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Will replacing Vista kick up PC sales?
U.S. software giant Microsoft's Japanese unit displays the packaging of the company's new operating system Windows 7 at a press conference in Tokyo.
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TEXT OF STORY
Stacey Vanek-Smith: Meanwhile, Apple's longtime rival, Microsoft, is updating its operating system this week. Replacing Vista with Windows 7. Microsoft has had a lot of issues with Vista.
Will saying hasta la vista to Vista help boost PC sales? Marketplace's Bob Moon filed this report.
WINDOWS '95 COMMERCIAL: Tonight only! In celebration of the release of Windows 95!
BOB MOON: A decade and a half ago, crowds lined up for the new Windows, at "midnight madness" sales nationwide.
COMMERCIAL: You can get your copy of Windows '95 while there's still stock!
Microsoft can only hope its latest Windows launch makes a splash more like that, over the yawn that met Windows Vista in 2007.
The PC market counts on new Windows versions to spur sales, but Gartner Research's Steve Kleynhans remembers how Vista wasn't ready in time to lure in holiday shoppers.
STEVE KLEYNHANS: Windows 7 is incredibly well-timed. It's arriving just as we see the economy starting to pick up, and right in time for Christmas sales.
So what could go wrong?
KLEYNHANS: Today, I don't think people are really all that excited about operating systems.
Kleynhans says the new software won't make old computers and other hardware obsolete as much as past releases did.
KLEYNHANS: The operating system has become less of a driver in the sense of requiring people to move to a new platform.
PC sales are starting to bounce back, but they could use some sizzle -- sales of Macs have bounced back stronger.
I'm Bob Moon for Marketplace.
I started using Windows 7 Beta a few months ago and in my opinion it’s pretty good. It is much quicker and programs don't lag when you have a lot of stuff working at once. There are some cool features that Microsoft introduced into Windows 7 and I think the overall user experience is much easier and simpler now. Microsoft took Windows 7 seriously, after Vista they really had no choice. I have written extensively about my own experience using Windows 7 and I hope you can find it helpful. Please comment and let us know.
<a href="http://ketiva.com/Computers_and_Internet/my_experience_with_windows_7_us...
It is still too early to know what kind of problems may come up in the future using Windows 7, but on the whole I think it will be a cool operating system.
WOW, MS introduces a new operating system. Just after trying to secretly undermine the security of the Firefox browser. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/mozilla_disables_mi...
