Microsoft could avoid Vista’s mistake with Windows 7 and make one SKU
Microsoft made a lot of mistakes with Windows Vista. One was not providing device manufacturers the proper information so device drivers could be ready, another was not having proper backwards compatibility with existing software and hardware and another was too many versions.
The company saw the need to tier Windows Vista into so many pieces that it confused even some IT professionals. There was Vista Home Basic (which has now been all but killed off by many OEMs), Vista Home Premium (now the most common version), Vista Business Edition, Vista Ultimate and Vista Enterprise (which is not available to consumers).
Over in Europe some even have “N” variants which lack Windows Media Player (which is utterly pointless as it can be installed anyway – and in many cases has to be).
The problem is that some versions lack features that consumers may look for, suck as the Group Policy Editor which is not present in Vista Basic or Home Premium. There are other features that are present in some versions but not present in others and Ultimate is really the only version that has all the features.
At times, it can get confusing but in most cases, Home Premium suffices, except when you need to use the Group Policy Editor and in that case the workaround is to edit the registry manually, if you know where to go and what entry to edit/create.
Having so many SKUs and the compatibility problems hurt Vista more than helped. With XP it was easy, Home and Professional and there was little distinction between them (with Professional having the group policy editor and a few more administrator level tools). If the company learned anything from Vista, it should be that more is not better and less can be.
Driver testing on Windows 7 will start soon and that’s a good thing because it didn’t start until the last proverbial second with Vista which as we all know caused problems. Microsoft seems to have a handle on that issue so it’s time to get the SKUs down to two or even just one and get to a pricing scheme similar to what Apple uses and Windows 7 will at least be received better than Vista was. How much better is in Microsoft’s hands.
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June 4th, 2008
I disagree with your article, at least the bit about SKUs, mostly because I feel you are misinforming the public and leaving out some important facts.
NOTE: I will agree that Home Basic was dumb…given.
The problem with a lot of products is that if you give the public one SKU their initial reaction is a variation on the following: “I dont use all these features, why do I need to pay for them?”
In the same way that cars make economy, luxury, and REALLY luxury packages, it makes sense to do that for windows.
There are a lot of people that would prefer not to pay for features that they do not use and the response to that is SKUs. I read your article in the same fashion as one promoting that iPods come only in one size. People use different sizes, since their media collections themselves are of differing sizes. Those that buy the smaller versions dont need the extra space and would rather not pay for them.
I’m a big fan of simplicity, and I bought Vista Ultimate (remarks of the adolescent naming conventions aside) from the get-go because I wanted it all. But there are plenty of people that are not like me.
If Ultimate was the only SKU, it wouldn’t bother me, but it would certainly bother many others.
Really, the only SKUs available to consumers are the Following: Home, Professional, Ultimate. Enterprise is for business and I feel it shouldn’t be a part of this discussion as it does not apply to you and me.
Home is for the Grandma and Grandpa that wants email and some nice-ities of the new OS. Professional is for those that want something more advanced, but needn’t the extra $150 of features and would rather not pay for it. Ultimate is for me and others like me that want/need everything.
I dont think the pricepoint really matters either. If Ultimate were the only SKU and sold for $100, people would still complain that they want to pay $50 because they only use some of the features and they want an option to buy a less-featured one for less money. That’s just human nature, I think.
The N versions are a requirement of Europe, not a choice of Microsoft. Successful European antitrust suits lobbied by other Media Player companies (e.g., REAL) require Microsoft to provide N versions (without Media Player) of the OS in Europe, which makes sense to me. Yes, it is another SKU, but it is not a choice of Microsofts and I feel your article should have mentioned that.
June 5th, 2008
I agree 100%
Anyone remember that Mac ad about Computer choosing a Vista with that big wheel? And the Mac user says “Well, Macs come with just one OS so there is no choosing”, Computer- Well that’s dumb, this is fun *spins wheel*, So true…
The only version of Vista which is worth it would be Ultimate, maybe Ultimate 64bit.
I would like to see two SKU’s, Windows 7 64bit (with the choice of 32bit) and then Windows 7 Home Edition 32bit.
June 6th, 2008
In response to Santos; (no hard feelings btw)
But still, XP has all its glory, and it has two SKU’s (not talking about starter), and people were happy with it. Home was basically everywhere, then Pro for buisness and people who wanted everything. Vista has to many SKU’s with to little difference to pay for. The vast amount of users out there have Home Premium, and the average user could probably state three to five differences between Home and Ultimate, and they would love to have Ultimate over Home.
Sure Grandma and Pa would be perfectly happy with Home Premium (maybe not happy with Vista *chuckle*) but somehow I don’t think that they are the top priority of SKU’s. The most common for Vista are; Home, Ultimate and Buisness. Why does there have to be an Ultimate and Buisness? Why can they just one?
I still think that Windows 7 would be better off with a Home Edition, and Professional Edition like XP had. XP Home will be on basic PC’s, so there is no point in making a Basic Windows 7. Plus when Vista Basic came out, XP Home Edition was better by far…..
June 9th, 2008
Quote: “Microsoft made a lot of mistakes with Windows Vista”. That gave me a bit of a chuckle Jonathan; it is quite an understatement. In fact, if you took all the mistakes out of Vista, I’m not sure that there would be very much of anything else left. What Microsoft probably need is not a single SKU, but a single *decent* OS offering. If Windows 7 turns out to be ‘Vista revisited’, I would think that it is highly unlikely to pass muster, and that Microsoft’s market share and reputation will continue on their merry way down the plug hole.
June 9th, 2008
“Microsoft made a lot of mistakes with Windows Vista”. This is quite an understatement, and gave me a bit of a chuckle. What Microsoft need is not one SKU, but one *decent* OS offering. Vista offers anecdotal evidence that this may be beyond them.
November 17th, 2008
Vista is piece of garbage, it should have been designed on the first place with 64b architecture. And the be able to u_se the entire ram on nowdays pc’s. It’s like having a V12 engine and running only 3 cylinders. With vista