Windows 7 hits the market
NEW YORK--Although the official U.S. launch event is still some hours away, Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system has hit the market, going on sale in a number of countries across the globe.
Executives from Microsoft have fanned out to celebrate the launch of the company's core product upon which the rest of Redmond's empire has been built. The software giant is counting on favorable reviews and new features to help Windows rebuilt its image in the face of a disappointing response to Windows Vista.
(Credit:
Microsoft)
Microsoft is touting the value of Windows in the face of a resurgent Apple. As part of the launch, Microsoft is celebrating seven days of deals in a number of key markets, including the United States. Among the specials is a $1,200 package from Hewlett-Packard and Best Buy that includes a Netbook, laptop, desktop, monitor and router as well as in-home installation.
"The Best Buy offer is a home makeover," Microsoft Vice President Tami Reller told CNET News. "For the price of a Mac you have a new notebook, a new Netbook, a new desktop, and a new router to bring it together with the help of the Geek Squad."
In addition to landing on new PCs, Microsoft will also sell stand-alone versions of Windows 7 that can be used to upgrade an existing PC. Although Microsoft still offers a half-dozen different flavors of the operating system in all, Redmond is focusing its energies around two versions--the Home Premium and Professional versions.
It will sell both a full version of the operating system that can be used on any hardware as well as an upgrade version to be used on existing PCs. Although both Windows XP and Windows Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7, only Vista can be done without backing up and reinstalling both programs and data.
A huge marketing blitz will accompany the debut of Windows 7, with Microsoft continuing its "I'm a PC" campaign, by featuring average users who point to various aspects of the new operating system as representing their idea.
Microsoft plans to formalize the launch with an event here with CEO Steve Ballmer (CNET News will cover the 11 a.m. ET event live). The software maker is also opening its first retail store, in Scottsdale, Ariz., as well as a "Windows Cafe" in Paris.
Steven Sinofsky, the divisional president who has spearheaded the development of Windows 7, is presiding over the Japanese launch of the product, while designer Julie Larson-Green is at an event in London.
Microsoft employees in Redmond's Building 37 plan to remotely ring the bell to open Nasdaq trading on Thursday, while Microsoft and its computer maker partners will ring the closing bell.
The product has already gone on sale in Australia, Japan and elsewhere.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Apparently random Twitter users like it, that's sold it for me ;)
Maybe there are no lines?
There haven't been lines to buy Snow Leopard or Ubuntu either. Not really much point when you can buy it at so many places. It's not a limited release.
Many Mac owners (myself included) plan on purchasing Win7 to run either in Bootcamp or as a virtual machine. Both can coexist. I currently use VMware / XP and look forward to seeing if Win7 lives up to the hype. It's got to be an improvement over Vista. I use it for business purposes and it's inevitable that XP will some day retire.
Also, why are you worried about this? Again it's not like Windows 7 "does anything" - you can run the same applications, no new ones open up with Windows 7 - why not stick with the Windows you have? When you replace your PC (and let's face it, that'll happen rather sooner than you'd like) you'll get Windows 7 with that. Why the "upgrade"? What will it actually do (on your existing computer) that's different to what you have now?
Queue the insufferable effette preening D-Bag Macbois.....Don't foam at the mouth, it's inevitability and you can't fight it with that novelty OSX Snow *****.
Snow Leopard To Include Anti-Virus/Malware? (http://www.osnews.com/story/22059)
BTW, what are you doing here go back to work more SL is poring in with issues.
All the same, most Windows users who actually have a clue don't get infected either.
According to ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/software/51560011/ref=s9_top_bw_clnk?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-9&pf_rd_r=1VEV3G57F8PF3EVMKC38&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=496243491&pf_rd_i=229534 ) at time of writing:
1) Windows 7 home premium upgrade (expected, since it's launch day)
2) MS Office Home/Student edition 2007 (almost expected, for the same reasons)
3) OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard. (funny - you can buy that from Apple...)
Yes, the Geek Squad can be used to assist people. And they even come to your house if you need them to.
Show me where Apple will send a Genius bar staff person to a customer's house.
Besides, you shouldn't be spending so much time hanging out trolling on Microsoft stories. Don't you have a Mac to be using instead, or is it out being serviced?
The same Top Selling list on Amazon just two hours after you posted now has this list:
1) Win7 Home Premium Upgrade
2) Office 2007 Home and Student
3) Win 7 Ultimate Upgrade
4) SnowLeopard
5) Dragon Age: Origins
6) Call of Duty 2
7) Win7 Professional Upgrade
8) Windows 7 Ultimate
9) Office 2008 For Mac
10) Windows 7 Home Premium
I guess this shows that your mileage may vary. Seven out of the top ten sellers are Microsoft products.
Shellcodes_coder *is* right- it is the best selling product on Amazon. Thank you for verifying it for him.
Macs:
1) Built using the best hardware
2) Faster
3) Never gets viruses
4) Never crashes
Windoze (7 included)
1) Uses cheap PeeCee hardware
2) Slow as molasses
3) Connect to the Internet or stick a USB drive to it and it gets viruses
4) Can't work on it without getting a blue screen of death.
Now, is there a reason for Windoze users to celebrate? I don't think so.
Mac:
--overpriced--two to five times the price of a Windows hardware equivalent
--compatibility issues with software, games,
--wanna upgrade? Buy a new one.
Saying that it never crashes is a lie. Everything crashes. I plugged a USB stick into a friend's 1 year old Mac and the whole thing crashed and needed to be rebooted.
Really, the only thing Macs are good for is video and multimedia editing. Other than that, I'll save the dough and stick with Windows.
You realize apple computers are built with the same components as even lowly dells right?
Faster on what?
Nobody writes viruses for macs because nobody has them. That's why they're virus free. When mac (if and ever) breaks 20% market share, prepared to be custer-f'd.
Never crashes? that's why all my friends are getting pissed off when they're macs keep crashing and are upset because they heard someone like you tell them they never crashed.
I haven't gotten a blue of death since i started using windows XP in 2004. Slow as molasses? My asus laptop spanks my friends mac, and i got mine for cheaper.
Admit it, you're a fanboy who's scared.
or better: http://www.bing.com/search?q=Snow+leopard+crash&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC
But one is is TRUE...
number of Windows LOVER are FAR MORE than the LOVERS of Mac !
Mac is just a beauty and Windows is the Beauty with Brains !
Here's where you are right:
Macs are indeed built with better hardware. And that's why they cost more, among other things.
It is an utter lie to claim that Macs cost 2 to 5 times more than PCs for an "equivalent".
Faster - in some ways, yes, and in some ways no. I write software all day long on Windows and Linux machines, and I own Macs at home. For many day-to-day things, like just logging in, launching apps, etc, OS/X is way faster than XP and (God forbid) Vista. I've clocked it. I can log in and get Firefox completely up with the Google News page in 12 seconds on an ancient G4 733 MHz mac. A Core 2 Duo XP machine can't come anywhere near that, and that's all caused by Windows bloat. On the other hand, Flash Video and web pages definitely seem to run faster and smoother on a simple P4 than on a G4 or G5 Mac.
XP is hardly "slow as molasses". Nor does it "always" get viruses, and I can't remember the last time any of my XP machines actually blue-screened. You are prattling on about things that afflicted Windows years ago,
while conveniently forgetting that Macs have gone through their horrible growing pains too.
All in all, I would much rather have a Mac because they ARE somewhat better built, ARE more immune to viruses (although not perfect), and are generally faster for what I use them for. But this one-sided myopic bashing is meaningless.
Mac is a eye appealing fashion model.
Both an athlete and a model work and work hard but athletes are more prone to injuries than fashion models because of the nature of their work. Windows is practical from many different perspectives and if you want to do a "reality check" then please check Windows market share.
With Vista Microsoft wanted to prove that a workhorse can be "cool" also. In reality, Apple sells its products by making it look "cool", but since coolness is not enough to capture market, they now try to make claims such as "efficient, productive and friendly" but that isn't true otherwise they would have captured a good portion of market by now already.
Derailing Microsoft efforts is important for Apple because if Windows (a workhorse) becomes a cool workhorse then who would get a non-practical cool showpiece (Mac)?
Also, it depends on what you mean by crash... Sure it does not all of the sudden reboot by itself... But it does freeze from time to time forcing me to hold the power button for a few seconds to shut it down.
such an underwhelming feeling after the real excitement and innovation seen of Tuesday
1. Price - is comparable between the Mac and PC if you compare quality hardware and specs equally. Just as you wouldn't compare getting 2 to 5 Kias for the same price as a Mercedes, you don't compare getting 2 to 5 low level PCs for the same price as a Mac. Nor do you compare Alienware PCs to the Mac Mini. (If you did, everyone would be screaming that PCs are way too expensive, that Macs are SO much cheaper!)
2. Speed - both have their pros and cons. My Mac takes a fraction of the time to boot up and be usable compared to my PCs. (Yes, my year old MacBook Pro is faster than my 6 month old Dell laptop that has twice the amount of RAM.) Once both are completely on and ready, they're pretty comparable. However, things like Quick Look on the Mac certainly boost the functionality of some of the things I do. For instance, if I want to quickly look at a picture (and not just a thumbnail) I can hit the space bar and see a large version of it. (I'm not aware of any functionality like this on the PC, though it may exist.) I don't have to wait for it to come up in any form of image program. Same with Word documents. (Yes, I use Microsoft Word 2008 on my Mac.) I can hit the space bar and find what I'm looking for faster than Word will open the document on my PC.
3. Viruses. I'll admit that part of the reason Macs don't get as many viruses and spyware as PCs is due to market share. However, a large part of the reason as well is the design of the operating system. Let's compare, shall we? Windows - when you install a program, a lot of times it installs part of the program in C:\Program Files, right? But what about the rest of the program? Part goes in various subdirectories of C:\Windows, while part of the installer injects sections into the registry, while other parts get installed here there and everywhere. Now, what about on the Mac? Sure, it may put a few libraries in another directory, but for the most part that app gets contained in that single directory / package. The OS also asks before programs get installed. You won't find spyware automatically installing itself by visiting a website because the OS is going to alert you to something trying to install itself.
@skhan100 - Ten year old kids? Sure, it's easy enough for a 10 year old kid to use, but at 28 I passed that age a while ago.
My personal experience, which of course is subject to be different from that of other users, is that I spend more of a percentage of my time on my Mac actually using the computer than trying to fix it.
Disclaimer: in these comparisons, I'm referring to Win XP and versions previous to that. The Fortune 500 telecom I work for doesn't run Vista, it runs XP and Win 2K. I figure if our IT department doesn't trust Vista enough for it's purposes, I don't trust it for my personal use, so I also run XP Pro at home.
This is true about computers, religion, cars, sodas, etc.
However, the normal 'run in XP compatilbilty mode' is sufficient for almost everyone.
What brought back mac was the ipod. You obviously haven't used 7 yet. Everyone is raving about it. Not many are raving about snow leopard.
Yeah, I know that will cause all sorts of flames, but really- who cares? Use what works for you. I don't care whom copied whom as long it works for what I need it for. I use both without issue.
This has nothing to do with being a Mac worshipper like some of the idiots on here. It's about Microsoft's long-running business model (copying, cheapening, making things proprietary) starting to falter. I think that many people are going to sit on the sidelines until Windows 7 is well-tested, and that's a first for MS. Usually, they can count on a huge influx of revenue every time they release a new Windows version. If Windows 7 doesn't really pan out to be rock--solid in the coming months, they will be in real trouble.
-first of all it had to be an non-final build at the time of writing and two it was being used via bootcamp.
Re: "In the Beginning DOS - 1981
In 1981 when the original IBM Personal Computer was announced, IBM released three operating systems for it. How many of you remember that? Since I wrote the first IBM course on how to fix this original PC, I had to know at least a little about all three of them.
IBM decided early in the development process of the PC that they did not want to hire a bunch of programmers to write software for it - especially an operating system. IBM wanted the hardware business and did not care about the software. Since there was no clear-cut contender for an operating system at the time, IBM approached three organizations about writing one for the PC.
IBM first approached Digital Research and asked them to create a version of CP/M (Control Program/Microcomputer). The owner of DR snubbed the IBM lawyers and went flying or golfing (depending upon whose story you hear) instead.
IBM then turned to Microsoft. Bill Gates was very receptive to the IBM overture and also had information about an operating system which had already been written that would fill IBM's need very nicely. Gates said yes to IBM, bought the operating system called DOS for $20,000 and modified it somewhat to run on the IBM PC.
For you trivia buffs, the other OS delivered with the original PC was the UCSD P-System (University of California at San Diego Pseudo code System). I will permit those who make a living from documenting the history of computers to describe that operating system elsewhere...."
http://www.os2bbs.com/OS2News/OS2History.html
And, Code-Base OS/2 (Windows) will always be Code-Base OS/2 (Windows).
BTW, Let's hope that the dudes from the Redmond Campus did really sit down with the bankers this time around to know exactly what they need an Operating System to do for them and not what the dudes from the Redmond Campus think they (the bankers need.
"Long Lives OS/2 Warp"!
Secondly, you paid over double to get you Mac, so if someone has to spend $100 to get it fixed, you're still better off financial.
Thirdly, you ever tried adding something to your Mac, oh wait they can't be modified in any form!
Fourthly, what if I want to write some software for a Mac, oh wait - I have to give it Apple when it done.
Lastly, how much of the market does Apple have? - oh wait, 8-10% of the home PC market, PC's are 81%. Microsoft must really be blowing it, huh?????
@bcowy69__Wrong. The only thing you truly cannot upgrade are the processors (which sucks) and Motherboards. RAM, HD, DVDRW drives, GPU cards (on the MacPro), are all replaceable. BTW, the App Store requires Apple approval, just like the upcoming WinMobile store. Here is a direct quote regarding that App store:
"Microsoft has tried to appeal to developers by using a similar 70/30 revenue split as well as encouraging ports of iPhone apps, but it has pushed for "premium" pricing and limits the number of apps that can be published after paying a developer fee."
Sounds a lot like how the Apple App Store operates to me, so let's make sure we keep those facts straight. The software written for the Mac OS does not require the same kind of approval (much like Windows).
Also, all Macs can easily have their RAM and hard drives upgraded.
Congratulations. Keep in mind that if you did all those upgrades without going through Apple, that you voided the warranty. Apple controls what you do with your system unless you are willing to go rogue like that and give up the warranty coverage.
Vegaman, no it doesn't. You have been called on this several times already. Stop teiiling lies.
It's not an either or situation. There are plenty of Macs out there with dual boot configurations for both OS X and Windows. Microsoft wins regardless what platform you install on.
- by skhan100 October 21, 2009 10:49 PM PDT
- I don't get this. I don't remember leaving comments or even reading anything about Macs seriously simply because I am not interested in them. They seem impractical eyecandies to me and I am very satisfied with Vista and I am sure Windows 7 is going to be a great OS also.
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- by ckh1272 October 21, 2009 11:21 PM PDT
- @skhan100-I agree that the "macheads" are acting like 3rd graders on here, but there are plenty of Windows users making those same kind of comments on Apple/Snow Leopard articles. It's all just a little childish.
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- by shellcodes_coder October 21, 2009 11:53 PM PDT
- I agree with you. This is one of the reason I like to troll to crapple articles despite being an os x and windows user. Why not have both and enjoy the best of both worlds? That's what I do and enjoy
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- by Vegaman_Dan October 22, 2009 11:22 AM PDT
- It's easier to taunt and mock things that you do not understand or fear rather than actually learn about them for fear that they might be better than what you have now.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (115 Comments)But Mac lovers are all over the internet, first reading Win7 related latest and greatest stuff and then leaving extremely negative comments. Whats up with that? Why bother when you are not interested in Windows and Microsoft in general?
Is there any relation between a Big Mac and a Mac?
Apple Mac, sounds like a new deal from McDonalds.
It's common in any market subject.