Windows 7 pre-orders grab Amazon's top sales spots

Microsoft and e-retailers discount Windows 7 as much as 58%, buyers flock

omputerworld - Microsoft and online retailers today kicked off Windows 7 sales in the U.S., Canada and Japan, taking pre-orders at prices discounted by as much as 58%.

The upgrade for Windows 7 Home Premium, priced at $49.99, immediately stormed to the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list. The $99.99 Windows 7 Professional Upgrade held the No. 2 spot in software, while Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade, a $219.99 package that has not been discounted, claimed No. 4 as of 1:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Microsoft officially announced the limited-time deal yesterday, although details had leaked earlier this month when the Engadget site published a Best Buy memo that spelled out the prices and start date.

The discounted prices are good from today through July 11 in the U.S. and Canada, or "until supplies last," Microsoft noted in fine print. Pre-order prices will cease after July 5 in Japan. Customers in the U.K., France and Germany will be offered similar pre-order discounts starting July 15.

Microsoft declined to get more specific than "until supplies last" when asked today what cap it has in mind for Windows 7 discounted pre-orders.

Prices, and the amount of the price cuts from Microsoft's suggest list, vary by country. In the U.S., Home Premium has been discounted 58%, while Professional has been reduced by 50%. Canadian users get a 50% discount on both editions, but Japanese customers receive a 53% discount on Home Premium and only 45% off Professional.

In the U.S., Windows 7 upgrades are available from Microsoft's own online store, as well as from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Frys, Newegg, Office Depot and Tiger Direct. Canadians can pre-order the OS from Microsoft, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Future Shop, London Drugs, Staples and The Source. Most are throwing in free shipping, and saying that they will deliver the operating system on Oct. 22, the date Microsoft has set for Windows 7's launch.

Only Microsoft's online store is taking orders for downloadable copies of the new operating system as well as shrink-wrapped editions. The company adds an additional $14.99 to the price if customers want a physical disc as well as the download, however.

According to Microsoft, the Windows 7 upgrades can be purchased and used by users currently running Windows Vista, Windows XP and the even-older Windows 2000. For the latter two operating systems, however, Windows 7 must be done as a "clean install" that deletes all data and applications; users must back up data before the move to Windows 7, then restore the data and resinstall all applications. Only Vista users can do an "in-place" installation that leaves data, Windows settings and applications intact.

Although some analysts have slammed Microsoft for setting Windows 7 Home Premium's upgrade at $120, they have applauded the pre-order discounts. "The $49 initial price is a nice reward for loyal customers," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Interpret, in a blog post yesterday. "But the 'real' upgrade pricing is way off for what the market will likely bear, especially during these economic times."

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No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe

Microsoft said it would be easy to install its browser European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves. Bowing to European competition rules, Microsoft Windows 7 will ship without Internet Explorer. The company said it would make it easy for PC makers and users to get at and install the web browsing program. In response the European Commission expressed scepticism over the move and whether it would allay accusations of Microsoft abusing its market position. Abusive behaviour "We're committed to making Windows 7 available in Europe at the same time that it launches in the rest of the world," Dave Heiner, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a statement, "but we also must comply with European competition law as we launch the product. "We believe that this new approach, while not our first choice, is the best path forward given the ongoing legal case in Europe." In response the European Commission said "it would also have to consider whether this initial step of technical separation of IE from Windows could be negated by other actions by Microsoft". In early 2008, Microsoft was fined 899m euros (£765m) by the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour over bundling in the media player and browser into Windows. In January 2009, Brussels reached a "preliminary view" that Microsoft was denting the chance for true competition by bundling its browser software in with its operating system. Microsoft is due to defend itself against the charges in a hearing. If Microsoft fails to convince the Commission that it is not harming competition could mean more fines and enforced changes to the way it does business. "We're committed to launching Windows 7 on time in Europe, so we need to address the legal realities in Europe, including the risk of large fines," said Mr Heiner. Windows 7 is due to be released worldwide on 22 October. "In terms of potential remedies, if the Commission were to find that Microsoft had committed an abuse, the Commission has suggested that consumers should be offered a choice of browser not that Windows should be supplied without a browser at all," said the Commission in a statement responding to Microsoft's announcement. It said Microsoft's approach of offering the program to computer manufacturers "may potentially be more positive" in terms of remedying its alleged abusive behaviour. It added that if Microsoft were found to be abusing its position, the commission would have to work out if the uncoupling of IE offset that behavior.

Source: bbc.com

Microsoft sets Windows 7 launch for Oct. 22

It will offer some kind of discount or free upgrade to Vista PC buyers

By Gregg Keizer

June 2, 2009 03:27 PM ET


Computerworld - Microsoft will put Windows 7 on store shelves and computer makers will have systems ready to sell with Vista's successor on Oct. 22, the company confirmed today.

Microsoft will also offer discounted or free upgrades to Windows 7 to users who buy PCs in the months leading up to the operating system's launch in a program dubbed "Windows Upgrade Option," a company spokeswoman said Tuesday. Although the name is new, the program had been reported as early as January, when a usually-reliable Web site leaked information about the deal, including its July 1 kick-off.

Until today, Microsoft had been coy about naming a release date for Windows 7, although it edged toward a timetable last month. Both Bill Veghte, the senior vice president who runs the Windows Business unit, and Steven Sinofsky, the senior vice president of the Windows engineering group, said then that Windows 7 was on track for the holiday selling season, and would make the final milestone -- called "release to manufacturing," or RTM -- in mid-August. Today, however, other company spokespersons said Microsoft is shooting for RTM by the end of July.

Details on the Windows Upgrade Option were not immediately available, but analysts have assumed that it would resemble Vista Express Upgrade, a program that gave people who purchased Windows XP PCs between Oct. 26, 2006, and March 15, 2007, free or inexpensive upgrades to Vista.

Vendors were allowed to set the price, if any, of the XP-to-Vista upgrades, and it's believed that they will have the same flexibility for Windows 7.

This isn't the first time that October has been named as the likely ship date for Microsoft's new OS. In an interview last month, an Acer executive based in the U.K. said "October 23 is the date that Windows 7 will be available." The executive, Bobby Watkins, the managing director of Acer's U.K. operations, also confirmed that customers who bought a Vista-powered computer from the company in the 30 days leading up to Oct. 23 would receive a free upgrade to Windows 7.

Also last month, Computerworld used Sinofsky's mid-August RTM date to predict that Windows 7 would go on sale sometime between Oct. 11 and Nov. 4, based on the actual timetables of Windows XP and Vista, respectively.



Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9133847

Hackers taking advantage of Windows 7: Microsoft

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Microsoft said Thursday that cybercriminals are already hawking booby-trapped versions of just-released Windows 7 operating system software. — AFP/File Photo

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft said Thursday that cybercriminals are already hawking booby-trapped versions of just-released Windows 7 operating system software.

‘It’s so important for customers to get their copies of Windows from a trusted source,’ Joe Williams, general manager, Worldwide Genuine Windows at Microsoft, said in an interview posted at the company's official website.

‘In the last few days we’ve seen reports of illegitimate distributions of the release candidate of our latest Windows operating system, Windows 7, being offered in a way that is designed to infect a customer’s PC with malware.’ A nearly-final version of Windows 7 made its world debut on Tuesday, giving people a chance to tell Microsoft what they love or hate about the new-generation operating system.

Microsoft is making Windows 7 Release Candidate available as it puts finishing touches on the operating system that will replace Vista.

The US software colossus has touted anti-piracy protections it built into Windows 7 to thwart the spread of illegal copies of the operating system.

Windows 7 anti-piracy guards build on technology built into Vista, according to Williams. For example, pop-up boxes will warn people when unauthorized copies of software are spied on computers.

‘With Windows Vista, we made significant strides in reducing the threat pirated copies posed to customers, our partners and Microsoft software, and we anticipate we'll do even better with Windows 7,’ Williams said.

Microsoft decried software piracy as a pervasive problem that costs the world economy more than 45 billion dollars annually and exposes users to risks of identity theft, system crashes, and data loss.

Williams said Microsoft research shows that as many as a third of the company's customers worldwide may be running counterfeit copies of Windows.

‘We see many cases of customers who wanted to buy genuine software and believed they did, only to find out later that they were victims of software piracy,’ Williams said.

Windows operating systems are used in about 90 percent of the world's computers, according to industry figures.

Microsoft preps Windows 7 release

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A release candidate of Windows 7, the next major release of the world's most popular operating system, goes public in trial form in the next week.

Microsoft is hoping it can avoid the negative press that surrounded the launch of Vista, the last major Windows release, almost three years ago.

Windows 7 has been designed to be compatible with Vista so users do not have to invest in new hardware.

A commercial release of Windows 7 is expected in the next nine months.

A test version of Windows 7 will be available to developers from Thursday, while the public can try it out from 5 May.

John Curran, Microsoft UK's director, Windows Client Group, told BBC News that "shortfalls" in the Vista release had caused problems for some users.

"There were challenges on hardware and application compatibility with Vista in the first couple of months - and that has left a little bit of an aftertaste for a segment of people."

When Vista was launched many users expressed frustration that the operating system did not work with all types of existing hardware and peripherals, or programs used commonly on PCs.

And a Vista compatibility programme for hardware proved to be confusing and, in some cases, somewhat misleading.

Mr Curran said Microsoft had "learned lessons" and had been working with partner developers to ensure the same mistakes would not be repeated.

Windows 7 will also have "comparable system requirements" to Vista, which should mean that if your PC is capable of running Vista it will also run the new version.

Negative

Mr Curran said Vista had proved to be a success for Microsoft, despite the negative press that surrounds the operating system.

"Vista is the fastest selling operating system of all time and, in percentage terms, enterprise moved to Vista faster than it did to XP [an earlier version of Windows]," he said.

He said satisfaction surveys for Vista showed 90% of people were either satisfied or very satisfied and 85-90% would recommend it to a friend.

The exact timing will be based on quality John Curran, Microsoft

Microsoft embarked on a major advertising and marketing mission to improve the image of Vista after the muted reaction around its "The Wow starts now" campaign.

While Vista was released five months after the release candidate was made available, Mr Curran said Windows 7 would only be released when it is ready.

Bottom line

"Obviously in these times everybody is keeping an eye on the bottom line, but we are certainly taking a longer-term perspective here and always have done with Windows franchise.

"The timeline stated all along is that we are targeting Windows 7 within three years of of the launch of Vista and that would be the end of January 2010.

"We feel quite confident we are on trajectory that will deliver on that promise. But the exact timing will be based on quality."

Windows 7 promises a major usability improvement on Vista, and a simplification of security measures which caused frustration for many users.

Mr Curran said Windows 7 would build on the security improvements in Vista, which have seen a fall in the number of malware attacks and critical vulnerabilities identified.

Many beta testers of Windows 7 have reported that it is faster than Vista, especially in terms of start-up and shutdown sequence of the computer.

Mr Curran said that the Microsoft Windows team had been poring over every aspect of the operating system to make improvements.

"We were able to shave 400 milliseconds off the shutdown time by slightly trimming the WAV file shutdown music.

"It's indicative of really the level and detail and scrutiny on Windows 7."

A version of Windows 7 will also be available for netbooks, but with some caveats.

The Windows 7 Starter Edition will have limitations on how many applications can be used concurrently on a machine in order to preserve performance.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8026736.stm