ALKHOBAR: According to Microsoft Gulf, permission has been received for the Windows 7 operating system to run on new PCs at the GITEX Technology Week trade show and exhibition and the GITEX Shopper & Consumer Electronics Expo in Dubai. This will allow the new operating system to be demoed five days prior to the official global launch scheduled to take place Oct. 22. Visitors will also be able to buy Windows 7 pre-loaded onto laptops at GITEX Shopper.
This is a slight to IT retailers in the Middle East who invest year round to support Microsoft and its partners. In the UAE, the Windows 7 PCs will only be available at the GITEX Shopper and not in regular retail outlets. And in Saudi Arabia, the largest PC market in the GCC, the Windows 7 machines won’t be allowed to be sold till after the official worldwide launch.
In the past, manufacturers have stated that the PC models on sale at the GITEX Shopper in Dubai were available at the same time and same price, to the entire channel in the Gulf countries. This year that will not be possible. Anyone considering purchasing a Windows 7 PC at GITEX Shopper should check the warranty. Many warranties on machines offered at the Shopper are only valid in the UAE.
If there is a need to buy a PC in the next three weeks before Windows 7 is available in the Kingdom, Microsoft does have the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program. This program allows customers who buy a PC from a participating OEM or retailer with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate to upgrade to Windows 7 at little or no cost. To do the upgrade though, it is necessary to go through the hassle of a clean installation of the operating system to move to the comparable Windows 7 version.
Microsoft also must bring more Windows 7 awareness resources online for the Middle East, and their expensive displays at GITEX won’t serve this purpose. The US website for the product launch at www.microsoft.com/windows/ is a packed with information about the new operating system. However, by comparison Microsoft websites targeting Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia are pitiful.
The redirect from the US Windows site to the Windows worldwide Arabic site www.microsoft.com/middleeast/arabic/windows/default.mspx and Microsoft’s Saudi Arabia site — www.microsoft.com/ar/sa/default.aspx are useless for Arabic speakers looking for details on Windows 7. Both of those Microsoft sites are still focused on Windows Vista and Windows mobile. Links from those sites’ homepage menus to Windows 7 information, return users to English language web pages. It might seem silly to point out that English is not Arabic, but apparently Microsoft marketing execs don’t understand this. It’s creating a frustrating user experience and a negative perception of Windows 7 support in the Middle East, even before the product is launched.
Comments to: [email protected] or http://twitter.com/molouk