Here's some more news on MSFT's OS problems:
Win98 SE: How not to market a product
Microsoft Corp. has done an amazingly horrible job of explaining its Windows 98 upgrade plans. It's hard to imagine the company could have made its strategy any more confusing. And lying about its intentions, thinking the truth wouldn't emerge from loose-lipped testers under NDA, hasn't helped matters any.
But give Redmond credit where it's due. Microsoft is NOT planning to charge existing Windows 98 customers $89 for Windows 98 Second Edition, a minor upgrade. The only people who will pay $89 are those who have not already upgraded to Windows 98. Those who have upgraded and want bug fixes, plus some minor new features, like Internet Connection Sharing, DirectX 6.2, Internet 5.0 and new drivers, will be able to buy a CD version for some reduced rate (a figure Microsoft won't divulge, but we hear is about $20).
Fairly simple so far, right? Here's where Microsoft really muddied the waters. There will be some other version of Windows 98 Second Edition, tentatively called StepUp, which also will be an upgrade for existing Windows 98 customers. How this differs from the aforementioned CD version, in terms of price or features, is unclear. And Microsoft isn't shedding any light on this: it's just starting to sign up beta testers for StepUp and is publicly refusing to admit this version is in the works.
(I have to add an aside here. "No comment" is preferable "not true." It's not just the existence of StepUp that Microsoft denied. The company also told us earlier this year there were no plans for a Windows 9X-kernel-based update to Windows 98 due in the year 2000. President Steve Ballmer yesterday announced such a product, although stopped short of calling it the code-name we heard -- Windows 2000 Personal Edition.
Back to more immediate OS matters. There is also going to be a free, downloadable Service Pack 1 for Windows 98. This service pack will be the first of the Microsoft operating service packs which will include bug fixes only, instead of fixes plus new features. This is a good thing. How many times have customers and resellers complained that Microsoft service packs break more than they fix? If Microsoft refrains from putting new and only marginally tested technologies into service packs, the company will be doing everyone a favor.
Whether Microsoft's intentions are noble or not, by being overly cryptic about its Windows 98 Second Edition marketing plans, the company has stirred up customers with little cause.
At the same time, Microsoft has lost an opportunity to explain its rationales for some good policy decisions it's making around service pack updates. Remember OSR2? This upgrade for Windows 95 was available via OEMs preloaded on new hardware only. Windows 95 end-user customers who wanted all the fixes and features Microsoft introduced over a three-year period were only able to obtain these by buying a new machine or trying to download each individual component over the Web.
The forthcoming Windows 98 Second Edition CD upgrade and/or StepUp could alleviate this kind of scenario.
Microsoft's new pricing and upgrade policies -- should it ever be able to explain them in a coherent way -- could end up helping users more than hurting them. Do you agree? If not, why not? Talk back below and let me know.
This article is from ZDNN (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/).
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Peter Strifas |
