News
After years of delays and billions of dollars in development and marketing efforts, it would seem that Microsoft Corp. would want anyone who possibly can to buy its new Windows Vista operating system. Yet Microsoft is making it hard for Mac owners and other potentially influential customers to adopt the software.
Microsoft says the blockade is necessary for security reasons. But that is disputed. The circumstances might simply reflect a business decision Microsoft doesn't want to explain.
Microsoft says the blockade is necessary for security reasons. But that is disputed. The circumstances might simply reflect a business decision Microsoft doesn't want to explain.
Posted on 22 Feb 2007 by Vista Advice
NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp.'s chief executive officer Steve Ballmer put a damper on the excitement of the company's new Windows Vista operating system when he said sales of the product are not likely to meet the high estimates put forth by some analysts.
The observations sent the software company's shares down 2.7 per cent, the highest rate of fall in nine months.
Ballmer told an analysts' meet some of the Windows Vista revenue forecasts are overly aggressive. "You should not think of a huge surge in fiscal year 2008 relative to 2007," he told the attendees.
He, however, did not spell out specific sales figures, but added lower selling prices, limited new corporate sales and software piracy may together affect the sales.
He said increase in the sales of the company's operating systems depends on the growth in sales of personal computers and the trend appears to be that the sales are more in the consumer market than in the business market.
Ballmer said Microsoft expects higher sales growth of Vista in the emerging markets of China, India and Brazil, but the growth in these markets will be on a smaller scale than in developed countries. Besides, these emerging markets pose the problem of software piracy.
Microsoft had released the consumer version of Vista in late January after the business version was made available in November. Ballmer said "non-corporate upgrades" to Vista will not increase at a dramatic pace, following "such a large surge after the release."
Microsoft is due to offer a financial forecast for fiscal 2008 in April.
Ballmer said the company may continue to incur expenses to help establish its internet services. In 2006, extra money had been spent on internet services, on marketing Vista and in developing security software. He added fiscal 2008 spending would include money to add customers for the internet businesses.
The company had spent $450 million to release Vista and Office 2007.
Microsoft shares were down 70 cents, or 2.4 per cent, at $28.76 in heavy Nasdaq trade after falling to $28.65 earlier in the session.
The observations sent the software company's shares down 2.7 per cent, the highest rate of fall in nine months.
Ballmer told an analysts' meet some of the Windows Vista revenue forecasts are overly aggressive. "You should not think of a huge surge in fiscal year 2008 relative to 2007," he told the attendees.
He, however, did not spell out specific sales figures, but added lower selling prices, limited new corporate sales and software piracy may together affect the sales.
He said increase in the sales of the company's operating systems depends on the growth in sales of personal computers and the trend appears to be that the sales are more in the consumer market than in the business market.
Ballmer said Microsoft expects higher sales growth of Vista in the emerging markets of China, India and Brazil, but the growth in these markets will be on a smaller scale than in developed countries. Besides, these emerging markets pose the problem of software piracy.
Microsoft had released the consumer version of Vista in late January after the business version was made available in November. Ballmer said "non-corporate upgrades" to Vista will not increase at a dramatic pace, following "such a large surge after the release."
Microsoft is due to offer a financial forecast for fiscal 2008 in April.
Ballmer said the company may continue to incur expenses to help establish its internet services. In 2006, extra money had been spent on internet services, on marketing Vista and in developing security software. He added fiscal 2008 spending would include money to add customers for the internet businesses.
The company had spent $450 million to release Vista and Office 2007.
Microsoft shares were down 70 cents, or 2.4 per cent, at $28.76 in heavy Nasdaq trade after falling to $28.65 earlier in the session.
Posted on 18 Feb 2007 by Vista Advice
Although the consumer version of Vista saw tepid sales during its first week on store shelves, the new Microsoft operating system did seem to help PC sales. Sales of boxed copies of Windows Vista at retail stores significantly trailed those of Windows XP in each product's first week on shelves. Market research data showed that the number of copies of Vista purchased was nearly 59 percent lower than the number for its predecessor. Revenue was also down, but less dramatically, with the dollar value of first-week Vista sales off 32 percent from that seen with XP.
Posted on 17 Feb 2007 by Vista Advice
So you’ve heard all the hype about Windows Vista, but wonder what it means for you. Here’s a guide on how Microsoft’s Windows Vista stacks up against XP:
Security
XP: In the original Windows XP, and with the first service pack or SP1, both versions still in use today, Windows XP has a built-in firewall that gave relatively good protection against hackers breaking into your computer.
The 2nd service pack, or SP2, improved the firewall to protect you from people trying to get it, and bad programs trying to get access out to the Internet, but it is still considered relatively basic compared with commercial offerings. Anyone serious about security should replace it with a good third party firewall or Internet security suite. All versions of Windows XP are also able to be set to download Windows updates automatically.
Security
XP: In the original Windows XP, and with the first service pack or SP1, both versions still in use today, Windows XP has a built-in firewall that gave relatively good protection against hackers breaking into your computer.
The 2nd service pack, or SP2, improved the firewall to protect you from people trying to get it, and bad programs trying to get access out to the Internet, but it is still considered relatively basic compared with commercial offerings. Anyone serious about security should replace it with a good third party firewall or Internet security suite. All versions of Windows XP are also able to be set to download Windows updates automatically.
Posted on 16 Feb 2007 by Vista Advice