October 27, 2008 by Matt Thomas
Windows 7 is due for its first alpha release to the public today. The release is scheduled to take place at the Microsoft PDC2008 conference where, amongst a huge amount of hype and fanfare we’ll get the best idea yet of the new operating system and what it is going to mean for an end user. What Microsoft are likely to downplay amongst the rigmarole however, is their reported plan to use Windows 7 against search engine giant, Google.
Strangely, they plan to do this by removing some of Windows’ better features namely, Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker. These will now only be available through the Windows Live site, though they will be free. The point of all this is to get people to go to the Live site where there will be plenty of other Windows live applications to download. Microsoft are betting that once a relationship with the site has been established through use of these applications, users will continue to use the site for online searches. Its essentially a classic ‘loss leader’ promotion.
This all serves to underline how just serious Microsoft are about usurping Google, coming in the wake of bullish noises from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who claimed recently that in order to surpass Google Microsoft was willing to lose “5% to 10% of total operating income for several years.”
It would appear that the fight for online supremacy is about to get ugly.
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