Vista sold more PCs than Windows 7 did

If you think about it, it makes sense. If they are talking about vista computers before october 22nd. Think about it. Why would people buy it preinstalled if they can get a copy of windows 7 for free if they buy a vista after june 2009? If it were me I'd buy the vista with free windows 7 upgrade. Then you can install it yourself and take out the bloatware with it. It makes sense and you have a copy of windows 7 whenever you need it to format your computer or whenever you feel like it.

Apple is the way to go. You do not have to worry about it failing and freezing. It's about lifestyle / music.

Then I switch to Windows Xp on the Mac in order to do Excel modelling. It's great but you do need to get used to it. What gets me is MS Office – and their different versions – if only I could replace that.

silly. its clearly a better product then vista. To assume that the lack of interest in windows 7 in our current ecomony predicates the success of 7 is again, silly. way to go MS. take that Jobs. take that Google.

yahoo, what the h#ll were you thinkng?!

DeTwitt at is again… but then, no-one really expected an unbiased article.

I'M a P.C.

Windows 7 ROCKS!!!

…and who cares if I have to buy another computer in 3 years time when the next version of the Windows OS comes out? I could buy 3 computers over a 6 – 9 years span and still come up ahead of the cost of one Mac!

Is simple enough explanation, the economy has spending people tight fisted and the others are drawing unemployment or fearing their benefits will be running out soon,who cares about upgrading to Window 7, more people worrying how to pay the mortgage and to put food on table.

Who cares about technology. The only thing that matters is how much Apple is worth. It seems $3,000 a share is reasonably. Don't believe me? Simply add up the market cap of MS, HP, DELL, Oracle, Lenovo, Nokia, Sony, Intel, …

Makes sense to me. Lots of people put off hardware upgrades waiting for Vista. Now, lots of people need to get Vista off that hardware, so they buy Doze-7 but not a computer.

Who cares ? I use Mandriva Linux and have been Microsoft free for 3 years. No more virus, no more spyware/adware, no more defragging disks, registry cleanups or OS reinstalls every 2 years.

Plus I can upgrade my applications AND my OS at the same time via the software repositories.

All this for free (free as in free speech as well as free as in free beer)

MS is selling alot of software due to its WGA worm (happened to me with software I purchased 3 years ago and software recently purchased on eBay that was unopened but had a "blocked" license key. I had to buy "genuine" to get the frakkin "..you may be a victum of software piracy.." popup off my screen. Hardware sales are probably more predictive of where MS will sit in a few years…

Why Apple? Because it's nice not to have the hardware vendor phone support and software vendor phone support pointing fingers at each other when something doesn't work. Apple just works.

Man on the street knows that Windows 7 is just patched up, rebranded Vista. You all know it. So, why do you expect it to sell?

Don't blame the recession for Microsoft losing it's Mojo (and more marketshare every quarter to Macintosh.)

Meanwhile, Linux is going nowhere, either. People still need a commercial OS, but now there is more than one, and the top rated one is not Windows.

Mac sales are UP in this recession.

Windows 7 is as much about revitalizing OEM sales as it is about selling a new OS. Absent a robust rebound in hardware sales, Windows 7 can not be an industry success. The PC market suffers from commoditization with shrinking margins and lack of brand differentiation. Netbooks have been the sustaining the force in unit sales but netbooks can not deliver rising margins nor provide a vehicle for the sale of premium versions of Windows 7.

Software developers are in need of an economic boost from software and software upgrade sales. Windows 7 will of course sell units, but whether or not it becomes a catalyst for revenue growth throughout the Windows eco-system remains a question.

Microsoft is one of the most successful enterprises on the planet and the continued dominance of Windows in the PC space is not in doubt. However, with the continued consumer migration to handheld devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch and new market entrants such as the Droid (a competent device despite Verizon's early marketing missteps) the release of Windows 7 is little more than a side-show this quarter.

Windows 7 does nothing to address Microsoft's loss of relevance in the smartphone OS market nor provides a coherent roadmap for software development in the way Mac OS X has delivered the goods.

The overriding issue isn't how much Microsoft might make for itself from Windows 7 sales (OEM sales and upgrades) but how much Windows 7 can deliver revenue growth to all elements of the Windows eco-system including hardware OEMs, software developers, consultants, retailers and IT staff singularly dependent on the product to make a living.

It's early in the game but indications are this release of Windows is nothing more than a refresh that will keep the eco-system standing in place but not moving forward.

Apple 2.0 – did not expect a unbiased article. I hate Macs though, too picey and hyped. Windows 7 is terrific and affordable. I had been using it for a few weeks now, it rocks!!!

Why would anybod spend a fortune to buy a pretty looking hardware (Mac) when a great Windows 7 PC can be bought with one third the price? I recommended all my family and freinds who asked me whether to buy a Mac against it .

I believe that one of the main reasons vista sales may be better is due to alot more new computers come with vista rather than windows 7. One example is the toshiba my wife and I bought a few months ago. It came with vista on it.We do not like it,it is not compatable with other systems and we had to buy a 14.00 de code system to ge it to read an instuction DVD of mine.(Media player) The price on the computer (at walmart) was so good we took the chance. Over all I would love to have my regular windows back.

I think these sales numbers are very mis leading. I would not reccomond vista .

That's right, the recession is over because Apple has been crowned the new economic bellweather. Hey, unemployment is up to 10.3% but iPhone sales are up. Seriously, trying to compare 2007 to 2009?

My business laptops and desktops will not be replaced for another year or two at which time I will be upgrading to 7. Don't try and sell me on a Mac. I like them but find me a robust accounting program that works on that OS.

Windows 7 is paying for the sins of VISTA. Had VISTA not been a such a poor performer, Microsoft users, such as me, would not be waiting to see if Windows 7 is really a winner. I have hopes after I read that the management team of VISTA was not around (?employed?) for Windows 7…

The gist of these comments seems to be "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Or, "We won't get fooled again."

I am not paying for any more upgrades. I just switched to Ubuntu 9.04 and now 9.1…. It's fast, so far bug free, has what I need, and above all it's and open source and free OS. I am not a heavy user, just need some basic office type application (Open-Office does the job) and internet. I suppose a good number of users are like me. So why would we want to buy something that will be replaced soon with something that will cost more money again. With a growing number of open source users, I can see why the sales are not as high as in past. And yes, the current economy may force people to try open source, and I see why people like me may actually like what we get, because this is all we ever wanted from an OS… plus it's free and secure. Don't get me wrong, I own MS stock, and I do believe that Win 7 and the company and will do well, but Win 7 is not what I (and other's like me) need, and thus fewer buyers.

Eh, windows 7, used it, it's as fast as XP and looks foreign like Vista did. I say if you are gonna have to relearn a OS, suck it up, and buy a Mac, unless you are a PC gamer. If you just want something that works, is dependable, simple, and virus free… a Mac is the way to go. Windows 7 was supposed to sell for around 50 bucks… for the version with all the whistles, not 200. Mac OS X Snow Lep, is 29 bucks for the upgrade and 160 or so for the full upgrade. For me, personally, Vista was a Epic Fail, and that's with me being a Microsoft Partner… I sold zero copies to my business clients… because it was crap.

Customers have been lulled into believing Microsoft and its press corps that 7 is a snappy OS that works fantastically, even on a mere netbook.

So they went out and bought it. And in a couple of months the real feedback will start to flow.

And then the pain for Microsoft will start all over again.

Don't blame the recession!! Everything indicates we're in a recovery. Only down indicator is the job market and even that appears to be slowly repairing itself. I've tested Windows 7 beta and RC1 versions on a singel core AMD system with 1 gig of ram and it ran fine and fast. Probably one of the many reasons people are not buying new equipment for the OS. And people shouldn't feel betrayed this version was tested and it works!! You don't have to spend 200 bucks unless you want the version with all the toys in it. You can buy a home version for 80 bucks. So recessions, price, and some of the things I hear are really no valid reasons to complian.

ex ped: I thought the recession was over?

Only in Appleland. Which coincidentally, is the only place where this would be considered worth reporting…
Seriously is this "Mac news from outside the reality distortion field", or just another deadline?

ex ped: Not sure you can blame the recession, Steve, even in PC Land. Here's what Gartner had to say about computer sales last quarter:

STAMFORD, Conn., October 14, 2009 — The PC industry performed better than expected as worldwide PC shipments totalled 80.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009, a 0.5 per cent increase from the third quarter of 2008, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. Gartner had expected PC shipments to decline 5.6 per cent in the quarter.

“These are good results especially given that PC shipments for the third quarter of 2009 are being compared to a very strong third quarter from 2008,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “Sequentially, third quarter shipments grew 18 per cent, which is higher than the historical seasonal growth from the second to third quarter.” (link)

I own both a PC and a Mac, and as far as operating systems go why should I shell out 200 bucks for something that works fine already? Heck I'm still on Tiger (the 200 dollars or so it would cost to upgrade to Leopard then snow leopard is probably whats doing it). Upgrades in my opinion shouldn't cost the full amount for what is essentially an exercise in recursion and bug fixing and then adding a few neat superficial additions.

Yeah, my computer I bought just before Vista came out still runs most of the newest games (low quality but they run).

I don't have a reason to upgrade the PC but I certainly have a reason to trade Vista up for 7…

1) We're in a recession — maybe not mathematically, but it still feels that way for everyone who doesn't work on Wall Street. You write for CNN /Money/, how can you not know this?

2) Vista had significantly higher hardware requirements than XP — a lot of people /had/ to buy new computers to upgrade. Windows 7 has the same on-paper requirements as Vista, and will reportedly run pretty well on older hardware too. This is a plus for software sales, but a drawback for hardware dealers.

Besides, why is it Microsoft's job to make sure PC makers benefit? You clearly don't seem to think that's Apple's job….

pretty much what Ronnie said. xp was great so people flocked to vista. vista sucked so people are reluctant to hop on 7

GIVE IT TIME. Every one is wary of Microsoft because of what happened with Vista. Windows 7 is the BEST OS out there. They really took their time and got it right. It will take a while to convince a betrayed general public though.

Change:

And everything seemed to be in place on Thursday Oct. 22 for that happen.

To:

And everything seemed to be in place on Thursday Oct. 22 for that to happen.

ex ped: Thanks as always.

This article is useless because it fails to provide an analysis of what the overall PC retail sales situation is today (in a deep-rooted recession), as compared to what the PC sales level was prior to a recession.

Is this a serious story or an Apple commercial? It fails on both counts as its not based on any reality and sounds more like line from an elementary school yard fight.

Frankly, after watching what happened with Vista, I'm giving a few months before I buy in. (No, I'm not going MAC after researching and contemplating both to death over the last year.) And, moreover, like the comment before says, we're in a recession. I'm waiting for the New Year. I simply can't afford to buy into the Holiday buzz prices. Granted, some of my wait is also to see what systems come out by then geared for 7… but really, what's the hurry?

That's because everyone bought a new computer for Vista … that wasn't too long ago so why buy another one for Windows 7?

Home PC users that buy new machines with Windows have Vista machines that are only 2 years old! Sorry, I'm not ready to run out and buy another one yet.

XP,Vista, Windows7…!!!!!why not make one updated why should people have to keep paying out.. I expect there will be something else coming along soon…telling us It's the new must have..I have an XP pc & Vista laptop I think its enough..

Were in a recession, and computer sales went and still are down. You expect 7 to really pass Vista's sales when back in 2007 computer sales were at an all time high? Seems pretty unfair to make it sound like Vista was more successful.

ex ped: I thought the recession was over?