Source, please. You can't just Plagiarize... Please give some credit to who ever wrote it. Regards, Ravi Paul
On 10/20/09, firoz <[email protected]> wrote: > Why Microsoft can't afford Windows 7 to fail > > > > > Will Windows 7 allow users to forget Vista? > On Thursday, Microsoft launches Windows 7, the latest version of its > operating system. Its success or failure will determine the future of the > world's biggest software company. > When talking about Microsoft, it is useful to remind yourself of the > sheer scale of its reach. Windows powers about 90% of the world's computers; > by the company's own reckoning more than one billion people use it. > Windows also powers Microsoft. During its last financial year, a > $58.4bn (£35.7bn) turnover generated an operating profit of $20.3bn (net > profit: $14.6bn). Windows accounted for well over half of that. > For years, critics have claimed that Microsoft's virtual monopoly is > about to end. > They say it will be brought down by a resurgent Apple, insurgent > open-source rival Linux or a revolution in how we use computers, when the > actual computing moves from desktop machines to the "cloud" where software > runs on remote servers. > Windows without a Vista > In reality, Microsoft has been its own worst enemy. Ruthless behaviour > towards rivals earned it the attention of regulators such as the European > Commission and the US Department of Justice. > > > Windows 7 is much easier to install than its predecessor > More importantly, three years ago Microsoft botched the release of > Vista, the operating system that preceded Windows 7. > Vista - a bloated, difficult to install operating system - left many > early users with suddenly unusable hardware and software. The disaster badly > undermined Microsoft's credibility with consumers and software developers. > Today, Vista is still outshone by its eight-year-old predecessor > Windows XP. One (particularly low) estimate from web metrics firm Net > Applications suggests Vista has a mere 18.6% share of the market. Others put > it at just over 35%, which is still a poor figure. > Among companies, "Vista is the worst-adopted operating system", > according to Annette Jump, research director at Gartner, a technology > research firm. > The president of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois, opts > for understatement: "We don't feel great about Vista adoption." > Windows reloaded > Windows 7 is Microsoft's one and maybe only chance to redeem itself. > "We have learned a lot from what went wrong with Vista," is a mantra > repeated by every Microsoft executive. > > The preparations for Windows 7 have been a remarkable step up > from the days of dealing with Vista > > Alex Gruzen, Dell > For starters, Windows 7 is on time, arriving less than three years > after the launch of Vista, which was two years overdue. > Early users report it to be fast, reliable, secure and easy to use on > the move. > Most importantly, Microsoft went out of its way to avoid a repeat of > its biggest Vista mistake, when it failed to prepare its partners for the > new system. > Windows 7 loves Windows 95 > > > "Peek" helps users find their way around a crowded taskbar > "The Windows ecosystem is the broadest in the world, and we have to > take care of that," says Mr Courtois. > Microsoft's partners have noticed the change in tack. "The > preparations for Windows 7 have been a remarkable step up from the days of > dealing with Vista," says Alex Gruzen, the man in charge of consumer > products at the computer giant Dell. > "In the past, Microsoft looked at its operating system in isolation, > and gave it to [manufacturers] to do whatever they wanted," he says. "Now > they collaborate, help to figure out which third-party vendors are slowing > down the system, help them improve their code." > > We expect a tangible Windows 7 bounce [in PC sales] > > Richard Huddy, AMD > Microsoft, promises Mr Courtois, has "worked very hard with Windows 7 > to achieve applications compatibility." When it rolled out the first service > pack for Vista, there were a mere 2,700 applications certified to work with > the system. > At launch, Windows 7 boasts 8,500 certified apps. > And if you want to use old software on your computer, Microsoft has > built in a "compatibility tool" that allows you to run applications that > were built for operating systems as old as Windows 95. > Windows 7 also has a smaller "footprint" than Vista. It needs less > computing power so older PCs run it quite happily. "Our PCs have gained > another two years lifetime," says Chris Page, who deployed Windows 7 on > nearly 700 computers in schools run by Warwickshire County Council. > Just one five-year-old laptop refused to run the new operating system, > he reports. > The best or worst of times? > But is this the right time to launch an operating system? Parts of the > world may be out of recession, but investment remains low and consumers are > facing the prospect of rising unemployment. > The timing, however, might actually be Microsoft's biggest asset. > > > The new Taskbar preview is popular with users > > > "Technology has always been leading economies out of recession," says > George Colony, boss of tech research firm Forrester. > Despite the downturn, IT investment is growing three times faster than > most economies, reports tech industry analyst IDC. Even among consumers > there are still pockets of growth, especially small netbooks with their > low-power processors, which cannot run Vista but deliver zippy performance > under Windows 7. > The launch of the new operating system will produce "a tangible > Windows 7 bounce", says Richard Huddy of chipmaker AMD. > "Along with that, we're also seeing evidence on a global scale that > the recession is starting to lessen." > "The fact that Win 7 is more efficient than Windows Vista means that > it's viable for lower-cost PCs, so I think we can safely say we're > increasingly optimistic." > The bottom line > At Dell, Alex Gruzen sounds bullish too. Many companies have kept old > computers running for at least a year longer than they would normally do. > Now "there is some optimism that the refresh cycle will begin over the next > year; Windows 7 certainly helps, it provides a good catalyst for it." > > > April 2014: the deadline for Windows XP > A changed digital world is also driving change. Consumers and > corporate computer users are becoming more mobile and Windows XP simply was > not built for that. > Forcing the issue, Microsoft has said it will stop supporting Windows > XP in April 2014. And even if there is an extension, by then most makers of > third-party software for XP will have phased out their support, says Steve > Kleynhans, vice-president of research at Gartner, "which will increase the > pressure to upgrade" to Windows 7. > Also, organisations testing Windows 7, such as the UK accounting firm > Baker Tilly and the City of Miami, report sharply lower support and energy > costs, and higher productivity, according to Stella Chernyak, the product > manager for Windows 7 Enterprise. > Gartner's Steve Kleiynhans also counsels companies against the > traditional wait for "Service Pack 1", because these days Microsoft rolls > out upgrades and updates continuously. The service pack will be a mere > catch-up for those who have failed to install them. > The bottom line for Mr Courtois: "We expect business to adopt Windows > 7 much faster" than previous operating systems. > Watching rivals > > > Microsoft has tidied up Windows Explorer > At Gartner, Annette Jump is more cautious: "We don't expect that > Windows 7 will drive PC shipments," although companies "really will have to" > upgrade to Windows 7, because otherwise "the support costs for older PCs > will be piling up". > Microsoft's timing has been helped by the fact that one of its arch > rivals, Google, won't launch its lightweight operating system Chrome OS > before the middle of next year, which will be plenty of time to establish > Windows 7 firmly in the netbook market. > Also useful is the misstep of its other nemesis, Apple, which > uncharacteristically botched its new operating system Snow Leopard, not > anywhere near as badly as Vista, but enough to give Microsoft a clear run > for its Windows 7 launch. > Windows' last hurrah? > "I really have to go back to Windows 95 to remember people being so > excited about a new operating system," says Mr Courtois, a 25-year veteran > of Microsoft. > "Windows 7 is everything that Vista promised to be and more," enthuses > AMD's Richard Huddy. Dell's Alex Gruzen calls the software "outstanding." > This may be hyperbole. Gartner analyst Annette Jump, for one, calls > Windows 7 "a polishing release of Windows Vista". > But most reviews have been positive, even enthusiastic. "The fact it's > an operating system I see nobody complaining about [suggests] you have > something that's really good and solid," argues Mr Huddy. > That alone will not banish the fundamental threats to Microsoft's > business model, though. > Over the next few years there will be "a big shift to [operating > system] neutral applications like browser-based apps, Java, Silverlight, > Flash, .Net", says Mr Kleynhans at Gartner. > "That will limit the dominance, the factors that drive people to have > Windows." > Should Microsoft rest on its Windows 7 laurels, it might end up being > its most, but also its last, successful operating system. > > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. 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