Windows 7 And Unintended Consequences

I went to Best Buy this weekend to buy a laptop.  I didn't care what OS was on it, I just needed to get a laptop for a belated birthday gift.  I thought I might find a low-end Dell or HP that had Vista and I could then upgrade to Windows 7 later.  What I found was NOTHING.  The shelfs were literally bare.  I asked the sales person if they were going out of business.  That was my first thought and he confirmed that others thought the same way.  He assured me that they were not going out of business, but they had to remove all their display laptops and desktops to prepare for the Windows 7 debut on Thursday, 10/22.  I was happy for him, but wanted a laptop and he had none to sell.  In fact, the ones they did put on display the next day could not be sold before 10/22.  I wasn't happy about that and almost bought another computer with a very different OS.  But since this was a gift for someone that was used to Windows, I was stuck and ultimately ordered one from Best Buy online with a promised delivery date of 10/22.  We'll see.

Because Microsoft restricted sales prior to October 22nd, and Best Buy was then forced to remove product from sale for almost a week, I wonder how many people considered, for the first time, an alternative to a Windows computer. Moreover, how many organizations, who may have stayed with Windows XP and are now facing upgrade paths that mean wiping their hard drives, are now forced to think through an upgrade strategy that may not include Windows 7. Certainly my inconvenience was a non-event for Best Buy and Microsoft, and I'll get over it, but this new Windows version, as good as it might be, may create a set of unintended consequences for Microsoft. I looked around to see if there's any merit to this supposition, and what I found were a number of articles that speak directly to this subject on several different levels.

Windows 7 will drive virtual desktop adoption, VMware says A decision to upgrade employee desktops to Win 7 may also make a CIO think more broadly about a desktop strategy, Balkansky (VMware's Bogomil Balkansky, vice president of product marketing) says. "[Windows 7] is very topical and puts the question on the table," he says. "I think it really forces the subject of virtual desktops to become an agenda item in many companies."

IBM Teams With Ubuntu For Windows 7 Alternative IBM and Ubuntu Linux developer Canonical on Tuesday jointly unveiled an open standards-based desktop architecture they said cuts 50 percent off the cost of deploying desktop PCs and provides an alternative to migrating to Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s Windows 7 operating system. ...comes at a time when customers are contemplating when to move to Windows 7, and even whether or not to make that move.

How Apple stole Microsoft’s Windows 7 glory Coming out of their most profitable quarter ever, Apple has gone ahead and stolen Microsoft's Windows 7 release-day thunder by announcing an all new lineup of iMacs and upgrading their range of MacBooks - two days before Microsoft releases their newest OS. ...offering consumers an alternative option to the soon-to-be-released Windows 7.

Microsoft's Windows 7 getting positive reviews, but PC market faces challenges Has Microsoft built a faster train while the rest of the industry is making planes and automobiles?

History suggests Windows 7 launch could boost Mac sales First reported by Fortune Brainstorm Tech, the findings show how Mac sales figures have consistently grown every time a new Windows operating system launched over the last 10 years. Mac sales spiked following the debut of Windows 98, Windows 200, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

The Changing Client Computing Landscape: Windows 7 and PC Alternatives ...I was surprised by how many seem to be considering hosted virtual desktops. The concept has been around for some time, but many more people seem to be taking it seriously now.

Economy May Slow Windows 7 Adoption in Enterprises The dark chapter of Windows Vista will close next week as Microsoft rolls out Windows 7, but enterprises may not have the money for full deployment. Unlike Vista's introduction, Softchoice said 88 percent of today's PCs can run Window 7. But with IT departments doing more with less, an analyst said it could take three years to fully deploy Windows 7.

If you're interested in a little CIO humor about Windows 7, check out this article: Windows 7 Launch: Top 10 Things Steve Ballmer Will Not Say