrink-wrapped boxes in a store, like the old days. We will see, however, if the lines stretch as long as the last Windows release.
B. Brandon Barker is the author of Operation EMUPosted Jan 18th 2007 2:10PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Vista is just about to be released, even though skeptics (myself included) don't see much value in upgrading to the new operating system for our uses, yet, anyway.
What will make Windows Vista popular -- initially -- is the fact that it will come pre-installed on million of new computers this year. That fact alone will start the transition to Vista more than anything.
After five years of development, the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg says that many of the boldest plans for Microsoft's new operating system were discarded in that lengthy process (very true) and that what's left is a worthy, but largely unexciting, product. To that, I agree. I've used a few "Release Candidates" of Windows Vista and find that its uses are -- for me and all like me -- covered in WindowsXP Media Center addition. So, why upgrade?
For starters, many consumer-level machines will start shipping with Windows Vista this year. In fact, probably all the PC manufacturers will ship Vista Basic on all new PCs meant for consumer consumption. For business users, the choice to use older WindowsXP versions will of course, stay intact for now. Even though Mossberg says that Windows Vista is much prettier than previous versions of Windows -- and that Vista is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced -- the operating system
isn't a breakthrough in ease of use.
So, Windows Vista works pretty much the same way as WindowsXP for most of us.
Will you be buying it?< Previous Page | Next Page >
What's a Realistic Retirement Age?
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
