Five Reasons Microsoft Plans Free Windows 7 Upgrades
TechARP also reports that Microsoft will allow resellers to purchase Windows 7 upgrade media and provide it to customers who buy a Vista system after July 1.
Several Microsoft watchers expect the first public beta of Windows 7 to be released later this week. But while some have speculated Microsoft may release the final Windows 7 bits as early as this summer, the software giant hasn't budged from its late 2009-early 2010 time frame.
Here are five reasons why Microsoft is planning the free Windows 7 upgrade:
1. Vista Is A Bust
It's official. With Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ready to talk Windows 7 turkey at CES in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft is officially throwing in the towel on its My Fair Lady campaign to take Vista from tattered "flower girl" to a refined, well-regarded member of the Microsoft royal family.
Microsoft is, if nothing else, a market realist, and this mindset has allowed Messrs. Ballmer and (Microsoft Chairman Bill) Gates to reinvent the company time and time again. Now it's time to reinvent Microsoft once again.
Microsoft wants to erase all the ugly memories of Vista and remind consumers and corporate buyers of the wonderful experience of buying a new PC with Windows 3.1, and later, Windows XP. And by changing the naming convention with Windows 7, Microsoft is showing its desire to move forward and leave the bad memories of Windows Vista in the rearview mirror.
2. Microsoft Wants To Erase Memories Of The Vista Capable Debacle
However you cut it, the Vista capable marketing campaign debacle will go down as one of the darkest periods in Microsoft product history. It's a testament to just how much more important marketing has become to Microsoft than writing good software.
In effect, what Microsoft did with the Vista Capable campaign was assure users they could upgrade from Windows XP to Vista seamlessly, when in fact, the company knew that users would find a less than satisfying experience if they tried to make the leap to the highest-functionality Vista system.
Vista Capable, of course, is now the subject of a highly publicized class action lawsuit that has put a lot of Microsoft's dirty laundry into the public spotlight, and it's not a pretty picture. Many of Microsoft's high-level executives rubber-stamped a program they knew was less than honorable.
One Microsoft executive who was not afraid to say the Vista emperor had no clothes was Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Windows Product Management Mike Nash.
Earlier this year, during the discovery phase of the class action case against Microsoft over its Windows Vista Capable marketing campaign, lawyers for the plaintiffs used an e-mail from Nash to show that Microsoft executives were aware of Vista's hefty hardware requirements.
"I personally got burnt ... Are we seeing this from a lot of customers? ... I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine," Nash wrote in the e-mail.
Here's hoping Nash is standing watch to make sure Microsoft doesn't repeat the Vista debacle with the free Windows 7 upgrades.
3. Microsoft Needs A Carrot To Get Customers To Keep Buying Vista Systems
The transition from Vista to Windows 7 poses one of the most treacherous sales and marketing challenges Microsoft has faced in its long history. Microsoft is walking a high wire with the Windows 7 transition: attempting to drum up pent-up demand for a new operating system transition, while at the same time trying to keep sales humming in the critical fourth quarter 2009 selling season. Given the current economic environment, it's not a stretch to say that how Microsoft plays its hand here could very well determine whether system makers end up with a happy and healthy 2009 holiday selling season, or just another heaping of coal in their stockings.
The free Windows 7 upgrade program allows Microsoft to entice buyers that might otherwise have waited for the new Windows 7-based systems to take the Vista plunge, and then move forward with Windows 7 once it arrives. Microsoft's success or failure rides on its ability to guarantee customers that they will have a seamless, flawless and painless path to Windows 7.
Make no mistake about it. Solution providers are key here. Microsoft has to get its army of partners trained and focused on delivering a stunning Windows 7 upgrade experience. The worst thing that could happen to the company is a repeat of the Windows Vista Capable campaign debacle. Microsoft's reputation is riding on this treacherous product transition.
4. Microsoft Needs A Software Hit
Microsoft is looking more and more like the Lionel Richie of computing. The company had some great software product hits in the past. But now, it desperately needs a new hit. And just like Lionel Richie rockin' in the New Year next to those oh-so-lovable Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift, Microsoft is using CES to once again try to convince retailers and consumers that it's heading in the right direction.
Quite simply, Windows 7 is Microsoft's chance to be the coolest kid at school again. It's Microsoft's chance to go back to high school and be the big man on campus. The problem is, to be the big man on campus, you've got to be able to throw the long pass and score the big touchdown. Can Microsoft whip Windows 7 into shape and make it the fast, sleek cool operating system that users had hoped for with Vista?
5. Ballmer's Legacy Rests On Restoring The Once Mighty Windows Brand
Steve Ballmer's no fool. He knows that how history remembers him as a Microsoft CEO will depend on his ability to navigate Microsoft through the current rough waters it faces as it moves from packaged software into the cloud computing era.
Microsoft has always been more about selling what's coming next than actual products, and what better place to sell that Microsoft story than Sin City?
So as Ballmer prepares to give his first keynote speech at CES after Bill Gates' 11-year tenure at the podium, this will be his big chance to focus on Windows 7 and help erase the bitter memories of Vista. But this time, what happens in Vegas definitely won't stay in Vegas!