Peter Burrows reports for BusinessWeek, “The entire personal computer industry is gearing up for Microsoft’s Oct. 22 release of Windows 7, by most accounts the best version of its operating system in years.”
MacDailyNews Take: That what they said about the Yugo GVX, too: “It’s the best Yugo ever!” Too bad it was still a Yugo.
Burrows continues, “Yet Apple, Microsoft’s nearest competitor, is quietly planning to capitalize on the launch, too. “It presents a very good opportunity for us,” says Philip W. Schiller, Apple’s senior vice-president for marketing.”
“The Cupertino (Calif.) company sees Windows 7 as its best chance in years to win over longtime PC users. Millions of PC owners are expected to head to stores over the next year to replace their aging machines. The surge is expected to be unusually large because Microsoft’s last operating system, Vista, was so poorly reviewed that many people simply stuck with machines running the eight-year-old Windows XP system,” Burrows reports.
“In the coming weeks, Apple is expected to hit those computer buyers with advertising aimed at luring them to its Macs. It will likely make the case that Macs are less susceptible to viruses and are best suited to its popular iPods and iPhones. And look for it to poke fun at Microsoft for making XP owners go through an arduous process to upgrade to Windows 7—one that includes backing up all their files to an external drive, reformatting their PC, and then reinstalling all of their old programs, assuming they still have the CDs,” Burrows reports. “‘Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?’ says Schiller.”
MacDailyNews Take: Why not, indeed. Life’s too short. Get a Mac.
5 Day Most Commented