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.
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.
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.
The product has already gone on sale in Australia, Japan and elsewhere.
(Source: CNET)
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15 Responses
Go Ubuntu (Linux) !
What is Redmond?
Redmond is derived from the Scandinavian words “Red Mond” meaning Red Mountain. Its origin is the Hebrew “Har Edom” (הר אדום), the inheritance place of Esav. This is the reason why Microsoft Corporation chose its HQ to be there. They are the world’s biggest thieves, doing Esav-like actions on a daily basis.
#3 – you should be a badchan. Seriously. And I’m not saying this because I’m a fanatic Windows user.
I’ve been using the beta and RC of Windows 7 since they became available, on a notebook and a netbook, and I really do like it. It’s superior to both XP and Vista, and much more suited to today’s computer world, in which running numerous applications (both foreground and background) is common. Whereas in XP things become quite messy when you use dozens of different programs and have ten background programs running all the time, Windows 7 makes overseeing and managing it all a lot easier and efficient, thanks to the new taskbar.
The only reason I’m not out today buying three upgrades (for my PCs and one for my household as well) is that I’m currently unemployed and careful with my money. But the RC works for another 6 months or so, so it’s not that urgent.
Daniel, all the more reason why to get Ubuntu – it’s FREE! (Agav, I give you a brocha that you should find parnossa very soon.)
* No more do you have to pay extra for an OS (operating system). Just download Ubuntu, and you’re ready to go.
* No more do you have to pay extra for MS Office (Word, Excel, etc.), as it’s all FREE with the provided OpenOffice suite.
* No more do you have to wait a very long time for you system to boot, or to open/close large files, as Ubuntu is such a faster OS.
* No more will your system crash or freeze or suddenly shut down, as Ubuntu NEVER does that.
Now I realize that people have a fear of Linux, since it’s very command-line based. But let me assure you, that the Ubuntu destro is completely GUI (looks like a mix between Windows & Mac) – of course you could use the command-line for more advanced stuff, but for general computing, you don’t even know that it exists.
To 3. Where do you get your information from ? Redmond is not Scandinavian for red mountain. There is no “Scandinavian” language. Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe, not a language. There are four languages spoken in Scandinavia, Danish, Norwegian (two dialects), Swedish and Icelandic. Except for Icelandic, they are somewhat mutually understandable by the other. Back to Red Mountain; in Swedish it’s “röd berg”, it’s “röd berg” also “rød fjell” in Norwegian, and “röd bjerg” in Danish – sounds somewhat Yiddish. All of of these languages (including about 70% of English)is derived from an early Germanic language. How do I know? My native language is Swedish and I understand both Norwegian and Danish.
Hey Danny boy, can you get me a free copy of W-7? My Vista started giving me a hard (drive) time. Last night I logged in and the system would not boot up windows. I got some message that there was not enough memory to run Windows. I have to clear disk space each time I log in… not fun
btw I saw a demo of W7 on the Today show and it looks like W7 is specially enhanced for touch screen usage like in the movie “Minority Report.” I didnt see anything spectacular for enhanced business usage. I hope it does not turn out to be like the Blackberry Storm…
I am really frustrated. I have one device that Windows 7 does not seem to recognize and I cant even get through to the vendor (fujutsu scanner) to see if they have a driver. Any suggestions?
rebshalom, mine’s also a dual boot, but once i got hooked on ubuntu, there’s no going back to windows – i keep it around just in case b’di’eved there’s something i can’t do in linux
Of course there is always:
CentOS
RHEL
Fedora
Debian
and many other flavors of Linux. I am actually impressed with the amount of Linux users on here.
To Kitzur –
1) are all programs that are compatible w/ windows compatible w/ ubuntu?
2) I really rely on my computer for business. Is it that reliable?
3) I just went to their site and saw a beta for ubuntu 9.1. Is that as good?
Thanx so much.
A Gut Shabbos.
ishbainanoshim:
1) One cannot say that ALL the Windows programs are compatible with Ubuntu. But the vast majority of business oriented utilities are definitely available – for free – using Ubuntu. The entire MS Office suite, which I think costs $849 (correct me if I’m wrong) – is entirely free using OpenOffice (which comes bundled with Ubuntu).
2) It’s probably more reliable than Windows – will never crash in middle of a spreadsheet or a document, causing you to lose valuable data and time.
3) I have heard good review about the beta 9.1, but haven’t actually used it myself.
So the best recommendation that’s given is to have a dual boot, keeping your Windows available just in case you need something.
kitzur –
thanx alot.
if anyone’s still reading this thread, than ishbainanoshim, you’re most certainly welcome, and much hatzlocha!