Microsoft's Windows 7 innovation road: go back home without returning

"Digital Business Times" text: At 7:29 pm on October 22, 30 seconds before the end of CCTV "News Network", the unscrupulous host The last news broadcast: "Microsoft Corporation of the United States officially released the latest operating system Windows 7. Today, Windows 7 brings together the experience and advantages of Microsoft's research and development of operating systems for many years..."

After 24 hours, Hunan Satellite TV’s “Everyday Up” program featured the world’s senior vice president and chairman of the Greater China Region, Liang Nianjian. In the program that allegedly “Let the audience laugh every 3 minutes”, Wang Han, the host who “has no need for a computer”, finally said that he “has been able to use, use, and love Windows 7”.

From the authoritative "mouthpiece" to the high-profile mass entertainment program, the appearance of Windows 7 in the Chinese market is impressive. Liang Nianjian, who joined Microsoft for just one year, was very excited at the press conference in China on October 23. However, he also revealed that Microsoft expects this new operating system to be very high.

Expecting too high is sometimes not a good thing. Three years ago, when Microsoft released the previous version of Windows Vista, not only Microsoft itself, but also computer OEMs and consumers. At that time, the global economy was still in a high-speed rising stage, and people were unaware of the upcoming financial turmoil more than a year later. However, the performance of this product in the market is not so competitive.

Windows Vista is only part of the pressure source. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s rival Google announced its Internet-based operating system, Chrome, which attracted widespread attention from outside the industry. The meaning of Windows7 to Microsoft, foreign media even said that this is Microsoft's "the last lifeline to correct the wrong direction."

Before the end of the 2009 sales season, the Chinese economy “stabilized and rebounded” and the global economy showed signs of picking up. At this time, Microsoft once again offered the "magic weapon" of upgrading products. Can you get out of the shadow brought by Windows Vista? By comparing the actions against these two generations of products, the Digital Business Times found that the pace of change in this company is becoming more and more obvious.

Change One Technology Products People-friendly

If one day, Microsoft removes the "Software Giant" hat and replaces it with the "Entertainment Giant" title, please don't be surprised. This does not necessarily mean that it is going to enter the entertainment industry, but Microsoft is moving towards entertainment and people-friendly.

From a detail, we can see that Microsoft's good intentions. Three years ago, the release site of Windows Vista was at the China World Hotel, and the top executives of Microsoft’s suits announced the “new era” in the PC era. The Windows 7 debut, Beijing's venue is located in the 798 factory known for creative art, from Liang Nianjian to the staff responsible for guiding the road, all wearing a blue casual jacket, the theme of the scene is "computer, it is so simple." At the same time, Zhang Yaqin, senior vice president of Microsoft and chairman of Microsoft China R&D Group, presented Windows7 to lucky consumers at an event in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

"In the past, we released new products. The focus of the promotion was on the versatility of the product itself. Now it emphasizes compatibility and ease of use." Microsoft public relations personnel who have experienced multiple versions of Windows have told reporters.

Compatibility is what Windows Vista is widely criticized for. After installing this product, consumers found that the "powerful" Vista could not get along with some common peripherals and online banking keys. Therefore, solving the problem of Windows 7 hardware compatibility has become a major task for Windows 7 developers.

"We originally only planned to test the most mainstream 200 hardware peripherals." Xu Jianzhi, an engineer at Microsoft China Hardware Innovation Center, told reporters that the idea was quickly "criticized" by the headquarters. Why are 200 instead of 300? How to define "mainstream"?

After learning, they found that in IT stores such as Pacific Computer, there are more than 600 netbooks and more than 3,000 laptops. Xu Jianzhi and his colleagues define "mainstream" as the model that accounts for 80% of the sales share of each type of peripheral. In this way, they got a long form called "The Best Peripheral List on Earth", which lists more than 28,000 pieces of hardware. The result of their efforts is that, according to the results of third-party evaluation, the mainstream hardware products in the domestic market can run on Windows 7.

In terms of ease of use, Ke Wenda, general manager of the Asia-Pacific region of Microsoft Global Technical Support Center, said that four or five years ago, they were most concerned about "how to solve problems when they occur", and their support for users is limited. For example, Windows Vista grants free online customer service to individual users only twice. When they were preparing for Windows 7, they became more proactive. In addition to training Microsoft's own customer service staff, they also provided 28 trainings for computer manufacturer partners across the Asia Pacific region, benefiting 8070 customer service representatives. The service for individual users has also been extended to provide unlimited free services for 90 days.

Change 2 Multinational giants love China

A year ago, IDC predicted that China will become the largest PC market in 2013, and IDC advanced this time to 2011.

If the multinational giants’ consistent impression of the Chinese market is “big” and “more”, they should be improved recently.

Wensi Information Technology Co., Ltd., which has been working with Microsoft for 12 years, got a special outsourcing project during the development of Windows 7. Since the project involves more than 20 languages, the head of Microsoft headquarters originally intended to focus on Indian teams or outsourcers – in their mindset, Indian talent has a stronger foreign language advantage.

Wu Jian, executive vice president of VanceInfo, told reporters that they had “stunned” the people at Microsoft headquarters. Originally, the other party only went to VanceInfo to "just look at it", but saw that in a conference room, more than 20 engineers of various skin colors were sitting under pressure, and it was a "multinational force." The head of Microsoft's headquarters immediately made a decision and handed the project to Microsoft's outsourcing company in China, Wensi.

Another title of Wu Jian is "Chief Global Officer". He told reporters that it is not so difficult to gather a team of software engineers who understand more than 20 languages. Especially after the Olympics, foreign countries. People seem to come to China more."

At Microsoft, there is a "foreigner" who is very diligent in China.

"In the past year, I have come to China once every month and a half." The day before the release of Windows 7, Mike Nash, global vice president of Microsoft's Windows platform strategy, was in an exclusive interview with Digital Age. Speaking, he has realized that the practice of the United States cannot be copied in China. For example, in the fight against piracy, the common strategy in the US market is to impose fines on pirated users, while in the Chinese market, legitimate users should be encouraged and even rewarded. After the release of Windows 7, Microsoft will continue this anti-piracy strategy in China.

"Improving the popularity of genuine Windows 7 is the common goal of me and Simon (Liang Nianjian)," Nash said. In the past year, Nash, who is responsible for pricing Windows, has visited the computer store in Zhongguancun, Beijing. In the end, he won a world lowest price for the Chinese market – the cheapest Windows 7 in the United States. The home premium version is priced at $119.99 (about RMB 1,300), while the same product is priced at 699 yuan in the Chinese market. Nash believes that the low price strategy is expected to promote the sale of genuine Windows7.

As the world's largest software company, if Microsoft can't make enough profits in the market on the day when China becomes the largest PC market, I am afraid it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the industry.