Windows 7: Windows 7 Flying Off Retailers Shelves? Perhaps Not.

More at: Windows 7 Flying Off Retailers Shelves? Perhaps Not. ~ Revelations From An Unwashed Brain

I really doubt it is flying off the shelf.

I mean people first off don't have a ton of money this year. It may be selling well on new computers but I just doubt the average user just upgrades the computer they had bought a few years ago. I just don't believe people do that.

laughed at that part since there are places where they are still selling it for about 50 dollars (actually a little more but its close enough if you bought it in a brick and mortar store...)
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...And I wouldn't find it surprising if it truly is "flying off the shelf" compared to prior things. And I think many people will dig up the money to upgrade their OS if it's affordable and relatively guaranteed to work. They'll do that before they go buy an unnecessary fancy sweater, or a couple DVD's, for example.

Microsoft fairly aggressively had cheap pre-orders. Their $30 deal for students is hugely popular. Etc.

Lots of people indeed did the Release Candidate and word spread, so people looked into things earlier than usual. People have largely learned it's backwards compatible and better than Vista in advance.

On the other hand I think something like Vista was known to still be buggy and having lots of issues around its release date. It was also overpriced with people being asked to step into the unknown, and often upgrade their hardware in the process. No thank you.

There aren't backwards compatibility issues or driver issues as happened from XP to Vista. Many people have a perception of Vista as "broke" so they're willing to "fix it" on a machine they use hours per day. XP to Vista was more in the category of "if it ain't broke don't fix it." This is the first time they haven't done things likely to "break" prior hardware, etc. when someone upgrades. Some prior things could render a printer or scanner obsolete overnight and without warning.

And I'd expect computers outside the U.S. are increasingly more widespread, with lots of people ready to improve from XP, and with their own good deals available.

Sure, businesses might take months (or years) to let things settle in before they transition, but from the consumer perspective, Windows 7 was set to move quickly.

And as far as any retailers' numbers, or the guy unable to sell his copy for $50.... I'd expect they're selling more downloads than usual now, especially due to things like that student deal. And most consumers are going to be hesitant buying from some random guy selling a box for $50 -- they'll assume it's stolen, or fake, or a copy not for resale, or a boxed beta, etc., and there's no way they can return it if they have a problem. I know I wouldn't go over around maybe $50 for a boxed thing listed someplace like Craigslist. No surprise there.

Still, it's a lot less than the listed retail value - and he had trouble shifting it to his friends/colleagues - I reckon the PCWORLD writer is 100% correct.

Of course , the big beta availability meant almost every enthusiast who used that bought the pre order deal.

Also the Student deal is stupidly cheap ( in the US at leat). A lot of those will buy it - who wouldn't otherwise.

The rest of the public couldn't give a damn.

I think you will find that the term "flying off of the shelf" or off the shelves is more of a figurative term rather then a literal one in the sense 7's introduction in general terms has been better received overall compared to how things went for the previous versions.

When you look back even XP's response and interest took time especially after SP1 there thet broke the 137gb barrier as new larger capacity drives were coming about compared to the limitations on partition sizes seen with the previous versions.

One good example would be remembering 500mb upto 4-5gb drives for the old 9x -ME machines to the average 160-500gb presently seen for desktops. All this of course is progressive anyways while now the age factor along with the price reductions seen for 7 compared to Vista are another large draw while actual physical inventory of 7 disks is behind there!

Speaking of Staples on 10/22 only a few stores actually had a limited number of disks to start off while the larest model laptops were seeing 7 preinstalled on those! To get 7 here the retail disks had to be shipped out from a warehouse not simply bought over the counter. Dummy sleeves were reserving the assigned locations for each edition upgrade or full then.

I guess you could "the shelves were bare" rather then seeing disks being sold at a pace instore!.

What incentive is there for the average computer user to upgrade to Win 7? I think the average user sticks with whatever OS came on their computer and is not willing to pay any amount to upgrade. My sister, for instance, is a pretty typical computer end-user with a desktop running XP and a laptop running Vista and has no desire or intention to upgrade either of them. When she buys a new computer it will most likely have Win 7 and she'll use that only because it's the OS that came with the computer.

Each person has their own specific needs as a rule. For many presently running XP without problems especially those not familiar with building custom cases or knowing how to set up dual OSs and things like that they simply get the newer version that comes on the next premade system when the old boat is showing signs of wear.

For those who build an updated system with the latest hardwares they tend to be the first to jump on a newer version for what that will support which may not be seen with any previous version. For those now running 7 and with the right cpu and board in particular they can take advantage of the new XP Mode on the latest Windows Virtual PC in order to run old XP programs that wouldn't go on Vista or have been not to be installed or run on let's say the 64bit 7 as one example.

As of 2010 another item that 7 will readily support while other older versions won't at first without some type of patch will be the new USB 3.0 standard being introduced next year. For those who likely be wanting to use the newer usb devices that come out with the 3.0 standard while backward compatible to 2.0 and 1.1 standard ports the new boards to come out will be an incentive to take full advantage of the faster bus speeds.

As far as Windows itself each new version offers features particular to that version only not seen on the previous. For those who watch some of the new tv drama series you may have noticed one or more shows where a large projection screen has thing being moved around on it when the actor passes his hands over it as the newer touch screen support is evident there.

And for those who do quite a bit more then check the mail and the weather reports online as well as browse a shopping site finding out what the latest is capable of is another reason they will choose to upgrade the OS. You have to look at what more then just one or two people are looking for in order to see why.

The mentality of most computer users. Thats the problem with selling copies of an OS at a store. Just don't bother. Offer it online, and those who want it will buy it. Just package it in new computers and stop trying to advertise or sell it outside.

Those who want it (us) will go buy it and upgrade. Your average person will just buy a new computer when they need it and use what comes with it.

~Lordbob

The mentality of most computer users. Thats the problem with selling copies of an OS at a store. Just don't bother. Offer it online, and those who want it will buy it. Just package it in new computers and stop trying to advertise or sell it outside.

Those who want it (us) will go buy it and upgrade. Your average person will just buy a new computer when they need it and use what comes with it.

~Lordbob Well said i would agree.