Vista Upgrade a Tough Sell Analysts say Microsoft may face challenges getting home users to buy new operating system Bill Gates previewed in Las Vegas.
Red Herring Magazine January 5, 2006 http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=15188&hed=Vista%20Upgrade%20May%20Be%20Tough%20Sell Despite new features and a better navigation system in its upcoming Vista operating system, Microsoft may find it tough to persuade users to make the costly upgrade, analysts said Thursday, a day after the software giant's Chairman Bill Gates previewed the new offering. With Vista, consumers will get a sleeker user interface than what's available on Microsoft's current XP OS. Integrated search is expected to make it easier for people to use the operating system and find information online and on their desktop. What's more, Vista will also have a Windows Photo Gallery that's designed to make managing and working with digital photos on a user's computer easier. Mr. Gates took to the stage at the ongoing Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday to show off Vista features like search, integrated browsing, photo editing tools, and a revamped media player. The effort was aimed at charming home users into making the upgrade from their existing Windows operating system to Vista, scheduled to be released later this year. But analysts said it could be a challenge from Microsoft to encourage home users to buy Vista, especially because many already have a Microsoft operating system that likely suits their needs. "What gets people to upgrade is usually when they buy a new computer, they go for a new OS that will run the applications they want faster," said Peter Cohan, president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. "But what Microsoft is doing is adding all these home entertainment type of applications, which work pretty well on their current OS." Mr. Cohan also said it could be difficult for Microsoft to sell Vista to consumers by touting features like search and photo editing tools as users can get these elsewhere for free. "On the search front, Google is doing a good job and I think they will continue to innovate so there's really no reason for users to make that upgrade," he said. "Why should they pay for these things when they can get it for free?" Digital Lifestyle Decade But in Las Vegas, Mr. Gates did not address the issue of why consumers would want to move to Vista. Instead, he outlined his vision of how computing would be different at home and the workplace in the future. On stage, he outlined what he says would be a typical day in the future, beginning at home with streaming video, news services, and pictures of the family that could all be accessed through a single screen in the living room. Then, he showed an office with a wraparound desktop screen with biometric fingerprint access. For mobile workers, he said airports would offer a large screen to pull up information from a user's mobile phone, giving them an instant desktop. "This is the decade of the digital lifestyle," Mr. Gates said. Among the other features in Vista that Microsoft showed off was Flip 3D, a tool for easily shifting among multiple open windows. Meanwhile, the Windows Vista Sidebar, which runs in the corner of the screen, includes RSS feeds, sports scores, and other small applications. Pushing Media Center Microsoft also played up the Media Center, the area from which users can access audio and video files of Windows Vista. More than 6.5 million PCs with the Windows XP Media Center Edition have been sold so far, said Mr. Gates. The company also said that cable comedy channel Comedy Central has joined its list of content partners. New Media Center PCs will include support for high-definition programming without a set-top box, the company said. This will allow users to plug their digital cable signal directly into their PC to watch and record premium cable content, including high-definition programming, without a set-top box. The features will pit Microsoft against rivals like Adobe and Corel that have photo editing software that is currently popular among home users. It will also turn up the heat with Google, which has emerged as its most formidable competitor in over a decade. Peter Moore, president of Microsoft's consumer entertainment division, in a speech Wednesday night along with Mr. Gates called Xbox 360 the "killer app" for high-definition television. Microsoft also said it will sell the Xbox 360 with a high-definition drive in the HD-DVD format. Sony is planning a player this summer in the rival Blu-ray format ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
