bMighty offers Microsoft a modest proposal: Establish your Web 2.0 street cred and instantly erase years of bad press with one simple move... Make Windows 7 a free upgrade for Vista users.
Dear Microsoft:
It's time to set Windows 7 free -- at least for Vista users. Anyone who is using Vista should be able to upgrade to the corresponding version of Windows 7. For nothing. No questions asked.
I'm not kidding about this. Yes, I do know that you make piles of money from selling operating system upgrades, and it's hard for you to leave even a penny sitting on the table.
Time To Get Serious
But if you're truly serious about transforming yourself into a 21st Century, Web 2.0 kind of company like your arch-rival Google, you've got to start changing the way you do business and the way you treat your customers.
Don't get me wrong. I've been using the Windows 7 beta since early on, and overall I'm a pretty big fan. It's every bit the operating system Windows Vista should have been, but wasn't.
And there-in lies the rub.
When cloud computing applications and operating systems come out with versions that bomb, and then get fixed in subsequent upgrades, it's all part of the same deal. You pays your moneys, you takes your chances, but when things get fixed along the way, your version gets fixed, too.
And open source projects, which are free to begin with, obviously don't charge for new versions and upgrades. If you pay for Linux at all, you're paying for service and support, not for the latest code.
But Microsoft, you're trying to have it both ways. You charged a pretty penny for Windows Vista, which many users and observers felt wasn't up to snuff. Now that you've finally got a fix ready in Windows 7, you want the people who already paid for Vista -- your most loyal and enthusiastic customers -- to pay again. Essentially, you're penalizing Vista buyers even as you reward non-Vista-buyers for doing exactly what you didn't want them to do: stick with Windows XP all these years.
Clueless? Or Uncaring?
Either you don't have a clue about the effects of your policies on the way customers think of your company, or you just don't care. Or maybe you still think that that consumers and companies large and small don't have any choices when it comes to operating systems. How else do you explain not giving any consideration to the people who've already spent the most with you?
The full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at $199, with an upgrade from Vista or XP costing $119. The full version of Windows 7 Professional costs $299, with upgrades from Vista or XP going for $199. Windows 7 Ultimate is priced at $319, with the upgrades from Vista or XP costing $219.
Don't Miss In InformationWeek: How To Upgrade To Windows 7 From Windows XP
Note the trend here. Upgrades from Vista and XP cost the same amount. That's just crazy! From Vista, we're talking a simple upgrade in place, reinforcing the fact -- yes fact -- that Windows 7 is really a fix of all that was wrong with Vista, not some new new thing. Upgrading from XP, meanwhile, is a whole different ballgame, requiring a fresh installation and migrating data and apps. Arguing that the upgrades are equivalent just makes you look petty and foolish.
