Microsoft has found a way to drive demand for Windows 7 even before the operating system ships this October. Backed by a special temporary price discount, Windows 7 preorders are a hit on Amazon.com and BestBuy.com.
The folks at CNet News note that:
Microsoft’s program for preordering Windows 7 at a discount is proving quite popular, at least at Amazon.com.
The program, which kicked off on Friday, allows people to order an upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium for $49, more than half off its $119 suggested price, or Windows 7 Professional for $99, half of its suggested price.
Those offers have catapulted Windows 7 to the top of several “most popular” shopping lists on Amazon.com, and BestBuy.com also reports strong demand for the preorders, according to CNet.
Creating Buzz
No doubt, Microsoft remains a marketing machine. And hopefully, the software giant has learned a bit from the Windows Vista debacle. Vista was large, slow, filled with annoying alert “features,” and mis-positioned to run on low-end systems that didn’t have ample horsepower for the operating system.
Fast forward to Windows 7, and early reviews have been mostly positive — despite some concerns about Microsoft’s pricing strategy for the operating system.
The VAR Guy will be watching for more Windows 7 sales and channel strategies during the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 (WPC 09), starting July 13 in New Orleans.
October 2009 Showdown
No doubt, The VAR Guy is enjoying the competitive environment. Microsoft is finally waking up to competition from Apple and Linux, and delivering a polished client operating system. And our resident blogger looks forward to continued innovations from the Apple and Linux camps.
Come to think of it, Canonical is slated to ship Ubuntu 9.10 right around the time of Windows 7’s debut. And Google Android appears to be marching into the netbook market. Let the competition continue.
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Tags: Canonical | Google Android Netbooks | Google Android vs. Windows 7 | Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 | Ubuntu 9.10 | Windows 7 Netbooks | Windows 7 Preorders | Windows 7 Pricing | Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu | WPC09
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[...] Strong Demand for Windows 7 Preorders | The VAR Guy [...]
I’m still curious to see what will happen with the whole Starter Edition for Netbooks thing. Will Microsoft’s gamble pay off, and people pay extra to upgrade to an uncrippled version of Windows? Or does that smack just a little too much of taking your customers for granted?
Isn’t the Starter Edition point moot? It no longer has the three concurrent application limit…
…Are there other limits that The VAR Guy should be aware of?
There is buzz around Win7. Just had a corp. client that wants to test banking apps on Win7.
Matt: Thanks for offering some balanced perspective on Windows 7. So, are you going to help that bank test the apps on Win7? What was your response when the corporate client asked about the forthcoming OS?
VarGuy: Yes, we plan to assist with Win7 app testing. We are advising our business clients to start planning for Win7 because Win7 is going to be a winner (in my opinion): useability improvements, 64bit (Read: use all your memory) appears to be primetime ready, performance on “older” hardware is resonable, support of existing hardware seems very “out of the box” and… XP just needs a refresh. Its overdue. Some quick thoughts without going into a feature by feature list.
Matt: The VAR Guy can’t thank you enough for continuing the conversation. You’ve hit some key points regarding Windows 7’s value. But The VAR Guy wonders: Will anyone really run Windows 7 on old hardware???
Doesn’t it make more sense to avoid the install/upgrade hassles and merely move to Windows 7 as part of new hardware purchases? Thoughts?
Re Starter Edition—it still has a bunch of other limitations: you can’t change the wallpaper or themes, watch DVDs, use multiple monitors, switch users, join a domain, or have XP mode.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4459
64-bit is also a problem. Microsoft still ships a 32-bit browser with 64-bit Windows, because the only 64-bit version of the Adobe Flash plugin is for Linux.
Lawrence: No DVD support? The VAR Guy checked your claims and it appears that you are correct. Admittedly, few Netbooks have built-in DVD players. But MSFT seems to be “artificially” segmenting the market with the lack of DVD support in Starter.
Apple and most Linux providers offer a “single” version of their desktop offerings — yet MSFT continues to slice and dice Windows 7. Really a good use of MSFT development and marketing efforts?
Just bought my Home edition from http://www.buy-windows-7.co.uk and saved myself £30! Just gotta wait for the release now
So, Karlee: Do you have any buyer’s remorse or are you really, really excited about being a first mover to Windows 7? Keep The VAR Guy posted…
@The Var Guy: I’m one of those people who likes new software. I have always been a big Windows fan but was really, really disappointed with Windows Vista. Hopefully this one is a lot better and I can think my money was well spent!
Karlee: No doubt the general buzz on Windows 7 is positive. Keep us posted once you start using it.