Microsoft: Vista sells 20 million, Microsoft Watch: We don't buy it
by Zack Stern 
{ Mar 27th 2007 at 3:10PM }
Microsoft says that Windows Vista sold 20 million copies in its first month of release, besting Windows XP's 17 million copies in its first two months. Engadget softens some of the press release spin, noting that 239 million PCs sold globally in 2006, so 20 million isn't a shock. But Microsoft Watch dismantles the original claim with a detailed editorial.Microsoft Watch says that Microsoft has counted sales beginning late last year before the general-public launch. The editorial also notes that license sales in the channel shouldn't count -- the "shipped" versus "sold" debate. Finally, analysts don't agree with the total.
While Vista's sales numbers are being questioned, the OS is clearly going to end up on most PCs sooner or later, and the gaming world has had mixed reactions. Some developers have criticized the new OS, and some gamers have had initial driver problems. Hopefully Vista updates will fix any final issues for early adopters.
Read -- Stacking Vista Licenses Too High
Read -- Windows Vista Debuts with Strong Global Sales
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rom @ Mar 27th 2007 3:18PM
"Some developers have criticized the new OS, and some gamers have had initial driver problems."
Wow...That described every one of their OS launches.
jsn @ Mar 27th 2007 3:19PM
Sure Vista will play games, but why exactly does this warrant a post on joystiq? I guess we need something to fill the time between Sony's last screw up and their next one.
SmilingAssassin @ Mar 27th 2007 3:19PM
I bought 3 copies for the house in February and one for my wife's mother. I contributed four. Easier for me to deal with as well.
samfish @ Mar 27th 2007 3:22PM
I'll go first and say it:
Everything on Vista I've had on OS X for a while...AND it's not a piece of crap!
Gauntlet is: DOWN!
fu42 @ Mar 27th 2007 3:43PM
"Microsoft Watch says that Microsoft has counted sales beginning late last year before the general-public launch."
That's because the corporate edition were available for purchase through non-retail channels in December.
Jack of No Trades @ Mar 27th 2007 3:24PM
I hear complaints everytime a new MS OS is released on how "its crap" or "it sucks" yet millions of people still purchase. Funny how things work.
sheppy @ Mar 27th 2007 3:27PM
The one thing keeping me from buying a Mac is their amazing inability/refusal to create a tablet PC. But no, I can get an iPod in my phone but a macintosh built around an artist on the go like myself? Fuck me, I don't rate!
Having said that, Vista sales aren't that far fetched. After all, you can't refuse it when you buy/build a new PC.
Personally, I want an OS to run smoothly without bells and whistles. I hate when Maya fights with the OS for power. I don't care if my windows are 3D or not... just don't steal power from Maya!
jsn @ Mar 27th 2007 3:34PM
Who cares what OSx had before Vista. The Unix/Linux community had those things way before OSX did too, so who cares. Just because F1 cars had ceramic breaks before Mercedes was putting them on production models doesn't make them any less cool, useful or effective.
Gavin @ Mar 27th 2007 3:36PM
Hey samfish, I think you should probably wait to throw that gauntlet down when the Mac OS gets higher than 10% of the market. Really, Mac fans cause so much noise on the net, but are still a minority. Don't even pretened that OS X can even remotely compete because it hasn't, it won't, and it can't. Dream on and keep burying your head in the sand.
jsn @ Mar 27th 2007 3:42PM
Well said Gavin. The greatness of OSX is one of the biggest hoaxes of all time. It's a solid OS, but it's nothing spectacular. It, just like every OS, will crash. It, just like every OS, has bugs and security flaws. The big difference right now is that Apple is at the bottom of the list in terms of lead time to patch their security flaws and fix their bugs.
Gavin @ Mar 27th 2007 3:42PM
P.S. I was Mac fanatic and before that an Amiga fanatic, then I grew up and figured out that if I wanted to build my own system, get the most use out of it, and be able to play games, I might as well go with the mainstream because...GASP!!!!, the mainstream does not = evil.
Chris @ Mar 27th 2007 3:43PM
Vista is for the cattle who doesn't know any better, Linux is for the geek who has a lot of time on his hands, and OSX is for the guy who just wants to get his work done the easiest way possible. It's that simple.
And, sheppy, there is a tablet for the Mac. It's called the Axiotron Modbook:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ModBook
Josh @ Mar 27th 2007 3:46PM
I've built 17 computers with Vista Home Premium installed and I didn't need to kick up my normal building specs at all (my target customer base is standard users, not gamers). IMO it's a great OS and hasn't given me a bit of trouble yet. I would highly recommend it for residential customers for security reasons however business customers I can't see the reason for mass migration yet. Everyone hated on XP when it came out and now it's the standard. In a few years Vista will be the same.
Tanster @ Mar 27th 2007 3:47PM
I must not be the only person who doesn't feel compelled to upgrade to Vista. I always feel that it will be a system resource hog. The upgraded features are probably nice but couldn't somebody please develop a GUI that isn't bloated? I have a decent computer setup and could should be able to handle the requirements, but MS should look at how Opera works. Everything out of the box with little intrusion.
JodyAnthony @ Mar 27th 2007 3:47PM
the only thing more annoying than ps3/wii/360 fanboys is mac fanboys.
jsn @ Mar 27th 2007 3:47PM
Chris: You might have made the dumbest post the internet has ever seen. You're probably due for an award now.
Chris @ Mar 27th 2007 5:26PM
jsn, I'm glad you're prone to hyperbole, otherwise I wouldn't take your entry seriously. Thanks for the nomination... I look forward to seeing you in the running!
Oh, and Macs rule, baby. They really do!
umm....hello??? @ Mar 27th 2007 3:59PM
@6
yeah. that and Apple's "fixed" prices...I can buy a windows vista (home basic or home premium emachine pc) with more memory, etc than Apple's "mac mini". but since I primarily use a computer for email/internet and the occasionally excel/word for business purposes, and keeping track of music and photos (with minor touchup work) any computer over $400 is overkill for me personally.
and since i have my pswii60+ (the plus is for just about all the other previous incarnations of most consoles), am definitely not going to fret over games on the computer (although Halo2 remake is ALMOST a compelling reason--but you COULD run Vista on a Mac if you wanted to--making it the most expensive Halo2 game anyone's played).
/end babbling.
Crono @ Mar 27th 2007 4:02PM
I'll get vista once there is an affordable DX10 card on the market, and games that use it.
Until then, its pointless.
sheppy @ Mar 27th 2007 4:10PM
Hmmm... so a Mac tablet starts at $2200, meanwhile, a fully pimped out PC tablet based on the one and the same Wacom technology costs about $1800...
I was hoping when they finally did it, it would be reasonable. Looks nice, but I can get better speced, nVidia, AMD, and bigger storage for roughly $900 cheaper on PC.
Killer @ Mar 27th 2007 4:14PM
Chris you should have chose a different way to call Vista buyers. The "Cattle" you speak of is the masses. So you just said the masses are clueless. Not a good choice. We, "cattle", out number you 10:1.Also we "Cattle" can be pretty mean too. We might standpede right over you. lol
JodyAnthony @ Mar 27th 2007 4:14PM
"I was hoping when they finally did it, it would be reasonable."
Apple price something reasonably? That'll be the day.
Grindstone @ Mar 27th 2007 4:27PM
15. the only thing more annoying than ps3/wii/360 fanboys is mac fanboys.
Posted at 3:47PM on Mar 27th 2007 by JodyAnthony
Well said. If there is one thing that chafes me more than arrogant fanboys, it's an elitist Mac user. If your Apple really was "all that", it would be mainstream, a la iPod.
As for Vista, it matters not. We'll all be running it within the next 3 years anyway.
Ace @ Mar 27th 2007 4:29PM
This reminds me a weird comics post about there being an official certificate for allowing Mac owners to be pompous, elitist pricks. He is a Mac owner just for the record.
Tell you what, while you pomp the "benefits" of using OSX (who DOESNT love a $129 upgrade every year that fixes issues that shouldnt have to be fixed?), I'm typing away at my 1800 gaming rig that can play anything on the market at full spec on my 24 inch monitor (550 bucks) making it 2500 total. If I spent 2350 on a mac what would I get?
Lets see:
2000 for an iMac with 24 inch screen, 1gb RAM, 250gb HDD, e6400 c2d, and 7300gt graphics card.
What would be comparable to what I've got?
After making all necessary adjustments I would spend just over 3000 on a comparable iMac that couldnt do 90% of the gaming i do. (Keep in mind this si with downgrades in certain areas, like an iMac can't handle anything higher than a 7600gt, whereas I currently have a 7950gt)
AirIntake @ Mar 27th 2007 4:35PM
I just bought a new Vista Premium laptop for my Mom. I was considering getting a Mac as she's never really used a computer before other than email and word pro at work (on Win2000). But, as usual, the bottom of the line Mac laptop was $1400, and there was no way I could justify that price to her, when PC laptops start at $600. I ended up getting her an $800 Acer with a Turion 64 x2 1.6GHz, 1Gig ram, 160Gig HD, 15.4" 1280x800 screen, WiFi, DVD burner, etc etc, with Vista Premium. I showed her the Win+Tab thing that scrolls through open apps in 3D and she just loved it. I didn't even have to set up too much, as Vista includes tons of pretty good apps and utils that on XP I'd have to install myself. I just installed Avast, Firefox, Thunderbird, WP Office X3, DivX, uTorrent and copied some music and family pictures over.
Mr Khan @ Mar 27th 2007 5:05PM
I've always said it:
Linux is for the Winners
Windows is for the Normals
Mac is for the Fanboys
it's really that simple. I hate to dump on Mac (i love rooting for the underdog, one of the reason's i'm a more zealous Nintendo fan than i'd like to be). But those PC vs. Mac commercials really pissed me off, because of how they made the fact that PC's can be "upgraded" look like a BAD thing! Talk about spin... It's like if Microsoft said that the PS3 sucked because it can use standard bluetooth devices
Think about this: with Windows/PC, you get hardware freedom and software tyranny
with Mac you get hardware tyranny and software tyranny
with Linux, you're free
samir @ Mar 29th 2007 11:08AM
I have to say i love vista. I was not going to upgrade, but the lure of getting media center goodness on my PC was too much. I got the home premium , and now i stream movies to my 360. Plus i like Vista quite a bit. The devices just work. Wireless has yet to drop connection even once, and all drivers for most of my hardware were found using "windows update". I love it. Just my 2 cents.
Buckshot @ Mar 27th 2007 5:11PM
It rocks, 64 bit on my home and work desktops, 32 bit on my laptop. Pure raw power. Best of all no "Mac guy" effeminate looks from the apple people. Buy a zune people; you can see the damn screen.
Gavin @ Mar 27th 2007 5:11PM
"Linux is for the Winners"
Yeah, if by "Winners" you mean people who don't want to play games, love to wait for compatibility, and think it is cool just to be on the outskirts of reality. I've tried Linux, and though it is a nice free option for servers, it isn't for anyone who really wants to do anything serious with a computer.
Autocrawler @ Mar 27th 2007 5:31PM
Windows/Linux dualboot is enough for me.
I am a predominantly PC gamer, and I play every crossplatform release on my PC if possible, and that is definitely enough for me both for that and for "software/hardware freedom".
sandoze @ Mar 27th 2007 5:33PM
You're not kidding when talking about vista driver issues. Many of my favorite games are unplayable in vista using an nvidia card. The display driver crashes continually. And it's not just me. nvidia forums has this post: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=25381
480+ comments, 38k+ views and no hope in sight.
AirIntake @ Mar 27th 2007 6:47PM
@Gavin
You're partially right, Linux ain't for games. But you can do some pretty serious computing without any hassle with a distro like Ubuntu.
AirIntake @ Mar 27th 2007 6:49PM
@sandoze
Yeah, I tried Trackmania Nations on my Mom's new Vista laptop. After clicking 'Play' it just sat there. The HD didn't grind, no error messages, nothing. I don't think it even tried to load the game. If you're into PC gaming, I'd stay the hell clear of Vista for another 6 months or so.
mike @ Mar 27th 2007 6:50PM
well Im
mike @ Mar 27th 2007 6:55PM
well im a windows vista user now. I can say I like the OS very much. It runs a fraction slower then xp, but I am running off a 5+ year old PC, and its nothing I cant live with
I like all the extras, the gui, the easy stuff like auto scrolling bars sidebars in windows explorer. I find it leaps ahead of XP. MEdia center is great, and the newr windows movie maker is great to. Ive only had compatiblity with 1 program so far, and im using a 4 year old version of the program to, so updating fixed it no problem.
Everything about the OS is cooler and simpler then XP, yet with all that xp functionality and more.
The problem is, I tell my friends I got viast, and every single response I get was ``I heard it was bad``. Of course, none of them had ever even seen the OS, but simply saying what they heard. Once I showed them, they seemed to think it was awsome. Seems theres a lot of negative going around now about vista, but its being spread by all the mac fanboys and stupid people playing broken telephone who have not even tried it. I have yet to meet a person who said vista was bad and actually tried it.
JJ @ Mar 27th 2007 9:59PM
For me, there is just no real compelling reason to upgrade at this point, i really dont care for the new GUI and the security issues bug me for the most part, so i'm just sticking with xp for now. I DO have vista on my moms Dell laptop...and maybe its a combination of dell/MS but the thing runs like garbage to the point where my mom just gave me the laptop because she's tired of it but hey...free 1400 dollar laptop for me =)
But yeah people will use whatever OS is easier for them to operate, in my graphics design class we used macs, becaue they were just simply better suited for the task, but since i'm mainly a gamer on my PC, i use windows due to the fact that...well...every game released is made for that platform. Otherwise i WOULD probably use a Mac.
But either way, whats it matter? each OS is good for a certain thing and it will take advantage of that, just because Mac doesn't sell as many copies as Windows doesnt make it garbage, and just because windows sells millions of copies doesn't make it the greatest OS ever and vice versa on those respects as well.
But i will say this, XP has served me well for the most part (I had ME before that and well... that was the worst pile of crap to ever be spewed from the bowels of microsoft...).
So hey ANY OS is better than that =)
William Crabtree @ Mar 27th 2007 10:48PM
Mac for work, PC for gaming only.
For ME, OS X just seems to flow/work better. I have not tried Vista and will not until I absolutely have to. Lets put it this way...I JUST got my first official copy of Windows XP this month. So maybe in 5 years I will look into Vista.
By then we will probably have a chip in our brains.
mc @ Mar 28th 2007 7:39AM
There's really no reason to upgrade, but if your a gamer and getting a new computer or starting a whole new build then why not get vista?
I just put vista on my build with a 8800gts, and have had absoluetly no problems running Oblivion.
James Smith @ Mar 29th 2007 11:21PM
Ubuntu FTW!
Anna @ Apr 30th 2007 9:11PM
Hello!
Well, i have been a Vista user for 2 weeks now and my opinion about this OS has mainted pretty much the same: pretty OS
I wasn't going to upgrade or buy a PC with Vista norless buy the software but my dad gave me my Dell Laptop with Vista Home Premium and i said "oh well, lets give it a try"
So far, the OS has been a little bit slow at the beginning; my vlc player is uncompatible; WORD has become slower (maybe because i have 2003); and when i connected it to a projector the image totally crash since it becomes black & white and there is no way to return it to the original state and thats maybe because Vista has image profiles for everything but other than that, well, its a good and pretty OS ... nothing shocking but the sidebar rocks xD
And... another thing... whats the reason of making so many versions (Premium, Home) why not just make on? or maybe two...
That sucks