Microsoft has released Windows 7 RTM for downloading by volume license customers, a day after it made its new operating system available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. After reporting dismal quarterly revenues in July, Microsoft is looking for a hit in Windows 7 in order to boost its bottom line and compel an industry-wide tech refresh. A recent report by Deutsche Bank suggests that the take-up for Windows 7 could exceed that of both Windows XP and Vista.Microsoft made Windows 7 RTM available for download to volume license customers on
Aug. 7, a day after it opened the final
version of the operating system to download by MSDN and TechNet
subscribers.
Volume license customers will be able to download through the Volume
Licensing Service Center (VLSC). MSDN and TechNet subscribers can download
through either Microsoft Connect or MSDN.
These earliest downloads, however, are only available in
English; the remaining languages will be released "in a few weeks" for
volume-license customers and by Oct. 1 for MSDN and TechNet
subscribers.
Those volume-licensing customers looking to download Windows
7 today will need an existing Software Assurance (SA) license; those without one
will need to wait until Sept. 1 to purchase through the VLSC.
The new operating system's general release to consumers
remains Oct. 22. Microsoft Partner Gold/Certified Members will be able to
download the RTM on Aug. 16, and Microsoft Action Pack Subscribers will be able
to download on Aug. 23.
Microsoft is depending on a substantial operating-system hit
in order to strengthen its declining revenue numbers. During its July 23
earnings call, Microsoft
reported a 17 percent decline in year-over-year revenue for the fourth quarter
of 2009, undershooting Wall Street estimates by more than $1 billion, as
continued weakness in the PC market reduced demand for Microsoft products.
However, Redmond could see economic green shoots in a recent
deep-drill survey by Deutsche Bank, which suggested that Windows 7 would
experience "a faster user take-up than [for] the highly successful Windows XP."
The report added that, "Win-7 penetration rates could exceed the levels achieved
with [Windows] Vista and start to match the penetration rates that XP &
Windows 2000 took two years to reach, potentially within 12 to 18 months."
The hardware infrastructure upgrade could be driven by both
SMBs (small and midsize businesses) and the enterprise looking to upgrade
their equipment, which by 2008 had an average age of 6.1 years. An industry-wide
hardware refresh could also benefit a number of companies that support
Microsofts ecosystem, including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia, Micron
Technology, Samsung, and Hewlett-Packard.