By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter

Microsoft (MS) has finally launched a long-cherished new computer operating system, Windows 7, to tackle a growing threat from Google, which is preparing to introduce a much cheaper rival platform.

MS hopes the successor to Vista will be more of a hit with users as many features take into account multimedia applications and users are beginning to store their data on the Internet.

Vista had launched at the beginning of 2007, after seven years of development.

It grappled with almost universal criticism as it failed to work with popular programs, drained computers' memories and didn't function on the increasingly popular small, budget laptops commonly known as net-books.

But the new operating system has greater support for handwriting recognition, multi-touch interfaces and improvements to its ability to work with multi-core processors.

Changes have also been made to the familiar taskbar that most users have at the bottom of the screen.

"We've reached a broad consensus that consumers want to get technically-strengthened improvements rather than innovative technology. Lessons from a failure of Vista compelled us to introduce the new system which is highlighted with speed and interface," Kim James Woo, head of MS's South Korean subsidy said at an event in Seoul announcing the launch of the new operating system, Thursday.

"We have learnt hard lessons from Vista," Kim said.

The operating system will help the global chip market insert "fresh blood" for a gradual but faster recovery as major PC makers including Dell and Hewlett-Packard have decided to sell PCs equipped with Windows 7 during the first half of next year, according to Jung Keun-wook, a senior director at MS’s South Korean office.

On the consumer side, the introduction of the new system seems quite "sexy news." The kit will be sold between 120,000 ($100) and 150,000 won for households.

MS plans to take an aggressive marketing to boost the sales. But attention is being focused whether Windows 7 to drastically improve the demand for PCs.

MS executives are seeing some of the progress in terms of PC sales with a belief that the global PC market is showing some bright light at the end of the tunnel.

They say demand for computers from large companies is likely to pick up by as soon as mid-2010 thanks to the Windows 7.

Earlier, major memory chipmakers including Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor increased their production outputs with a higher expectation of the Vista system.

But the result was disastrous. Vista failed and profits of chipmakers had been severely drained amid the industry’s years-long downturn.

About 1 billion people use a Windows operating system on their PCs, and MS software powers about 90 percent of the world’s computers.

"We expect some replacement demand in Windows 7 from larger companies. But the timing will come sometime in the latter half of next year as some 12-18 months are needed to confirm the system's stability," Gartner, a market research firm, said.

Many PC companies are hoping that Windows 7 will energize corporate replacement cycles as companies running on older versions of Windows buy new computers and servers.

Despite such upbeat outlook, the world's two-bigger memory chipmakers ― Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor ― remained cautious over the imminent impact of the new MS system on the chip market.

"The impact of Windows 7 will be limited to the global chip market this year. But there will be some in 2010," Kwon Oh-hyun, head of Samsung's memory chip business, said.

"We don't see any big market effect this year," Kim Jong-kap, CEO of Hynix Semiconductor said.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr