Apple: PC Owners ‘Probably Going To Freak Out’ Over Win 7 Demands
9:28 am, October 15th, 2009, Ed Sutherland
Apple Vice President Phil Schiller has hinted at a new advertising campaign to counter the upcoming launch of Windows 7. Speaking about the potential upgrade hurdles a PC user might face, Shiller told BusinessWeek: “Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?”
Schiller told the magazine the expected Oct. 22 launch of Microsoft’s new operating system “presents a very good opportunity” for the Cupertino, Calif. company. According to BusinessWeek, an ad campaign could poke fun at Microsoft users undergoing the upgrade.
Apple’s comments come amid reports indicating the launch of Windows 7 could have either a minimal impact on PC sales or actually boost demand for Macs. Wednesday, a Gartner researcher said the introduction “should have minimal impact” on new PC sales with large businesses waiting until late 2010 before deciding to purchase the new Microsoft operating system.
Earlier this week, we reported that Windows 7 could boost sales of Macs. “No negative correlation exists on AAPL’s hardware sales when Microsoft launches a new OS,” according to financial analyst Brian Marshall of Broadpoint.AmTech.
Indeed, Marshall said each launch of a new Windows operating system, stretching back to Windows 98, acts as a ‘delayed accelerant’ for Apple sales.
[Via BusinessWeek and AppleInsider]
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | Comment on this article
Windows? What’s that?
I will bask in the glory of being able to answer co-workers with “I don’t know, I don’t use Windows 7″ when they inevitably lose half their files in the upgrade. Most are still using Windows XtraPathetic.
thanx_al, on October 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Even with the advent of Windows 7, Snow Leopard is making more inroads into the business and educational sectors, the more Apple makes OSX compatible within Microsoft Networks, the more foothold they gain. But one thing to mention, even though the requirement specs on Windows 7 are high, I installed it on a MSI Wind Netbook and it worked, Fast. Even the Aero Features worked properly. Which leads me to ask “Why the high specs if you can run on 64Mb of Video? Once the novelty wore off I promptly changed to a Hackintosh, …um for testing purposes.
Stacy WEbb, on October 15th, 2009 at 10:02 am
So, I guess I’m the only guy that posts here that is actually excited about Windows 7. Also, thanx_al, you might want to reference the latest Snow Leopard ‘bug’ before you whine about Windows users losing files during an upgrade.
Matt, on October 15th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Yeah, how many people has that bug affected? Like three? And it will probably be fixed in 10.6.2.
All or nearly all XP to Se7en users will have to wipe, format, and upgrade. How many people will that affect?
And Matt, please do note the website is called “Cult of Mac”. Just a slight hint that this might be a place for “Macintosh” users to congregate. If you’re excited about Windows Se7en go have yourself a house party. I hear there’s a really cool video for that.
thanx_al, on October 15th, 2009 at 11:50 am
i’m looking forward to windows 7 myself, having gotten to mess around with it a bit. i’ll be putting it on my mbp under parallels. i prefer os x, but there are some things i just need to do under windows. i’m not a hater, i use what works for me for what i need to do. os warz were lame back in the 80s, and they’re still dumb now.
firesign3000, on October 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Windows 7 minimum specs are the same as the recommended specs for windows xp. You can run it on most machines from the past 5 years and it will run great. It will keep tons of people from moving to windows because there isn’t really a clear advantage to Apple as far as ease of use anymore as long as you don’t go out of your way to infect your machine with virus’ and you can get a machine that costs 1/2 the price of a MAC.
blackjesus, on October 17th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I really love apple. But I really hate the way apple people bring down microsoft like this. After all, if macs are so great, then why boast so much? It’s the only thing i’ve ever disliked about apple.
Vikram, on October 19th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I was disappointed this weekend to find my win 7 upgrade had problems. My video editing software (pinnacle studio v11 bought in 2008) would not come up. What! If it ran on vista, shouldn’t it run on win7? Anyway, pinnacles site said v11 was not win7 compatible! Conclusion is that you cannot assume that just because you can do an in-place upgrade with vista doesn’t mean you apps will necessarily run after the upgrade.
Ted Fry, on November 2nd, 2009 at 6:57 pm