What PC Makers Really Think About Windows 7 [Windows 7]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ls08ftgq5zY/what-pc-makers-really-think-about-windows-7

You love Windows 7, we love Windows 7, everybody loves Windows 7. Or do they? The top PC makers, Dell and HP, actually have very different opinions about Windows 7.

In yesterday's earnings call (which was pretty miserable for Dell), Michael Dell said, "We're starting to get pretty excited about Windows 7 and believe it's going to be an important catalyst for growth." And Dell could definitely use some of that.

HP's CFO, on the other hand, just doesn't just sound like a sourpuss, but downright bitter—though for good reason, given how badly Microsoft burned them with Vista:

We didn't think there was going to be a Vista moment. We don't think there's going to be a Windows 7 moment either… We are not expecting that there's going to be this huge hockey stick effect when Windows 7 comes out. The good news is we're hearing positive things about Windows 7.

Ouch.

So who do you think's going to be right? Dell, who's clearly hoping for nice Windows 7 wave to surf, or HP, who says—with disdain you can almost feel—that Windows 7 isn't going to do any better than Vista? [Reuters via Silicon Alley Insider]