Microsoft executive affirms Vista is on track for delivery
By Mark Boslet
Last Update: 5:31 AM ET Nov 9, 2006
Speaking at the Web 2.0 conference here, Ozzie said a major goal with Vista is to create a secure computing environment for people using the Internet and installing software and online content on their machines.
"Is it perfect?" he asked, referring to potential bugs in the Windows product. "No. It's software, and it will have flaws." Over time, he said, it will be updated.
Earlier Wednesday, Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's Platforms & Services Division, said the operating system is ready for personal computer manufacturers.
Bill Gates to Deliver Keynote Address at Convergence 2006 EMEA
Gates' address to open three-day agenda of speakers, product demonstrations and learning sessions for Microsoft Dynamics solutions and the company's approach to addressing the needs of midsize businesses.
Acer: Vista is an excuse for Microsoft price hikes
Vista tailored to increase license revenues by introducing basic edition no user will put up with, PC maker says.
By Colin Barker Special to CNET News.com
Published: October 27, 2006, 7:09 AM PDT
Microsoft is hiking up the price of its software as it prepares to launch Vista, according to one of the leading PC manufacturers, Acer.
According to Jim Wong, senior corporate vice president of the Taiwan-based company, the issue is simply that the basic home edition of Vista, Home Basic, which is available for preorder on Amazon.co.uk for 154.99 pounds ($293), is so basic that users will be forced to move to Vista Home Premium, at 189.99 pounds ($359). A Home Edition of Windows XP is currently available for 165.99 pounds, but has a recommended retail price of 176.99 pounds.
"The new (Vista) experience you hear of, if you get Basic, you won't feel it at all," Wong told PC Pro magazine. "There's no (Aero) graphics, no Media Center, no remote control."
Wong also said that the manufacturer's license for Vista Home Premium is 10 percent more expensive than for XP Home. "We have to pay more but users are not going to pay more," Wong said. This would mean an increase in the cost to PC manufacturers of 1 to 2 percent, according to Wong, in a business where the profit margin is around 5 percent or less.
At the top of the Vista lineup is the Ultimate Edition, which can be preordered for 325 pounds ($614) from Amazon.co.uk and, again, is significantly more expensive than the XP operating system it replaces. Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 has a recommended retail price of 289.99 pounds, but is currently available for 234 pounds.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the world's largest software maker gears up to release Vista, the newest version of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, Wall Street analysts say a handful of semiconductor stocks are poised to reap the benefits, as consumers replace old, outdated computers with new PCs and portable media players.
On Friday, Microsoft said it is on track to deliver the new Windows Vista operating system to its volume license customers around the world in November, and to the general public in January. Microsoft had disappointed computer makers and retailers in March by delaying Vista's consumer release along with that of business software suite, Microsoft Office.
Things are looking up now, though.
"Simply put, Vista adds new computing capabilities on all levels, and that's going to spur customers to buy new computers," said FTN Midwest Securities analyst Joanne Feeney. "To the extent that Vista is on schedule for release, it's a positive for companies like Intel and AMD who are building processors that will work with it."
Shares of Microsoft rose modestly in Friday's trading -- the stock climbed 22 cents to $28.44 on the Nasdaq -- but are up nearly 3 percent since Monday's open of $27.80.
Meanwhile shares of Intel gained 28 cents to $21.77 in midday trading -- up nearly 6 percent from Monday's open -- and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rose 63 cents at $25.32 on the New York Stock Exchange, up about 4 percent from Monday's open.
Besides AMD and Intel, analysts think graphics chips makers -- Nvidia Corp. and ATI Technologies, which was recently acquired by AMD -- could also benefit from the release of Vista.
"The upgrade to Office will be a positive catalyst for PC sales in the near-term in the business space, while Vista may have more of an impact in 2007," said American Technology Research analyst Doug Freedman. "Nvidia stands to benefit because of the graphics-intensive nature of Vista. As an investor, you can't invest in ATI Technologies, and it's challenging to measure what impact it will have on AMD, as a piece of its business."
Nvidia shares climbed $1.17, or 3.6 percent, to $33.65 on the Nasdaq, with shares up about 8 percent since Monday's opening price of $30.86.
Get ready for PC-related stocks to ballon in the next 6 months ....
Microsoft Makes Changes in Windows Vista to Suit Foreign Regulators
By PAUL MELLER
Published: October 14, 2006
BRUSSELS, Oct. 13 ? Microsoft announced Friday that Windows Vista, the next version of its computer operating system, had been altered to satisfy regulatory concerns and would be introduced simultaneously worldwide. Less than a month ago, it had warned that antitrust problems could delay the introduction in Europe and South Korea.
A delay in one country or region would have serious consequences for software developers, computer manufacturers and retailers there. It would also create complications for Microsoft, which has always rolled out previous versions of Windows simultaneously around the world.
Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft?s chief executive, confirmed the global introduction of Vista in a phone conversation with the European competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, late Thursday.
The new operating system will go on sale to large computer manufacturers next month and to the public in January.
In the statement issued Friday, Microsoft said it had altered Vista to address the concerns the commission has expressed about the new operating system over the last eight months.
Similarly, the concerns of South Korea?s Fair Trade Commission have also been addressed, Microsoft said.
?We are excited to bring the security enhancements and innovative new features of Windows Vista to our customers and partners around the world, and we are committed to adhering to local law in every region of the world,? Mr. Ballmer said in the statement.
Until now, Microsoft has resisted pressure to change Vista. Last month it accused the European Commission of not giving it clear enough guidance on whether Vista would pass muster under European antitrust law.
It also highlighted research that showed that hundreds of thousands of jobs in the European technology industry were at stake if Vista?s introduction were delayed. Also last month, members of the European Parliament wrote to Ms. Kroes warning her of the harm she would be causing to European companies if she forced a delay.
The commission stood its ground, insisting that it was not up to regulators to approve Vista before its introduction. It repeated this message Friday. ?The commission has not given a green light to Microsoft to deliver Vista,? it said in a statement. ?Microsoft must shoulder its own responsibilities to ensure that Vista is fully compliant with competition rules and in particular with the principles laid down in the March 2004 commission antitrust decision concerning Microsoft.?
In 2004, the commission found that Microsoft had violated antitrust rules by bundling its music and video player, Media Player, into Windows XP and ordered the company to release a second version of Windows with Media Player stripped out.
?We understand that the European commission doesn?t give a green light to a product before it is launched, and that it is a company?s obligation to be in compliance with antitrust law,? Brad Smith, Microsoft?s general counsel, said in a conference call with journalists on Friday.
?Having made the changes we were advised to make, we are confident Vista is in compliance,? he added.
Many of the problems with Vista identified by the commission echo the issues that resulted in the 2004 antitrust ruling. It alerted Microsoft to five potential antitrust problems in March, which were addressed in changes incorporated into the new operating system over the summer.
Last month, the commission pointed to three remaining problems, concerning Microsoft?s plan to bundle into Vista an Internet search engine, security software and a fixed document format similar to the one sold by the software company Adobe.
Symantec, a leader in antivirus software, embarked on a huge public relations offensive, contending that Microsoft was effectively shutting it and other security software specialists out of Vista.
Two weeks ago, Microsoft addressed the main concerns of Symantec by agreeing to allow access to the heart, or kernel, of the Windows operating system to security products made by competitors. In the area of search, Microsoft changed Vista to allow users to choose their own search engine and make it the default Internet search tool on their computers.
In the area of fixed document formats, Microsoft agreed to the commission?s demands that its new fixed-layout document format, called the XML Paper Specification, be scrutinized by an independent standards-setting organization. It also agreed to change the licensing terms to make its format more available to other software developers.
The commission said in a statement that it would ?closely monitor the effects of Vista in the market? and would examine any complaints the new operating system might provoke ?on their own merits.?
Vista is coming to pop up PC demand ....... Get ready!
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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1 ? Microsoft rushed what may be the final test version of its Windows Vista operating system to more than a million testers on Friday, trying to meet deadlines for its long-delayed commercial release.
With pressure mounting to squeeze out final bugs, Microsoft asked testers to give Vista an urgent shakedown ? even as they headed into a long holiday weekend.
Microsoft has said publicly that it is hoping to offer the program to corporate customers before the end of November and to the broader consumer market in January.
It will be the first new version of Windows in more than five years, an unusually long time between releases. But Microsoft executives have also repeatedly cautioned that until Vista meets performance and stability standards, the company will refrain from offering it commercially.
On Friday, several analysts said that the Microsoft program might end up slipping further from the November goal. Microsoft has recently been talking about an ?end of the year? shipping goal for the corporate version of Vista, according to one analyst who was briefed on Thursday.
A company spokesman disputed the reports of further slippage, saying that the company was still aiming to meet the November and January goals.
Because most large corporations may wait as long as 18 months before deploying the program widely to employees, a relatively short further delay is unlikely to have a significant revenue impact on Microsoft.
?Corporate adoption will be relatively slow,? said Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a computer industry consulting firm. ?It could be 2008 before many companies actually deploy in volume.?
Over the summer, Vista has been tested by several million developers and ordinary users and has received less than stellar marks. Complaints have ranged from repeated crashes to an irritating user interface that constantly force users to click on warning boxes.
A recent version being used by a smaller group of technical experts has been given much higher marks for stability and for using less computer memory.
Friday?s version, called Release Candidate 1, or RC1, is a crucial last trial needed to tell the company whether it is on track.
?This is supercritical for us,? said Sven Hallauer, director of release management for Windows Vista, during an internal interview that was posted Friday on a company Web site. ?We have our own criteria for quality to ship, but we really need the validation from the community.?
Time is particularly tight, he said, because the company has only two or three weeks after Friday?s release to make significant changes, after which the project will grow increasingly constrained.
?Teams are working superhard right now,? he said in the interview. ?Teams are working 50, 60, 70 hours a week to go ship this RC1 milestone.?
In an e-mail message sent to testers Friday, Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft?s platform and services division, wrote: ?The operating system is in great shape with RC1, but there?s still a lot of testing to do. You?ve come through for us so far, and I?m asking you to once again put the pedal to the metal and send us feedback.?
Analysts said that while the company has made progress, there could still be land mines that could throw the effort into disarray.
?They are never out of the woods until the product is delivered,? said Al Gillen, research director for system software at the International Data Corporation, a market research firm based in Framingham, Mass.
This week, Microsoft declined to comment after pricing information appeared on Amazon.com. The prices, which ranged from $199 for a basic home version to $399 for the all-in-one Windows Vista Ultimate, will potentially increase Microsoft?s earnings next year, according to Rick Sherlund, a Goldman Sachs financial analyst.
In a research note, he also cautioned that the significant hardware requirements for the new operating system might limit the rate of adoption for the software.
Vista will have an array of new features and changes in appearance from Microsoft?s current operating system, Windows XP. Superfetch, for example, lets Vista monitor the applications most frequently used and places them in memory so that they will appear to load more quickly.
In the interview posted by Microsoft, Mr. Hallauer said Vista would have fewer dreaded ?blue screens of death,? in which the operating system freezes and leaves the user with a blue display screen. Instead, Vista will automatically recover from such freezes and start over, without forcing the user to restart the system manually.
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