ZDnet - If you were one of those individuals holding out hope that Microsoft might go the way of Apple and move to one or two SKUs for Windows 7, your prayers have gone unanswered. But there still is some good news in what’s on tap when Windows 7 ships, most likely in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
Microsoft went public on February 3 with its planned version (SKU) line-up — but not pricing — for Windows 7. After receiving an admittedly very quick SKU overview from the Softies yesterday, here are my first impressions of Microsoft’s new SKU plan.
The Good
Microsoft learned a lot of lessons from Vista — among them, that too many SKUs with too few justifications created customer confusion.
Microsoft is putting the bulk of its marketing dollars and muscle behind just two of the Windows 7 SKUs: Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional. “We think over 80 percent of customers will be on those two SKUs,” Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President of the Windows business said. “That’s where we are putting our marketing focus.”
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