Vista Business will be available at Comp USA in a week along with Office
2007 Small Business. Upgrades to these also will be available.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15703616/
If you are in the small country as some of these blokes are called the
USA--the one whose moron executive branch arrogantly presides over the
killing of children and family not their own day after day without lifting a
finger to stop it, it will be in stores with the esoteric name Comp USA a
week from today in the form Vista Buisiness which I have learned the
americans pronounce biz ness.
There will also be editions of Office 2007 Small Bizness in Comp USA on
November 30 for those of you who want to have the satisfaction of taking
home that shiny Vista or Office package right away who haven't been given
the freebies by MSFT or taken them by other means.
Microsoft to sell Vista early at CompUSA
Deal will allow retailer to see operating system, Office, two months early
The Associated Press
Updated: 5:21 p.m. ET Nov 13, 2006
DALLAS - Microsoft Corp. will sell licenses for its new Windows Vista
operating system and Office 2007 productivity suite through CompUSA stores
Nov. 30, two months before the products go on sale at other retailers.
The world's largest software company said Monday that customers will be able
to buy licensing agreements to run Windows Vista Business and Microsoft
Office Small Business 2007 on five or more personal computers.
(MSNBC.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal News.)
The move will put small businesses on the same footing as larger rivals, who
also will be able to buy the new operating system and business software
ahead of the general release scheduled for Jan. 30.
The companies declined to discuss financial terms of their agreement. A
Microsoft executive said the Redmond, Wash.-based company expects to sell
Vista licensing agreements through other retailers next year.
This is the first time Microsoft has allowed small business customers to buy
licenses for new operating system before the general public, said Cindy
Bates, general manager of small business sales at the software company.
"Over 50 percent of our small business customers shop (for software) in
retail stores," Bates said. "Last time, if you walked into store you were
only able to buy the boxed product, which is more expensive and less easy to
manage."
Once inside a CompUSA store, small-business customers will need to speak to
a sales representative to buy a license agreement. That interaction will
give the store and Microsoft a chance to sell the customer other products,
such as the software company's support program.
Bates said licensing several PCs would be at least 10 percent cheaper than
if a small business owner simply bought boxes containing discs with Vista
and the office software. The suggested retail price for a boxed copy of
Windows Vista Business is $299, or $199 for an upgrade from a previous
version. The small-business edition of Office 2007 in a box carries a
suggested price of $449 ($279 for an upgrade).
Bill Maddox, an executive vice president at Dallas-based CompUSA, said the
launch of Windows XP was "huge" for privately held CompUSA, "and we expect
this to be the same."
Bates declined to discuss negotiations between Microsoft and CompUSA, but
said at least two other retailers were aware of the agreement before it was
announced Monday.
"They were aware of the opportunity, and I think they will pay a lot of
attention to this," she said, adding that it was "not really a bidding
situation."
