other
improvements.The reductions are to coincide with
the late March release of Vista Service Pack 1,
a collection of security fixes and other
improvements. Microsoft said the new prices will
apply to the Home Premium and Ultimate versions
of Vista, in both their full editions and the
editions that upgrade an older or more basic
operating system. Both versions serve the tiny
percentage of users who install an operating
system on their own; most people get the latest
version of Windows only when they buy a new PC.
Windows Vista's January 2007 launch was plagued
by delays. To keep consumers buying PCs in the
holiday season of 2006, Microsoft and PC makers
promised free Vista upgrades later to shoppers
who bought Windows XP computers. At the launch,
Microsoft was widely criticized for offering too
many versions of the operating system -
including Home Basic, which didn't have the
snazzy new signature look called "Aero" - and
for setting the price too high for the high-end
versions. Brad Brooks, a corporate vice
president for Windows marketing at Microsoft,
said in an interview that the company has since
tested lower prices and found "product was
moving much, much faster." Brooks said he
expects so many customers to buy Vista at the
new prices that the price cuts will increase
Microsoft's revenue, not subtract from it. A
federal judge recently said consumers could
pursue a class action suit against Microsoft for
labeling PCs as "Vista Capable," even though
many were not powerful enough to run all of
Vista's features, including the Aero interface.
That realization apparently caused computer
makers like Dell Inc. to worry that people would
stop buying PCs for almost a year - until Vista
launched. The e-mails also showed Microsoft
lowering the bar for "Vista Capable" to protect
Intel Corp.'s sales of some widely used chips
that weren't powerful enough for the full Vista
experience.Microsoft employee Anantha Kancherla
was particularly blunt in his March 2006
response to a question about whether a certain
PC configuration would be considered "Vista
Capable." According to the e-mails, Jim Allchin,
the executive in charge of Windows at the time,
wasn't involved in the decision to brand a wide
swath of XP computers as "Vista Capable." Upon
learning the details, Allchin wrote, "We really
botched this."
Microsoft Corp. will cut the price of some
versions of Windows Vista, the software maker
said late Thursday.The move came a day after
court filings revealed internal dissent over
which Windows XP computers would be considered
capable of running the new operating system -
and a feeling on at least one executive's part
that the company had "botched" the marketing of
computers as "Vista Capable." Only copies of the
year-old operating system that are sold in boxes
directly to consumers are affected by the price
cuts - not the versions pre-loaded on personal
computers. The cuts will range from 20 percent
to 48 percent.The reductions are to coincide
with the late March release of Vista Service
Pack 1, a collection of security fixes and
other
improvements.The reductions are to coincide with
the late March release of Vista Service Pack 1,
a collection of security fixes and other
improvements. Microsoft said the new prices will
apply to the Home Premium and Ultimate versions
of Vista, in both their full editions and the
editions that upgrade an older or more basic
operating system. Both versions serve the tiny
percentage of users who install an operating
system on their own; most people get the latest
version of Windows only when they buy a new PC.
Windows Vista's January 2007 launch was plagued
by delays. To keep consumers buying PCs in the
holiday season of 2006, Microsoft and PC makers
promised free Vista upgrades later to shoppers
who bought Windows XP computers. At the launch,
Microsoft was widely criticized for offering too
many versions of the operating system -
including Home Basic, which didn't have the
snazzy new signature look called "Aero" - and
for setting the price too high for the high-end
versions. Brad Brooks, a corporate vice
president for Windows marketing at Microsoft,
said in an interview that the company has since
tested lower prices and found "product was
moving much, much faster." Brooks said he
expects so many customers to buy Vista at the
new prices that the price cuts will increase
Microsoft's revenue, not subtract from it. A
federal judge recently said consumers could
pursue a class action suit against Microsoft for
labeling PCs as "Vista Capable," even though
many were not powerful enough to run all of
Vista's features, including the Aero interface.
That realization apparently caused computer
makers like Dell Inc. to worry that people would
stop buying PCs for almost a year - until Vista
launched. The e-mails also showed Microsoft
lowering the bar for "Vista Capable" to protect
Intel Corp.'s sales of some widely used chips
that weren't powerful enough for the full Vista
experience.Microsoft employee Anantha Kancherla
was particularly blunt in his March 2006
response to a question about whether a certain
PC configuration would be considered "Vista
Capable." According to the e-mails, Jim Allchin,
the executive in charge of Windows at the time,
wasn't involved in the decision to brand a wide
swath of XP computers as "Vista Capable." Upon
learning the details, Allchin wrote, "We really
botched this."
other
improvements.The reductions are to coincide with
the late March release of Vista Service Pack 1,
a collection of security fixes and other
improvements. Microsoft said the new prices will
apply to the Home Premium and Ultimate versions
of Vista, in both their full editions and the
editions that upgrade an older or more basic
operating system. Both versions serve the tiny
percentage of users who install an operating
system on their own; most people get the latest
version of Windows only when they buy a new PC.
Windows Vista's January 2007 launch was plagued
by delays. To keep consumers buying PCs in the
holiday season of 2006, Microsoft and PC makers
promised free Vista upgrades later to shoppers
who bought Windows XP computers. At the launch,
Microsoft was widely criticized for offering too
many versions of the operating system -
including Home Basic, which didn't have the
snazzy new signature look called "Aero" - and
for setting the price too high for the high-end
versions. Brad Brooks, a corporate vice
president for Windows marketing at Microsoft,
said in an interview that the company has since
tested lower prices and found "product was
moving much, much faster." Brooks said he
expects so many customers to buy Vista at the
new prices that the price cuts will increase
Microsoft's revenue, not subtract from it. A
federal judge recently said consumers could
pursue a class action suit against Microsoft for
labeling PCs as "Vista Capable," even though
many were not powerful enough to run all of
Vista's features, including the Aero interface.
That realization apparently caused computer
makers like Dell Inc. to worry that people would
stop buying PCs for almost a year - until Vista
launched. The e-mails also showed Microsoft
lowering the bar for "Vista Capable" to protect
Intel Corp.'s sales of some widely used chips
that weren't powerful enough for the full Vista
experience.Microsoft employee Anantha Kancherla
was particularly blunt in his March 2006
response to a question about whether a certain
PC configuration would be considered "Vista
Capable." According to the e-mails, Jim Allchin,
the executive in charge of Windows at the time,
wasn't involved in the decision to brand a wide
swath of XP computers as "Vista Capable." Upon
learning the details, Allchin wrote, "We really
botched this."