ZDNet blogger Ed Bott has some crazy notion that the Windows 7 upgrade chart is nothing more than a marketing blunder. But his reasoning is more complex than the chart. Has Ed never heard of Occam’s Razor?
In the interests of transparency and fair disclosure, I must make two of three confessions. Several people have asked, via comment, e-mail or tweet, whether or not my wife and daughter stuck with Windows 7. There’s appropriateness to responding the day Microsoft released the operating system to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.
Late this morning, BetaNews founder Nate Mook and I IMed about Google’s Chrome OS announcement. Our differing positions somehow fit oddly together.
The most surprising thing about today’s Windows 7 pricing announcement isn’t the pricing, but how Microsoft directly delivered news about it. While Microsoft issued a press release, the most substantive information comes from the Windows Blog, which the release links to. For anyone still clinging to the fantasy that there is some magical separation between Microsoft public relations teams and its bloggers, wake up! There really is none.
Yesterday, someone asked me if “Apple has got a realistic chance with Snow Leopard?” competing against Windows 7. He was particularly interested in Macintosh uptake in the enterprise. I gave him my answer, which I will blog here with additional analysis.
Microsoft’s decision to offer a special “E” version of Windows 7 in Europe makes loads of sense. The company made a tough call, but a right one. The European Competition Commission and Opera can complain, but Microsoft is thinking business, which is the right priority.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference 2009 keynote was the strangest ever—and not just for CEO Steve Jobs’ absence. Apple cut prices where unexpected, while keeping them high where Wall Street analysts expected cuts. The $29 Snow Leopard upgrade is simply stunning.
Everyone should ask: Why is Apple is asking so little for seemingly so much? That from a company that normally charges more for products.
