[1st-mile-nm] Microsoft hopes for a fresh start with Windows 7

[Marianne Granoff]

 From another list.


>By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer - Thu Oct 22, 2009
>
>SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. put a new edition of 
>Windows on sale Thursday, hoping for a fresh 
>start after a bad reception for the previous 
>version of the software that runs most of the world's personal computers.
>
>Windows 7 is now available on new computers, and 
>as a software upgrade for some older PCs.
>
>A Fry's Electronics store in Renton, Wash., 
>several miles south of Microsoft's headquarters 
>in Redmond, opened at midnight to give customers 
>an early shot at buying a new PC or a disc that 
>they could use to put Windows 7 on their 
>existing computers. Such upgrade discs start at $120.
>
>"We're geeks, that's what geeks do. This is our 
>excitement," said Mike Naramor, 55, who runs a 
>consulting business called My Computer Guy and 
>was one of about 50 people who were waiting outside the store when it opened.
>
>Naramor said that he also had bought copies of 
>the last two operating systems, XP and Vista, 
>the nights they were released and that he 
>planned to go home and install Windows 7 right away.
>
>"Vista took me about 72 hours," he said. "I 
>expect this to take me 20 minutes."
>
>Indeed, Microsoft hopes people like Windows 7 
>more than its most recent predecessor, Vista, 
>which was slow and didn't work well with 
>existing programs and devices. Microsoft fixed 
>many of Vista's flaws, but it was too late to repair the system's reputation.
>
>Windows 7 promises to boot up faster and reduce 
>the clicks needed to get common tasks done. 
>Microsoft has cut out some redundant ways to 
>start up programs and added flourishes that can 
>help users keep track of all their open windows. 
>It promises to put computers into sleep mode and wake them faster, too.
>
>Windows 7 is also meant to be "quieter" — with 
>fewer pop-up boxes, notifications, warnings and 
>"are you sure ..." messages. Instead, many of 
>those messages get stashed in a single place for 
>the user to address when it's convenient.
>
>To coincide with the Windows 7 launch, computer 
>makers and retailers such as Best Buy Inc. are 
>cutting prices for PCs to try to goose 
>holiday-season sales. Microsoft also is 
>beginning to try running its own retail stores, 
>which has been enormously successful for Apple 
>Inc. The first Microsoft store was set to open Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
>
>Analysts at Gartner Inc. aren't expecting the 
>arrival of Windows 7 to cause a spike in 
>consumer PC sales, which means prices for new 
>machines figure to stay low. Last year was the 
>worst in about six years for the PC industry, 
>and global computer shipments declined through the first half of this year.
>
>The recession has also led businesses to delay 
>spending on PCs and other technologies. Because 
>of those tight budgets and the lack of 
>enthusiasm for Vista, more than 80 percent of 
>new computers installed in offices still run 
>Windows XP, which is now 8 years old, according 
>to Forrester Research. A year from now, 
>Forrester expects most new business PCs to be 
>using Windows 7, but that won't necessarily 
>translate into a huge boost for the PC industry.
>
>In a recent interview, Microsoft CEO Steve 
>Ballmer acknowledged that information-technology 
>budgets "aren't going to rise just because we 
>shipped a new (operating system)."
>
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