Windows 7
Moving on, we referred Dodd to another Microsoft story on HEXUS.channel last week, concerning the release of a version of Vista upgradable to Windows 7, and asked if this offered an indication of Windows 7 pricing. "I don't have the final pricing of Windows 7," said Dodd. We had to try.
Regarding the reasoning behind the launch of the upgradable SKUs, Dodd said: "Momentum is starting to build around Windows 7 and we wanted to make sure the ‘back-to-school' market didn't miss out as a result."
Dodd stressed that Microsoft has learnt from the Launch of Vista with respect to the channel. "We're taking a different approach this time," she said. "We've been out educating partners for six months and we're about to start another nine city roadshow."
If members of the UK channel are unable to attend any of these, Dodd urged them to attend one of Microsoft's live webcasts or at least download RC1 of Windows 7 to get an idea of the kind of opportunities created by the new OS.
Given that Microsoft itself concedes most businesses are still using XP and with Windows 7 being less resource intensive than Vista, businesses might be tempted to leapfrog Vista and go straight to Windows 7 for their long delayed OS upgrade.
