Information Madness

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 is superior to Apple’s Mac OS X, the open source Linux and to all operating systems on the market. This statement from Kevin Turner, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer during the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2010. Windows 7 has got a extraordinary success in terms of adoption and customer satisfaction. Microsoft selling sell some 7 copies of Windows 7 every second evenafter around nine months after the operating system hit store shelves. Now Windows 7 having passed the 150 million sold licenses.

Speaking to Microsoft partners, Turner underlined that the success of Windows 7 can be explained not only through the quality of the OS over previous Windows releases, but also in comparison to rival products. But it’s not to be expected of Apple and Linux users to take Turner’s statement at heart. Both the community built around the Cupertino-based company’s products, as well as the open source community are extremely loyal to their solutions of choice, and quite vocal in their opposition of all things Microsoft.

“We have a very unique opportunity, ladies and gentlemen, to really get in and utilize the incredible momentum we have with Windows 7, the highest quality product we ever put out, the most superior PC operating system on the planet by a margin. No question, and I'll show you some share numbers (…) that will rock your world. This is an incredible opportunity that we have and the opportunity we have for partners to help customers get on a modern platform so they can build modern solutions just unlocks services revenue and new revenue streams around the planet, with every customer,” Turner said. “Get excited behind this; it's a huge opportunity and one that right now we've got to seize the moment.” (emphasis added)

In all fairness, Turner did not mention a specific Windows rival, but there has to be little doubt about the platforms he considers inferior to Windows 7. After all, when it comes down to choosing an alternative to Windows, options are pretty much limited to either OS X, pre-installed on Macs, or to Linux. But in the end, Turner did mention Apple, and Microsoft’s victory over the Cupertino company, by underlining Windows’ dominance of the OS market with a percentage of over 90%.

“We're up 2.6 points on a very high base, which you all are well familiar with, OK, since Windows 7 hit the marketplace. I'll bet some of you cannot believe that number, because when I show that to customers, they're like, "I had no idea." It's the greatest single operating system that we've ever produced. It's the highest quality operating system we've ever produced. It's the fastest-growing operating system we've ever produced. Nine of out 10 people, over nine out of 10 people, when they choose a PC, choose a Windows PC, ladies and gentlemen, around the world. So we are making some progress against Apple,” Tuner commented. (emphasis added).