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Sales of Microsoft Corp's new Windows 7 operating system have been "fantastic" in Japan since its launch last month, CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday.
He declined to provide specific numbers for Japan, which is Microsoft's second-largest market, but said features like quicker start-up times were luring consumers to the newest version of the world's dominate software package. He added new computers were also helping attract buyers.
"People don't buy operating systems, they buy computers with operating systems on them," Ballmer told reporters during a presentation in Tokyo.
Windows 7 was launched last month after consumers and businesses gave a poor reception to its predecessor, Vista. That operating system was considered slow and had trouble working with existing programs and devices. Many consumers and companies opted not to install Vista at all.
The company has also been hit by the economic downturn. Microsoft said Wednesday it is cutting 800 jobs, in addition to the 5,000 layoffs it announced in January, its first broad layoffs ever.
Microsoft's Japan subsidiary is currently its best performing, Ballmer said.
He said the company's Internet search partnership with Yahoo Inc. could be extended outside of the U.S. to markets such as Japan, without elaborating. Yahoo's Japan portal is dominant in the country, even in areas such as online auctions that are weaker in the U.S.
Ballmer called Microsoft a "small player" in search and said it has a long way to go to rival Google's strength in that area.
Microsoft and Yahoo are working out the details and awaiting regulatory approval on an alliance in the U.S. that would see Microsoft handle searches from Yahoo's site and provide much of the advertising based on the results.
The Microsoft chief said the company was investing heavily on developing so-called "cloud" services, in which the majority of processing and storage is done online via the Internet, instead of on hardware "clients" like mobile phones and PCs.
But he added that users would always be happiest when some programs ran locally.
© Wire reports
29 Comments
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hellhound
I liked the Windows 7 burger at Burger King
blvtzpk
Japan's the perfect market - consumers are always ready to buy something that's new.
KallyPygous
I have previously enthused about Windows 7, but now that I'm more used to it, I find it just as annoying as XP. It can't do more than one thing at once without seriously slowing up.
Beelzebub
Griping about Microsoft products seems to be the new US national sport.
Badsey
I think BaLLmer is confusing the OS with the Win7 burger --> Which is actually pretty good.
PepinGalarga
My Win7 build is rotting, rot rot rot... Skype among other things keeps crashing. May need to rebuild soon.
The758
So why does M$ sell it separately?
I'm surprised he was so civilized about it. In interviews in the past he said he wouldn't let his kids use Google nor own iPods. He the most militant M$ fanboy out there.
sakurasuki
Japan desperately need something that could replace Vista but supporting new hardware driver for the future and also they always fond about new things. Whenever you go to electronic shops that sell PC they always give really strong message to buy Windows 7. No wonder Japanese response to windows 7 is "fantastic".
societymike
^^^ if you are having problems with your W7 and your PC running slow as you say, it's 95% chance your PC is pretty out of date and has slow or bad HARDWARE on it. Modern PC's are much faster than those of just 5yrs ago, so software and OS's take advantage of the "standard" in large amounts of CPU and memory power.
redninja
Reminds me when I wanted to buy a new PC when Vista just got out. Every store I visited, I got the same answer "We don't sell XP PCs anymore!". I had to look around for a week to finally snatch the last XP pc at some local Sofmap store.
biglittleman
I agree with the comments above. New OS software doesn't run well on outdated computers. You need to upgrade your hardware too. It is like putting a brand new advanced racing engine into a Ford Model-T. The car can't handle the power.
KallyPygous
Just to verify, my computers have core 2 duo processors. One has 4gb ram, the other 2gb. Windows 7 should run perfectly, but it doesn't. It clicks whirs, fizzes, freezes and crashes the same as Windows always has. I only use Windows for a few things, so I know there aren't lots of power hungry apps running in the background. It's just second rate.
ashika1009
Vista was a poor product and I dare say that anyone selling a product like that would normally be forced to make some kind recall. Guess commonsense does not apply to Microsoft. No sooner had Vista come out than retailers were recommonding home premium or ultra (and for good reason: Basic caused a lot of basic problems.) Smart folks held on to XP. People stuck with Vista now have no choice but to think seriously about upgrading? to 7. But dont listen to me. I have no fondness for Gatess monoply and control of the market and the power he can then project into our daily lives. Pretty obscene, in my opinion.
The_True
Just to verify, my computers have core 2 duo processors. One has 4gb ram, the other 2gb. Windows 7 should run perfectly, but it doesn't. It clicks whirs, fizzes, freezes and crashes the same as Windows always has. I only use Windows for a few things, so I know there aren't lots of power hungry apps running in the background. It's just second rate.
cactusJack
KallyPygous, are you running WIN7 as a Virtual Machine?
nath
I am an Apple fan, but that is because I like and do art and music and all the fun things with it. When I was using a PC during Apples bad system 09 I was so frustrated in trying to integrate movies and slide shows and music, that when apple udpdated to it in a flash, and have not looked back since. Everyone else in my family have windows. Some need it due to business, but they like my apple too. I was using my dad's new pc last summer and found it to be very fast and ok with everything. But I was just searching the net and doing mail.
KallyPygous
Nope. Running it on partitioned hard drives. Got Snow Leopard, Ubuntu and Windows 7. Windows 7 is by far the clunkiest. Each partition is very large, with much more than 30% free space.
terebiko
Monkey boy speaks! I am sure Windows 7 will work best for those who buy a new computer with it pre-installed. Upgraders are the ones who will have the headaches. Hopefully this will help Microsoft make a come back, after the Vista fiasco. I read that they just laid off about 5800 people, 800 more than they planned to. The Seattle-area can't afford another hit, after Boeing decided to make a plant in SC. I can see it now, Microsoft moves it's home office to India....
timorborder
Big Steve Balmer, who will for ever be remember for his monkey dance.
seeker1
The monkey dance is a sight to see. I think it's on youtube for anyone interested.
Sarge
Microsoft still rules.
forinagai
I've been running the full version of W7 for about 3 months. AMD Dual Core + 3GB RAM. So far, no problems. And I use PC for video encoding, watching movies, graphics creation, website creation. So how come some of you guys with a better spec pc can't get W7 to run? It certainly can't be the OS!
roughneck
OK, unless your w7 is 64 bit, you are using only 3 GB of RAM.
Well, that's may be because it is trying to index the other partitions. Hide the Leopard and Ubuntu partitions or stop indexing. Apple machines were never best for running Windows, because of the drivers in-compatibility.
griff
that's a load of rubbish. macs these days mostly use the same kinds of components to pc boxes
bdiego
Of course it's fantastic, they finally ported Macintosh interface to a Windows platform. As an owner of several PCs and Macbooks I applaud them for finally getting something right. After decades of bashing Microsoft, I'll give them credit where it's due.
bdiego
BTW to back up what griff said, most Macs will run Windows way better than the average PC. There's no more driver in-compatability than with PCs, stop pulling things out of your ass.
randomenigma
This is actually a fallacy, this limit is for virtual memory (per application), not for RAM.
There is a 4 GB limit for Windows 7 which is enforced in software to prevent people using it as a server. The server OS (Windows Server 2008) will go to 64 GB even on the 32-bit version.
Badsey
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx
Windoz Memory Limits:
presto345
Thank you for that. When I bought my new Sotec half a year ago I could choose Vista or XP. Of course I chose XP! Vista is a major pain in the . . . (I work with 6 different PCs - even a Thinkpad with W2K which is just great) But giving Gates credit goes too far, because
Exactly.