PC makers bolster brand with software
Posted on Monday, September 1, 2008
Much of what makes a personal computer isn’t the box, but the way it works when it’s booted up.
But the experience has become tarnished recently by the release of Microsoft Corp. ’s Vista operating system, which some users complain has glitches and can be slow on startup. Moreover, trial software — sometimes called bloatware — that PC manufacturers preload onto computers can further clog the machine.
Now, some PC makers are trying to improve that experience by adding proprietary software to their machines. In some cases, they’re creating new user interfaces intended to make Vista faster and easier to use. In other cases they’re replacing applications from other software companies with theirs.
It’s part of an effort by PC makers to turn their machines into something more than vessels for software and systems made by other companies. By doing so, they hope to make their computers work smoothly and give them a unique feel, to make their brand stand out from the competition.
Dell Inc. in June launched its Studio line of notebooks that come with the Dell Dock, software that organizes desktop programs into pockets of quick-start icons for work or game playing.
Michelle Pearcy, a Dell director of software marketing, said the Dell Dock was born after consumers said they had trouble finding certain applications using Vista.
Dell also decided to use its video chat software in the Studio notebook line after finding that eBay Inc. ’s Skype Internet calling software — which it installed on previous computers — was not as user-friendly. Dell’s Video Chat software has features such as video e-mails, which Skype doesn’t have.
And later this year, the company plans to introduce consumer PCs with software created by Zing — a company Dell acquired last year — that allows users to find, download and organize online movies and music.
“The way to really show we are serious about providing products to them that are useful is through software,” Pearcy said.
Not all PC users embrace the changes, partly because they’re unfamiliar with the new software, but also because they simply don’t want even more programs on their PCs.
Adam Lewis, a software engineer from Middletown, Ohio, purchased an orange Dell Studio notebook in July for about $ 2, 000. Lewis, 22, said he’s loved the laptop, which he uses at work and at home, since he opened the box. But when he booted it up, he saw the Dell Dock across the top of the screen. After reading about it online and trying it out, Lewis removed it.
“From what I gathered, it made it easier for people to find their pictures and just various programs they installed and common things they used. I have no problems doing that,” Lewis said. He did, however, keep the video-chat software installed because, he said, he can see himself possibly using it one day.
A Dell spokesman said the company gathered customer feedback to make sure its software wouldn’t be seen as extraneous. But just in case, she added, Dell made it easy to remove from the desktop.
Rival Hewlett-Packard Co., meanwhile, in June launched the second generation of a PC called the TouchSmart that works with a touch screen instead of a mouse. The company developed a new software interface that sits on top of Vista and makes it easier for people to find what they want by using their fingers to touch enlarged icons for music, games, photos and other applications.
This isn’t the first time PC companies have tried to add their own software. Companies including H-P and Packard Bell Electronics Inc. in the 1990 s offered programs called “shells” that were designed as easy-touse add-ons to Microsoft’s operating systems.
They had little success, as users warmed to Windows, and Microsoft discouraged PC companies from altering Windows. Such restrictions were limited by a 2001 settlement of the U. S. government’s antitrust case against Microsoft.
Today, Microsoft encourages PC makers to build software “on top of Windows Vista that enhances the customer experience,” according to an e-mail from Lauren Moynihan, a senior product manager at Microsoft.
For example, Mark Rolston, creative director of Frog Design, said his firm worked with H-P to develop software for the TouchSmart PC that works on top of the Microsoft operating system.
Motivating PC makers has been a relentless slide in computer prices, which has put pressure on manufacturers’ profits and spurred a desire to compete on technology rather than price.
Another is stronger competition from Apple Inc., which has long created hardware and software designed to work together — and has enjoyed higher prices and profit margins than other PC makers.
“You can point to Apple and see what can happen when you customize your software to hardware and create a unique experience,” said Richard Shim, an analyst with research firm IDC.
A third factor is the mixed reviews Vista has received because of issues like delayed software boot-ups, though a Microsoft spokesman said the company commissioned market-research firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates to do a recent user study which showed that 89 percent of users were satisfied with the operating system.
To help its PCs stand out, Sony Corp. in July launched its Vaio SR notebooks with software that offers on-screen desktops with three modes: work, home and entertainment, each with specific icons and wallpaper.
Instead of populating a screen with large numbers of icons, users can set up different desktops with applications they use most in a given situation, the company says.
At Sony, designers say they recognized that people use computers in different places for different things, said Mike Abary, senior vice president of marketing for the Japanese company’s Vaio line.
Each mode associated with its SR notebooks, which start at around $ 1, 400, has five icons on the bottom of the screen that correspond to keyboard buttons that users can program to launch applications like Microsoft PowerPoint for work and a Web cam or personal e-mail for home.
Sony’s software follows a company-built moviemaking program called Vaio Movie Story that it hatched on PCs last fall. Users import the video and photos, choose a theme and a soundtrack from a selection of music, and click “Finish.” The system automatically assembles a video with transitions timed to the music. Sony’s software comes in addition to Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft’s moviemaking software that is included in some versions of Windows Vista.
While some vendors focus on enhancing Vista, others are circumventing it altogether for some applications. AsusTek Computer Inc., for example, offers an easy-to-use version of the Linux operating system on low-end models of its tiny EeePC laptop. The Taiwanese company has launched the Eee Box, a $ 350 mini PC aimed at college students who run Windows XP; it also comes with software that allows Web surfing without waiting for Windows to power up.
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