Message to OEMs: Focus on Consumers

In an effort to drive PC sales, Microsoft is concentrating on adding consumer-oriented features to Windows, such as improved support for digital media, advanced graphics, built-in communications capabilities, and ease-of-use improvements. The company urged hardware manufacturers to take advantage of these features because it believes they will shorten the upgrade cycle and convince consumers to buy more expensive machines.

Microsoft also announced plans to create a single source of information for hardware and driver developers, clarified the release cycle for the next version of its desktop OS (code-named Longhorn), and provided new details about the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (formerly code-named Palladium), a planned OS that will offer added security.

Getting Past “Good Enough”

Speaking at the 2003 Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in May, Microsoft executives acknowledged that the PC hardware industry is troubled by low margins and lengthening upgrade cycles. According to Will Poole, senior vice president of the Windows Client business, more than 75% of PCs sold today cost less than US$1,000, cutting into OEMs’ margins, and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates noted that “the refresh cycles for lots of different systems are longer today than they’ve ever been.”