The Best IT News


 

Microsoft Reduces Price of Windows Vista

Windows Vista has seen solid sales through the first year of availability, primarily through the sale of new PCs. Stand-alone retail sales, while not representing a large percentage of the business, represents an area of opportunity for additional growth the company sees based on the new editions introduced in 2007.

Windows Vista has been on the market for more than a year now, with more than 100 million licenses sold in its first year. While this is great progress, we see an opportunity to grow our business even more with some of the new editions we introduced with Windows Vista. Today, the vast majority of Windows licenses are sold with PCs; retail stand-alone sales, in contrast, have been primarily from customers who value being early adopters and those building their own machines. We’ve observed market behavior, however, that suggests an opportunity to expand Windows stand-alone sales to other segments of the consumer market.

Over the past year, Microsoft conducted promotions in several different markets combining various marketing tactics with lower price points on different stand-alone versions of Windows Vista. While the promotions varied region to region, one constant emerged – an increase in demand among consumers that went beyond tech enthusiasts and build-it-yourself types. The success of these promotions has inspired us to make some broader changes to our pricing structures, to reach a broader range of consumers worldwide.



 

Leading ISVs Announce Support for Windows Server 2008

Hundreds of independent software vendors (ISVs) including BEA Systems Inc, CA, Citrix Systems Inc, Epicor Software Corp., Quest Software Inc and Symantec Corp, are demonstrating overwhelming support for the Windows Server 2008 operating system in anticipation of the largest enterprise and developer platform launch in Microsoft Corp.’s history, encompassing the release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.

“Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 deliver a powerful overall platform for our solutions,” said Steve Dickson, vice president and general manager of Windows Management at Quest. “From migration to management and from Windows PowerShell to compliance, we’ve worked closely with Microsoft to ensure that our products will support the new platforms at the launch or soon after. As the 2007 Global ISV Partner of the Year, we look forward to providing the latest and greatest technologies to our mutual customers.”

Industry partners have been working with Microsoft on product testing, evaluation and certification, and hundreds of ISVs have already demonstrated their support with the development of a wide variety of business applications for industries including accounting, commerce, engineering, financial services, health care, retail and supply chain based on the new offerings. Further demonstrating their support of the Windows Server 2008 platform, more than 40 partners are making announcements at the Microsoft “Heroes Happen Here” launch event tomorrow.

“We’ve been working with the partner community to help ensure that their products take full advantage of the capabilities and features of Windows Server 2008,” said Bob Visse, senior director of the Windows Server Marketing Group at Microsoft. “We are delighted to see that approximately 80 applications have already been certified by key ISVs, and that number continues to grow. Our top priority is to provide our partners with the best development environment possible so they can address new business opportunities and bring differentiated solutions to their customers.”

“Windows Server 2008 has opened up new opportunities for innovation, helping us deliver increased value to our customers,” said Scott Hays, director of product marketing for Epicor Software Corp. “Our relationship with Microsoft allows us to extend the value of our customers’ investment in technology and consistently exceed their expectations with solutions that provide great flexibility and choice.”