Windows 7 not likely to jolt PC market

From CNET News.com: Microsoft's top Windows business executive said Monday that for all his excitement about Windows 7, he doubts the release of the operating system will lead to a significant spike in PC sales.

"History would tell us that generally as you ship a Windows release into the market...the bump is very modest," Microsoft senior vice president Bill Veghte said in a "fireside chat" at the UBS Global Technology and Services Conference. "You will see a little bit, but it is modest."

Veghte announced last week that Microsoft plans to ship Windows 7 on Oct. 22. The company will also have a program in the coming weeks through which those who buy a new PC with Windows Vista will get a free or low-cost upgrade to Windows 7. A leaked memo from Best Buy suggests that the program will kick off at the end of this month.

On the business side, Veghte said that there is "very good enthusiasm around Windows 7," but that will not be the biggest factor in the decision by corporations about when to upgrade their computers.

"It will get drowned by the macroeconomic environment," he said in the speech, which was Webcast on Microsoft's investor Web site. "As the macro environment comes back, people will have to buy new PCs. People aren't using PCs any less."

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