XP’s usage share down, Win 7, Firefox & IE8 up December 1, 2009
Posted by hruf in Enterprise 2.0, Internet & Communities, Multimedia.Tags: Mac OSX, Market Trends, Windows, Windows 7
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Data released by web metrics company Net Applications indicates that the release of Windows 7 to the general public has put a significant dent into Windows XP’s usage share.
For the November period, web usage of XP dropped by 1.45%, while Vista’s usage share only dropped by 0.2%. At the end of the month the state of play was as follows:
* XP: 69.03%
* Vista: 18.60%
* Win 7: 3.98%
Overall, a good month for Windows 7.
In other OS usage share news, Mac OS X usage share dropped slightly, down 0.16% to 5.11% (the third time this year that Mac has lost market share). The number in of itself isn’t all that significant, but the lost ground is. Also, Linux managed to claw back market share to end November with a 1% usage share, a spot it hasn’t held since July.
via XP’s usage share down, Win 7, Firefox & IE8 up | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com.
The Windows Media Center CableCARD Update November 10, 2009
Posted by pannet in Multimedia.Tags: CableCard, Media Center, TV, Windows 7
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Over the weekend, Microsoft released the CableCARD firmware update for Windows 7 Media Center which relaxes DRM for recordings in a big way and adds support for SDV. The package arrived as the “ATI Digital Cable Tuner 1.19.12.09050155 firmware” — available to all of those with the ATI CableCARD tuners via Windows Update. Next, Microsoft also pushed out the Digital Cable Advisor tool, which checks your computer to ensure it meets minimum hardware requirements for CableCARD viewing/recording. The Digital Cable Advisor, found in the Windows Media Center Extras Gallery, measures system CPU speed, RAM, graphics card support for hardware acceleration, and digital connection capabilities. If your PC meets the minimum requirements, it enables digital cable functionality on your PC. (CableCARD tuner and connection from your cable company required of course.) Once you have it all set up, you’ll be able to use your Windows 7 computer’s Media Center HTPC front-end to access cable TV, including premium content.
Windows 7 sells 234% more copies than Vista | VentureBeat November 7, 2009
Posted by hruf in Enterprise 2.0, Internet & Communities.Tags: Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7
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It looks like all the positive buzz round Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system paid off in sales. Windows 7 sold 234 percent more copies during its first few days on the market than Vista did during the same period of its release, according to research by the NPD Group. […]
It looks like all the positive buzz round Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system paid off in sales. Windows 7 sold 234 percent more copies during its first few days on the market than Vista did during the same period of its release, according to research by the NPD Group. NPD’s data covers the week of Oct. 18 to 24. Windows 7 only launched on the 22nd, but these numbers also include pre-sales from the days before.
via Windows 7 sells 234% more copies than Vista | VentureBeat.
Survey: 50% of businesses to deploy Windows 7 in first year October 17, 2009
Posted by hruf in Enterprise 2.0.Tags: Market Trends, Microsoft, Windows 7
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Nearly half of 1,200 companies surveyed by a veteran technology analyst plan to deploy Windows 7 in its first year of availability, and another 11 percent say they will make the shift as soon as Microsoft releases the first service pack update for the new operating system.
The report from Laura DiDio’s Boston-based Information Technology Intelligence Corp., in partnership with Sunbelt Software, is the latest piece of encouraging news for Microsoft in advance of Windows 7’s release next week. DiDio said this afternoon that the independent survey was conducted without any influence or funding from Microsoft, and she hasn’t yet informed the company of the results.
“They needed a winner, and it looks like they have it — barring any unforeseen mishaps, such as some egregious bug,” DiDio said.
via Survey: 50% of businesses to deploy Windows 7 in first year.
Gartner Highlights Five Issues Enterprises Should Examine With Upcoming Launch of Windows 7 October 15, 2009
Posted by hruf in Enterprise 2.0, Internet & Communities.Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Market Trends, Microsoft, Windows 7
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The move to Microsoft’s latest operating system (OS), Windows 7, is all but inevitable for most organizations, and Gartner, Inc. has highlighted five key issues enterprises should examine as this new OS hits the market.[…]
Gartner analysts said that while it’s nearly inevitable for enterprises to move to Windows 7, this does not mean that the PC industry will see a significant boost in PC sales immediately.[…]
Five issues that enterprises should examine before they move to Windows 7 include:
Plan to be Off Windows XP by Year-End 2012 — Microsoft will support Windows XP with security fixes into April of 2014, but past experience has shown that independent software vendors (ISVs) will stop testing much earlier. “New releases of critical business software will require Windows 7 long before Microsoft support for Windows XP ends,” said Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner. “Organizations that get all of their users off Windows XP by the end of 2012 will avoid significant potential problems.”
Start Working on Migration Projects Now — The typical organization requires 12 to 18 months waiting, testing, and planning before it can start deploying a new client OS. There is a lot of work to be done in preparation, and delays in getting started will only result in added costs later.
Don’t Wait for Windows 7 SP1 to Begin Testing and Deployment — Many organizations say they plan to wait until SP1 ships to begin testing and deploying a new client OS. Gartner analysts suggest starting work now (especially if companies have skipped Windows Vista), but are planning to switch to SP1 before their actual rollout.
Don’t Skip Windows 7 — Gartner categorizes Windows 7 as a “polishing” release on top of the architectural change that the Windows Vista “plumbing” release delivered. Gartner analysts said polishing releases should never be skipped. “While organizations that skipped Windows 2000 and waited for XP had some problems spanning the gap, organizations that adopted Windows 2000 and tried to skip Windows XP, waiting for Vista, had a much harder time,” Mr. Silver said.
Budget Carefully — Migration Costs to Vary Significantly Gartner’s model shows that migration costs could be $1,035 to $1,930 per user to move from Windows XP to Windows 7, and $339 to $510 per user to move from Windows Vista to Windows 7 depending on an organization’s approach.
Gartner’s Windows 7 Special Report includes Gartner’s latest research around Windows 7, examining such issues as when to move to Windows 7 and how much it will cost. The section also includes a link to the Gartner Webinar focused on Windows 7, as well as a video with additional Gartner commentary. This site is on Gartner’s Website at www.gartner.com/windows7.
via Gartner Highlights Five Issues Enterprises Should Examine With Upcoming Launch of Windows 7.
Windows 7 Will Change Everything, Analysts Say September 21, 2009
Posted by andre in Multimedia.Tags: Business, Microsoft, PC, Windows, Windows 7
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The new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system due for launch in October, will likely change the personal computer industry forever, according to research house Frost & Sullivan.
Frost & Sullivan APAC VP IT Practice, Martin Gilliland, said that Windows 7 represents a “user-driven upgrade that breaks the link between PC OS and PC Hardware upgrade cycles for the first time in the history of the PC.”
“This departure from tradition may force PC vendors and components suppliers, like Intel, to think of new ways to encourage PC buyers to upgrade their hardware,” he said.
In a newly-released Asia Pacific Market Insights report, Gilliland said that Windows 7 represented the first update to the PC OS that does not require more hardware resources than the version before. Windows 7 was the first PC OS to come out of Microsoft that does not require more advanced machines to run than prior versions.
“In fact, the official system requirements to run Windows 7 are slightly lower than those required to run Vista,” he said. “The CPU and RAM requirements are the same but the hard disk requirements are smaller for Windows 7.
“Windows 7 will drive significant upgrade revenue for Microsoft without any hardware upgrade thus separating Microsoft from the PC vendors in the next PC Upgrade Cycle.”
[…]
via Windows 7 Will Change Everything, Analysts Say – PC World
Windows 7 includes support for Dolby Digital Plus August 18, 2009
Posted by hruf in Multimedia.Tags: Codecs, Dobly, Dobly Digital, Media Center, Windows 7
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In what is hopefully one of many new announcements about Windows 7 leading up to its launch, Microsoft has added support for Dolby Digital Plus in most versions of Windows 7. This is good news indeed, as the Plus version of Dolby Digital not only supports higher bit rates than the classic Dolby Digital, but it also offers better sound quality than its older brother at the same bit rate — it is not lossless like Dolby TrueHD though. The other key reason why this is essential to Windows 7 from the Media Center perspective is because premium content providers around the world use it. We do wonder if this support includes Extenders for Media Center though, we mean it’d have to right; otherwise what’s the point?
Netflix Watch Instantly coming to Windows 7 Media Center August 1, 2009
Posted by hruf in Multimedia.Tags: Internet, Media Center, Microsoft, Netflix, TV, Windows, Windows 7
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In what is sure to be just the start of many announcements surrounding Windows 7 in the next few months leading up to the general release, Microsoft demoed Netflix on Windows7 Media Center at the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting. No hard release date yet or big surprises here as Vista owners got this access some time ago and Extenders still don’t support Silverlight. The good news though is that the app will be full touch screen capable, so for those with the right hardware you’ll have the same great improvements you have in the rest Windows 7. Media Center fans might also be happy to hear that more features were promissed in regards to “TV on the PC.” (Fast forward to 1 hour and 2 minutes in the video via the read link to see the demo)
via Netflix Watch Instantly coming to Windows 7 Media Center.
Six in 10 companies plan to skip Windows 7 July 13, 2009
Posted by hruf in Enterprise 2.0, Internet & Communities.Tags: Market Research, Market Trends, Microsoft, Windows 7
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Six in 10 companies in a survey plan to skip the purchase of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 7 computer operating system, many of them to pinch pennies and others over concern about compatibility with their existing applications.[…]
Many of the more than 1,000 companies that responded to a survey by ScriptLogic Corp say they have economized by cutting back on software updates and lack the resources to deploy Microsoft’s latest offering.[…]
The survey found out:
- 60% have not plans to deploy Windows 7
- 34% will deploy it by the end of 2010
- 5.4% will deploy it by the end of this year
Reasons:
- 42% avoiding Windows 7 because of “lack of time and resources”
- 35% had already skipped upgrades or delayed purchases to save money
- 39% had concerns about the compatibility of Windows 7 with existing applications
via Six in 10 companies plan to skip Windows 7: survey | Technology | Reuters.
Automatic commercial skipping is a go for Media Center in Windows 7 February 10, 2009
Posted by andre in Multimedia.Tags: Media Center, Windows 7
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There were plenty of people upset — including us — when they discovered that they could no longer automatically skip commercials after upgrading their Vista Media Center with the TV Pack. Well we’re very pleased to let you know that our assertion that Microsoft broke our favorite third party application on purposed, was unfounded. You see we recently got the word from the developer behind DVRMSToolBox that the Windows 7 Media Center SDK was in hand and that it won’t be long before we’ll be able to can skip commercials without ever picking up the remote — nice.
Automatic commercial skipping is a go for Media Center in Windows 7 – Engadget HD
Liquid Media 