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Filed under: OS Updates, Microsoft

Windows 7 already bigger than Snow Leopard and Linux combined

It's only been a couple of weeks since Windows 7 was released, but Microsoft's new OS has already captured a larger percentage of the market than Apple's OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Linux (yes, all of Linux). This doesn't come as a huge surprise, considering how many Windows users were clamoring for Win7 after the flop that is Vista. Microsoft says Windows 7's launch outdid Vista's by 234%. Those brisk sales have already netted Windows a 2% share of the world's OS business, compared to just over 1% for Snow Leopard, and just under 1% for Linux.

Despite the strong sales of Win7, Windows as a whole dropped a quarter of a percentage point in October, with Mac and Linux both making small gains. That quarter of a point hardly matters when you've got 90% of the OS market and your new operating system is being adopted quickly, though.

I expect to see Windows swing back up after Windows 7's been available for a while. I mean, we're talking about an operating system that outsold Harry Potter in the UK. Right now, it's only got a 2% share, compared to 19% for Vista and 70% for XP, but that's after only two weeks. Expect that number to zoom upward by the end of November.

[via Ars Technica]

Filed under: Business, Social Software

Amazon affiliate links now post to Twitter in two clicks

In an email to members of its Amazon Associates program, Amazon.com started promoting Twitter integration for affiliate links. People have been posting Amazon links to Twitter for just about as long as Twitter's been around, but now it's an insanely easy two-click process, using the toolbar on any product page. This is good news for Associates, making Twitter a viable place to pick up some extra clicks and sales.

It's bad news if you hate product spam, though. Get prepared for a whole mess of folks starting up spammy Twitter accounts to take advantage of the new feature. Also get ready for well-intentioned friends who don't grasp Twitter etiquette to post some product links here and there. I'm not predicting a big storm, just a new minor nuisance.

The messages don't auto-post to your account, they just redirect you to Twitter.com with a pre-filled tweet. The text before the product names seem to rotate, and it includea stuff like "Great deal on," "Check out," and "Just saw on Amazon." I guess that'll make people who post frequent product links look a little bit less like spammers.

Filed under: Internet, Web services

eBay sellers launch boycott, nobody notices

eBay
What if you held a protest and nobody noticed? Unfortunately it happens all the time. And while a group of eBay sellers who are protesting eBay's new fees are getting some media attention for their week-long boycott, the truth is that it's hard to findy any real impact on the auction site.

The boycott launched on Monday, and according to Fortune Small Business, eBay listings are down just 3%. That might sound like a substantial figure until you realize that it means there are 14 million items listed for auction, down from 14.5 million a few days earlier.

Those figures come from third party services, while eBay officials tell Fortune that there's been no noticeable impact at all. And even if there was an impact, would it make any real difference? eBay is still the biggest name in online auctions, and even if the site isn't the seller's paradise it once was, it's still the go-to spot for buyers. So while sellers may be able to stage a one week protest, we're guessing they're going to wind up returning to the service soon with no choice but to put up with higher fees.

While eBay isn't the only online auction site around, it doesn't face very serious competition from any other service, so while there's pressure to increase revenue, there's little pressure to stay competitive with Amazon Marketplace or other rival services.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services

eBay announces (another) fee structure change

eBay listing fees
A few weeks ago eBay announced plans to change its fee structure. The company was spinning the move as something that would help sellers save money. But that only worked out to be true in some instances. Since eBay planned to lower listing fees but raise final sale fees, most sellers were a bit concerned that they'd wind up giving eBay a higher percentage of their hard earned cash.

Responding to concerns from sellers, eBay has announced yet another fee structure change. This time, the listing fees for media including books, music, movies, and video games will go way down. The price for listing an item with a starting price less than a buck drops from $0.20 to $0.10. Sellers with starting bids of less than $10 will now be charged $0.25 instead of $0.40. And if you've got an item with a starting bid of under $25, you pay $0.35 instead of $0.60.

Since eBay is still raising the fees on final sales, in most cases sellers will still wind up paying owing eBay a little more. But today's announcement softens the blow. A little.

Filed under: Business, Internet, News

Tax-free online purchases could be a thing of the past

Amazon Affiliate linkSo you know how you don't have to pay sales tax on stuff you buy online unless you're buying it from a company that has a physical presence in your home state? Yeah, that could all be over soon.

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer has pledged not to raise taxes. But he's got a budget deficit to deal with, so he's trying to find new ways to collect taxes. And his administration believes they've found a loophole in that whole bricks and mortar thing.

Here's how it works. Sure, Amazon doesn't have a warehouse in New York. But lots of New York-based web sites have Amazon affiliate links. And Spitzer argues that effectively makes the New Yorkers who run those websites into Amazon salespeople, thus allowing the state to collect taxes from Amazon.

If Spitzer's plan holds up in court, it could open the floodgates and other states would likely be quick to follow. Either that or Amazon and other online retailers would stop offering affiliate programs. The plan is set to take effect in New York in December. So get your shopping done now.

Update: It looks like Spitzer has dropped this plan. For now.

Filed under: Audio, Business, Finance, Internet, Video, Web services, Apple, Google

No more NBC shows on iTunes

No more NBC shows on iTunesApple's number one seller has apparently just cancelled its contract to sell digital downloads of their shows via iTunes.

NBC Universal was unable to come to an agreement with Apple on pricing, bundling content and more restrictive DRM. This move is yet another grinding moment between Apple and the media companies who are unhappy with Apple for not giving them greater control over the pricing of music and videos it sells through iTunes. Could this just have been a way for them to finally jump over to NewCo (Hulu), their YouTube competition?

NBC has accounted for 40% of downloads on Apple's iTunes, and will continue sales through to December. Apple is now the third largest seller of music, passing Amazon, and just behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Say bye bye to your most important way of marketing new products to consumers NBC.

UPDATE: Apple beat NBC to the punch and will not be selling any NBC material starting in September.

Filed under: Business, Design, Internet, Apple, Analysis

AT&T Wireless drops iPhone from main page



[Update: As readers are pointing out, the iPhone is appearing in various other, though sometimes obscure, areas of AT&T's site. We stated in our post that this could simply be nothing, so that fact should probably be reiterated given that this does seem to be a false alarm. Guess the version of the site in our screenshot could have easily been a fluke, capped in the middle of a redesign or who knows what else. Thanks for keeping us on our game everyone, as for now, there doesn't seem to be anything else to see here. Let's all move along.]

Rumors that Apple is wearing the pants a little too often in their iPhone relationship with AT&T have received a boost, now that the wireless carrier seems to have stopped promoting the pricey phone on their main page barely a month after its June 29th launch. While we know that Apple negotiated an unprecedented deal for a percentage of every iPhone customer's monthly contract, many suspect AT&T is becoming less and less happy with the rest of Apple's plans. Note, for example, the iPhone's lack of any integration with AT&T's profitable video, audio and ringtone offerings - all things that Apple either sells through their iTunes Store right now or, in the case of ringtones, is widely expected to with a future software update. The more software and media-based services Apple prepares to unleash, the more monthly, revolving revenue passes by AT&T's bottom line.

Of course, another possibility here is that the iPhone has received all the promotion it needs from AT&T. The device has arguably succeeded in Apple's marketing efforts to get it inserted into all the major media hubs, from the Today Show to Steven Colbert. Still, after adorning the pages of Cingular-turned-AT&T during the six month period since its announcement in January of this year, the iPhone's sudden disappearance from the main page and even the phone-specific page is raising our eyebrows.

Filed under: News, Windows, Microsoft

Hong Kong likes Windows Vista

Sure, Vista sales might not be the greatest so far, and Microsoft has already made the bizarre announcement of "Vienna" to follow in 2009, but things aren't all bad for Microsoft's bouncing baby OS. While SFGate reports on Microsoft's efforts to squash rampant piracy in China, ButterBoom has some choice quotes from a South China Morning Post report that says Vista says are doing pretty darn well in Hong Kong. To quote Adam Anger, director of Microsoft's Hong Kong business marketing organization:

"Some retail shops have told us that they have been selling 30 times more than what they usually sell, especially during the launch weekend on February 3 and 4. Some even said that their sales were comparable to high-selling holiday seasons like Christmas."

However, in this blogger's opinion, those numbers might be somewhat skewed both from Microsoft's efforts to 'inspire' Chinese citizens away from their pirating ways, as well as the fact that Windows XP has been around long enough for nearly everyone who wants a copy to get one - legitimately or otherwise.

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