Vista Upgrade Spreads Wide Ripples Across Industry
By Tamara Chuang, The Orange County Register, Calif.
The anticipation is over. Windows Vista is finally here.
But thousands of companies are still rushing around to make sure their wireless routers, portable storage drives and graphic cards work with the new Microsoft operating system.
With the heavy dose of PC-related companies in Orange County, many are still working on software updates. Those who put in the time and pay the price can get an official "Vista certified" logo stamped on their product so consumers know that it works with Vista.
"It’s not mandatory," said Keith Renty, business and product development manager for Irvine gadget maker IOGear. "But it gives you a much better appearance. You submitted the equipment. It’s been thoroughly tested.
That’s what the logo means." But to get that logo takes time and costs money — from several hundred to several thousand dollars per product.
That’s why not every single IOGear product will have the official Vista logo even though it tested nearly every product in-house. The Vista logo likely won’t grace the boxes of hundreds of other computer products. For many companies, the extra costs and time outweigh the need to get the Vista sticker.
"We have 200 products, and some will require updates," said Jason Owen, chief manager for Hawking Technologies, an Irvine maker of web Web cameras and home-automation and wireless products. "In terms of getting Vista certification, we haven’t done that. That’s a very expensive process." Last time around, Hawking wasn’t alone when it skipped getting Windows XP certification for some products. Everything still worked, Owen said, but in some cases, a window would pop up during installation asking, "This isn’t certified for Windows XP. Continue with installation?" The manual advised the user to select "yes.""It’s important to us marketing-wise so customers feel that it’s a high-level product. If you see the warning message pop up, you’re going to wonder about the brand," said Owen. "But from a functional process, (the logo) doesn’t matter." Hawking is still testing all of its products to make sure they work with Vista. But it will only apply for the Vista logo only on the most popular items — at a cost of nearly $800 per product, Owens estimated.
Prices vary and Microsoft declined to give a range. At IOGear, there was a $15,000 set-up fee and a $3,000 charge for each product needing a logo. The price dropped to $1,500 if the product didn’t need an updated driver, Renty said.
Microsoft has been working with manufacturers for months to get products Vista-certified. Certification benefits the customer because they don’t even have to think about searching for the latest software — the Windows Update feature takes care of it. An easier to use product can translate into lower support costs and reduced product returns.
"The bottom line is we don’t want consumers to have a bad experience," said said Beth Jordan, a Microsoft spokesperson. "If a consumer doesn’t have a good experience, it’s only going to hinder product adoption. There’s been a great deal of work to make sure our partners are prepared to make the transition. They’re not all going to be prepared on day one." The Vista certification process has become easier than with previous versions. In XP, Microsoft added generic drivers so consumers could download updates without going to the manufacturer’s site. That continues with Vista.
Linksys in Irvine is launching a special Windows Vista site today, at www.Linksys.com/vista, listing all the products with Vista updates. Karen Sohl, a Linksys spokeswoman, said there will be about 40 products on the site today with 30 more on the way.
Even wireless routers not connected to a computer may need an upgrade, she said.
"We’re still looking at which products are going to need the upgrade. We’re working around the clock to make sure. It’s very important to us since we are so Windows- centric," Sohl said.
Having that logo is also an advantage in the crowded marketplace of PC products, said Joe Darwin, director of technical marketing at EVGA, a Brea-based graphics card company. It has about 25 Vista-certified products ready to go.
"It works with or without the sticker. But the thing is, from a marketing standpoint, it’s all about the logo," he said. "I want (customers) to see the Vista logo and buy it from us and not from my competitor who doesn’t have the logo."
—–
To see more of The Orange County Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ocregister.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Orange County Register, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
MSFT, CSCO,