Microsoft Shows Its Shortsightedness - Again

In a column on ZDNet, Ed Bott informs his audience that the ‘deciders’ in Redmond have put forth the proposition that, since the EU wanted Microsoft to make the playing field fair for browsers, and stripping Internet Exploder 8 from the distribution, christening it Windows 7E, was not enough, the upcoming Windows 7E will also not be able to upgrade a copy of Vista.

This is further proof that Monkeyboy is a total marketing genius – not! How does getting back at the EU through the inconvenience of your customers benefit your bottom line?

Short answer – it doesn’t.

If you live in Europe and you’re contemplating an upgrade to Windows 7 later this year, I’ve got good news and bad news for you.

The good news is you’ll get a better price than your counterparts in other markets. You’ll be able to buy a fully licensed retail copy of Windows 7E (Microsoft’s customized version, with Internet Explorer 8 stripped out to mollify the European Commission antitrust regulators) for the price you would normally pay for an upgrade edition.

The bad news is that Microsoft plans to completely disable upgrade capabilities in Windows 7E.

Yes, you heard that right, and I’ve confirmed the details with a Microsoft spokesperson. The upgrade option will be disabled in all copies of Windows 7E.

Apparently, Steve Ballmer, the aforementioned Monkeyboy, needs to get into a Dale Carnegie course immediately. Or perhaps, if he promises to read it, a copy of ‘How to Win Friends, and Influence People’ will be enough. But the man needs something. Microsoft may have 90% market share in operating systems, but the figure is declining. With help from the sound business decisions of Mr. Ballmer, it will continue to decline.

Later in the same article, Bott gives the Microsoft spin on the thinly veiled swipe at the European Community -

We wanted to make sure that all of our customers got Windows 7 at the same time. And because of what needed to occur around testing of Windows 7E, it became very clear that we would not be able to offer a retail upgrade version of that piece of software on October 22nd.

So, we had a choice to make. Either we delayed the launch of Windows 7 in Europe or that we brought it all together and did something different. So, what we decided to do is do something different.

And so in Europe we’re going to basically offer Windows 7E full version at upgrade prices.

Does anyone buy retail copies of Windows? I didn’t think so. As I said, this is a thinly veiled whack at the European Community and though a nice try at spinning it positively, it is still spin on a story that everyone knows.

Antagonizing users of Vista, by making their pain last a little longer, and adding to the problem list by forcing them to get a browser through different than normal means is not winning friends, nor positively influencing people.

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unaffected by the Windows 7E decisions!

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