Windows 7 Flying Off Retailers Shelves? Perhaps Not.

[Night Hawk]

Windows 7 Flying Off Retailers Shelves? Perhaps Not.

Saturday, November 21st, 2009
by the oracle

To hear the story from Steve Ballmer, Microsoft is selling copies of Windows 7 faster than the copies can be pressed. The people are buying in droves, with adoption so high it beats all previous upgrade cycles.

After examining the previous upgrade cycles, that really is not hard to believe, as most Microsoft upgrade cycles don’t really get going until the first service pack. That is not an exaggeration or lie. That is how the interested should proceed. The other part of the upgrade cycle question is one that really answers itself, because in no other version of Windows has the beta been so widespread, so available. No other time have interested users been able to try, compare, and also important, check with their friends, on their experiences.

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

 

[Adamd]

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.

 

[darkassain]

The author goes on to state that after much more advertising, and worrying about the sale, he is finally able to sell the unopened copy at the original price he paid, $50. This is pretty sad, considering the fact that no retailer is selling the same thing anywhere near that price. It does not say much for the alacrity of Windows sales at the retail level.

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...)
It's easy to find the Office Supplies, Copy Paper, Furniture, Ink, Toner, Cleaning Products, Electronics and Technology you need | Staples®

 

[poin2]

...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.

 

[SIW2]

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.

 

[Night Hawk]

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!.

 

[strollin]

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.

 

[Night Hawk]

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.

 

[Lordbob75]

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.

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

 

[thefabe]

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.

 

[pparks1]

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.

My dad is a bit more savvy than the average joe. He has used computers since I was a kid. He has built his own computers and has both a desktop and a laptop.

I've given a copy of the Windows 7 Beta, the Windows 7 Release Candidate, and have made the RTM available to him to test out (for 120 days with rearm) on his computer using a spare hard drive. But I haven't been able to get him to even install the software. He seems to be 100% perfectly content with running Windows XP. As far as I know, he hasn't ever used Vista either. I think that since he has XP on his computers at home and has XP on his computer at work...he is just perfectly content to keep things as they are.

 

[chuckr]

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.

My dad is a bit more savvy than the average joe. He has used computers since I was a kid. He has built his own computers and has both a desktop and a laptop.

I've given a copy of the Windows 7 Beta, the Windows 7 Release Candidate, and have made the RTM available to him to test out (for 120 days with rearm) on his computer using a spare hard drive. But I haven't been able to get him to even install the software. He seems to be 100% perfectly content with running Windows XP. As far as I know, he hasn't ever used Vista either. I think that since he has XP on his computers at home and has XP on his computer at work...he is just perfectly content to keep things as they are.

Smart man, your dad is....

 

[Night Hawk]

He probably doesn't run much as far as various programs to start with in order to see how buggy XP had been too often for a long list of programs. At this point he probably wouldn't be interested in anything newer despite having a look at 7 since he isn't doing much at this time. But that's only one person just the same there content with what he is running for the time being at least.

For those looking to stay on top or simply not fall way behind they will be keeping a close eye on anything new to see if it looks right for them. While many were reluctant or fell back to XP from Vista others were glad to get out of XP and into something newer!

With 7 Windows has been more or less refined into a top choice over previous versions from the start. From the betas to the RCs here I knew MS finally got it right with 7. The decision was obvious!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all
who ever pays the full listed retail price for ANYTHING these days.

W7 is really heavily discounted as has been pointed out many times in this thread and elsewhere - and what really IS a no brainer is that if you really HAVE to pay full price - well for a very FEW USD more you can join technet and download a HUGE amount of software FREE. You get 10 Keys for versions of Windows (going back as far as Windows 3.1 if you want), Office, Servers, SQL server, exchange etc etc.

So the "selling" volume of W7 might be difficult to establish using conventional criteria.
What would be of more interest is the number of installs or the number of users.

And once we are all hooked - they will sneak in some type of "paid for licensing" to generate a revenue stream - probably like a smaller version of technet where upgrades etc will only be available to paid subscribers.

A popular saying is in this world only 2 things are certain - Death and taxes --I'd suggest a 3rd - Corporate Greed - although so far MS haven't gone down the paid for windows updates business process.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[pparks1]

He probably doesn't run much as far as various programs to start with in order to see how buggy XP had been too often for a long list of programs.

No, I wouldn't say that my dad uses a large number of applications. It's probably 10-12 things that he uses on a regular basis. And I think this is typical of the average PC user as well. Even if apps are buggy and such...so many end-users don't even keep them up to date. They download whatever version is available on day 1 and so often just leave it alone...the web updaters are probably the biggest boon to people staying up to date these days.

While there are some of us who want to be on the latest and greatest, there are tons who just aren't running to retailers and buying up copies of Windows 7 like mad.

For those looking to stay on top or simply not fall way behind

And I think this is the point for my Dad....nothing indicates to him that he is falling behind. Absolutely everything he has and wants to use is running just fine for him on XP.

 

[Nomar]

didn't they double the sales in the first 4 weeks in comparing with vista?

 

[Naala]

From the moment I installed some beta version I was hooked and certain this would be my first instant buy when it gets out. Then I got a mail from MS saying how much they appreciate all the folks trying W7 bla bla bla and that you can preorder with discount. So I wanted to preorder and after trying several sites I find out I cant because Im not from the US?! Wtf are they sending me mail then? So I decided to keep RC for now and when I do get the final version I'll get it from some torrent site, no way am I buying it unless I really have to.

 

[johnwillyums]

Hi Naala

Welcome to Seven Forums. Sorry to hear you didn't get the pre-order offer. We in the UK did so I thought it was Europe wide.
I bought it on that offer but I think that it is so good I would gave saved up and paid full price if I had to.
By the way I wouldn't mention anything to do with piracy on these forums. The moderators will ban you and it's far too good a forum to be excluded from

 

[LooseJuice]

I'm not surprised it's selling so fast. It's basically gotten as close to acclaim as anything MS has ever sold and since Vista was so hugely unpopular, a lot of people are taking advantage of the upgrade. It's actually still $50 an upgrade if you get the Family Pack but I don't know if that's still selling.

 

[cesnjak]

Well i installed win7 on my notebook because i had vista pre-installed when i bought this notebook (even though i wanted no OS installed), but on my desktop PC i have win xp and i see no reason for installing win7. I mean i dont fall for that aero thing and though its nicer and have more features i still dont see it worth paying $100-$150. I dont do things which take advantage of new features and i believe that most of ppl also. But for them , in my opinion, it's like new mobile phone, people get bored with current one and want to buy some new.(Im talking generally)