Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 yesterday in its most important release for years, aiming to win back customers after the disappointing Vista and strengthen its grip on the PC market.
The company has received good reviews for the new operating system, which it hopes will grab back the impetus in new technology from rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc.
The new system — which is faster, less cluttered and has new touch-screen features — comes almost three years after the launch of Vista, whose complexity frustrated many home users and turned off business customers.
The success of Windows — which accounts for more than half of Microsoft’s profit — is crucial for chief executive Steve Ballmer to revive the company’s image as the world’s most important software firm.
“I have to say I’m chomping at the bit,” Ballmer told an audience of Microsoft customers and partners in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday, adding that he is ready to make sales calls himself on Windows 7.
Sales won’t immediately impact Microsoft’s bottom line, which is expected to post a lower quarterly profit today.
Microsoft is charging US$199.99 for the Home Premium version of Windows 7, or US$119.99 for users seeking to upgrade from older versions of the operating system — well below comparable prices for Vista.
It also has a range of offers in conjunction with retailer Best Buy and PC makers such as Dell Inc and Acer Inc (宏碁).
For the first time, shoppers will be able to buy PCs loaded with the software direct from a branded Microsoft store, with the first of a planned chain set to open yesterday in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The US holiday season will soon reveal whether consumer PC sales get a kick from Windows 7, but success with corporations — the key to Microsoft’s financial power — won’t be clear until next year, analysts say.
“Come June of next year, we are going to get the real indication of the business-to-business marketplace,” Mark Simons, chief executive of the US arm of Toshiba Corp, the world’s No. 5 PC maker, said on Wednesday.
Research group Gartner expects commercial PC sales to rise 10 percent next year and an additional 13 percent in 2011, as businesses replace four and five-year-old computers.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS