Analyst warns of Microsoft jiggerypokery on Windows 7 figures
The head of an analyst firm dedicated to Microsoft has warned people to be wary about claims of how well Windows 7 is doing among business users. Rob Horowitz of Directions on Microsoft says figures announced this week for the new system could give a misleading image.
As part of Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans this week, former Windows head Bill Veghte announced businesses have already received licenses to run a total of 51 million machines on Windows 7. That sounds mighty impressive given that one independent estimate has 177 million people running the system by the end of next year (a figure which includes consumer users).
However, Horowitz – who worked for Microsoft for eight years and helped develop the first edition of Word – says the figures don’t necessarily represent interest in the new system. He points out that many, if not most, of these licenses are from existing deals which will automatically give users upgrades.
He notes that the upgrades aren’t always the main selling point of the licensing deals, with many firms opting for such “Enterprise Agreements” simply because doing so massively cuts down on administration. In some cases users don’t even take advantage of the automatic updates to which they are entitled.
It’s certainly not fair to accuse Microsoft of lying on this point: there’s no reason whatsoever to believe that the 51 million figure isn’t correct. However, it’s how they portray the figure that matters, and in that aspect the company’s past form only encourages cynicism. It’s well known that the official sales figures for Vista included machines which had been downgraded to XP, in some cases before the user ever booted them up for the first time.
If it’s simply a case of Microsoft putting the best possible spin on a new system’s success, there isn’t necessarily a problem as independent sources will be sure to call them on it. However, if Windows 7 has the same disparity as Vista between the official license total and the number of people who are actually using the system, developers may feel misled when figuring out if it’s worth making Windows 7-compatible products.
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