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[News] Self-promotional Vista 'Studies' Raise Validity Concerns

Vista: better than expected

,----[ Quote ]
| But wait! The NPD Group? Isn't it that market research firm which
| spotted the opportunities offered by the corporate movie and music
| companies from afar and almost overnight became an expert on p2p
| file sharing with, "highly questionable statistics blatantly
| slanted towards the entertainment cartels?"
`----

http://p2pnet.net/story/10999

Take this as a lesson. Any study favouring Microsoft is probably telling a
lie. See below.


Related:

Early Vista Sales Don't Tell the Whole Story

,----[ Quote ]
| This week, NPD released limited channel data for Windows Vista licenses 
| sold to businesses through resellers like CompuCom, Softmart and Software 
| Spectrum.
| 
| [...]
| 
| To be clear: The missing information is to be expected, and I don't
| mean to reflect poorly on Swenson or NPD. Research firms aren't in
| the business of giving away information to the news media, but
| selling it to clients. The information provided to the press
| should be incomplete.
`----

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/early_vista_sales_dont_tell_the_whole_story.html


Zune does a bit better than expected 

,----[ Quote ]
| Despite getting a hammering in the tech press, Microsoft's Zune has
| had respectable sales last month according to data from market
| research firm NPD Group.
|               ^^^
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36443


Microsoft's Xbox 360 US sales-NPD story withdrawn
                              ^^^

,----[ Quote ]
| The Los Angeles story headlined "Microsoft's Xbox 360 US sales
| top first Xbox--NPD" is withdrawn because the data supporting the
|                 ^^^
| story may be inaccurate. Reuters is waiting for an update from the
| company. A new story may be issued.
`---- 

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061208:MTFH45656_2006-12-08_01-12-52_N07221320&type=comktNews&rpc=44


Microsoft Xbox to Join the Battle for Video Downloading

,----[ Quote ]
| Editors' Note: November 10, 2006, Friday An article in Business Day
| on Tuesday described a decision by Microsoft to offer movies and
| episodes of television shows for downloading through its Xbox Live
| online service in the United States.
| 
| The article quoted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle
| Group, discussing the features that set Xbox Live service apart
| and its position in the market.
| 
| But the article did not note that Mr. Enderle had Microsoft as a client,
| a fact later pointed out by a reader. Mr. Enderle does consulting work
| for several of Microsoft's product groups, though not for the one
| developing the Xbox; still, had The Times known of Mr. Enderle's work
| for Microsoft, it would not have sought out his opinion on the product. 
`----

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50713F83A5B0C748CDDA80994DE404482
http://tinyurl.com/y3avsv


Shill season

,----[ Quote ]
| It's often difficult to figure out the motivation behind a particular
| study - until one finds out who has commissioned and paid for it.
| The so-called tech consulting companies would love it if the consumer
| believes that they have conducted an "independent" study. The worrying
| thing is that not many people blow their cover.
`----

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8109/1090/


IDC pronounces Linux unimportant to European economy (in
Microsoft-commissioned study) 

,----[ Quote ]
| A recent IDC white paper on the economic impact of Microsoft's super
| soaraway new Vista operating system seems to be lacking one crucial
| ingredient -- other operating systems.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34542


Microsoft Claims Vista's Aero Interface Doesn't Slow PCs 

,----[ Quote ]
| Principled Technologies, which conducted the research for Microsoft, is
|                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| offering a download of the report.
`----

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196800080


NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories

,----[ Quote ]
| The New York Times continues to perplex with its analyst- quoting
| policy. Rather than having analysts declare their ties to clients,
| the paper would prefer to quote analysts that have no experience
| with a client - a protocol which seems to undermine the very point
| of citing analysts.
| 
| The Register this week started pushing the Times to explain its
| quoting stance after noticing that Rob Enderle - the most quoted
| technology analyst on the planet - had been blocked from commenting
| on companies with which he has a financial relationship. The ban
| against Enderle appeared odd, given that Times reporters continue
| to cite analysts from larger firms who also have financial
| relationships with the companies discussed.
| 
| [...]
| 
| Just days after banning Enderle from discussing Microsoft because
| he has Microsoft as a client, the Times quoted Gartner analyst
| Michael Silver and AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy in a story
| about Microsoft's Windows and Office software.
| 
| If the paper would prefer not to quote an analyst who has
| experience with a client, it did a poor job. Silver is Gartner's
| vice president in charge of client computing. Microsoft happens to
| do lots of business with Gartner and also happens to have a
| client-software monopoly. We're guessing that Silver knows
| Microsoft's products well and has direct involvement with the
| company.
| 
| And, sure enough, he appears a number of times on Microsoft's
| own site and thousands of times in stories about Microsoft.
| 
| Jim Murphy - wait for it - covers Microsoft too and is even more
| prolific than Silver.
| 
| [...]
| 
| Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
| IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
| nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
| keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
| They're also too lazy or scared to ignore the likes of Gartner and
| IDC until the firms change their disclosure rules.
| 
| As it turns out, there's a cottage industry devoted to Rob
| Enderle, where Linux zealots fire off this form letter to editors
| whenever Enderle appears talking about Microsoft. Perhaps the Linux
| crowd could put its fabled collective mind toward creating letters
| for all the major analysts. Lord knows, the Times could use
| some help.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/

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