Microsoft Corp. said Ford Motor Co., Continental Airlines Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Intel Corp. will help introduce its Windows 7 operating system by upgrading to the new program.
Executives of the four companies appeared today with Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer at an event in San Francisco to talk about their use of the software. Starwood put the program on computers in Sheraton hotel lobbies. Intel, which skipped the previous Windows upgrade, has 500 people trying it out.
Microsoft needs to generate interest among corporate customers for Windows 7, which goes on sale Oct. 22, after Windows Vista was adopted by relatively few during its almost three years on the market. Twenty-four percent of companies surveyed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said they will upgrade to Windows 7 in the first 12 to 18 months, and 67 percent plan to switch eventually, a higher rate than Vista achieved.
Vista was deployed by about 10 percent of customers in the first 12 to 18 months, Goldman said. In total, only 20 percent to 25 percent switched to Vista, according to Goldman.
Less to Spend
Ballmer has said businesses may need years to recover from the world economic decline. That means companies will have less money to spend on information technology.
“We’re going to have to compete for a share of that IT budget,” Ballmer said today. He said companies can save $90 to $160 a year per personal computer in labor costs.
Ford is planning to “aggressively move” to Windows 7, Microsoft said, as the automaker tries to offer better computer technology for a younger and more mobile workforce.
Starwood has put Windows 7 on Hewlett-Packard Co.’s touch- screen computers inSheraton hotels in seven cities, including New York and Seattle, said Hoyt Harper, a Starwood senior vice president who’s overseeing a project to refresh the Sheraton brand.
A key part of that project has been outfitting lobbies with computing areas where hotel guests can check e-mail, order food and drinks, and take digital photos to send electronic postcards. Some hotels will install Windows 7 on new touch- screen machines, while others will put the new operating system on existing computers in the lobby.
The software and touch-screen computers will let guests browse Microsoft’s Bing Maps program or play games. Starwood also plans to start installing Windows 7 on its corporate PCs.
Microsoft fell 8 cents to $25.75 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have gained 32 percent this year.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment