[real-eyes] Microsoft hopes Vista WOWS, user Monday Night
- From: "Brandie Young" <deaftaz@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:15:25 -0600
i got copy from kansas city channel here is:
Microsoft
WINDOWS VISTA
Slideshow:
Windows Through The Years
Images:
Look Inside Windows Vista
Survey:
Plan To Upgrade?
Microsoft Hopes Vista 'Wows' Users Monday Night
POSTED: 10:39 am CST January 29, 2007
Email This Story |
Print This Story
"Wow" hasn't tended to be a big part of Bill Gates' vocabulary, but to hear him
speak in the hours before Microsoft Corp.'s planned launch of the long-awaited
Vista operating system, you'd never know it.
"This 'Wow' thing is a great way of describing what we've got here,"
Microsoft's chairman told The Associated Press on Monday as the software maker
scheduled
a slate of splashy events in New York. "There are chances for wows all over the
product."
More than five years in the making, Vista was released for business customers
Nov. 30, but the new Windows operating system's unveiling for consumer buyers
was scheduled for Tuesday around the world.
turn_ad_call_frame frame
turn_ad_call_frame frame end
In Tokyo, about 80 people lined up at the Bic Camera Department Store to become
among the world's first consumers to own Vista. Celebrities and executives
were on hand as a large-screen television set displayed a countdown to the
midnight launch (10 a.m. EST).
The second person on line, Fumihiko Koyama, 33, waited three hours and was
hoping the new operating system will make his work in Web design easier.
"My expectations are very high for Vista," he said. "I want to try it out
because it's new."
He said he felt compelled to be among the first Vista owners because of the
parties Bic and other major retailers were holding.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker contends that Vista is such a huge
improvement over previous computing platforms that users inevitably say "Wow"
when they see it -- and so the word plays a big role in the company's marketing
campaign.
When users boot up Vista for the first time, they'll be wowed by the slick 3-D
graphical user interface and document icons that give at-a-glance previews,
Gates said. The next wow comes when they start using a system-wide search
program that Microsoft's engineers built into both the operating system and new
versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and other Office 2007 elements, which also
hit store shelves at midnight.
Then, Gates said, there are layers of wows for all the different types of PC
users: the gamers, the students, the business users, the moms.
But will this talk of "wow" translate into crowds at the CompUSA and Best Buy
stores that are staying open until past midnight to sell the very first Vista
machines?
Gates said Microsoft actually wasn't pushing midnight sales events -- after
all, the software will be available as a download over the Web for the first
time.
And while the software is prettier and more secure, "the biggest impact is
always what partners do with it," Gates said in an interview.
The company has provided
a downloadable program
that can help users tell if their computer can handle Vista as well as
comparisons of what are in various versions.
Still, Gates didn't play down Vista's importance. He argued that as the PC has
morphed from a souped-up typewriter to a networked entertainment center,
personal media library and gateway to the Internet, the operating system itself
has earned a higher profile.
"When people think about their PC, they think about Windows even more than who
the manufacturer is. That determines how it looks, how you navigate, what
the applications are that are available," Gates said. And in this case, Vista
has folded in programs that users once bought separately -- including automated
back-up systems and some spyware protections.
Microsoft shares dropped 20 cents to $30.40 in late morning trading Monday on
the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Copyright 2007 by
Brandie and the cats!
To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription options, go to
www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes
Other related posts:
