Does it look like Microsoft is getting desperate?

[emarkay]

"Microsoft Corp.'s effort to get big businesses to buy the new version of its Windows operating system isn't just about selling security improvements, better search tools and improved graphics.

The company also hopes to convince companies that you have to spend money — on Windows Vista — to save money on other business costs..."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_selling_vista;_ylt=ApIeJfcljVnyNWnX2QeMF Cas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cjE0b2MwBHNlYwM3Mzg-

I smell bovine feces wafting in the air...

[marianom]

There's no way major companies will migrate to vista with their first release. I used to work in this company (+4000 employees) and we were still using NT4 until this year.

They will not afford the risk, that's for sure.

[denad]

All the companies computers going to sleep for the night is a nice feature, is there something similar in any linux distro?

But it would still take many years before that could pay the cost of buying new(possibly more energy demanding) hardware, a bunch of Vista licences and training the personel in using the new OS. And I highly doubt there would be less reason to call the support when shifting to a new OS, possibly in a few years, by the time M$ realeses the next Windows.

[EdThaSlayer]

I agree with "denad" about the part of putting all the pcs to sleep with the touch of a button!!

But, it does look like microsoft is getting quite desperate, i mean, they invested so much into their OS(lots of ideas borrowed from other linux and partly Apple OS's). But we will see, i cant wait for it to come over, Linux will then have some nice competition! Lets see who is better! Freelance hackers or microsofts paid programmers!

[prizrak]

They do that with every Windows release, they are not desperate it's nothing but marketing.


All the companies computers going to sleep for the night is a nice feature, is there something similar in any linux distro?
Gnome power manager support suspend mode. You can run suspend as a cron job quite easily too.

[jnoreiko]

All the companies computers going to sleep for the night is a nice feature, is there something similar in any linux distro?

Surely cron could do sonmething.

Or failing that, just tape a note to each monitor saying 'Switch off your PC'. Low-tech & simple 8)

[Polygon]

All the companies computers going to sleep for the night is a nice feature, is there something similar in any linux distro?



it is a nice feature. I remember seeing it on my middle school' library computers... running macintosh version 8.

[.t.]

I don't think they're desparate yet. But people aren't going to buy into DRM (they already use P2P incessantly), and they soon will be. However, I wouldn't want the PC to suspend while I was using it! A simple notification is all that is needed for sentient users.

[taurus]

Just wait until it comes out early next year (if it's on schedule) and will see how many copies they are selling! Then, maybe it's time to push the panic button for the people as MicroSuck and hopefully, Steve Ballmer won't through chairs at anybody!!! :twisted:

[chaosgeisterchen]

Hmh.. their situation is worse than it was before the release of XP, clearly.

[cunawarit]

There's no way major companies will migrate to vista with their first release.

I agree, I do know of one company that is not switching till at least service pack one.

Are Microsoft desperate? Nah, there are plenty of companies out there still using NT4 and Windows 2000 on their desktop machines. They know it happens a lot, they are just trying to speed up the uptake a little by highlighting the cost benefits of going for Vista.

[DarkOx]

Microsoft will only be desperate to sell operating systems when there's an alternative to buying Windows along with a PC. And, quite frankly, there isn't. While I doubt everybody's gonna drop XP and sign up for Vista as soon as it hits, the fact remains that most companies are still gonna be paying for Microsoft licenses (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/saolsleacompare.mspx). even if they remain using XP.

What I expect will happen is that companies will slowly phase in Vista, and unless it's a true monstrosity, they'll keep using it because it's standard and they know it's compatible with pretty much everything.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big Microsoft fan, but the fact remains they had a net income (http://www.microsoft.com/msft/reports/ar05/staticversion/10k_fh_fin.html) of 12,254 million dollars in 2005. Desperate? Maybe, but I'm sure the twelve billion dollars are some comfort.

[BuffaloX]

I think it has much to do with just convincing people That Vista is better than XP. Microsoft will use any argument they can. This way they keep people happy, and feel less need to look for something else. As long as people are happy with Windows, they will stick with it.

[Kateikyoushi]

Hmh.. their situation is worse than it was before the release of XP, clearly.

I agree, for companies it is hard to justify the upgrade over xp but those never were the first to adapt so from the early sales we can't judge this.

[deepwave]

Desperation? Hardly. Just another one of Microsoft's in^H^Hfamous marketing spins. Very similiar to random try-then-buy TV adverts.

"Order now and you'll get 20% off! We'll even include a spectular set of ginzu knives. Free!"

In this case the extra, "bonus" features are the ginzu knives. Just watch how many folks will get cut up that.

[Naralas]

How do you save money running an OS that requires a P4 computer, since P4's run best with 400 watt power supplies...

You want to save money run Slackware, Debian or Xubuntu. Grrrrr