9 Comments

Thoughts on Microsoft Vista Launch

Jan 31, 2007
by

The first day of sales since the official launch of Microsoft Vista and Office Suite on Monday were steady but not a sell out like the XBOX 360 or other popular consumer products. The price for the software ranges between $100 to $400, depending on the version.

MS Vista was launched globally on Monday with a lot of “noise”. You can replay Monday’s Webcast of the complete ceremony and show from Times Square in New York City, hosted by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, on the Microsoft Website.

Shortly before and after the ceremony did bloggers around the world comment the event and showed official as well as unofficial pictures of the Promo Video Shooting, which included locations with special scenes from around the world.

Here is the 2 minute promotional video for the launch of Vista.

The Consumerist speculated yesterday, if Microsoft’s Vista Circus Promo in New York City violated the NYC Admin Code. I don’t think so, but it was a nice way of getting some extra attention to the blog I guess.

The new Vista operating system and office products support RSS and XML, which had Sam Harrelson from CostPerNews.com already on Sunday speculate about the possible impact of Vista on the adaptation of these new technologies that are already in widespread use by internet marketers, but still lag to some degree general adaptation by not so internet and computer savvy computer users.

It’s the biggest improvement, or shall we call it change for now, to the Microsoft product family. How was it put by the chairman of Microsoft? …

… 24 years ago did they started working on Windows in the deep believe in graphical user interfaces. 12 years later did their dream come true with Windows 95, which transformed the Text based World of DOS to the general adaptation of Win95 with it’s fancy graphical interface.

It took then yet another 12 years to make it so integrated and easy to use that everybody can use it without any problems and take full advantage of the internet and other accomplishments the digital age (or something along those lines). …

I recall a speech very similar to that one and if I remember correctly was that for the launch of Windows 98, but I might be wrong :) .

Nevertheless, some of the changes will affect how people use the computer especially in conjunction with the internet. Broadband adoption is high and more and more households become permanently connected to the internet.

This brings new opportunities for marketers and entrepreneurs to leverage those new behaviors and trends and utilize them for the promotion of merchant products and services.

Keep watching and be ready.

About Carsten Cumbrowski

Internet Marketer, Entrepreneur and Blogger. To learn more about me and what I am doing, visit my website and check out the “about” section.

Twitter: ccumbrowski
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing + Internet Strategy + Online Marketing + Online Publishing
  • http://www.costpernews.com Sam Harrelson

    Good post, Carsten. I'm still wondering what the adoption rate will be for Vista. Outside of Gizmodo and Engadget, it doesn't seem that many people are interested or knowledgeable about Vista or if/why they should upgrade.

    In other words, Microsoft is a train wreck when it comes to PR ("Welcome to the Social" for Zune??). Cue Wayne Porter to chime in on his love for Edelman PR.

    I asked the sys admin at the University where I teach about possible upgrades to Vista and his basic response was "Why would we?" They've implemented IE7, but have no plans to move over to Vista. I think that's sort of the general mood of the crowds at the moment.

    Of course I argued to the sys admin and to everyone I meet that they should ditch Windows and use Linux :)

  • http://www.NETexponent.com Chris Kramer

    The biggest problem with Vista is that it will require a machine upgrade for many people. Many machines that are 2+ years old may work fine but are not fully Vista compatible.

  • Jonathan (Trust)

    "Good post, Carsten. I'm still wondering what the adoption rate will be for Vista. Outside of Gizmodo and Engadget, it doesn't seem that many people are interested or knowledgeable about Vista or if/why they should upgrade."

    Most people won't have to make any kind of decision. It'll be pre-loaded if they buy a new computer.

  • http://www.cumbrowski.com Carsten Cumbrowski

    Good point Jonathan. It will probably be like with XP. The old computers got replaced by new ones and the new ones came with XP.

    So the adoption rate will be most likely very linear and will hence also gain importance in linear fashion. So getting vista and figuring out possible ways of benefiting from its new features should be somewhat important for marketers. You can't just start looking at it after it got a high adoption rate already.

    At that time are the shares already staked out by the early birds (as always).

  • Jonathan (Trust)

    What do you think about this?

    I saw this posted elsewhere and I don't know if this will turn into a big deal or just turn into nothing to worry about.

  • http://www.cumbrowski.com Carsten Cumbrowski

    Jonathan,

    my thoughts to EV SSL.

    Will it affect conversion? It sure will.

    Will it destroy your business if you don't have it? probably not, but the impact is hard to predict.

    You can and at the same time can not compare it to existing symbology like the closed lock in the status bar for SSL or the Verisign, GeoTrust etc. Seals that re-enforce consumer confidence that it is safe to shop.

    I see anther positive thing in this though. It adds to the long list of reasons why you should incorporate your business. That is especially true if your business is your sole stream of income and liabilities.

    my 2 cents

  • http://www.costpernews.com Sam Harrelson

    Not to be self-promotional, but I blogged on the SSL EV issue back in December. It didn't create much conversation then (probably b/c of the Holidays), but it is an incredibly interesting discussion and issue we need to address.

    Thanks for bringing that up!

  • http://www.cumbrowski.com Carsten Cumbrowski

    I don't want to be self promotional :) , but my comment would have been also a good addition to your post Sam.

  • http://www.costpernews.com Sam Harrelson

    Now that we're all able to get our hands on Vista, I'll do another post on the issue if you think there's more to discuss (or if people will want to discuss) and start with your comment. What do you think?