Has Windows Vista reached out from the grave to foul things up one last time? Judging by lower-than-expected PC sales off the back of the Oct. 22 Windows 7 launch, it would appear so.
Usually, when Microsoft ships a new operating system, a flood of new PC purchases follows. But despite glowing reviews and brisk sales of its own (pre-orders beat Harry Potter's record in the U.K., according to Amazon), Windows 7 boosted PC sales only 49 percent in its first week. That's not shabby for any industry in a recession. But it's well below the 68 percent spike that attended Vista's debut in 2006. PC makers and retailers were counting on a huge bump to kick off the holiday buying season early.
What caused the discrepancy? Windows 7 has gotten great word of mouth, but that word is that it fixes what was wrong with Vista, not that it's a revolutionary product that needs new hardware to work best. Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal gave the simpler, more intuitive OS a rave--and also wrote that nearly any Vista PC would run Windows 7 just fine. Even Microsoft calls Windows 7 "a whole lotta less" in one ad. For recession-conscious consumers, that's a strong incentive to try it out on the machines they already own--the machines they bought for Vista.
PC makers needn't worry too much, though. A more prosaic explanation for the smaller coattail might be that Vista debuted in January, generally a hotter sales month than October. There's also the idea that before buying a PC, consumers need to see new models built for Windows 7 in person. To that end, Microsoft is launching its own line of retail stores, the first of which opened last month in Scottsdale, Ariz. There, shoppers can see Windows 7 powering sleek PCs with a snappy interface and wireless links to HDTVs and Xbox consoles. "It creates the halo that something cool is happening here," says Stephen Baker, an analyst at the NPD Group. Cool enough to let Vista and its hassles rest in peace.
