Windows 7 Launch Presents New Opportunities For Partners

From CRN Network, Windows 7 Launch Presents New Opportunities For Partners By Varun Aggarwal,

After being disappointed with Windows Vista for a while, channel partners finally have a reason to cheer. The launch of Microsoft’s new Operating System-Windows 7 marks a new phase of opportunities for all. Unlike Vista, Windows 7 gets rid of many complexities for the end user as well as the enterprises. The biggest reason to rejoice with the OS launch is that it doesn’t require additional hardware upgrades.

Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, while speaking at the product launch, said, “Proactive engagement and feedback thereof with partners and consumers was fundamental to the development of Windows 7. It has helped deliver what is the highest quality OS in the history of Windows. It enhances the user experience by its sheer simplicity and caters to their connected lives across work and play. We are delighted by the initial reviews from partners and the technology community. Over 90 percent of testers from around the world have rated it as “good” or “extremely good” and consider Windows 7 to be responsive, simple to use and stable.” 

 “The compatibility mode and XP mode in the new OS smoothly solve the issue of compatibility, a critical feature that allows Windows 7 to win hands down over Windows Vista,” according to a Frost & Sullivan analyst note. “Backward compatibility with the earlier versions of applications is one the boons of migrating to new OS. Moreover, the new OS is also hassle free from issues such as lack of drivers for configuring external peripherals,” the note added.

 According to W S Mukund, MD, Acer India, Windows 7 has a smaller OS footprint, improved user interface, quicker response time and improved power management for enhanced battery life. “Windows 7 promises to be on the frontier of a new wave of technological advancements,” added Mukund.

 With additional support for touch interfaces, Windows 7 would enable the existing touch PCs to have better interface and usability according to Ravi Swaminathan, President, PSG, HP India. “The Windows 7 enabled HP PC has great potential to enhance the computing ecosystem, encompassing new and exciting interfaces like the multi-touch technology thereby enabling customers to interact with their computers like never before,” said Swaminathan.

“We’re ready for Windows 7 and our customers are ready for Windows 7. Business customers can experience significant enhancements including faster performance for better productivity, a higher level of security and advanced application compatibility,” said Steve Lalla, Vice President and GM, Commercial Client Product Group, Dell.

 Apart from a host of features that Win7 offers to improve the graphical user interface and navigation for different tasks, some of the noteworthy features for the enterprises are:

Windows XP Mode: Utilizing Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode allows small and medium business users of Windows 7 to run many Windows XP productivity applications, launched right from the Windows 7 desktop. This feature however, is not present in the Home versions of the OS.

Direct Access: This feature enables IT managers to provide the mobile user with reliable and secure access to the corporate network resources when the user in on the Internet, without having to initiate a VPN connection. It allows servicing and updating of remote PCs, even when they are on the road.

Branch Cache: Delivered jointly by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, this feature enables IT pros to decrease the time branch office users spend waiting to download files from remote servers by caching the previously accessed content locally in a branch’s network.

Bit Locker and Bit Locker To Go Drive encryption: Though first introduced with Vista, Win7 extends this feature to encrypt the content on not just the hard disk but also removable drives including the USB.

Dinesh Gupta, MD ECO-REL, feels that the bit locker feature would drive a lot of deployments of Windows 7, especially in the BPO and SMB sector. “We’ve started receiving queries for Windows 7 already and customers are really interested to see how they can cut the otherwise high encryption tool cost with bit locker that comes bundled with Win 7. People who carry data in pen drives can now securely encrypt it without much hassle.”

Vikas Kumar Khairai, Managing Director, KDK Enterprises finds the Direct Access feature particularly exciting. He feels this feature would enable a lot of SMBs to adopt remote access as they no more have to invest into VPN. He’s also seeing some customers considering wide adoption of Windows 7 only for the Direct Access feature.

Windows 7 is available in six editions, targeted at specific user groups and addressing all segments of the market. The two primary editions are: Windows 7 Home Premium for home consumers and Windows 7 Professional for small and medium sized businesses.  Also available in the line-up are Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic (in Emerging Markets only), Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate. The FPP pricing for Windows 7 has reduced in the range of 25-35 percent over Windows Vista, for most SKUs.

According to Ajit Joshi, CEO & MD, Infinity Retail Ltd, the Windows 7 Home basic would cost about Rs 5,800. For customers under the Software Assurance Program, Windows 7 would come as a free upgrade

D K Bajaj, Director, D M Systems Private Ltd feels that although Win7 presents a great opportunity, customers won’t immediately go for it. “Wide adoption would take place at least 3-4 months from now,” he said.

Over 1500 customers have already deployed Windows 7 in India including Infosys, Maruti, Bangalore International Airport, Manipal University and Mindtree among others. All 17 OEMs would offer more than 100 different skews of Windows 7 PCs within 30 days from the launch.

Windows 7 has been built on top of Windows Vista, which means if your application does not work or if it has some issues when running on Windows Vista, most probably it will have similar issues running on Windows 7. The seminar will also cover issues related to Application Compatibility in Windows 7 and how to address these.