Microsoft: We Need for 6 Windows 7 SKUs

[nekrosoft13]

Yesterday, we learned that Microsoft would be shipping Windows 7 in six different versions -- but it won’t be as confusing as the different versions of Vista, explains Windows general manager Mike Ybarra.

ZoomWhile there will be six known versions of Windows 7 coming at launch, Microsoft assures that most of us will only have to deal with two. “With Windows 7 there will be two primary editions: Windows 7 Home Premium, and Windows 7 Professional. We think those two SKUs will meet most customers needs,” said Ybarra.

Of course, some may argue that so many different SKUs just cause consumer confusion -- which is a warranted complaint on some levels -- but Microsoft’s operating system is so ubiquitous that it has to serve everyone and at different levels. Apple’s single version of Mac OS X is great simplicity, but the reach of Apple’s computers can’t compare to Windows.

Ybarra explained, “Within a customer base of over one billion, there are a lot of important customer niches, or segments, and we want to make sure we have an appropriate product for everybody.”

So the rainbow of versions are here to stay, but at least Microsoft appears to have incorporated some common sense between the different versions.

“The first change in Windows 7 was to make sure that editions of Windows 7 are a superset of one another. That is to say, as customers upgrade from one version to the next, they keep all features and functionality from the previous edition,” said Ybarra. “As an example, some business customers using Windows Vista Business wanted the Media Center functionality that is in Windows Vista Home Premium but didn’t receive it in Business edition. Customers won’t have to face that trade-off with Windows 7. With Windows 7 there is a more natural progression from one edition to the next.”

As we learned yesterday, all different versions of Windows 7 will ship on the same disc image. Those wanting to upgrade to a higher-tiered version simply need to purchase a new product key to “unlock” the additional features.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-7-professional-home-business,6963.html

i like that idea, only reason why i bought Ultimate because it combined Home Premium with Business.

[Bearclaw]

Yesterday, we learned that Microsoft would be shipping Windows 7 in six different versions -- but it won’t be as confusing as the different versions of Vista, explains Windows general manager Mike Ybarra.

ZoomWhile there will be six known versions of Windows 7 coming at launch, Microsoft assures that most of us will only have to deal with two. “With Windows 7 there will be two primary editions: Windows 7 Home Premium, and Windows 7 Professional. We think those two SKUs will meet most customers needs,” said Ybarra.

Of course, some may argue that so many different SKUs just cause consumer confusion -- which is a warranted complaint on some levels -- but Microsoft’s operating system is so ubiquitous that it has to serve everyone and at different levels. Apple’s single version of Mac OS X is great simplicity, but the reach of Apple’s computers can’t compare to Windows.

Ybarra explained, “Within a customer base of over one billion, there are a lot of important customer niches, or segments, and we want to make sure we have an appropriate product for everybody.”

So the rainbow of versions are here to stay, but at least Microsoft appears to have incorporated some common sense between the different versions.

“The first change in Windows 7 was to make sure that editions of Windows 7 are a superset of one another. That is to say, as customers upgrade from one version to the next, they keep all features and functionality from the previous edition,” said Ybarra. “As an example, some business customers using Windows Vista Business wanted the Media Center functionality that is in Windows Vista Home Premium but didn’t receive it in Business edition. Customers won’t have to face that trade-off with Windows 7. With Windows 7 there is a more natural progression from one edition to the next.”

As we learned yesterday, all different versions of Windows 7 will ship on the same disc image. Those wanting to upgrade to a higher-tiered version simply need to purchase a new product key to “unlock” the additional features.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-7-professional-home-business,6963.html

i like that idea, only reason why i bought Ultimate because it combined Home Premium with Business.
QFT. I like how they changed that around a bit. Looks like W7 Pro for me.

[mailman2]

WTF haven't they learned anything?? Vista had all these SKUs and was the least popular OS ever (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158993/report_vista_the_least_popular_windows_os_ever.htm l). Considering the large failure of Vista why would you do anything even remotely the same???

Greed makes people f'n stupid.

Just sell ONE version, Ultimate and that should run $150.

[Bearclaw]

WTF haven't they learned anything?? Vista had all these SKUs and was the least popular OS ever (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158993/report_vista_the_least_popular_windows_os_ever.htm l). Considering the large failure of Vista why would you do anything even remotely the same???

Greed makes people f'n stupid.

Just sell ONE version, Ultimate and that should run $150.

That's one of the things Apple did right. ONE version, and it costs about 130. :)

[mullet]

That's one of the things Apple did right. ONE version, and it costs about 130. :)

Agreed.

[Bearclaw]

Agreed.

In all honesty, they can't deny that it isn't about the money. Sure, every company needs to make money to continue to operate but there prices for licenses are ridiculous.

[ViN86]

WTF haven't they learned anything?? Vista had all these SKUs and was the least popular OS ever (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158993/report_vista_the_least_popular_windows_os_ever.htm l). Considering the large failure of Vista why would you do anything even remotely the same???

Greed makes people f'n stupid.

Just sell ONE version, Ultimate and that should run $150.

first off, Vista was the least popular OS because of the FUD campaign launched by Apple. also, Vista wasnt a failure. there were 100M copies sold as of January 08.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9055739

Vista works perfectly for me, and i get the same framerates and performance in Windows 7 that i do in Vista.

that being said, no OS is worth a $400 pricetag.

[Bearclaw]

first off, Vista was the least popular OS because of the FUD campaign launched by Apple. also, Vista wasnt a failure. there were 100M copies sold as of January 08.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9055739

Vista works perfectly for me, and i get the same framerates and performance in Windows 7 that i do in Vista.

that being said, no OS is worth a $400 pricetag.
That's my biggest gripe.

They were talking about maybe giving some sort of compensation for people who bought Vista after a certain date; i hope they do that.

[ASUSEN7900GTX]

In all honesty, they can't deny that it isn't about the money. Sure, every company needs to make money to continue to operate but there prices for licenses are ridiculous.

it´s called Monopoly
no competition adn they can charge a million dollars for it if they wan´t.

they kow that there sin´t need for all these silly versions but!

more money for a company in no need for more millions but greed is greed and goes ahnd in hand with stupidity adn i some cases ultametly consumes the company/person too much greed si not good and that is what M$ is and stuipid too

[methimpikehoses]

+1 for monopoly

Monopolies aren't good, kids.

[Bearclaw]

it´s called Monopoly
no competition adn they can charge a million dollars for it if they wan´t.

they kow that there sin´t need for all these silly versions but!

more money for a company in no need for more millions but greed is greed and goes ahnd in hand with stupidity adn i some cases ultametly consumes the company/person too much greed si not good and that is what M$ is and stuipid too

I realize what is going on, and I know what it's called.

I was just agreeing with a previous post by saying that it shouldn't cost a fortune.

[mailman2]

first off, Vista was the least popular OS because of the FUD campaign launched by Apple. also, Vista wasnt a failure. there were 100M copies sold as of January 08.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9055739

Vista works perfectly for me, and i get the same framerates and performance in Windows 7 that i do in Vista.

that being said, no OS is worth a $400 pricetag.

They may have sold 100M but there aren't any figures on how many of those people went back to XP. Same thing with the bundled copies. I know alot of people went back to the OEMs and bought XP to replace Vista.

Vista didn't fail because of Apple either. :angel2:

Vista failed because of high hardware requirements. Windows 7 runs on my laptop that cannot run Vista decently with only 1GB ram and 2.4Ghz P4. I dont need more power for a surfing / email laptop so never felt inclined to upgrade. Vista failed because it wouldnt run on older systems, Vista failed because it couldnt run on many laptops. Vista failed because most people didnt have 8 GB of ram, DX10 GPUs and Quad core CPUs which it needs to run "well". Vista failed because it was Vista. You can lie to yourself all you want but thats the fact of the matter, Apple holds what 3% market share? You really think Apple cause Vista to fail? my God have I got some beachfront property to sell you...

Moving on ...MS learned alot from the Vista failure which is why Windows 7 is going to be RTM by the end of the year a comment I made last yet and was ridiculed by the likes of Nekro and Vin for. Imagine that I was right, I knew I was. Windows 7 is being fast-tracked to win back the folks with older PCs that went back to XP, also for the laptop users that Vista just was too much for.

Further, to get back on topic - we don't need 11 SKUs (including x64). We need one or two actually, Windows 7 Ultimate x86 and x64, thats it. One OS that gives you everything and is affordable. That is the only area Apple is winning in. MS stop being so greedy and listen to your customers already. Oh yea and Vista didn't work "perfectly" until SP1 even at that point "perfect" wouldnt be the right word for it. SP2 is coming along nicely I'm running SP2 on two machines here and its much more like Windows7 with CPU and memory usage.

[six_storm]

Vista didn't fail because of Apple either. :angel2:


I hate to dig on Apple here, but if anyone thinks Vista didn't sell good because of a handful of commercials, you need a new brain. Can we look at the percentage of Apple users again? Isn't it still around/less than 10% of the market share? Again, I hate to dig on Apple but if those commercials were so successful at diverting PC users from buying a new desktop/laptop or a copy of Vista, should Apple have about 30%+ market share by now?

Vista is reached the "OK" status but it won't get any better than that? Why is it just "OK"? Because of performance issues. Vista is slow unless you have a pretty good setup; it won't run decent IMO on anything less than a 2GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM and a decent video chipset. I wouldn't dare put Vista on anything less than that, aka, my Dell laptop.

Windows 7 Beta has worked wonders on my Dell laptop where Vista can't, and that's why I think W7 will succeed.

Now, onto pricing for this. I think that Microsoft should drastically slash prices on this OS as an apology to all Windows users who bought new desktops/laptops because their semi-new (2 year old) desktop/laptop couldn't run with Vista before hand. I would pay $100 for a copy of W7 Pro but probably not much over that. Too bad I get a free copy from work :D

Speaking of work, I downgraded from the W7 beta to Vista Business just because W7 isn't compatible with Logmein and a few of the new features interupt my workflow.

[mailman2]

The Apple commercials are actually funny but not because they are always baggin on Microsoft and PCs, which Macs are anyways. They are funny because the products are so overpriced that its commical that Apple would even try to spout their BS with a straight face. Which is probably why Justin 'Pot Head' Long is the pitchman. Let's face it the people using Apple computers are either ederly (which I understand) or coffee shop douche bags and bagettes. Only people that have failed at life use Apple computers.

[ASUSEN7900GTX]

i agree with the point of MS price taging Windows for as much as they can since no one can compete with them no other os works with apps as windows does and because no one is making games for linux that works on windows...and again i think it because microsoft has monopoly adn DX is a microsoft product.
Not said DX doesn´t work onlinux if linux got better on gaming MS wouls loose millions of customers to linux.

still i can´t justify a OS at the price tag od a gtx295 in sweden and i´m not ****ting ya either

[Medion]

Vista failed because most people didnt have 8 GB of ram, DX10 GPUs and Quad core CPUs which it needs to run "well". Vista failed because it was Vista. You can lie to yourself all you want but thats the fact of the matter, Apple holds what 3% market share? You really think Apple cause Vista to fail? my God have I got some beachfront property to sell you...


Two things that you're wrong about here. First, a dual-core and 2GB of RAM is all you need to run Vista well. Lose the quad-core and 8GB nonsense, that's a fallacy. Secondly, while Apple does have low market share, those commercials did slow the adoption of Vista. Those advertisements caused a lot of computer illiterates to believe things about Vista that weren't true. Those ads did more to slow Vista sales, than to promote Apple sales.

[nekrosoft13]

joe aka mailman still full of crap

[mailman2]

Nekros still always wrong.

[evilchris]

it´s called Monopoly
no competition adn they can charge a million dollars for it if they wan´t.

they kow that there sin´t need for all these silly versions but!

more money for a company in no need for more millions but greed is greed and goes ahnd in hand with stupidity adn i some cases ultametly consumes the company/person too much greed si not good and that is what M$ is and stuipid too

Yeah, sure sucks how Microsoft's profits enabled Bill Gates to become the most gracious, charitable man EVER BORN.

+1 for monopoly

Monopolies aren't good, kids.


Yeah, I miss the 80's where you needed 12 platforms to run every program. I also wish we had 40 powerplants in my area with 40 transmission lines coming to my home.

You must have missed the lesson on "natural monopolies" and why they are good in 3rd grade.

[Medion]

Nekros still always wrong.

Nekro can't stand me. If he agrees with me, there's got to be a good reason. And, since you didn't dispute anything that I said, or that he agreed to, then you're the one still wrong :)

Just hit Alt+F4 if that trail of logic lost you...again.

[mailman2]

Nekro can't stand me. If he agrees with me, there's got to be a good reason. And, since you didn't dispute anything that I said, or that he agreed to, then you're the one still wrong :)

Just hit Alt+F4 if that trail of logic lost you...again.

haha Nekro is a social outcast. He doesn't like anyone that doesn't share his opinion...which I believe is most everyone. Oh well no big loss there.

[six_storm]

First, a dual-core and 2GB of RAM is all you need to run Vista well. Lose the quad-core and 8GB nonsense, that's a fallacy.

Agreed. Although I will say that a dual-core and 2GB RAM is MINIMUM for Vista. MINIMUM.

Secondly, while Apple does have low market share, those commercials did slow the adoption of Vista. Those advertisements caused a lot of computer illiterates to believe things about Vista that weren't true. Those ads did more to slow Vista sales, than to promote Apple sales.

I really doubt this, although MS really did NOTHING to rebuttle against the Apple ads until the whole Jerry Seinfeld idea came around. But that's MS's fault. I really, really doubt that the Apple ads had a huge affect on the computer illiterates. The Apple ads were simple, but in most cases true . . .


:six_storm runs from the Vista lovers:


:bleh:

[Shamrock]

I would sell the core Win7 for about $79-99, then sell the Ultimate, Pro, Premiums as modules for like $59-79

[Medion]

Agreed. Although I will say that a dual-core and 2GB RAM is MINIMUM for Vista. MINIMUM.

For basic internet and word processing, you can get by on a dual-core and 1GB of RAM, but I'd recommend actually having superfetch set to OFF. Otherwise, I agree, dual-core and 2GB is minimum, but the performance will be solid with those specs.

I really doubt this, although MS really did NOTHING to rebuttle against the Apple ads until the whole Jerry Seinfeld idea came around. But that's MS's fault. I really, really doubt that the Apple ads had a huge affect on the computer illiterates. The Apple ads were simple, but in most cases true . . .

Those ads usually took a truth, and stretched it into the realm of the absurd. I've heard a lot of people tell me why they won't use Vista, and typically, it's garbage recited from one of these ads. 9 out of 10 times when I ask if this person has ever used Vista, the answer is no. Those ads have been very effective, combined with the Pre-SP1 Vista, of slowing Vista sales. And before SP1 had time to gain traction and reverse the damage done of launch Vista, Win 7 was announced.

[evilchris]

I would sell the core Win7 for about $79-99, then sell the Ultimate, Pro, Premiums as modules for like $59-79

How can you price the product if you know nothing of Microsoft's financial investment in this product?