The Vista Hard Sell

Some 12,000 partners are in Denver to hear what's new from Microsoft, and so are ChannelWeb reporters. Our ace software team of Stacy Cowley, Rick Whiting and Kevin McLaughlin are all in Denver tuning in to the keynotes and walking the floors. Look for posts from all three of them right here in TalkTalk.

From Rick Whiting:

One can't help but get the feeling that there's a major sales push on for the Windows Vista desktop operating system here at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference.

The factoid that 40 million Vista licenses were sold within 100 days of the product's debut earlier this year was repeated in keynote speeches by chief operating officer Kevin Turner; Allison Watson, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group; Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of the Windows Business Group, and others like some kind of corporate mantra.

Word on the street has been that the channel has been slow to embrace Vista and give up the venerable Windows XP. Conference attendees received in their show kits a thick folder labeled "Windows Vista Partner Resources for Small and Midsized Businesses," and keynote attendees found on every chair brochures offering financing and other goodies to carry Vista and a flier highlighting Vista-related breakout sessions and demos.

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